I'm really annoyed I didn't upload most of my music onto my computer and now have to download it all. So, I'm beginning with my first love: bands of the 1990s, despite the fact that when these bands were at their peak I was still in primary school all innocent and such. Oh, to have been born just a few years earlier. Actually not really, that would make me pretty old and I'm already trying to brace myself for the big 25 next year. It’s actually not that old, who am I kidding? I need to stop talking to 18 year olds. On the pub-crawl the Irish guys were about 19... and you could tell. In saying that though, I'm not sure I was that stupid at 20, it might have just been them.
Well, I was going to go on the bike tour yesterday only to realise it's exactly like the walking tour (which I've done), but on bikes. So I decided to do the alternative tour again. The guy was hungover though and not really into it, so if he can do tour guiding, I'm pretty sure I can. He's an artist too; this town is full of them! I'm starting to think I'm not cool enough or creative enough for this city. Maybe if I dye my hair black again and become all edgy this will change things. No? Yeah, didn't think so. My hair can stay a lovely shade of low-maintenance brown.
So, something I did learn this time around that the other guy, Dave, never mentioned were a few laws that differ to most cities. In Berlin you can pee in public, have sex in public as long as you're not near families; marijuana has been decriminalised and prostitution is legal. This explains why I've seen quite a number of women dressed in corsets, extremely short frilly skirts and stockings; it's a very baby doll look, but obviously with a much more seductive slant. They even have their own union and if registered as a prostitute, the government provides free health checks. This whole leaglising of prostitution was basically to take these women out of the criminalised hands of pimps and dealers and provide a safer work place for them. The only problem with this is, I’ve read; that more than half of the prostitutes who work in Germany are eastern European and so don’t have the proper working permits and thus these laws and unions don’t apply to them. Now, not that I think prostitution is an ideal avenue for anyone and hopefully a career that one can avoid, but it's comforting to hear of a city that recognises that this is an unfortunate aspect of society that will always be present, and so by giving these women support, 1. doesn't marginalise them in society, but instead actually recognises them as citizens and 2. offers a, hopefully, much safer working environment. I’m sure there are many problems that will continually plague the women in this industry, many that I'm sure I am not even aware of, but they’re certainly doing more for women in this situation than I can imagine the Australian government is. I'm no expert on the subject by any means, but I can just imagine prostitutes in Sydney have little to no resources. It’s really sad when certain aspects of society, especially those that don’t fit into a conventional category are completely marginalised.
From just going out in Sydney, prostitutes are not treated with any sort of dignity or respect from the average person, while here it all seems a bit different. They're just left to do what they're doing, no one says anything, some people have a look - usually foreigners who do this. I walked passed a girl last night who was having a conversation with an English speaking couple about her job and the situation in Berlin. But like I said, it’s not an ideal situation that there are women who feel they need to sell themselves; it is really sad. I wonder what other support networks there are for these women in terms of even trying to get them out of the sex industry. It would be interesting to look into.
Mainly, it just makes me think of the girls I would see on a night out in the city and the terrible way in which they are by both men and women. I don’t think I could ever turn around to another woman, especially someone in obviously such a desperate situation, and just completely disregard them as a person; as someone who is 'disgusting' or a 'waste-of-space'. I think in large part, people need to re-evaluate their pre-determined perceptions and see that not everyone fits into a neat little box of what life is supposed to be. Who knows why this has become a post about prostitution and why I am suddenly their spokesperson; but I find the social issues of Berlin very interesting. As a woman, I feel very safe walking around Berlin alone; I hope this city doesn't prove me wrong. I certainly like its values. If only Australia weren't so conservative and people weren't so easily shocked by things, or more accurately, weren’t so inclined to turn a blind eye to uncomfortable issues that yes, perhaps don't concern them on a daily basis, but are in fact serious social issues that need to be addressed - and I'm not just talking about the prostitutes of Sydney either. But moving on before I get too fired up.
SO, during the tour I met a girl called Alina. She is American but was originally born in the Ukraine and speaks Russian. She moved when she was four and has just graduated from Berkley University in California. She is really nice, travelling alone, so when we found out we were both by ourselves she invited me to dinner with some people she had met. See below pic:
Me, Anna, Anne Marie, Marcel and Alina
They are all really lovely. Anna is 24, Australian and from BrisVegas and a nurse, Anne Marie is 22, American and from Chicago. She is an artist and just has this really cool, quirky view towards life, really smart but really down to earth. Her sister was there also but she wasn't feeling well. Her name is Caitlin and she is 32. Currently doing her Doctorate in Social Science (I think) and conducting research on statistics of gifted children in schools and their curriculum, while also devising curriculum for these kids. Very serious person but still really nice. Marcel is Canadian and... I don't think I found out what he is doing, and Alina studied International Communications and Foreign Affairs, or something to that affect. So, very accomplished people in this photo. We had pasta at this little place and then sat near the Brandenburg Gates and chatted and joked around into the night. It was really nice; we exchanged contact details and promised to skype. It's so funny how people you meet in just one day become your best friend for a little while.
Well I want to talk about the alternative tour a little more.
The place we visited was a place called Tacheles on Oranienburger Straße, which is a building that is filled with graffiti. It was once used by the Nazis during the war, then made into a shopping centre, then was to be made into apartments but the wall came down and there was suddenly nothing there. So all these artists of the east and west inhabited it and made it what it is today. There is a global warming art gallery right up the top, the artist is up there too, a little shop where you can buy art and a cinema. Downstairs is a cool open-air bar on sand (which I went to on the pub crawl, would love to go back). There is also a metal art gallery around the side. It's all very amazing and bizarre at the same time. I look at the work and think - where did you think up that, how did you even construct this? I can't even draw a stick figure and have neither the inspiration nor the handy work to create a piece. Feeling very inadequate in the creative stakes here. But nevermind, I'm not trying to make it as an artist so what does it matter?
But here are some pictures because it is amazing.
And this is an image I want to show you (below). It's a marking of where the wall used to stand. It's marked in brick all through Berlin. I really love it; I think it is so important to keep a reminder of where this country used to be only 20 years ago. That's in most of our lifetime, which I suppose is why I'm so disappointed with the painting of the wall. It just renders it a bit meaningless to me, and I'm sure a lot of people now. There are still parts of the wall that retain the original graffiti and markings, but the longest strip of the wall has been altered forever and that is sad. It can never be taken back.
Brick markings of where the wall once ran
The rest of the tour went around Berlin showing various graffiti work which I'll also post, talked about the rivals between different graffiti artist groups, the ever changing culture of Berlin. Also, talked about how commercial buildings and apartment blocks infiltrating predominantly artistic areas are threatening the free-spirited culture of Berlin, while also bringing renting costs up significantly and thus almost threatening the poorer people of Berlin who can only afford to live in these areas. One bar, Club 25 has already been given their notice to leave their premises. I think they have to be out by the 20th, which is sad because I'll be in Dresden then. There's so much more information that goes with this but as I am not an expert and really can't remember it all, just the basics, this is all I can offer you.
Oh, and he showed us some places where some, apparently, super wild clubs are. Such as KitKat Club, which is basically a sex fetish club where one must dress in bondage wear or some form of fetish gear. Guests are allowed to openly engage in sex in the venue and parties run from night all the way into the day. It sounds pretty crazy, a completely sexually uninhibited club. Lauren C wants me to go to do research for our travel website and write an article about it. I don't know... that seems a bit too wild for me... I think I'll need to bring someone with me. So Sarah, come to Berlin now so we can go to a sex club. Do we even have these in Sydney? I feel so sheltered. Our guide was like, "Don't go on Monday's, it's crap." so it seems he is quite the frequenter. A little glimpse into my guide's personal life I could have done without. Though he is very pretty.
Another club is Panorama Bar, which you're not allowed to take cameras into. Sounds interesting, I don't remember too much but apparently it has cubbyholes?? Once again, I'm not going by myself, I'm taking someone with me. When I went out with the Australian boys all we did was go to a pub, drink beer and talk about the film, Chopper. Well they did, I've only seen that movie once. It must be a guy thing. Male's conversations are incredibly boring.
And speaking of Australian males, why must they be so embarrassing? Maybe it's just the ones I have met, but they talk so loudly, in the most ocker accent (perhaps even putting it on, "Hey everyone, I'm Australian!"), and talk about how they're so grateful they got to see the final day of the Ashes series. Who fucking cares! Oh, and their blatant homophobia. Okay, Berlin is a very gay-friendly city. Get used to it. When our guide was speaking about this, and yes, he did have a camp way of speaking, the Aussie guys in our group just seemed so threatened by this, making inappropriate comments about gays and the tour guide. It was so rude. Deal with your sexuality issues before travelling please, because you're just an embarrassment to yourself. If you don't want to meet people from all walks of life then stay in the Shire.
Wow, I've done so much ranting today. I'm on a roll.
Okay I'll post more artwork because it's really cool:
Graffiti art throughout the city
Well I'm off to Dresden tomorrow for a few days to see some family. Staying with my Opa's sister Dorle. She doesn't speak much English and my German is pretty abysmal so we're going to have a great time trying to communicate. We can smile at each other. But she's really lovely, she said I could stay as long as I like. It's really cute; she's going to have a big sign at the train station saying 'Nicole' and a blue umbrella. Ha! How sweet. So I think I'll stay about three days and she's going to show me around Dresden, which is meant to be really beautiful.
Then I'm heading to Bielefeld, which is where my mum was born. My Great Auntie Monika lives there and I'll be staying with her. She is the wife of my Oma's brother and speaks a little bit of English. Her daughters will also be around and they speak English, which is good. Then I may head down to Dortmund and visit Sarah and then back to Berlin. To cut costs I'm thinking of doing this car-pooling thing. It's like registered hitchhiking. I know! It sounds really dodgy and like I'll end up on the Australian Embassy's missing persons list, but Alina has done it three times in Germany now and is actually in a car on her way to Dresden right now. So, we'll see. It's only 25 euros back to Berlin as opposed to 69 euros by train and what's life without a little could-possibly-get-kidnapped risk? At any rate, I'm excited about seeing family and having home cooked meals and washing my clothes. I'm currently on the third day wear of all my clothes because I want to wait until I get to Dorle's house so I don't have to pay. I'm so cheap. I'm doing pretty well money wise.
I love the freedom of being by myself and calling all the shots. It's very liberating. I've never had it before; I almost don't know what to do with myself. And sure, at night it can get lonely, but all you have to do is get over the shyness and chat to someone. Like last night, I went to have a shower and ended up chatting to this girl from Lebanon for about an hour. There were a few language issues, which were really funny, but she was really cute. She's by herself too and having a few of the same fears as me, mainly to do with safety - which I'm not having too much of an issue here in Berlin. I'm actually really proud of myself for not totally freaking out at the idea of being alone in a foreign city on the other side of the world. I'm actually doing pretty well. Go me!
Okay, I think that will do.
I'm not doing anything tonight, I'm pretty tired, I think I'll go to bed early. I should probably write in my travel journal, that thing is being pitifully neglected. It's become more of a notebook for things I need to do, random thoughts, places to go than an actual diary. Nevermind.
Well, I was going to go on the bike tour yesterday only to realise it's exactly like the walking tour (which I've done), but on bikes. So I decided to do the alternative tour again. The guy was hungover though and not really into it, so if he can do tour guiding, I'm pretty sure I can. He's an artist too; this town is full of them! I'm starting to think I'm not cool enough or creative enough for this city. Maybe if I dye my hair black again and become all edgy this will change things. No? Yeah, didn't think so. My hair can stay a lovely shade of low-maintenance brown.
So, something I did learn this time around that the other guy, Dave, never mentioned were a few laws that differ to most cities. In Berlin you can pee in public, have sex in public as long as you're not near families; marijuana has been decriminalised and prostitution is legal. This explains why I've seen quite a number of women dressed in corsets, extremely short frilly skirts and stockings; it's a very baby doll look, but obviously with a much more seductive slant. They even have their own union and if registered as a prostitute, the government provides free health checks. This whole leaglising of prostitution was basically to take these women out of the criminalised hands of pimps and dealers and provide a safer work place for them. The only problem with this is, I’ve read; that more than half of the prostitutes who work in Germany are eastern European and so don’t have the proper working permits and thus these laws and unions don’t apply to them. Now, not that I think prostitution is an ideal avenue for anyone and hopefully a career that one can avoid, but it's comforting to hear of a city that recognises that this is an unfortunate aspect of society that will always be present, and so by giving these women support, 1. doesn't marginalise them in society, but instead actually recognises them as citizens and 2. offers a, hopefully, much safer working environment. I’m sure there are many problems that will continually plague the women in this industry, many that I'm sure I am not even aware of, but they’re certainly doing more for women in this situation than I can imagine the Australian government is. I'm no expert on the subject by any means, but I can just imagine prostitutes in Sydney have little to no resources. It’s really sad when certain aspects of society, especially those that don’t fit into a conventional category are completely marginalised.
From just going out in Sydney, prostitutes are not treated with any sort of dignity or respect from the average person, while here it all seems a bit different. They're just left to do what they're doing, no one says anything, some people have a look - usually foreigners who do this. I walked passed a girl last night who was having a conversation with an English speaking couple about her job and the situation in Berlin. But like I said, it’s not an ideal situation that there are women who feel they need to sell themselves; it is really sad. I wonder what other support networks there are for these women in terms of even trying to get them out of the sex industry. It would be interesting to look into.
Mainly, it just makes me think of the girls I would see on a night out in the city and the terrible way in which they are by both men and women. I don’t think I could ever turn around to another woman, especially someone in obviously such a desperate situation, and just completely disregard them as a person; as someone who is 'disgusting' or a 'waste-of-space'. I think in large part, people need to re-evaluate their pre-determined perceptions and see that not everyone fits into a neat little box of what life is supposed to be. Who knows why this has become a post about prostitution and why I am suddenly their spokesperson; but I find the social issues of Berlin very interesting. As a woman, I feel very safe walking around Berlin alone; I hope this city doesn't prove me wrong. I certainly like its values. If only Australia weren't so conservative and people weren't so easily shocked by things, or more accurately, weren’t so inclined to turn a blind eye to uncomfortable issues that yes, perhaps don't concern them on a daily basis, but are in fact serious social issues that need to be addressed - and I'm not just talking about the prostitutes of Sydney either. But moving on before I get too fired up.
SO, during the tour I met a girl called Alina. She is American but was originally born in the Ukraine and speaks Russian. She moved when she was four and has just graduated from Berkley University in California. She is really nice, travelling alone, so when we found out we were both by ourselves she invited me to dinner with some people she had met. See below pic:
Me, Anna, Anne Marie, Marcel and Alina
They are all really lovely. Anna is 24, Australian and from BrisVegas and a nurse, Anne Marie is 22, American and from Chicago. She is an artist and just has this really cool, quirky view towards life, really smart but really down to earth. Her sister was there also but she wasn't feeling well. Her name is Caitlin and she is 32. Currently doing her Doctorate in Social Science (I think) and conducting research on statistics of gifted children in schools and their curriculum, while also devising curriculum for these kids. Very serious person but still really nice. Marcel is Canadian and... I don't think I found out what he is doing, and Alina studied International Communications and Foreign Affairs, or something to that affect. So, very accomplished people in this photo. We had pasta at this little place and then sat near the Brandenburg Gates and chatted and joked around into the night. It was really nice; we exchanged contact details and promised to skype. It's so funny how people you meet in just one day become your best friend for a little while.
Well I want to talk about the alternative tour a little more.
The place we visited was a place called Tacheles on Oranienburger Straße, which is a building that is filled with graffiti. It was once used by the Nazis during the war, then made into a shopping centre, then was to be made into apartments but the wall came down and there was suddenly nothing there. So all these artists of the east and west inhabited it and made it what it is today. There is a global warming art gallery right up the top, the artist is up there too, a little shop where you can buy art and a cinema. Downstairs is a cool open-air bar on sand (which I went to on the pub crawl, would love to go back). There is also a metal art gallery around the side. It's all very amazing and bizarre at the same time. I look at the work and think - where did you think up that, how did you even construct this? I can't even draw a stick figure and have neither the inspiration nor the handy work to create a piece. Feeling very inadequate in the creative stakes here. But nevermind, I'm not trying to make it as an artist so what does it matter?
But here are some pictures because it is amazing.
And this is an image I want to show you (below). It's a marking of where the wall used to stand. It's marked in brick all through Berlin. I really love it; I think it is so important to keep a reminder of where this country used to be only 20 years ago. That's in most of our lifetime, which I suppose is why I'm so disappointed with the painting of the wall. It just renders it a bit meaningless to me, and I'm sure a lot of people now. There are still parts of the wall that retain the original graffiti and markings, but the longest strip of the wall has been altered forever and that is sad. It can never be taken back.
Brick markings of where the wall once ran
The rest of the tour went around Berlin showing various graffiti work which I'll also post, talked about the rivals between different graffiti artist groups, the ever changing culture of Berlin. Also, talked about how commercial buildings and apartment blocks infiltrating predominantly artistic areas are threatening the free-spirited culture of Berlin, while also bringing renting costs up significantly and thus almost threatening the poorer people of Berlin who can only afford to live in these areas. One bar, Club 25 has already been given their notice to leave their premises. I think they have to be out by the 20th, which is sad because I'll be in Dresden then. There's so much more information that goes with this but as I am not an expert and really can't remember it all, just the basics, this is all I can offer you.
Oh, and he showed us some places where some, apparently, super wild clubs are. Such as KitKat Club, which is basically a sex fetish club where one must dress in bondage wear or some form of fetish gear. Guests are allowed to openly engage in sex in the venue and parties run from night all the way into the day. It sounds pretty crazy, a completely sexually uninhibited club. Lauren C wants me to go to do research for our travel website and write an article about it. I don't know... that seems a bit too wild for me... I think I'll need to bring someone with me. So Sarah, come to Berlin now so we can go to a sex club. Do we even have these in Sydney? I feel so sheltered. Our guide was like, "Don't go on Monday's, it's crap." so it seems he is quite the frequenter. A little glimpse into my guide's personal life I could have done without. Though he is very pretty.
Another club is Panorama Bar, which you're not allowed to take cameras into. Sounds interesting, I don't remember too much but apparently it has cubbyholes?? Once again, I'm not going by myself, I'm taking someone with me. When I went out with the Australian boys all we did was go to a pub, drink beer and talk about the film, Chopper. Well they did, I've only seen that movie once. It must be a guy thing. Male's conversations are incredibly boring.
And speaking of Australian males, why must they be so embarrassing? Maybe it's just the ones I have met, but they talk so loudly, in the most ocker accent (perhaps even putting it on, "Hey everyone, I'm Australian!"), and talk about how they're so grateful they got to see the final day of the Ashes series. Who fucking cares! Oh, and their blatant homophobia. Okay, Berlin is a very gay-friendly city. Get used to it. When our guide was speaking about this, and yes, he did have a camp way of speaking, the Aussie guys in our group just seemed so threatened by this, making inappropriate comments about gays and the tour guide. It was so rude. Deal with your sexuality issues before travelling please, because you're just an embarrassment to yourself. If you don't want to meet people from all walks of life then stay in the Shire.
Wow, I've done so much ranting today. I'm on a roll.
Okay I'll post more artwork because it's really cool:
Graffiti art throughout the city
Well I'm off to Dresden tomorrow for a few days to see some family. Staying with my Opa's sister Dorle. She doesn't speak much English and my German is pretty abysmal so we're going to have a great time trying to communicate. We can smile at each other. But she's really lovely, she said I could stay as long as I like. It's really cute; she's going to have a big sign at the train station saying 'Nicole' and a blue umbrella. Ha! How sweet. So I think I'll stay about three days and she's going to show me around Dresden, which is meant to be really beautiful.
Then I'm heading to Bielefeld, which is where my mum was born. My Great Auntie Monika lives there and I'll be staying with her. She is the wife of my Oma's brother and speaks a little bit of English. Her daughters will also be around and they speak English, which is good. Then I may head down to Dortmund and visit Sarah and then back to Berlin. To cut costs I'm thinking of doing this car-pooling thing. It's like registered hitchhiking. I know! It sounds really dodgy and like I'll end up on the Australian Embassy's missing persons list, but Alina has done it three times in Germany now and is actually in a car on her way to Dresden right now. So, we'll see. It's only 25 euros back to Berlin as opposed to 69 euros by train and what's life without a little could-possibly-get-kidnapped risk? At any rate, I'm excited about seeing family and having home cooked meals and washing my clothes. I'm currently on the third day wear of all my clothes because I want to wait until I get to Dorle's house so I don't have to pay. I'm so cheap. I'm doing pretty well money wise.
I love the freedom of being by myself and calling all the shots. It's very liberating. I've never had it before; I almost don't know what to do with myself. And sure, at night it can get lonely, but all you have to do is get over the shyness and chat to someone. Like last night, I went to have a shower and ended up chatting to this girl from Lebanon for about an hour. There were a few language issues, which were really funny, but she was really cute. She's by herself too and having a few of the same fears as me, mainly to do with safety - which I'm not having too much of an issue here in Berlin. I'm actually really proud of myself for not totally freaking out at the idea of being alone in a foreign city on the other side of the world. I'm actually doing pretty well. Go me!
Okay, I think that will do.
I'm not doing anything tonight, I'm pretty tired, I think I'll go to bed early. I should probably write in my travel journal, that thing is being pitifully neglected. It's become more of a notebook for things I need to do, random thoughts, places to go than an actual diary. Nevermind.
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