Long way to go

I really like it here. Moving to another country is never easy, but I'd say we've had a pretty soft landing, even if most of the people I know here are out of town right now. I have a poem incubating in my head about how learning a new city is like learning a new language: you create small islands of knowledge, gradually increase their size, and then a bit at a time link them together.

I'm starting to settle into a good routine. Wake up around noon, make coffee, do some freelance work. Then spend the rest of the afternoon working on pictures, poems, and other writing. Run a few errands/explore the city before/as it gets dark out, and then come back home to do an hour of yoga.

Yoga has really helped a lot. I messed up my back pretty badly a month before I left Chicago, and traveling to London and here, hauling luggage, only made it worse. So I've been taking care to practice some yoga every day, and it's really helping. Not just with my back, but with overall well-being. Transitions can be emotionally difficult for me, but yoga and daily meditation help me stay centered and grateful.

I am so lucky: I know this. I love living here, I am doing something I have always wanted to do, and get to be in an amazing city that might not ever be the same again. Now definitely seems like a great time to be in Berlin: so much good music, art, and people, there's just energy in the air, even when it's gray out. I know, I am still in the "very excited to be here" phase and will probably end up bored and jaded, but I hope not.

Posted by j3s at 03:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Last time I was in Berlin (about five years ago), it took me only three days to say "I could totally live here." Well, it's been three days since I moved to Berlin, and I can say I love it here. I'm done with most of the difficult stuff: we have an apartment, I got a cell phone, set up a wireless network, and found the grocery store. Three days and I'm already comfortable. Next week begins the routine: work on writing/poems for three hours a day (while Atom works on music), and learn German with Rosetta Stone for an hour a day.

It felt pretty good to pare down my possessions when I left Chicago. I kept a few things at my mom's house, gave a lot away to friends, and sold the rest. I came here with one small suitcase, a carry-on, and a laptop bag; everything I own right now fits into those.

When I moved to Sydney for six months in college I brought two huge suitcases, though one of them was full of 65 cassette tapes, about 60 of which were drum & bass mixes. No wonder I got sick of that music and got more into techno. Hurray for mp3's: they make travelling with music so much easier. I might buy some computer speakers and a sub eventually, but right now I'm just using my laptop's built-in speakers. They're kind of crappy, but fortunately I converted all of my classical CDs to mp3 before I left, and most symphonies and concertos sound better from my computer speakers than microhouse and electro.

Speaking of which, last night my friend Nick from New York was playing at a club here, Weekend, which was a lot of fun. The space was sweet: 12th floor of a corporate office tower, glass walls, good sound system. It would be a great place to see the sunrise, though we only stayed till a little after 4am. Apparently Berlin doesn't have very strict liquor laws, because clubs here can stay open all night, and the kiosks at train stations sell beer and Jagermeister.

I'm still a little jetlagged, but excited for this weekend. So much good music! Tonight Goodiepal, who records on the same label as V/VM (I love love love V/VM) is playing, which we might hit before going to see Richard Villalobos and ZIP. Tomorrow Ellen Allien is playing, and Sunday night is Dan Bell. Atom and I high-fived each other multiple times last night because: it's good to be here.

Posted by j3s at 06:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)