Korv Och Ost
Dec. 18th, 2022 07:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeSince Wolfie lost his job on Monday, things have been uncertain. He is certainly feeling incredibly down about it, still processing the shock of it all. It certainly came unexpectedly, with reasoning that doesn't make an awful lot of sense, but ultimately there's no point reasoning with it. During the course of the week he has applied for six jobs and has pursued a few other personal projects. Hopefully, he'll get something soon.
We have barely done anything this week. On Tuesday, we headed out to get our fourth COVID jab, having been denied it back in October due to six months having not passed between then and when we contracted the illness after Confuzzled. We got to the surgery around half an hour early and were surprised to discover the shutters down. Wolfie wanted to write it off there and then, but I convinced him to hang around. Firstly, I needed to get some stamps to send some international Christmas cards but the place I went before has now closed down. Then, we headed to the nifty British shop just up the road, which is run by a friendly Irishman who was eating a burger when we went in. It has been bitterly cold this week, heading down to -9C, so we wanted to escape from the bitterness. I hadn't intended on buying stuff but some of the goods he was selling were of interest, specifically the Worcestershire Sauce which went splendidly with my Saturday lunchtime cheese on toast. I also picked up some English mustard, a Chocolate orange, some bacon and seven packets of Taytos. The prices weren't too bad either and it was great to get a few things that are difficult to buy elsewhere. The shopkeep was a little distracted though on account of his cheese fridge being broken. In the end, it was just because the door had dropped down slightly so the seal was a little askew. It was fixed by an engineer jimmying it with some cardboard and gaffer tape.
The COVID jab was all rather routine but it did leave me feeling incredibly lethargic for most of the week, particularly on Wednesday and Thursday. Consequently, we didn't go out to the Fureigners meet-up at the Monterey and it would appear no-one else did either, with people cancelling for a myriad of reasons. I do feel it's beholden to me to plan these things now and I find it a little frustrating, as it's a group with which I am not particularly engaged, but we'll see how things develop. Nothing happened in November either, partly I think because I was back in the UK and thus not reminding people about it.
Trax's group is one with which I do feel more comfortable and I headed around to his house yesterday for his Christmas Party. Wolfie was invited too, but due to his hellish week, he wasn't feeling it. Consequently, he stayed at home, with me taking his Secret Santa present on his behalf. We passed these out through a dice rolling party game at 8pm, conducted by Trax's partner, where we had to swap presents a certain way depending on the number rolled. I ended up with some rubber duck propeller things, which was one of the weaker presents available. I'll hope to assemble them later. The rest of the time was spent eating and drinking, with a colossal spread of food prepared, so much so that people had to help themselves to tupperware containers and take the stuff back home with them after the party. There was a range of meats including Swedish meatballs and sausages, egg and potato salad, cheese quiche, chicken drumsticks and a selection of crackers and cheese. There was also the same gingerbread train there was last year, but this time we could decorate pre-made biscuit bones by using felt tip pens to write our names on them. This made for a nice little scene. I also made some great Swedish jokes including the cheese side of the room being on the 'ost' side and 'of korv we want sausages'.
I spent a lot of time lying languidly on the sofa hugging plushies, particularly Blahaj and Bolt. Lightfox introduced me to Daihorrea Man and Schlangemann while Jazzy kept feeding me milk-based products as if I were a cat. There were Swedish chocolates while I ended up drinking a lot of milk from Mark Brandenburg mixed with Liquor 43, a hazelnut and vanilla conconction that added a smooth sweetness to proceedings. I had brought my Strawberries and Cream Baileys which was nice while the Jim Beam Honey Bourbon wasn't too bad either. I did end up drinking too much milk though which, on top of the food, made me feel quite sick. Still, I lasted out quite a long time, leaving shortly after 1am to get back to Spandau for just after 2:30am. The cold bothered me less last night but being one of the few at Hauptbahnhof after 2am was a little disconcerting. It was a really nice day and despite our struggles with socialising here, the 16 of us who were there made for a great party. I knew about half of them and made a few new friends too, while Trax's initial question of "you're still staying in Berlin, right?" at least proves we are wanted here. Of course, it all depends on Wolfie's job and my paranoia, but we'll see what happens. Certainly, our house insurance being somewhat minimal is not helping my mental state. We renewed this week as it's the best we can get but I am fraught with worry, despite my father kindly checking the policy for us.
On Saturday evening, when I got back, we did receive an invitation from the neighbours about a drinks party on 8 January. This is more a meet and greet, as we have all been here over a year and don't really know anyone yet. It's good that someone has taken the time to organise this and fortunately we will be able to attend, as it will be very good to get to meet a few of the people we live with. The group is pretty international so there should be some interesting stories too.
The only other thing we've done this week is watch the World Cup. With England having been eliminated to France last weekend, it has lost some of its lustre, and of course Argentina won in the most tedious 3-3 draw I have ever witnessed. It was sad that they did win, what with their consistent diving, while the Messi onanism has all become too much. Despite this, I have enjoyed the tournament being on during the winter as it has given us something to do at a time when the weather has been incredibly bitter. I've liked the distraction when trying to save money while I have always lamented watching football on balmy sunny summer days. I am glad that it will be leaving Qatar though, with that country's reputation not really enhanced, and the Premier League being back next week is certainly good for business.
Friday was the Irish Furs Christmas gathering on VR, which we sidled into for a short while, while I also caught a little of Gothicat's Rock and Metal set too. Yesterday was also Animalz and while I felt a little down about not being there, having done it last month and not really enjoyed it, the FOMO wasn't too hard this time around. I do wish I could be more sexually adventurous at these kinds of thing, but I already seem to have a number of things planned for the cons I'm going to next year (the Confuzzled payment was made last week too) that maybe I'm over-analyzing. Still, I am always amazed at just how confident so many other people are with their bodies as well as their sex lives. It seems to be something out of reach for me, but I am getting more courageous at least.
We have barely done anything this week. On Tuesday, we headed out to get our fourth COVID jab, having been denied it back in October due to six months having not passed between then and when we contracted the illness after Confuzzled. We got to the surgery around half an hour early and were surprised to discover the shutters down. Wolfie wanted to write it off there and then, but I convinced him to hang around. Firstly, I needed to get some stamps to send some international Christmas cards but the place I went before has now closed down. Then, we headed to the nifty British shop just up the road, which is run by a friendly Irishman who was eating a burger when we went in. It has been bitterly cold this week, heading down to -9C, so we wanted to escape from the bitterness. I hadn't intended on buying stuff but some of the goods he was selling were of interest, specifically the Worcestershire Sauce which went splendidly with my Saturday lunchtime cheese on toast. I also picked up some English mustard, a Chocolate orange, some bacon and seven packets of Taytos. The prices weren't too bad either and it was great to get a few things that are difficult to buy elsewhere. The shopkeep was a little distracted though on account of his cheese fridge being broken. In the end, it was just because the door had dropped down slightly so the seal was a little askew. It was fixed by an engineer jimmying it with some cardboard and gaffer tape.
The COVID jab was all rather routine but it did leave me feeling incredibly lethargic for most of the week, particularly on Wednesday and Thursday. Consequently, we didn't go out to the Fureigners meet-up at the Monterey and it would appear no-one else did either, with people cancelling for a myriad of reasons. I do feel it's beholden to me to plan these things now and I find it a little frustrating, as it's a group with which I am not particularly engaged, but we'll see how things develop. Nothing happened in November either, partly I think because I was back in the UK and thus not reminding people about it.
Trax's group is one with which I do feel more comfortable and I headed around to his house yesterday for his Christmas Party. Wolfie was invited too, but due to his hellish week, he wasn't feeling it. Consequently, he stayed at home, with me taking his Secret Santa present on his behalf. We passed these out through a dice rolling party game at 8pm, conducted by Trax's partner, where we had to swap presents a certain way depending on the number rolled. I ended up with some rubber duck propeller things, which was one of the weaker presents available. I'll hope to assemble them later. The rest of the time was spent eating and drinking, with a colossal spread of food prepared, so much so that people had to help themselves to tupperware containers and take the stuff back home with them after the party. There was a range of meats including Swedish meatballs and sausages, egg and potato salad, cheese quiche, chicken drumsticks and a selection of crackers and cheese. There was also the same gingerbread train there was last year, but this time we could decorate pre-made biscuit bones by using felt tip pens to write our names on them. This made for a nice little scene. I also made some great Swedish jokes including the cheese side of the room being on the 'ost' side and 'of korv we want sausages'.
I spent a lot of time lying languidly on the sofa hugging plushies, particularly Blahaj and Bolt. Lightfox introduced me to Daihorrea Man and Schlangemann while Jazzy kept feeding me milk-based products as if I were a cat. There were Swedish chocolates while I ended up drinking a lot of milk from Mark Brandenburg mixed with Liquor 43, a hazelnut and vanilla conconction that added a smooth sweetness to proceedings. I had brought my Strawberries and Cream Baileys which was nice while the Jim Beam Honey Bourbon wasn't too bad either. I did end up drinking too much milk though which, on top of the food, made me feel quite sick. Still, I lasted out quite a long time, leaving shortly after 1am to get back to Spandau for just after 2:30am. The cold bothered me less last night but being one of the few at Hauptbahnhof after 2am was a little disconcerting. It was a really nice day and despite our struggles with socialising here, the 16 of us who were there made for a great party. I knew about half of them and made a few new friends too, while Trax's initial question of "you're still staying in Berlin, right?" at least proves we are wanted here. Of course, it all depends on Wolfie's job and my paranoia, but we'll see what happens. Certainly, our house insurance being somewhat minimal is not helping my mental state. We renewed this week as it's the best we can get but I am fraught with worry, despite my father kindly checking the policy for us.
On Saturday evening, when I got back, we did receive an invitation from the neighbours about a drinks party on 8 January. This is more a meet and greet, as we have all been here over a year and don't really know anyone yet. It's good that someone has taken the time to organise this and fortunately we will be able to attend, as it will be very good to get to meet a few of the people we live with. The group is pretty international so there should be some interesting stories too.
The only other thing we've done this week is watch the World Cup. With England having been eliminated to France last weekend, it has lost some of its lustre, and of course Argentina won in the most tedious 3-3 draw I have ever witnessed. It was sad that they did win, what with their consistent diving, while the Messi onanism has all become too much. Despite this, I have enjoyed the tournament being on during the winter as it has given us something to do at a time when the weather has been incredibly bitter. I've liked the distraction when trying to save money while I have always lamented watching football on balmy sunny summer days. I am glad that it will be leaving Qatar though, with that country's reputation not really enhanced, and the Premier League being back next week is certainly good for business.
Friday was the Irish Furs Christmas gathering on VR, which we sidled into for a short while, while I also caught a little of Gothicat's Rock and Metal set too. Yesterday was also Animalz and while I felt a little down about not being there, having done it last month and not really enjoyed it, the FOMO wasn't too hard this time around. I do wish I could be more sexually adventurous at these kinds of thing, but I already seem to have a number of things planned for the cons I'm going to next year (the Confuzzled payment was made last week too) that maybe I'm over-analyzing. Still, I am always amazed at just how confident so many other people are with their bodies as well as their sex lives. It seems to be something out of reach for me, but I am getting more courageous at least.
