All (American) Weekend
Listening to: Boysetsfire – Tomorrow Come Today and Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz
Just so you all know: I had intended to try and get some work done this weekend, but life, as usual, interfered with a vengeance. Oh well… my only real regret is that the batteries in my camera had died so I sadly cannot present any photographic evidence of my exploits until someone else decides to share pictures or send them to me. But, I’ll always have the memories of my first ever poker victory, and a fun-filled evening of bowling with a host of people I did not, or hardly, knew. That’s about all there is to it, actually, but if you really are interested, , by all means read on and I’ll provide some details that are of no consequence whatsoever. But, there’s police involvement!
So Saturday, we celebrated Till’s birthday by playing poker at an official poker lounge, with an official dealer and everything. That, actually, turned out to be well worth the extra expenditure, seeing as my previous poker experiences were usually hindered by our gross ignorance of the rules, what to do in case of a split pot, how the blinds are to be raised, etc, etc. Now, we had a charming dealer who took care of that while we were just there having fun and not paying any attention at all. Actually, I am sure our antics from time to time must have been the cause of considerable amusment from the occasional onlookers who were there to really compete in a tournament. You know, the people who consider poker to be more than just a game. Which it is, if you take it seriously enough, but still. In the end, I guess it was just as well that no-one really took it serious, because that enabled me to actually win one round and come in second in another (let’s not mention the third game…).
Then, we went on to the Graeffestrasse, to Room 77 (not to be confused with the band Room 77, whose link is erroneously provided by Google Maps)(but by all means check them out, it doesn’t sound too bad), where good times were had by all, including the people who did not partake in the poker game. It was especially fun running into Corstiaan, who was visiting Berlin and who decided to come and drink with us in what amounted to be a spur-of-the-moment-decision, but (I think) the right one. The Graeffestrasse, incidentally, seemed to be an okay place to find some decent pubs if you’re out in Berlin – at least this Room 77 was a nice place to hang out, with tables, and New Orleans jazz and a nice overall atmosphere, and there were more, similar pubs in the same street.
Also, I had a snowball fight with some strangers while waiting for the rest of the group (because I rode my bike through snowy Berlin while the rest pussied out and took the U-Bahn). Any place where things like that happen is okay in my book!
Shockingly, on the way home, Corstiaan witnessed an actual fight (again, I didn’t because I was on my (t)rusty bike), so we took it upon ourselves to wait for the police to arrive while both victims and culprits disappeared into the night. Annoyingly, these people who were so quick to take my money when I ignored a red light last summer, now took their sweet, sweet time getting to where we were waiting in the blistering cold. And when a police car finally did stop, it turned out they weren’t even there to answer our call. Weird – I had never had any trouble whatsoever in Berlin, and now suddenly there were two incidents at the same station, quite close to where I live! And here I was, advertising Schöneberg as the “Bezirk where nothing ever happens”! Well, since I do not want to turn this into a rant about police inactivity (it was hard enough to get around in that weather, and they probably had more to do on a Saturday night in Berlin), let’s just say that we gave up and started the walk home before sunrise.
On Sunday, I was invited to a nice game of bowling with some nice people, most of whom I knew only vaguely. Fortunately, the international community in Berlin is flexible enough for me to integrate relatively easily, so it never got awkward (I hope – thanks for having me!!). It wasn’t long before I was throwing strikes (okay, spares) along with the best of them, smashing the hopes of people wearing magic shirts and what have you, and coaching others to victory. Bowling (like poker actually) is one of those games where I and perfectly fine with the theory, but I am severely lacking in the execution of the moves. My “secrets” are, apparently: don’t prance, don’t bounce, follow the ball with your throwing arm, and avoid fancy moves until after you’ve thrown the strike that you so deserve after you’ve followed these tidbits of advice. Of course, you’re allowed to follow Jesus’ example and lick the ball before you play, but that sentence just opens up so many possiblities for raunchy innuendos that I am going to leave it at that.
And then I went home again, looking back at an action-packed, fun-filled weekend during which I had done absolutely nothing I had planned on (well, ok, I went to the gym), but boy was it fun! Now, I should be working again and not updating my blog, but that’s just the way I roll. I’ll start right now, I promise…