Vote!

 

Today I woke up to the sound of rain pattering outside the window. We were supposed to go to our friend's house for a leaving-Berlin-sale at 11.30, but there was no way we could muster up strength to hurry to Rosenthaler Platz. Instead we gave ourselves more time to go voting in the local elections. I'm so impressed that we foreigners get to vote here, even if limitedly: just for the party and only for the district we live in – and it didn't require any special effort besides showing up. This probably only applies to us lucky EU citizens, I think. After proudly registering our vote, we strolled over to pick out breakfast supplies at the bakery.

Now A and S are in the bedroom/studio working on a pitch for a coffee commercial tune and I'm on my way to have election day cake at S and L's. A perfect Sunday will be topped off at the Indian vegetarian/vegan restaurant Satyam in Charlottenburg, where the brunch buffet is available until 8pm and we get to enjoy the ever so interesting company of K, with whom the conversation is always on a pretty intelligent level, but the laughs are constant.

Summer and bureaucracy

My head is spinning whenever I step outside because all the trees are blooming and it smells incredible; like summer and childhood. Today the weather is fab, +24°C, which for a Finn definitively is summer – compared to Ireland, I don't even know what to call this. We enjoyed breakfast/lunch at the corner bakery, sitting outside, then took a walk around Falkplatz and Mauerpark. I love working part-time!


A signed a lease for his very own studio space today! He's really excited and I really hope it will be great.

We're also looking for a new apartment and we're seeing our first one today, here in Prenzl'berg. I don't think we'll take the first one we view, but it feels exciting to actually go out there and see something. This one is 62m2 and the warm rent (includes heating, water and so on) is only €462. But it would make a lot of sense for us to try to find an apartment near Volkspark Freidrichshain, since it would be close to the studio, and an equal distance from both our jobs. I emailed four other places today, so hopefully we will find our gem in a few weeks!

Another weight was lifted off my shoulders: I finally have German health insurance! I got my employers to put me on pay roll and now I don't have to worry about hardly any bureaucracy at all. I only needed to get my Lohnsteuerkarte at the Bürgeramt and to go to a Krankenkasse to sign up, which was all fairly painless. Because we want to move, we will face more bureaucracy: we need a Schufa paper (credit rating), a Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung (statement from our current landlord that we don't owe on rent) and copies of our passports and bank statements...

Sun again

The weather is hopefully, finally getting warmer – I have been freezing in the gloomy +12 for weeks now! Today was particularly sunny and we spent the day having lunch on our friends' balcony and then visiting their son's favourite place, the awesome Kinderbauernhof Pinke-Panke in Pankow. The petting zoo is quite big and has donkeys, chicken, pigs, rabbits... On such a sunny day there were naturally too many kids around, but I guess it's their prerogative. We had made scones and ate them picnic-style on the grassy bank of the Panke river. Perfect!

M served us home made spinach knödels for lunch, on their balcony.

We have decided to move house at the by the end of June, so now we need to try to save our last pennies to make sure we can afford the Kaution (rent deposit), and at least the first months rent. Neither one of us has still gotten a proper months wages, so we have absolutely no idea how much money we will have after taxes and health insurance fees. I'm super happy that my employers decided that they will put me on the payroll, and now I don't have to worry about the taxes and bureaucracy myself! I only needed to get a Lohnsteuerkarte (tax card) and next week I will visit my chosen Krankenkasse (health insurance provider) to sign up – that's it.

Next week is hell week in work again... And then my boss is going on holidays for a week, so maybe I won't even need to read my emails! Let's just hope this crazy volcanic ash situation allows her to go :)

Byrocracy, check - Swimming pool, check

We met with lovely Stefanie who helps lazy or bureaucratically challenged people with registering, setting up bank accounts, insurance and all that. She had made an appointment at the registry office, and we now officially live in Berlin. Then she walked us to the bank and sat through opening a bank account for us - and a separate account for our "kaution", the rent deposit. This means that our rent deposit is on neutral ground if there ever should be an issue between us and our landlord. I want to say I'm sure there won't, but the way things are with our previous landlord in Dublin, I'm losing faith in human kind...

After we did all those grown up things, we walked just a little further on Schlesiche strasse and turned into what looked like block of warehouses. We kept walking and found what we were looking for: the Badeschiff! I went for a swim for the first time in I don't know how long, and it was sooooo nice! As a souvenir I now have a sunburn, stupid me. But it was a great afternoon!