One of my few Facebook statuses that actually got a decent amount of likes read that the hardest kind of threesome to be arranged in Berlin is when you’re struggling to get both the person who’s selling whatever heavyweight furniture you want and the guy that has a van to transport it to meet you at a time that you happen to be free. And I’ve been standing by this belief for quite a time, when Berlin decided to once again mercilessly prove to me that I haven’t seen nothing yet.
I still don’t regard organizing a threeway as a particular challenge in a city where your trusted dress code for some clubs is either kinky or naked. What kind of feels like one, though, is scheduling your week with different part time jobs.
Frankly, I don’t even know how they all came about. One minute, I was one of those unripe expat new arrivals, and then the next, I had an interview at iHeartBerlin.
Well, that’s how I see it now. But if I rewind to my humble beginnings, I remember just how alienated I felt in my first WG and how I had a hard time dealing with the uncertainty of my next steps. Although things got better, some self-doubt remained, but I was able to understand that it’s all part of the deal.
And that was some very useful knowledge when I realized that my reality was working multiple jobs to afford a WG room. As tough as it may sound, it’s all been my choice – maybe I’m just subconsciously going for the cliche destitute writer’s vibe, but I’ve decided to keep myself busy with language even if it means working part-time as a translator at a social help center.
I do enjoy the diversity of all the worlds that I’m a part of. Thanks to all the different experiences, I pretty much know now what I’m after and I’m getting slightly better at not squandering my time on things that just don’t feel good.
Does waking up at 5 am to face a busy schedule crowned with writing this article make me feel so swell then? Well, it’s a part of the deal. And I know that the old me, from a few years ago, would not believe how fun it’s been so far.
illustration: Berk Karaoglu, photo: Averie Woodard
