It’s been a couple of weeks since I moved into my new place and I’m loving being at home here.

I’ve been having a bit of an explore around Wedding, and making my room a bit more homey. I’ve also been doing a lot of sewing, which is what I love. I went to university in London where I studied Costume and learnt how to make historical clothing. Now I like to make bespoke shirts for men. This is where the magic happens…

One of the things I love about this city is the history it has and how you can see it everywhere. I’m reading a book at the moment called Stasiland by Anna Funder. It’s a collection of stories from the times of the DDR, and the author’s own story of how she found them.

Some of it is incredibly disturbing, but at the same time very empowering to read about how people survived and overcame living in a world closed off from so much. There are lots of places you can go and find out about the DDR, like the museum in Mitte which is quite small, but really interesting. They have models of what a typical home would look like and footage of TV from the time. http://www.ddr-museum.de/en

One of my favourite things to do in the week is to visit the Turkish markets in Neukolln.

It’s held on Maybachufer, near Kottbusser Tor and is on Tuesday and Fridays. There are lots of stalls selling fruit, veg, deli food and fabric. A great place for a bargain and wide variety!

Last night I went to a round table meeting run by The Upcycling Fashion Store in Berlin. It was held at Lebenskleidung, which is an ethical fabric store based in Kreuzberg. The meeting was attended by various people in the eco fashion industry here, and was a great opportunity for me to meet people here who have similar interests. I hope to work in this industry and met some really interesting people. I also got some lovely fair trade fabric from the Lebenskeidung remnants box for free!

There are some great places to eat in Berlin, and I somehow have already got a strong list of favourites after being here for such a short time.

I visited Vietnam 2 years ago and discovered some amazing dishes there so was pretty excited to check out Miss Saigon in Kreuzberg. It’s right by Gorlizter Banhof U-Bahn (U1), and they have a wide selection of dishes from Southern Vietnam, and lots of vegetarian options. I’d also recommend their Sinh-To (fruit shakes), they will perk up any groggy morning!

Another place I found last week was MEN MEN in Neukolln, it’s a Japanese self-service restaurant. They have a small menu, but I really liked what I had and the prices are very reasonable. Once you have ordered your food, they give you a plastic ticket which vibrates when your dish is ready!

Vibrating ticket

With Summer on the way, and the amount of ice cream I eat, I thought I should invest in a bicycle to get around the city….

I went onto craigslist to see what was on offer, and found an ad for a 2nd hand bike shop in Friedrichshain. They sounded friendly and like they were the right price range so we went over to say hello. The shop is called Bike-A-Way, it’s on Kochannestr. they have a good selection of road, mountain and town bikes and they will help you find the right bike for you. I even went back to swap mine after 2 weeks for something a bit faster, no problem.

Stella with her beautiful bike, Cnl. Mustard

Yesterday was the beginning of Week 2 of the Intensive Deutsche Klasse, and a Monday, so after the class I went to meet my friend in Neukolln for some well-earned ice cream!

We have taken it upon ourselves to find the best ice cream in Berlin, and this is the best so far. It’s called Fraulein Frost, and has the most amazing flavours. They also do Frost Yogurt which is delicious with Eidelbeer Sauce.

Choc. Orange and Haselnuss Flavour

Last week I moved into my new flat in Wedding. I am sharing with 5 others, a lovely group of people who I am really enjoying getting to know, and obviously practice my German speaking with!

I have a great big room, so I have room to sew and do yoga (2 of my favourite things). I also have a disco ball, a very important and necessary feature for all homes, in my opinion. I now have to explore Wedding, as I don’t know the area well at all. If anyone has any tips do let me know :-).

Das Motto der DeutschAkademie gilt nicht nur für unsere TeilnehmerInnen sondern auch für unsere Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter.

Mit Spaß …

• Jeder Tag ist anders!
  Sie sind für ein vielfältiges und abwechslungsreiches Aufgabengebiet zuständig. Kein Tag ist wie der vorherige. Das macht die Arbeit in der DeutschAkademie so spannend.
• Jeder Kunde/jede Kundin ist anders!
  Sie haben täglich mit Menschen aus der ganzen Welt zu tun. Das bedeutet für Sie, dass Sie verschiedenste Persönlichkeiten kennenlernen.
• Zufriedene und glückliche Teilnehmer sind unsere Mission.
  Sie wissen, dass Service von innen kommt und der Mensch den Unterschied macht. Herzlichkeit und Kundennähe sind für Sie selbstverständlich.
• Im Team geht vieles leichter.
  Teamwork ist bei uns nicht nur ein Begriff, es wird gelebt. Sie können sich jederzeit der Unterstützung Ihrer Kollegen sicher sein und haben Freude daran, dasselbe zu tun.

… zum Erfolg!

• Sie sind kein kleines Rädchen in einem Großbetrieb.
  In der DeutschAkademie erhalten Sie Einblick in fast alle Unternehmensbereiche: ob Front Office, Back Office, Buchhaltung oder Marketing. So können Sie einerseits Ihr vielfältiges Wissen anwenden und gleichzeitig Neues dazulernen – fachlich wie persönlich.
• Selbst ist der Mann/die Frau.
  Als MitarbeiterIn haben Sie unser Vertrauen und viele Freiheiten, wir erwarten im Gegenzug ein hohes Maß an Eigeninitiative und Selbstständigkeit.
• Ihnen sind Aufstiegsmöglichkeiten wichtig?
  Uns auch! Innerhalb des Teams haben Sie nach intensiver Einschulung jederzeit die Möglichkeit, mehr Verantwortung zu übernehmen. Vielleicht sogar in einem unserer Standorte im Ausland.
• Bringen Sie Ihre Ideen ein!
  Ergreifen Sie die Chance, die DeutschAkademie mitzugestalten. Ihre Vorschläge werden nicht nur gerne angenommen, auf Feedback wird sogar sehr viel Wert gelegt.
• Probleme werden in Lösungen und Ziele verwandelt.
  Mit einmal erreichten Standards geben wir uns nicht zufrieden. Mit Leidenschaft und Begeisterung setzen wir immer noch eines drauf.

LIKE! LIKE! LIKE!