Reviewing my blog posts over the past few months made my head hurt. What a shitstorm of confusion. I’m sorry, you guys. I’m not sure I can remember a time when my life has ever been so crazy hectic. Now that all my travelling is done and I’m getting settled in Berlin, I feel like it’s a good time to give you a little insight in what’s happened and what’s coming in my life.

I spent nearly all of June and July finalizing my move to Germany. It was a LOT of work. I shipped half of my belongings to my parents, including my adorable kitty Bella, and then divided up my furniture with my friends around town.

I honestly don’t know what I would have done without all that help – it was overwhelming. I am so grateful for those who were there for me. I lived on Goodview Street for six years, but I was the only consistent roommate. During that time I had a constant cycle of roommates, and naturally things just kind of got left behind over the years. I hauled about three truckloads of junk out of that place, and put more in donations besides. The last two nights before moving, I scrubbed the house from top to bottom for 12 hours straight. Exhaustion!

And then I found out I had fumbled my lease, and was meant to move out at the end of August instead of the beginning, and my landlord had no idea because the only thing I had said was “I’m not renewing my lease.” He thankfully cut me a deal and I had to pay half a month’s rent myself (on a three level house!) instead of a full month’s rent…but then my damage deposit disappeared too. You can imagine the wear and tear on a house after six years.

And since I had so many roommates come and go, I couldn’t pinpoint who was responsible for damages. My previous two roommates only lived there a short time so I gave them back most of their damage deposits. I had to shell out close to $1500 I didn’t have. I was absolutely miserable, stressed beyond words. I had already planned two trips to Ireland and Croatia. What should have been a teary goodbye to my beloved home was more like a giant middle finger. I’m aware this is all my fault. Bottom line: never living with multiple roommates again.

So then after a final weekend with friends, I hopped my flight to Berlin and now here I am in Prenzlauer Berg, living with a really cool German named Christoph.

I lucked into this place – it’s the nicest apartment I’ve ever lived in, and the only reason I have it is because I’m subletting from my friend Lena whom I met last year in Greece. Otherwise apartment hunting in Berlin is HARD.

Hard as hell.

I took trips to the Fleadh Cheoil music festival in Ireland and then set out on The Yacht Week (again!) in Croatia. Both were incredible, unbelievably happy times in my life. It’s hard to explain the emotions I felt during those times. It was like falling headlong in love with the world all over again. I’ve developed abs from laughing so hard and I’ve made so many friends in the process.

So what’s next in Berlin? After I get all the stupid stuff sorted (registering my address in Berlin, registering to vote in the Canadian election, etc.), I’ll be scouring the city for a job. Yes, it’s back to the workforce for me! But I’m also working on the manuscript I completed with Humber College. My mentor, Olive Senior, has a lot of confidence in my work and is urging me to finish my first ever piece of fiction.

So I’ll be learning German, working on a manuscript, trying to get a book published, and looking for work. Oy! I’m glad I had those vacations.

I’m really thrilled to be in Berlin. It’s an unbelievably fascinating city. I’ve spent so much of my life reading up on WWII (I have a macabre love for war stuff), it’s hard to believe I’m here in the centre of it all. I can’t wait to visit all the sites, eat shitloads of currywurst, drink beers by the litre, and generally just OD on life all over again. In my spare time, if there is any.

I’ll be doing lots of travels while I live here, too. Especially around Germany and neighbouring Poland. I’m going to Oktoberfest in Munich. If I have enough savings, I hope to spend a few months at the end of the year circling Europe, and ticking off some countries I missed last year: Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Italy. Being in central Europe is delicious.

I ache constantly for my family and I don’t know why. I mean I know why, but I don’t know why it’s different…maybe because it’s such a long time to go without seeing them again and I haven’t really made any friends here yet. And I feel like such an outsider, and sometimes an unwanted one. Although I owe this to paranoia and not any actual real experiences. I assume learning German will help me out big time.

So there we have it! Lots of exciting things to come, plus some VERY cool new blog stuff. If you have any questions, let me know. And thanks for being patient throughout this roller coaster of a journey.