Cosima Underwater

1. I have so loved your posts on German and Hong Kong culture and history. What do you love most and what do you dislike most about each place and how did you end up in Hong Kong?

I went to Hong Kong pretty much on a whim after I had finished my university degree in London. I didn’t have a job offer, and was not sure if I would stay for long. I will never forget the first day in Hong Kong. I was badly jet lagged, but the city had such vibrancy that I couldn’t stop walking through the streets and taking it all in. During the first few months I sent out hundreds of job applications, but didn’t have much luck. Most foreigners who work here were transferred within their organizations, and a German applying for a job directly in Hong Kong was out of the ordinary. But just as my tourist visa was about to expire, one of the companies I had applied to and interviewed with offered me a position, and I have been here ever since.

What do I love about Hong Kong? The vibrancy of the street life, just taking a stroll through any of the old neighborhoods at any time of the day is an experience. There are always people on the street, and there is always something interesting to see. The food! Eating out is an integral part of Hong Kong’s culture. From small hole-in-the-wall take-aways to multi-storey restaurants, from the local Cantonese cuisine to delicacies from all around the world, everything is available. I also love the enterprising spirit of Hongkongers. There are so many small shops, restaurants, and companies in Hong Kong, started by people with can-do attitude, and it gives the city an incredible level of energy.

What I don’t like is the slavish adherence to progress, or what is perceived as such. For me progress is a rise in quality of life, and that can’t be achieved by simply building new skyscrapers or shopping malls. However, people’s attitudes are beginning to change more and more. They worry about preservation of their cultural heritage and the environment. I just wish the government here would pay more attention to their concerns.

Berlin is my home city, so I am terribly biased, but I love that the city has its own way. If you travel around Germany and as your last stop go to Berlin, you notice it immediately. It’s not tidy, it’s not terribly pretty – although it has some wonderful areas - , and Berliners can sometimes be extremely straight-forward … ok, rude. But the city ticks to its own beat, and that’s wonderful.

It comes from a mix of different attitudes, I suppose. Firstly, Berliners have a big dose of stoicism (“Uns kann jarnischt”- Nothing can really touch us), which comes from the city’s turbulent history, and that it has survived through it all. Secondly, Berliners are a pretty tolerant bunch. It’s a good place to start something new and out of the ordinary, because chances are that Berliners will not only let you, but also protect it. Thirdly, having money doesn’t necessarily earn you respect in Berlin. So a Gucci handbag won’t buy you any cloud. People will know immediately that you are a) probably from Munich and b) have serious self-esteem issues. Which btw is the direct opposite to Hong Kong, where the right brand name handbag makes the girl.

What I don’t like about Berlin is the passive attitude of some of its people. Berliners are good at complaining about how hard their life is, and blaming others for it. Sometimes I just want to scream to their faces that they live in unbelievable luxury and comfort compared to most other people on this planet, and that it’s no use blaming others for something they have to change themselves.

2. What place in the world have you not yet been to that you are dying to see and experience and why that place?

There are many places I haven’t yet seen and would love to visit. But there is one very special place that I hope to see soon and that is Burma. All I have read about the country, about its culture, the diversity of its landscape, about its history and people, have been incredibly interesting and have wet my appetite. However, I have made the pledge to myself that I only want to see it as a free and democratic country.

If you are of the reading type, I urge you to read some of Aung San Suu Kyi’s books. Her book “Letters from Burma”, a relatively slim anthology of articles she wrote for a Japanese newspaper, is a good starting point to learn about ordinary life in Burma, and how it is affected by the present military regime. She is a very good writer, and Burma almost leaps from the book’s pages. Her official website has a lot of historic and current information as well, and I find the reports on the site from recent visitors to the country especially interesting. Also reading Amitav Gosh’s “Glass Palace” is a good start to learn about Burma’s history in a very entertaining way.

I don’t know if you all have seen the recent news. There are mass demonstrations on Rangoon’s streets, because the people have had enough of the repressive rule of the military junta. The demonstrations were started by Buddhist monks, but ordinary people have quickly joined the protests. The police has tried to stop the protest by firing live ammunition. But people have regrouped, and so far every day has seen new protests.

I know it sounds very bleak, but I don’t think the Burmese people can expect much help from the outside world. Burma’s big neighbors, China and India, are more interested in the country’s rich oil and gas reserves than in the well-being of its people, and the US and Europe will probably just up the rhetoric a bit. I am hoping that the Burmese will be strong enough to bring change by themselves, and I am hoping that a few people in the military junta will go against their own and stop the current bloodshed.

In 1989, Aung San Suu Kyi was democratically elected as her country’s political leader. In the same year the Berlin Wall fell. Change can come very quickly and unsuspected. I hope that now is such a time in Burma, because I would like to visit sooner rather than later.

3. You’ve just joined the sensational new girl band ‘mamaya.’ what kind of music do we play? What is your place in the band? And what should we wear?

The new musical sensation “Mamaya” would play an eclectic mix of rock, jazz, and anything else that strikes our fancy and current mood. People would never know what to expect when going to our concerts. My place in the band wouldn’t matter too much, because I would need to be dubbed anyway. The only musical instrument I play is my stereo, and singing isn’t my forte either. Maybe with a little electronic magic, I could be a background singer?

So why did they choose me for the hottest band in town? Because my hair is wild and I can shake my ass to the beat. Also I am not afraid to get half-nekkid on stage. We all wear the sensational Lime dress in different shades and pair it off with some fancy Birkenstock thong sandals. When the crowd goes wild, we throw our Birkis into the audience, and dance barefoot.

4. What is your favorite book from your childhood and which character in it would you be?

When I was a child, I devoured every Astrid Lindgren book I could get my hands on, and my most favorite character was Pippi Longstocking or Langstrumpf, as she is called in German. I also loved the Swedish movie adaptations of the series. I wanted to be just like her, free-spirited, strong, and witty. Best of all, she didn’t have to take shit from grown-ups… one cool girl!

5. I see you have postsecret linked in your sidebar. What secrets on the site are you most drawn to?

There aren’t any special kinds of secrets that I am drawn to, I find them all very interesting. Everyone of us has secrets, and I find the idea of creating a place for them to be seen wonderful. I am hoping that the people writing to post secret get some solace and empowerment out of it.

I also find it fascinating to see the different human emotions shining through these messages, good and bad ones. I think most of these emotions are honest, and honesty is always interesting.

Thank you so much, Lime, for sending me these questions. I had so much fun answering them. If some of you would like to be interviewed by me, please tell me in a comment.

The furry animal in the trailer is a large black dog. I wish I would have taken a better picture, but they were so faaaaaaaaast.

More pictures taken at the canal banks in Berlin-Kreuzberg are here.

When I was a little girl, my parents used to take me to East Berlin on day trips, to see the other half of the city. We also visited friends and family in East Germany, but most of them lived in little towns some distance away from Berlin. Sightseeing visits to East Berlin were rarer, but they remain very vivid in my memory.

East Berlin was so different from the western part of the city, where we lived. It was gray, run down, and quiet, but it also had Berlin’s historic city center, and because very little had been done on the old buildings it always seemed like a journey back in time.

Yesterday, we went to Prenzlauer Berg, which I had seen for the first time during one of these visits. Then, getting to the Eastern part of the city took lengthy preparation and a long wait at the border, yesterday it was a simple subway ride.

Prenzlauer Berg is a beautiful inner city neighborhood, north east of the Brandenburg Gate. Like the name “Berg” (mountain) suggests it lies on a hill, and most of the buildings from the late 19th and early 20th century still exist. The neighborhood is one of the few inner city boroughs that was not heavily bombarded during World War II. When I saw Prenzlauer Berg for the first time during GDR times, most of the buildings were in terrible disrepair, now they have been renovated.

Prenzlauer Berg was a popular neighborhood for artists, students, and intellectuals during GDR times, and some of them began to organize opposition against the socialist regime in the 1980s. Zionskirche, pictured below, served as a meeting place for them, and was later closed by the Stasi in an effort to stop the movement.

After the fall of the wall, a lot of young people from the west moved into the derelict buildings in the neighborhood, and it was quickly established as the place to live and play in Berlin. That’s still the case, but the whole neighborhood, now restored and very pretty, has gone up-market and many of the original residents can’t afford the rising rents. It’s still a young neighborhood and very popular with young families, but you need to have a well-paying job to be able to live there.

If you would like to see the pictures larger and with captions click here.

I want to be cremated and my ashes scattered at sea, because:

1) I don’t want to be gaped at by nosy museum visitors 2500 years later (“well preserved female, lower caste, early primitive computer technology found by her side”).

2) Don’t look like beef jerky… yeah, call me vain.

The rest of the exhibition “Royal Tombs of the Scythians” was amazing though.

Go here to see artifacts from the exhibition, and here to read an English-language article describing what’s on display, and here to read up on Scythians.

Berlin is my home city, and it will always be a special place for me, but I don’t suffer from home sickness in Hong Kong either. Living abroad is a wonderful adventure for me. When I am in Berlin, half of me is a native, the other half sees the city with some distance, almost like a tourist. It’s a funny state to be in, and I think most expats go through the same feelings.

I try to make the most of my Berlin visits. I don’t have to work from nine to five, and can enjoy the city, and the best part is that I already know some of the best places to visit.

The following is not a top ten list of things to see or do in Berlin, just a random list of things I enjoy when I am here.

I enjoy that Berlin is a green city

Whenever I arrive, it’s the first thing I notice, and it has an immediate soothing effect on me. Berlin has over 400,000 trees lining its streets, and they make walking or bicycling on a hot summer day much more fun. Berlin also has over 2,500 parks, small neighborhood parks as well as expansive city parks like the Tiergarten in the center of the city (pictured above), or the beautiful Gardens of the World.

Berlin has lots and lots of water

Any tourist guide worth his money will tell you that Berlin has more bridges than Venice. There are two rivers, several canals, and innumerable lakes throughout the city area. The Wannsee and Müggelsee, the two largest lakes, are popular weekend retreats.

One of my favorite spots in the city is the bank of the Landwehrkanal in Kreuzberg. I usually start my stroll at Maybachufer, which is the site of a colorful Turkish market on Tuesday and Friday afternoons, and then walk along the green banks of the canal towards Urbanhafen. There are some very nice garden cafes and restaurants along the way, and also restaurant ships anchored on the banks of the canal.

Speaking of water…

Berliners are spoiled for choice, when they want to go swimming. There are more than 60 public swimming pools and lake-side beaches, and wherever you live in the city a pool isn’t far away. Little man has been going to swimming lessons at our neighborhood pool since we have arrived. It’s a special daily course during the school holidays, and it’s great fun to see all these kids having fun and making progress.

Berlin’s traffic men look cute

Berlin’s little green and red men are one of the few holdovers from communism. In East Germany all traffic men wore hats, and when the wall came down West Berliners wanted them too. Now they can be found in East Berlin, and also on new traffic lights in West Berlin.

Ick bin een Berlina. Da kiekste, wa?!

I love the Berlin dialect. Ok… the rest of Germany might not agree, but they don’t know what’s good anyway. It’s my true first language. I also know how to speak Hochdeutsch (high German), but when I am in Berlin, chatting with good friends or family, there is absolutely no doubt that I was born and raised here.

Berliners are direct

Most often too direct. They relish telling you, when you are wrong, and won’t hide if they don’t like you. On the other hand, you always know where you are with them, which is quite refreshing.

To give you an example, a few days ago little man crashed with his bicycle. His knee and elbow were bleeding, and he was crying miserably. Five people passed us, on foot or bicycles, and all of them offered help. But the sixth only saw a mama holding her child in her arms, standing in the middle of the path. He told me that I was blocking the way… that’s the Berlin mix of “Herz und Schnauze” (heart and big mouth). Some have more Herz, others more Schnauze.

Berlin has a public transport system that works!

Subways, city trains, buses, trams… all interconnected in a dense network crisscrossing the city. But don’t try to tell Berliners, how good their public transport is. They won’t believe you. Instead, they rather stand in traffic jams with their cars, and spend hours in search for a parking space.

Speaking of not having to use a car…

Berlin has over 800 kilometers of bicycle paths, and a lot of people use their bicycles for daily transportation. It’s a wonderful way to see the city, go to places without worrying about high gas prices, and getting a work-out at the same time. If you don’t want to pedal on your own, you can always hire a velotaxi… the video even says that they are exporting the high-tech rickshaws back to Asia… :)

Museums, theaters, operas, art galleries…

we have them all, and the nice thing is that there isn’t just a wide variety of big, state-supported places, but also smaller ones, like off-theaters in cellars and rooftops, music stages in former circus tents, private galleries, and one room museums. It makes for a very lively cultural scene, which no doubt profits from Berlin’s low property prices.

I hear that the night life isn’t bad either…

and doesn’t need to hide behind those of bigger cities, but don’t ask me where to go. Like all people over thirty with small kids, I am so out of it. On the other hand, if you need to know where the best children’s playgrounds are, send me an email.

During the last weeks, I have spent a handful of days in the office of a business partner, to get the most pressing things done for Cosima Inc. When little man is around, it’s impossible to get anything done, and it is also nice to talk strategy while I am in his office. He concentrates on sales, while I do the buying side of the business.

His office is in a converted shop, which he shares with another company, and it’s not exactly located in the best part of town. But I am enjoying it more than sitting in a glitzy office tower. It’s a colorful area with lots of people on the sidewalks, and restaurants with cuisine from all over the world. My favorite is a little Vietnamese restaurant, where I can get an excellent authentic meal with main course, drink, and coffee for 8 Euros (US$5.80).

Yesterday, not one but two gypsy bands came by to serenade us from the side walk, which let the rest of my office companions sigh in exasperation. Apparently, it’s a too frequent occurrence. I enjoyed it though, they were good.

Our neighbors are an organic produce shop and a hairdresser specializing in African hairdos. Opposite are an animal clinic and an old-style pub, a “Kneipe”. While I wouldn’t want to spend time inside - think smoky dark room with a few men sitting at the bar drinking beer at 11 in the morning - they also have a few tables on the sidewalk, an excellent spot to drink coffee and do a little people watching.

Best of all, the office is near enough to get there with my bike. So my working days are also my work-out days, which brings a sense of double accomplishment.

PS: The post title “Kiez” is the equivalent of hood or neighborhood in Berlin dialect. It’s mostly used for inner-city areas, not the wealthiest but with lots of character.

Woohoo! Little man has learnt how to ride his bicycle without training wheels. Taking off the pedals together with the training wheels for a short while did the trick. Without the pedals it was much easier for him to learn how to balance. Opa also promised him an ice cream if he tried…

We are off for a bike ride. I hope I can keep up…lol

I am milking the zoo visit for all it’s worth. This is the last zoo post. I promise. At least for this week.

After trying to take pictures of animals and not having much luck, because a) they move a lot, and b) I don’t own a phallic camera lens, I concentrated on homo sapiens in front of the cages. After all, we were in the zoo, where it’s all about humans staring at animals …and animals staring back?

I wonder whether they were thinking about lunch, because…

… lunch was standing only a few meters away.

Underwater view

Fascination by all sides.

Observing the sea lions

The first to blink loses

Easy

Harder

Impossible

This was the crowd in front of Knut’s enclosure. Knut has become a rowdy teenager, and was surprisingly active on this very unpolar summer day. His grown-up relations were taking cooling baths and naps in the shade.

Planning a mass escape?