YOU KNOW YOU’VE BEEN 3 MONTHS IN WEIMAR WHEN…

Today is the 9th of December. Three months ago, on September 9th, I had packed my few belongings and set off for little Weimar. Three months later…

1. You actually know where Weimar is: in the state of Thuringia in the heart of Germany, 15 minutes by train from Erfurt and Jena, 1.5 hours from Leipzig.

2. When people say “let’s go to the park” you never ask “what park”.

3. You know that the river in the park is called Ilm.

4. You’ve heard horse’s hooves on the pavement, lying in your bed.

5. You know that you need about an hour to go from one side of the city to the other

6. You know that Bauhaus University is not only in Dessau.

7. You know that you need 20 minutes to go up the HILL where the IfEU building is and that’s considered the city’s suburbia.

8. You know what IfEU is and what the acronym stands for (Institut für Europaische Urbanistik aka Institute for European Urban Studies). Well… you study there.

9. You actually start to believe that this is really the city’s suburbia.

10. You know what a WG (Wohngemeinschaft) is and you live in one (well sort of…).

11. You‘ve already spent the autumn here and you thought it was f… cold.

12. You changed your mind when winter came (early) and it IS f… cold.

13. You have heard yourself saying “today the weather is good!! We have only -4 C”.

14. You’ve been drinking outside Glühwein with a temperature of -10 C wondering if you got crazy or German.

15. You’ve seen the nature change colors, from green to orange, yellow, brown, red to pure… white.

16. You are sure that you should buy a bike but you consider waiting for the snow to melt, which actually means at least three more months.

17. You’ve never seen so much snow in your life and you know it’s only the beginning.

18. You’ve never seen so many babies in your life (there are really A LOT of them around).

19. You know that Schützengasse is the name of a street, of a student residence hall and a student club (all in the same place).

20. You know when and where salsa nights are (well it’s Schützengasse again).

21. You know that when a party is going on then everybody feeling like partying will be there.

22. You know what the “Falken” is and that you shouldn’t go there on chess night.

23. You know what place is open after 1.30 a.m. … it’s the Falken!

24. You know that smoking is prohibited (but not in Falken!!).

25. You actually have done bar-hopping (yes you can!!) but you ended up… in Falken.

26. You know that you won’t need more than 6 euro for… 3 beers!!

27. You missed going to cinema because EVERYTHING is dubbed in german.

28. You’ve heard George Clooney speaking in german (and it is kind of sexy).

29. You know that you need 1 or 2 euro to use the lockers in the library and you own a transparent bag for your laptop and books because otherwise you can’t enter the library.

30. You know that the term “international programme” does not imply the use of english language for international students… still german there.

31. You tried to improve your german language skills in Sprachzentrum where you realized how many people speak… spanish!

32. You already feel ashamed that you don’t speak german although you live with a german girl (her English is sooooo good :P).

33. You use the sport facilities for 5, 10 or max. 15 euro… (per month??) nope, per semester!!

34. You know what people mean when they set appointments at the chair-spot.

35. You know who Goethe is and who Schiller (right or left side of the statue).

idea stolen from http://thaniinpieces.blogspot.com/ :P

I used to love night best 2

Forgive me but the following has to be written in Greek.

Ο τίτλος του προηγούμενου post προέκυψε μετά τη συγγραφή του κειμένου. Αρχίζοντας να αγαπώ τα πρωινά της Βαϊμάρης, συνειδητοποίησα (για άλλη μια φορά) ότι πραγματικά λάτρεψα τις νύχτες της Θεσσαλονίκης.

Σούρουπο, τα φώτα της πόλης σιγά σιγά ανάβουν. Περπατώ στην παραλία με κατεύθυνση το παλιό λιμάνι. Στα χέρια μια παλιά ημιαυτόματη Nikon και τρίποδο δανεικό. Φυσά ένα ελαφρύ αεράκι, που φέρνει μυρωδιά από λουκουμάδες και καψαλισμένο καλαμπόκι. Ένα αγόρι κι ένα κορίτσι κάθονται στο τσιμεντένιο βάθρο, μαύρες σιλουέτες κόντρα στο φως που χάνεται. ΚΛΙΚ. Νύχτα, ο Λευκός Πύργος φωτισμένος. Χασομεράω γιατί έφτασα νωρίτερα στο ραντεβού και περιμένω. Δεν πρέπει ποτέ να φτάνεις νωρίτερα, ειδικά στο πρώτο ραντεβού. ΚΛΙΚ. Σκοτεινός θάλαμος, απόγευμα. 23 δοκιμαστικά και 4 ώρες μετά, έχω βρει επιτυχώς τον κόκκο, ο ουρανός έχει επιτέλους βγει σωστά, το ζευγάρι μου είναι μια μαύρη σιλουέτα, αλλά χάσαμε το βάθρο στο κροπάρισμα. Την επόμενη φορά ίσως τα καταφέρω καλύτερα. ΚΛΙΚ. Ώρα 4 το πρωί, κάνει κρύο, αλλά δε με νοιάζει. Ένα χέρι κρατάει το δικό μου. Φεγγάρι δεν έχει απόψε. ΚΛΙΚ. Αργά το βράδυ, στο Καπάνι, η Β. και ο Σ. χορεύουν υπό το άγρυπνο βλέμμα 4 ψηφιακών SLR. ΚΛΙΚ. 1 τη νύχτα μετά την πρόβα, περπατώ με Κ. και Σ. προς τον Αύγουστο, περνώντας τα εμπόδια που στήνουν τα έργα του μετρό και αγνοώντας την κούραση. Η φωτογράφηση κρατά 1,5 ώρα, μας κερνάνε σφηνάκια και κλείνουν το μαγαζί. Περπατώ προς το σπίτι με 2 φωτογραφικές μηχανές κι ένα τρίποδο. ΚΛΙΚ. Βράδυ, αργά, περπατάμε στην Εγνατία, με μυρωδιά ρακής στην ανάσα. ΚΛΙΚ. Σχεδόν πρωί, περιμένω ταξί, αλλά δε θέλω να πω καληνύχτα. Αμοιβαίο. ΚΛΙΚ. Αργά, περιοχή ΦΙΞ, (δεν) πηγαίνουμε στη συναυλία. ΚΛΙΚ. Νωρίς το πρωί, ακριβώς την ώρα που ανοίγει ο Λευκός Πύργος, ανεβαίνουμε τα πέτρινα σκαλιά και χαζεύουμε την πόλη να ξυπνάει αφ’ υψηλού. ΚΛΙΚ. Βόλτα με τ’ αμάξι μετά τη βραδιά Τσανακλίδου-Φριντζήλα. Καμιά μας δε θέλει να πάει σπίτι. Βολτάρουμε κι αναρωτιόμαστε γιατί ο 1055 παίζει Κατσιμιχαίους. ΚΛΙΚ. Βράδυ αργά, Συγγρού, Δέντρο που Έδινε, ρετσίνα και καλή παρέα. ΚΛΙΚ. Βράδυ, Ναυαρίνου, πάλι έφτασα νωρίς. Σίγουρα δεν πρέπει ποτέ να φτάνεις νωρίτερα, ειδικά στο τελευταίο ραντεβού. ΚΛΙΚ. Από 2 χωριά, πάλι βράδυ, κρασάκι και εξομολογήσεις. ΚΛΙΚ. ΚΛΙΚ. ΚΛΙΚ…


Νύχτες στην πόλη ανοιξιάτικες – και όχι μόνο – με μαγεύουν. Κι αν δε μπορώ να θυμηθώ τις ίδιες μου τις λέξεις, κι αν έχασα αρκετές μνήμες, αυτές τις νύχτες τις νιώθω δικές μου, μοναδικές. I used to love night best… αλλά αξίζει να φτιάχνω όμορφες τις μέρες μου.

Οποιαδήποτε ομοιότητα με πρόσωπα ή καταστάσεις δεν είναι καθόλου συμπτωματική.

I used to love night best...

...It’s almost dawn outside. For the fourth time tonight, I am awake. Without opening my eyes, I reach for my mobile phone. The time is 6.30 am. I close my eyes, smiling. The alarm will ring in about an hour. I will ignore it –of course – and let the morning light wake me up. If I’m lucky the sun will shine. Albeit pale at this time of year, it will rise above the low roofs and sneak into my bedroom, hit my face and force me to open my eyes. Still lying on bed I will put aside the long red curtain to see the color of the sky. Even the slightest gap in the clouds is a promise for a bright day without rain. I reluctantly emerge under the warm blankets. I sit straight and rest my feet on the floor, trying to get fully aware of myself. Once in the kitchen, I look for the kettle jug to heat some water, I switch on the radio and tune in to a local station. It’s playing 'human' of the Killers. I take a cup... 1.5 teaspoons instant coffee, no sugar, only milk. I open my computer and read the morning news online, sipping coffee. “… pay my respects to grace and virtue, send my condolences to good, give my regards to soul and romance, they always did the best they could, and so long to devotion, you taught me everything I know, wave goodbye, wish me well, you've gotta let me go, are we human or are we dancer...” The broadcaster’s voice drowns the last verses of the song… “und weiter, mit einer erfolgreichen Gruppe…“ I do not quite understand the words. As I walk to the bathroom, I can hear a german song. I wash my face and look in the mirror, I smile. It is morning and I'm in Weimar. Every morning ... I smile ...

The Dark side of Weimar

Have you ever been to a concentration camp? I could say “don’t” but then I would consider myself less human. It is not something that one must or must not do. It is simply something one can or cannot bear. I would suggest that if you ever find yourself in a dilemma about visiting such a site, you should not question at least the necessity to witness it. Living in the beautiful city of Weimar, in the heart of Germany, I could easily ignore Buchenwald’s reality. The concentration camp is well hidden in the woods on Ettersberg Mountain, only 20 minutes by bus from the city center. It was built in 1937 and was liberated in April 1945. In-between it was the torture place for more than 250.000 persons, 56.000 of whom perished. Numbers… You can read all you want about the horror of a place like Buchenwald, you can watch movies and documentaries, you can see statistics. But you will never feel the chill of the morning wind going under your skin, the sun not reaching the empty pathways, the silence echoing allover more powerful than anything. There is nothing more real than death itself and once you cross the gate of a concentration camp, there is no other thought in your mind. It’s cold even when the weather is relatively good, it’s dark even when it is the middle of the day, it is sad and creepy and appalling but what hearts most is that it is also real. We know about the holocaust, we have discussed about it, but no prior information can ever make you ready enough for this experience. I do not a have a strong stomach, neither am I too emotional. I am a – relatively – normal person who just can’t stand a pair of baby’s shoes being displayed as proof of human atrocity. But I did… and so should do anyone who wants to be called human.

The urge to write

Sometimes you feel like talking... to somebody who most likely won't understand. Having so many things to say, you feel like floating inside your own mind. And yet, there is nobody to listen.
Although you didn't actually expect them to understand, this is kind of disappointing. And then... the urge to write emerges!! Or is it then just the need to be heard?