self

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5 reasons why Berlin is still like I dreamt it

It has been almost 10 months since I moved here, and I still feel like I’m just out of the plane (Probably from all these weekends that I have not taken it easy to stop jet lag). I was thinking about this today (all day long) and these are the 5 reasons why It is still like I dreamt it:

It’s still the 80’s (sometimes the 90’s) here and its ok: When I came that weekend that changed my life forever (with no beard), the first time I rose from the underground (AKA The U-bahn) it was in Kottbusser Tor. I rose from the exit that leads to the Kaiser’s, the Photo-automat and the Berliner Bank way to Adalbertstrasse. There was a bunch of people there, some wearing the German army jackets, some the Nike Air Max, some the asymmetric haircuts and some other wearing all at the same time plus other lovely traits while listening to the Ramones from a boom-box. Two years later, BAM! Still like that (I even use a bit that look now). I can’t pass that little normal street corner and say “I knew it since the first time I came here”. This is what I fell in love with, and I dreamt it like that on my way back to Honduras. It was like that, and it still is like that.

An endless supply of new events despite an eternal winter: Seriously, I sit down on monday, in my office, and right after I browsed my email, Facebook (yes, I use Facebook at work and it makes us $$$) and a little bit of twitter and BAM! my whole week is packed with stuff to do for the whole week including sunday. I don’t mean to brag of a busy social life, nor deny the fact that I say “yes” to everything, but hey… I have not had a single weekend in which I have to ask on any social network “what’s up for today guys?”

The art! The art! The art! As snobby as I might sound, I always dreamt about going from gallery A to Z on a regular basis, after shooting a couple of photos for a local mag here, it is still fascinating how much more there is. Basically it is almost too much street art, and I LOVE IT.

The effervescence of its diversity: Today a friend at the office said to me “People feel strange when I tell them that I was born and raised here because pretty much nobody else around is, and that is kind of cool”. True that, I expected nothing less from a global city, and I am proud of that.

People is smart and informed about what goes on in the world: Coming from Honduras, I am used to people asking me “Where is that?” everywhere but here. Here they tell me “Oh! I have been there! Amazing crazy place! Cool!”. That is why I forgive them for saying that is in south America, and also because they have seen things I know about and are unassuming about my origins, which I find very respectful.

In a nutshell, I love it here…

Self-Performance assessment

Three months have passed from this year, therefore I need to assess my own goals. So here it goes how I judge my own plans’ way to success.

  • Write a daily entry on my personal diary - Falling behind seriously (30 days)
  • Write twice a week in this, my beloved blog (And I a mean fully thought eloquent manifestation for each entry) - Slightly falling behind
  • Come up with my own concept for a blog - an ongoing project to talk about - Ongoing (Check it out here)
  • Be in charge of my first project and launch it successfully at work - Ongoing successfully
  • Get to speak German like a native speaker - In process, not much effort put, but happening.
  • Consolidate my sentimental position - I became single since one month ago, approximately.
  • Be able to photograph for money - Falling behind.
  • Visit 10 countries, 5 of them totally new for me - Already got in plan 2, one known, and one TOTALLY unknown.
  • Lose weight and maintain it at the exact middle point of my healthy range - Happening, yet not because of the best reasons
  • Become economically independent from my parents - In process, right on track.

So here it is! I am going well in general, with a couple of points lost, yet still  recoverable, so wish me luck and/or demand me more about this topic.

A personal manifesto, Again

I am interested in knowing how far can apathy go. I am interested in knowing how deep can a by-stander effect work, and I am interested in understanding how much people actually appreciate pure, raw, unfiltered honesty.

Now that I run this new position in my office  (I am the space manager) I want to test how much of a brand comes from the people and its own coolness and how much it depends on a “proper business attitude”.

Wish me success.

When I leave Berlin

Berlin Landscape

When I leave Berlin I will definitely have assured a certain future, I will be absolutely sure that nothing else could drive me back, and I will indeed be over all my own self issues. When I am in that plane, bus, car, bike or whatever mean I use, I will be sure it goes fast, as if turning back would mean becoming a colder stone. Believe me, the day I leave I will be leaving for good.

After I left Berlin, and when I think about my past I will deny all facts and blame my decision of being there at my lack of maturity. Whenever you ask me about it, I will tell you easier why I left and I will fucking convince you not to go there. I will tell you endless stories of amazing nights, condensing commutes, the cold, the music, an amazing job I had there, stories of all the girls I never fucked and my love for every inch of concrete it has, in past tense. I will tell you everything with absolute zero eloquence and you will see in me a broken heart and a wish to not discuss the topic anymore. I will make sure you don’t visit Berlin. I will protect you from such a heartbreak.

When I leave Berlin I will be a man with a dead youth, a magnificent income and severe lust to go on all-inclusive resorts, cruises, and blind dates. When I leave Berlin I will be sure I leave the last bit of my spark, my desire and my stubbornness in its streets. When I am no longer here I will be a grown-up Peter Pan.