the luxury of free water

Yesterday I headed over to west berlin to hang out with Chris and Danielle and their son Bode. I met up with them plus Tamara and Brien at their quite large and nice apartment. The area is maybe not as hopping as some parts of east berlin but they have a pretty nice space. We went over to the Schloss Charlottenburg and walked around the gardens in the back while talking about birds. Chris is a neuroscientist that works with birds, and Danielle is a science teacher. It’s nice to have scientist friends who break into monologues about birds rather than Agamben.

After that they made us a wonderful dinner, all the more wonderful because I think it was the first real home cooked meal I’ve had since I’ve been here. I don’t know if it’s because Berliners eat out a lot, or if my roommates just aren’t into cooking, but the kitchen in my apartment isn’t really set up well for cooking. I get by ok, but a lot of normal kitchen things I’m used to are absent, like a can opener (though C and D had an extra one and so generously gave it to me).

It’s also nice to sit around a table with people who are more in my age range. I’ve met some good people through the GI, but many of them are college aged, 20 or 21. This past year I’ve begun to notice a separation between myself and people who are that age, that I never really noticed when I was, say, 24. It’s not anything extreme – it’s not that I’m super-mature myself and I still find a minimal amount of energy to keep with things like new music – but I do find that I have less boundless energy and maybe a little more perspective.

That being said, after finishing dinner with the grown-ups I promptly headed back on the u-bahn to the “Bang Bang Club” and joined said 21 year olds to dance to indie-electro until 3am or so. The only difference was that, having been too many times to Blow Up SF/LA, I had considerably lower expectations about the club than they did.