mourningdove

The Kimchi Index

So I just put up a new batch of kimchi, and I felt so ridiculously happy I figured I’d best ponder that for a minute. Here’s the answer: Making kimchi requires enough time and specific resources—ingredients, containers, etc.—that if I can pull it off, it’s a good indicator that I feel settled. That’s why myContinue reading “The Kimchi Index”

Friday Favorites: Japanese Vlogs

This is partly for Steph because I promised her the link to the couple who lives out of their microvan, but also there’s just a lot of fantastic and original content on YouTube these days from Japan, and I wanted to share some of my favorites. I’ve posted a couple of these before in otherContinue reading “Friday Favorites: Japanese Vlogs”

“It’s not bad! It’s not good, either….”

I’m still getting settled in back Stateside and trying to get United to give me back my bags that they “mishandled”…. In the meantime, enjoy my new favorite YouTube buddy (spoiler alert, the fish involved is neither poisonous nor particularly ridiculous):

Berlin is Awesome, Exhibit H: Recyclinghof

I know I said yesterday’s post was the final Berlin one, but then I ran to the Recyclinghof today to get rid of a broken fan. It’s so easy and clean and well-organized, and you can get rid of all kinds of things from clothes to cars that you don’t need. I stopped at DoshaContinue reading “Berlin is Awesome, Exhibit H: Recyclinghof”

Koharu Sugawara Dance Cover (“Elastic Heart”)

So, this is why I haven’t been posting a lot over the last couple of weeks: I’ve been working like a crazy person on this project–actually I’ve been at it for months, but really intensively for the last 4 weeks. And I think it’s a fitting note to end my Berlin sabbatical on. I actuallyContinue reading “Koharu Sugawara Dance Cover (“Elastic Heart”)”

Grateful Eating

This isn’t the same thing as mindful eating, though they’re related. I’m talking about something more specific and at the same time broader–a way of eating that engages me with the bigger picture of how and why I eat. I think if you were brought up in relatively mainstream America, as I was, grateful eatingContinue reading “Grateful Eating”

Ceramics Saturdays: Altes Museum

I said this when I visited the Archaelogical Museum in Athens, and I still believe it’s true: if you want to see the finest examples of Attic Greek ceramics, don’t look in Greece.* They were begged, bought, or stolen from the country in the colonial period and now sit in Northern European museums–such as Berlin’sContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: Altes Museum”

Berlin is Awesome, Exhibit G: Street Art

When I was enrolled in my Goethe Institut German course, I had the opportunity to go on two great walking tours through Kreuzberg, a fascinating district next to mine with a really absorbing and dramatic history of settlement, neglect, squatting, redevelopment, civic rebellion, immigration, and revitalization. The second tour focused on street art, which IContinue reading “Berlin is Awesome, Exhibit G: Street Art”

Berlin is Awesome, Exhibit F: Karl’s Erdbeerhof

So, in May sometime, these adorable little strawberry-shaped kiosks popped up all over Berlin overnight. In the morning, the one down the block from me propped open its awning (even though mine is not strawberry-shaped, alas), and a friendly lady in a strawberry-printed apron started dealing out several really delicious regional varieties, in 500g packagesContinue reading “Berlin is Awesome, Exhibit F: Karl’s Erdbeerhof”

German Pflasterstein (Cobblestone) Rating System

This cracks my friend Birgit up, so I thought I’d share it. As I’ve mentioned before, cobblestones are tough on Lucky, my Bike Friday, with his 20-inch wheels. And cobblestones (pflastersteine or kopfsteinpflaster) are actually getting increasingly common in Berlin as the city tries to find ways to limit rain run-off and recharge its failingContinue reading “German Pflasterstein (Cobblestone) Rating System”