As the year draws to a close, I'm wondering what 2015 will hold...

2014 began for me with a hungover walk around the streets of Prenzlauer Berg.  I had wanted to take some photographs of the carnage left after the New Year festivities.  The streets were strewn with spent fireworks and empty bottles and the smell of cordite lingered in the air.  As I was walking down Stargarder Strasse, a man stopped me.  He had a half-empty Rotkäppchen bottle in one hand and a half empty beer bottle in the other, both gleaned no doubt from amongst the discarded remnants of the night before.  His purpose in approaching me had been to point out that avocadoes were being sold at €1.50 for three at a nearby späti, information he clearly thought worth sharing.

I didn’t take advantage of the offer.

Later that day we ate Vietnamese food in the ‘Asia Dream’ restaurant which was next door to where we lived at the time and had an early night; a fairly uninspiring start to what was to be the best year of my life so far.

For my final post of 2014 I was considering writing a standard ‘look back at the year’ piece.  However, I had already produced a comprehensive three-part post at the end of October to commemorate my first year in Berlin, so I decided against it as I would probably have ended up repeating much of that material.

Instead I’m thinking about the year ahead because it can only hold two possibilities for me: that at least one of us will land a job that brings in enough to keep us here in Berlin or that we return to the UK.  The latter possibility fills me with dread, and I’m refusing to consider it as an option while I still have six months left here.

What disheartens me in my search for a job is that I know of some hugely talented and highly qualified natives who can’t get work.  My tandem partner, a Berliner with excellent qualifications, has been unemployed for a year, and a neighbour who has been a freelance journalist for two decades is finding it impossible to secure a permanent post.

Another concern is the way in which the UK’s political climate seems to be shaping up.  I am horrified by the rise of far right groups and the promotion of parties such as UKIP.  As if the present coalition wasn’t bad enough with its hatred of the vulnerable, dismantling of the NHS, and sheer economic incompetence, I fear that what could take its place in next year’s election might be even worse. 

If we do have to return to the UK it will mean leaving behind the wonderful friends we have made and saying goodbye to the only place I’ve ever really felt at home.   

There are still this evening’s cocktails and fireworks to look forward to, but I’m already wondering where I will be and what I will be writing twelve months from now...

 

The morning after the night before 

Thanks to everyone who’s taken the time to read my blog this year and followed my adventures, my successes and failures, and my ramblings about life in the city that I love.

Happy 2015!