Today is the first Advent… Hey folks, going to keep it short and sweet – we’ve been invited for Kaffee und Kuchen (cake and tea) and the Christmas Markets have begun, so today shall be busy… BUT we wanted to remind you that today is a very special day for German people – it’s the First Advent. If you want to know more about this tradition, you can check out our post from last year here. Otherwise, we just wanted to show you our lovely little candle burning whilst we had breakfast (at 2pm – ahem). Happy Advent everyone out there and don’t forget to light a candle!

 Don’t Say Tomorrow… Pointless things. Hilarious Japanese T-shirts – these always made us laugh in Japan! My school friend Kai writes about his experiences in Liberia covering Ebola. I have always hated the Band Aid Song – even as a child I found the lyrics offensive and ridiculous, so I am enjoying the debate that is going around at the moment a lot. I will not be buying it – will you? Living in Japan isn’t really as everyone imagines… I know my sister-in-law-to-be loves Ferrero Rocher, so I’m hoping this will be the wedding cake next year – NOM! The Berlin Wall came down 25 years ago. This article…

No Place I’d Rather Be… I’ve always wanted to get into a gig for free by saying at the front desk “I’m friends with the band” and this came true last week – WHOOOOP! So, unless you have literally been in hibernation, you will know the Number One Song Rather Be by Clean Bandit. They even play the song at Uniqlo constantly. It’s everywhere and was Number One in the UK and in Germany, so literally, it’s playing EVERYWHERE! Excitingly, one of my childhood friends is in the band (bass/keyboard)! Although I hadn’t seen Stephen for probably 20 years, we instantly recognised each other and we all went for a…

Stand by me… We had some sad news last week and had to pop back to Liverpool for a couple of days. I won’t go into details, but while we were there I spotted some funny things and I wanted to share them with you all. That’s all for now – back soon!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… So while the world watched and celebrated with the 25th anniversary of the Falling of the Berlin Wall, the 9th November was also remembered by many for the beginning of the atrocities committed against the Jews many many years earlier. This is so cool – Berlin photos now and before – just click on the photos 🙂 More Berlin related links, here’s an article about an art group who removed Berlin Wall memorial for their own border protest Great article about stereotyping ‘dumb dads’. Anyone interested in volunteering their time for the shoe-box campaign in Berlin can register here. OMG get in…

Today is November 11th and this is a very special day for me. The date has many different and important meanings as a result of family, friends, choices I’ve made and places I’ve been. I hope to share with you some of the different things that November 11th means for me. Firstly – Birthdays The first thing that always comes to my mind on this date are two important birthdays. My late Grandfather’s and one of my closest and longest friends. I’ve never forgotten their birthdays because as soon as I remember one, I remember the other. Happy birthday to you Tony and John! Remembrance Day Back home in England…

Let her go… I still remember watching images of the Berlin Wall coming down on TV. I was just six years old, but I remember the scenes vividly and I remember also that my parents were glued to the TV screen. However, I didn’t really understand what was going on. Most of my education was at the German School in London. People often ask me how I don’t know anything about English history, especially as I’m English. However, at school, I felt like we almost exclusively studied the Second World War. We covered it every single year. All year. Constantly. I have always read books about history and autobiographies about…

Don’t Stop Moving… My friend is working for MSF and sent this great article over. It’s crazy to think how many people can name one or two people’s name who have Ebola or died from the disease in America, however I’m sure not a single person I know can name one of the thousands who have died in Africa. Did you know one in ten Europeans are conceived on an IKEA bed? Haha – here are some great facts about IKEA. London property prices on a tube map that’s interactive. COOL! Some of the Christmas Markets have already opened here in Berlin, for more information, check out this link. Awesome…