Last Day in Berlin

This is it! This is my last day in Berlin!! It’s my last day layering up as I don’t intend to wear layers tomorrow; it’s my last day of taking the bus to work; last day to walk around the area; last day to cook/prepare a meal in the kitchen; so many lasts. Also…as of tomorrow, there’ll be no more unpredictable hot/cold showers or super cold toilet seats! Now THAT’s something I won’t miss. Lol! J

When I went to work this morning and saw Miriam, she commented on how snowy it was and that she thought of me when it started snowing during the weekend! I guess I’ll always be the girl whom they will remember whenever they see snow! Lol! And I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not!

It was really snowy today; somewhat similar to the day when I video recorded the snow fall. Everyone commented about it being snowy, saying that, since I arrived in snow, it’s fated that I leave with the snow.

My farewell lunch at the office was really something so sweet. Instead of catering food or going out for lunch, the entire office surprised me with a personally prepared lunch. Everyone cooked/brought a dish that was native to their region or country!! There was some real German food. There was tortilla, sauerkraut, currywurst, some Palestinian sesame seed dip, marzipan chocolates etc. How sweet of them all to do such a thing; and all the food were so yummy! I was/am really sad to leave this bunch of people! They’ve been so welcoming and helpful. Sighs… They also gave me a present (an Oscar nominated German movie ‘Run Lola Run’ on DVD) with a card of the public transport network map. I guess they really want me to remember Berlin! J

So, I didn’t get to follow Yvonne to Penzlauer Berg after lunch, as her daughter is still sick. Instead, I left the office a bit earlier to go get my shoes. I spent 1.5 hours in the shoe shop, trying more than 10 pairs of shoes. I was almost going to buy two pairs then decided not to be greedy and settled for one pair. My mind was made up when a lady who was watching me try on shoes told me that the pair I was wearing (and ended up buying) looked perfect on me! Lol! I also bought a leather wallet. Just couldn’t stop myself from spending money here.

Back in the apartment later on, I spent about an hour chatting with my hsemate as today is the last chance for us to chat. We also exchanged emails, with her promising to send me pictures of the trees outside my room once they are in full bloom. She also gave me a bottle of dark beer with cherries, as she remembered me telling her that I like sweet wine. The first half of the glass was quite good. I leave the apartment for good tomorrow morning as I’ve decided to go to the airport from the office. Anna offered to fetch me to the office.

After the chat, I went back to packing. Half way through, I decided to weigh my bag and I couldn’t lift my bag high enough to get a reading! Oh oh!! From what I could lift, the scale read 15-16 kgs, so I guess I am still safe. Let’s see what’s the reading tomorrow morning!

I had my last dinner here in Berlin with Anna. We had Flammkuchen, a type of pizza, with spring onions, onions, bacon, sour cream and gorgonzola. This was my first time tasting gorgonzola and it was…um…not very nice. It was kind of smelly and had a weird taste; in the end, I ate the half that had no gorgonzola. :p

As I waited for Anna to come down from her apartment before we had dinner, I stood at the entrance to her apartment building and took one last look at my area, Dieffenbachstrasse, in the night. The roads and pathways were covered in snow; the streetlights hardly lit up the area; few people were walking around; the area was just quiet. This is my last memory of Dieffenbachstrasse on my last night in Berlin. Cold, quiet, calm.

--