Homestay at the Klinik

“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the 
pleasantest sensations in the world.” 

Freya Stark

Our stay in Germany was very different from our visit to the Netherlands in a number of ways. Most notably, our accommodations changed significantly between the two experiences. In Utrecht, we stayed at a great hostel. Admittedly, it was a beautiful, anarchist, and friendly squat, but a hostel nevertheless. In Germany we were able to stay in homestays. My own, shared with Colleen, was located in the district of Friedrichshain. This area, located just blocks away from the famous East Side Gallery, is a part of former East Berlin. One trick I learned in deciphering whether you are in East or West Berlin (aside from the famed Ampelmann) is the presence of street cars or trams. East Berlin relied upon these for public transportation whereas the west did not. And, sure enough, just steps away from our door ran the M13.

The Ampelmännchen is featured at the closer traffic light. Ironically, the closer one, while featuring the famous Eastern Berlin symbol, is located in the former West Berlin and the further sign with the standardized figures is in Easter Berlin. (If you look closely, the line running from left to right in front of the far sign is the line of the Berlin Wall.

The front of our homestay was also marked by something more interesting than a transportation system  We lived right above a "Schmuck Klinik." Now if you, like me, have nearly no knowledge of Yiddish language or culture, you are either incredibly alarmed or intrigued at this point. Don't worry, Wikipedia is here to save the day. According to this almighty source, 'schmuck' is the Yiddish word for jewelry. How, then, did it evolve into the derogatory term at least I had come to understand it as? Well, apparently, 'schmuck' entered English from Yiddish, where it has similar pejorative meanings, but its original meaning in Yiddish refers to a male organ. The German word 'schmuck,' on the other hand means "jewelry, adornments" and is similar to the Yiddish word 'schmock' or 'shmock.'  The words and their various meanings often got confused, leading to the translation of jewelry and organs to create the euphemism, "the family jewels."

So yes, in case you were wondering, I lived above a jewelry repair shop, not a psychiatrists' or sexologists'  office.

Home sweet home.

Anyway, above the shop live two wonderful women. One is a Brazilian "D-Jane" of Latina/German pop, and the other a delightfully cheery woman from Thuringia. The couple have been together for about three and a half years and are the most affectionate couple I have ever met. They are always talking and interacting with each other in a wonderful melody of English, Portuguese, and German coos. This adorable couple above the shop were Colleen's and my homestay parents.

During our four weeks with in our homestay, we did not stay in the couple's flat. Instead, we stayed in one across the hall with a friend of the couple. The rooms were giant and absolutely beautiful. Below you can see Colleen's and my bedroom. I was on the giant pull-out sofa, while Colleen chose the twin-sized bed. Our room also had a great balcony that was almost worth lugging our suitcases up four flights of stairs...almost.

Colleen's bed and our desk.

My bed

Another shot of the room. I forgot to take a picture of the sweet high school style lockers in which we kept our clothes. I would have stood right next to them in order to take this shot.

View from the balcony

And then, of course, the kitchen.

I'm still getting used to the dryer-less style of European living.

I believe my sisters would call this a "breakfast nook"

Interestingly, the building itself was built in a model in which each floor would share a communal bathroom. As time went on, the tenants changed the apartments to include personal bathroom within every flat. However, as you can tell by the architecture, they were a bit of an afterthought, making my clumsy morning trek to the shower a bit of a comedy.

Seriously,  you could fit maybe two shoulders widths in there.
Not good for my flailing limbs.

Overall, our stay was wonderful and was spent with a delightful couple. Most important to my own personal sanity, I was able to wash my own clothes, cook over a gas stove, and keep food in a refrigerator without worrying about it being stolen, a world away from the hostel life of Utrecht.