Spaces & Places

December 20, 2013 0

Happy Weekend Review: An Old-New Christmas Market

Let's just come right out with it: It's hard to beat Christmas in Germany. Glühwein, cookies, classic lights, decorations strewn across homes and street corners, a calendar that expects, nay, requires you eat a chocolate per day... it's simply wonderful. Though I grew up in the US, my family celebrated Christmas the Teutonic way. I have more than fond memories of hiding the Buttergebäck and Lebkuchen in the laundry room from our Opa so he wouldn't devour them in one sitting, ripping open a human-size Adventskalendar in the course of one night made by our Oma... [Read More!]
October 5, 2013 0

Happy Weekend: Will the True Berliners Please Stand Up

English Theatre Berlin's new piece by Daniel Brunet asks the hot question, 'Who is a real Berliner?'. 'Echter Berliner!!! Ihr nicht fuck you' is a documentary theater production which addresses the curious tension between expats and immigrants, as if these categories were ever clear or even exclusive. Putting the product of 60 interviews on stage is brilliant, hanging prejudices out to dry when the last place we need them is in the camp of the outsiders... [Read More!]
August 25, 2013 1

Rave: Why Remembering the Holocaust is Good for Immigrants

In 2005, Germany officially became an immigration country with the establishment of its federal office for migration. The question - who are the Germans anyway? - has become increasingly important in deciding what to impart to these newcomers set to stay. Expats are good at constructing Germanness for the Germans themselves, often leaving out the Holocaust in such a description of 'German identity', however. Today's Germany - an immigration country - is a republic built on tragic events like the Holocaust, just as France is a country built on colonialism. Everything has a context, and it is this context that immigrants to Germany should learn to understand for the sake of a more complete country - a civic society which respects differences and celebrates them... [Read More!]
August 7, 2013 2

Ramadan with Neighbors: It’s About Showing Up

For those non-Muslims among us, Ramadan is an almost hidden spectacle with mysterious allure: the hot tea, the music, and the platters of food only come out when the sun has turned in for the day or before it has even appeared. We hear the clatter of dishes from our neighbors’ windows late into the night or watch children unpack colorful sweets on Eid al-Fitr, all without necessarily being able to place these traditions in our own line of experience. In honor of the last night of Ramadan, here is a reflection on an event Sophia and I attended last Friday as part of Berlin's festival die Nächte des Ramadan, the Nights of Ramadan... [Read More!]
The Thai Park otherwise known as the Thai Wiese or Berlin's Little Thailand in Wilmersdorf is a spot where Thai women cook under umbrellas and sell their food.
August 1, 2013 2

Happy Weekend: Toi, Toi, Toi, Thai Park

During the summer I'm here almost every weekend, inhaling shrimp summer rolls slathered in peanut sauce, papaya salad speckled with red chili, and iced coffee swimming in globs of cloyingly sweet condensed milk. I may meander the colorful rows for food, but my coffee always comes from the same umbrella: Kaffee Oma's... [Read More!]
June 21, 2013 0

Lens: Warm Nights are for Cricket

And who is playing? I ask. India is playing, he answers, then pauses. A slight smile, a look of knowing softens his jaw. What is happening now is that Indians are playing cricket. On the other edge of the fence women in saris, shorts, or tunics lean on strollers, lay in the grass, take photos or at least pretend to. All the men seem to be playing or waiting to be called. All are dressed in impeccable whites, high socks, pearly feet kicking up dust into the scorch. The white-washed men scurry among the dust... [Read More!]
June 1, 2013 1

Happy Weekend: A Roma (Re)Image

Your perception of the Roma is inaccurate. I apologize for the bluntness, but you and I both know it's true. And I know you and I both know it's true because it's true for me, and I've studied this stuff. Not only have I studied this stuff (e.g. migration, integration, intercultural relations), but I consider myself a beacon of political correctness, yet I've still dressed up as a gypsy for Halloween more times than I care to admit. Why? [Read More!]
May 18, 2013 1

Happy Weekend: Karneval der Kultur(en), Carnival of Culture(s)?

What if the local government wanted to take stock of its cultures, parade its diversity through the city streets – what would you wear to participate? This weekend Berlin’s parade of culture, Karneval der Kulturen, takes over my Kreuzberg Kiez (neighborhood) once again, promising to leave trails of glitter and plastic cocktail remnants in its wake, as well as much food for thought in answering this question of cultural self-representation... [Read More!]
May 11, 2013 1

Happy Weekend: “It’s not about integration”, or isn’t it?

Tonight at Ballhaus Naunynstraße, İmran Ayata und Neco Çelik will present the opening of their newest play, "Liga der Verdammten" (League of the Damned), tackling the dynamic configuration of players and fans in Kreuzberg's very own "Multi-Kulti" football league, Türkisempor. Originally formed by Berlin's  marginalized 'guest workers' just 35 years ago, its reputation proceeds it, as do the stereotypes... [Read More!]
1 2 3

Copyright © 2020 | Collidoscope Berlin