Till Next Time
Only I could get teary-eyed saying goodbye to my bartender. But Ulla was more that that… she was like a German mother to me. Everyday, coming in or out of the apartment, she’d be there with a smile on her face, making sure that life was treating me as it should. One of the perks of living on top of a pub. We had our last sips of whiskey together on Thursday, then Hilmar and Jan were whisking me away to the airport. My 45 kilogram bag didn’t fit Air France’s 32 kilogram machine so we were given 7 minutes to seperate the treasures from the trash. That or I’d miss my flight. An adventure up to the last second! And suddenly I was alone on a plane to New York trying to figure out how it happened so quickly.
My last week in Berlin was one of the greatest weeks ever and so much due goes to the people who made it that way. Despite the incessant calls to pack and organize my over-stressed life, I couldn’t resist just one more beer with the boys.
And then the incredible happened. While playing fussball up in my flat with Hilmar, I got a call from the pub summoning me downstairs (a not too uncommon experience) for a pint. We relented and made our way to the bar. Agniezska, the over-the-top Polish bartender pointed me to the back room, which was darkened yet still carried a soft glow to it. I peered through the smoke and sound of the pub: it was everybody — all the people I’d managed to aquaint myself with in Berlin. They held sparklers and were waiting on my arrival. I was dumbstruck. Hilmar had organized an entire surprise going-away party for me.
The beer flowed, the shots flew and I laughed a lot and a lot. Aga emerged from behind her perch at the bar. She decided it was country music line-dancing time, her favorite time of any day, and insisted we join her. When Aga insists on something, resistence is futile. She tried to pass along the steps Ian taught her when the boys were here paying a visit, inevitably either missing or adding a step somewhere during the turn but don’t think that ever slowed her down.
The very last evening in Berlin was spent with the boys at Bier-Tempel (the name says it all, right). After a heavy portion of German delicacies (meat and potatoes), we found ourselves on top of the Reichstag looking out across life and the world. It was beautiful. A few bars later and I was fast asleep, nervously waiting on the day of departure.
Danke Deutschland. Danke Berlin. Danke Dresden. Drei von den letzten fuenf Jahren…wow. Ihr seid incredible. Besucht mich hier in New York. Oder Texas. Oder… mir egal. Ihr habt ne staendige Einladung. Ich freue mich auf das naechste Mal!