Cherie in Bärlin

Dear Gran,

Cherie has arrived here in time to enjoy beautiful late summer weather and also in time to escape awful weather back home. I took Cherie to the world time clock at Alexanderplatz so we could compare the actual time here with what her body clock time was saying. If the world time clock displayed calendar dates as well as hours, I’m pretty sure it would read a date from the 1960s.

As yellow leaves appear on the trees, the Bärliners are making the most of every sunny day here. Apparently the locals know the body cannot store vitamin D for long periods, but you could forgive them for trying it anyway.

We are looking forward to some culture events with Cherie this week – outdoor cinema and two symphony concerts.

Love from
Brendan

Paris weekend (artichokes, no robots).

Dear Gran,

Last weekend I visited my friend Andreas, who I studied with at ANU. He now has a job at a university just outside Paris and is enjoying all things French, particularly the food. But in his heart he would like to return home to Sweden.


We made some obligatory tourist stops--- the lovely church at Montmatre, Notre Dame, the Louvre (only the outside and the bit under the pyramid, which you will probably remember featured in the Da Vinci Code ). We also visited some nice bookshops--- a second-hand one near Notre Dame, and one with some excellent maths books. Andreas says that maths is very popular in France, and it is not uncommon for even mainstream bookshops to have a decent maths section.



Went shopping at some of his local markets. The figs you can see here are the best I have ever tasted--- it was like eating jam directly from the jar. I was particularly interested in these peaches--- they are quite flat in shape, like the shape of a dried fig, and they all pack into their boxes efficiently. I can imagine that they would be rather practical for bottling. Some huge lovely artichokes--- they are out of season here in Berlin, but not in France. And I bought some cheese home for Brendan and his sister Cherie, who is visiting us now.

Thanks for your email- we are looking forward to seeing the new paint in the laundry. Much love,

Julie.

More robots, no artichokes

Dear Gran,

We haven't been going out much lately, but last Wednesday the weather seemed fine enough to brave the outdoor cinema. The Kino is in Volkspark Friedrichshain, a large park near us. It has quite a big amphitheatre, and you can choose between lying on the grass, sitting on park benches, or sitting at little tables (with candles on them for the complete cabaret atmosphere).

It seemed very appropriate to watch the classic silent film Metropolis by the German expressionist director Fritz Lang. It came out in 1927 so was probably one of the last silent blockbusters. It's funny seeing those films--- in one moment they seem quaint and old-fashioned but in the next you're impressed by the vision and the skill they were shot with.

Just like noticing how many cliches Shakespeare used in his play, this is one of those films that seem familiar from the number of references that other films make to it.

The basic story is that the pampered inhabitants of the 'City of the Sun' are supported by the toiling masses of workers from the WorkerCity underground. The son of the engineer/ruler of the upper city catches sight of a girl from the lower class, falls in love (of course), follows her underground, and is horrified by the conditions below. Industrial accidents, mad scientists, evil robots acting as agent provocateurs, night clubs, dancing Grim Reapers, everything exploding and diverse high jinks follow, up to a festive witchburning and the mad scientist schlepping the girl up to the roof.

Everyone well here, Brendan has been hard at work on his thesis, and I am pleased because I got a paper accepted to a journal.

Much love to you,

Julie.

Distant Relations

Dear Gran,
We met up with another of Julie's long lost relatives on Friday night and I am not referring to the inflatable dinosaur (although admittedly the smile bears an uncanny resemblance) but rather to Suzanne, her first cousin once removed on the Swiss-Brazilian side.

As Julie and Suzanne have never met, Suzanne bought the inflatable dinosaur so that we would recognise her at the rendezvous point on the busy footpath next to busy Friedrichstrasse station (which is a trick that I am sure has alreadybeen used by cold war secret agents rendezvousing at that very same spot). The photo is us enjoying drinks by the river at Museum Insel in a brief burst of summer sunshine (followed by some after dinner rain).
love from
Brendan

Sommer Wetter

Dear Gran

I have been impressed by how much a language phrase book can tell you about a country’s culture and climate before you visit. I remember our Mandarin phrasebook had instructions on what you’ll need to say to the taxi driver:

“Look out for that cyclist carrying 8 large pigs!”

“Please slow down!”

“This is it, we’re going to die!”

The German phrasebook, on the other hand, was full of useful everyday conversation tips such as:

“Heute ist das Wetter furchtbar!” (Today the weather is horrible.)

“Es geist, wieder mal!” (It’s bucketing down, once again.)

“Schick du doch sie darunter, Uwe!” (Send her down, Huey!)

“Ich hatte gerne ein einzelfahrt flugticket nach Spanien.” (A one way plane ticket to Spain, please.)

As I think Neil has observed, the word for weather here is both a noun in German and an adjective for German weather in English. Sean emailed us a meteorological sattelite image to show that it does rain in Canberra and we are waiting for a sunny day here before we send one back.

huru
Brendan