I hear from many people that they are really interested to move to Berlin and make a fresh start in this city. Almost all of them, after five or ten minutes of conversation are asking me whether there are available jobs in Berlin. And the answer is not an easy one: according to my limited experience – which anyone with basic net surfing skills can acquire in 15 minutes- there are available jobs in Berlin but mainly for qualified and experienced German speaking people.

For those who do not posses adequate German language skills, job hunting in Berlin is literally „hunting“, because on the one hand the non-German speaking jobs are scarce and on the other hand the supply for this type of jobs is extremely high. Therefore, the only real option is to…learn German. Of course, it sounds easier to say it-or also to write it- than actually doing it. And then comes the second question: „is it really difficult to learn German?“ Well, although, the issue of difficulty is a subjective one, being Dutch or Norwegian could give you an advantage comparing to be Spanish, Italian or Greek. Syntax, pronunciation and grammar could be just some of the obstacles when trying to learn „descent“ German and unfortunately there are not easy solutions – at least for me.

So, it’s really a question of how much is someone willing to try. There is only one definite prerequisite for success: motive. If there is a strong a motive, then..alles ist moglich!

For tonight, „keep the streets empty for me“… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAQnngjqCP4

Today for the first time in January I walked into my classroom and met my new teacher and classmates. After a short introduction of ourselves we caught up in a discussion in regard to the demonstration which took place in Berlin on Saturday, Jan 22nd. Everyone in the classroom was trying to express their opinion about the conditions in the poultry and pig farms where animals are treated inhumanly and how these conditions affect our daily food and pose a risk to human health and the environment.The teacher divided us into two groups and asked us to give the overview of the problem and discuss some ways that we, as consumers of meet, can help this situation. Of course, many of us immediately thought that becoming a vegetarian was the easy way out. However, nobody was ready to give up eating meat today. Some of us proceeded in stating the benefits of eating meet to justify ourselves, such as the important minerals meat contains that our body needs, etc. But the list was short. The „Vegetable“ list of benefits won.The conclusion of today’s discussion was that if every human being reduces the consumption of meet on daily basis will help the world to be a better place. I, personally, took it seriously.