Summer in Berlin 2015

This summer. Enjoying the heat. Berlin has been pleasant this year. The heat lingered long and in the midth of december it is still warm. It has been months of new encounters and projects, good byes and decisions. Not the easiest time, but lessons learned.

I had to learn to pause again.

There was this aching pain in my shoulder. This and my skin worsening are a sure sign of stress. I wanted that stress, I even invited that stress as I saw it not as something negative, but a learning experience. Dedication is good, but I lost sight of other things. I did not know how to enjoy a moment anymore with my mind being corrupted by thoughts of the next thing to do.

I went to a café and had a coffee and a book. No memo pad, no laptop, only me, that book and a coffee.

I forced myself to take that pause and it was hard.

When did I unlearn to pause?! I remember my long sessions of writing diary in cafés during my uni years. My diary has been outdated for three years... I'm still in the process of pinpointing that problem. I'm on it.

More ferry rides, cats and tea

I found my rythm, I found my spot. This is the place I have to be right now. Summer crept over the hills of Istanbul and the window is always open. Happy chatter, birds' singing and seagulls' crying and the occasional boat horns blasting over the Bosporus. The sun that is already strong as the Berlin August sun, but I am still enjoying the heat and humidity lingering over the city.

I had a splendid time with friends visiting me in Istanbul. It is weird mixing two lives together, but I definitely enjoyed sharing the city I live in right now. Here are a few pictures of my first outings in the city, discovering the wonderful places:

KADIKÖY
I live on the European side of Istanbul. My hood is called Cihangir and I like it! I can see the sunrise every morning. It changes from pink and red to a foggy violet sky where only a few minarets stick out. The fog swallows the sky and dips it into a milky grey blue sea becoming one with the ocean before the sun rises and cuts everything apart with her gleaming. Pretty spectacular. Similarly spectacular is the sunset when returning from the Asian side (see cover photo a few posts back). For that we took a boat to Kadıköy, which would be my second choice for living. Lots of alternative life, streetart and funny stuff. You find fresh food and good fish there, as well as some really nice options for food!
I love the long steep street at which ends you still see the ocean glimmering in the distance. Here are only a few of those:





THE ISLANDS
A few dear friend came to visit and we explored the city. Not many pictures taking there, but here are a few from our escape to the Islands. The Princess' Islands are a group of islands in the Marmara ocean in front of Istanbul. A perfect escape from the city and a nice way to relax for a day. The bigger one's can be quite touristic with the lines of fish restaurant at the port and all the waiters trying to usher you in. But you will find beaches and lots of nature on the smaller ones. Grab a few friends, rent bikes and head out over the island. This time, we took the very touristic horse carriage, which was also quite fun and I can recommend it to it at least once for the fun of it.






A LITTLE BIT OF LIFE
I love taking a break and drinking a tea, smoking a cigarette and playing backgammon. Such a nice tradition. I love the cats everywhere and the people taking good care of them. I like the view from my office with the big atlantic cruisers starting from there everyday. I love turkish coffee in fancy cups and good cappucino with delicious cookies. I love the crazy markets in the backstreet, where you can try everything and get the freshest and most delicous food. I love to try turkish dishes (here: Mantı - turkish dumplings) at home and eat them with friends. Life is good.








Last but not least:
It's nice not to be forgotten... Hello to Berlin! Modern technology is surely fascinating. Combining two lives so easily with a click. I took part in dinner, went to the balcony with them to smoke a cigarette and even got a *virtual* sip of beer. Oh, how I miss these guys!

The language

And this language is just so good to me :) Everything written is pronounced the exact same way. No "sch", no "st" as in "Straße", no French word pronounced differently. Once you get into the system, there you go. For me to have the comparison of German and Japanese, it is quite nice. I recognize a lot of words we use in German, the structure is something I am used from Japanese. The pronounciation as e.g. the "i" without a dot reminds me a lot of Korean. Any linguist will shake his head now, but this is how I make sense of the language. Here are some of my favorite words I collected so far:

Minyatür
Teknoloji
Şoför
Taksi
Sinema
Ketçap
Kuaför
Kafeterya
Baget
Aksesuar