Life in lockdown: week six

Another exhausting week of lockdown and homeschooling is over. The biggest challenge, in addition to trying to master German grammar (is it really necessary to use the word Selbslaut when the self-evident term Vokal is also in the dictionary? Somebody really ought to have a word with German schoolbook writers!) has been getting our energetic seven-year-old to fall asleep at night. 

Sleep, or rather lack therof, has always been a sore point in our family; the last time I had a decent night’s sleep was eight years ago. With playgrounds and sports facilities still closed, I resorted to YouTube fitness videos for kids, hours of bouncing on a trampoline, running, sprinting and cycling. Unfortunately, long walks no longer do the trick and my yoga classes are unappealing. We’ve also been putting an alarm every morning and waking up earlier and earlier. At least the weather has been consistently good, with five more days of uninterrupted sunshine. The weekend was a different story. We couldn’t believe it when we woke up to a grey sky on Saturday.

Spring is the season of awakening, as Berliners know all too well. The combination of endless sunshine and lockdown has meant that this year the feeling of renewed life and energy is stronger than ever. On Wednesday we cycled through Prenzlauer Berg to the central district of Mitte. There were people everywhere: taking pictures of the cherry blossoms close to Bornholmer Strasse, admiring the “Lord of the Rings/Ice Age”-inspired street art in Mauerpark (Gollum’s precious toilet paper stolen by Scrat the squirrel), queueing up  –  at a distance – for ice cream, sitting on the steps of the Bode Museum –  currently closed –  or soaking up the sunshine on the banks of the Spree river.

The Spree river seen from Museum Island.

The high number of Berliners out and about can be explained by an easing of the lockdown restrictions this week. The biggest change in Berlin is that we no longer need a good reason to leave the house so we are allowed to move freely within the city, as long as we keep a 1.5 m distance from others. As before, we are only allowed to be with members of our own household or with another person from a different household (so that means two people 1.5 m apart). Gatherings of up to 20 people are permitted, but only for funerals and baptisms. Masks are now compulsory on public transport, though even a scarf will do, as long as you keep your mouth and nose covered. Still no parties or barbecues in the park, but quite a few shops have reopened. Once again, I have to acknowledge that it’s difficult to keep up with all the changes, especially as they are not always reported correctly in the media.

Unfortunately, this newfound freedom has meant that thieves also don’t need a good reason to leave their houses, as I discovered one morning when my bike saddle was stolen. So, no more bike rides for me until my new saddle arrives. On a positive side, bike shops have remained open throughout the lockdown to enable Berliners to keep on cycling.

Last week I was feeling rather stressed and under pressure to be more productive, when most of the time all I wanted was to read a book in the sunshine, while sipping a cup of tea. And I really couldn’t be bothered with cleaning or baking. This week, however, I have felt more energetic and I have tried to involve my son in some house chores. We were very proud of our first ever homemade bread. (We actually found a bag of flour in the supermarket! Still no toilet paper though.) We cleaned the floor together and tried to turn it into a fun activity. Being in lockdown is a challenge, but it also has some good sides. Perhaps one day I might even find the time to work on my second novel.

Life in lockdown: week five

The Easter holidays are over and so is the first month of quarantine.

If I had to find a word to define each week up to now, it would be:

week one – anxiety

week two – homeschooling

week three – tonsillitis

week four – Easter

week five – exercise and cherry blossom (ok that’s four words).

I have practically got over the virus that I presumably caught from my son, who most likely caught it at school (back in the days when children went to school). So, I have been able to exercise properly again this week. I joined two yoga classes via Zoom, I went for long walks with my son, among the cherry trees in bloom, and for a family bike ride along the Berlin Wall trail at the weekend. Exercise is one of the things that has helped me remain fairly sane until now.

Spring has brought colour back to Berlin: pink and white cherry blossom, green leaves and blue sky. The sun has continued to shine every day from morning until evening, breaking all previous records. This has to be the best spring ever!

We’re lucky to be in Berlin and not just because of the weather. The situation here seems to be pretty much under control, at least for the time being. The hospitals are not overloaded and the health system is coping. We can leave the house with other members of our household, as long as we keep a distance from others. The most likely place to see our friends is still a computer or phone screen, but we sometimes are lucky enough to bump into someone we know (well not literally, as we have to keep a distance). 

There are plans for schools to restart, albeit gradually. Only pupils in the final years of primary and secondary school will go back to school over the next couple of weeks. We still have no idea when the other years will restart. Kitas (nurseries) probably won’t reopen until after the summer. So it’s back to homeschooling and being a teacher again from Monday.

Life in lockdown: week four

We are now in the second week of the Easter break. The weather in Berlin has been exceptionally good this past week, so in a way it has felt like being on holiday. I can’t remember the last time we had so many consecutive days of glorious sunshine. Perhaps it’s never happened before. 

Luckily, we are not in complete lockdown here: we are still allowed to leave the house to exercise. Walking, running, cycling, rollerblading is permitted as long as we respect the rules. I must admit that this is not always easy, as they keep changing. 

Initially, we were told that we must always carry ID with us; now it’s no longer necessary. Playgrounds and sports facilities are closed, but parks are still open. Initially we weren’t allowed to sit on benches or on the grass, but now we are, as long as we keep a distance of 1,5 metres on a bench, or 5 metres on the grass, from the next person. 

Also, we are only allowed to have short rests so no barbecues or picnics! Easter egg hunts in the park were not permitted this Easter, so we did ours on the balcony. The police regularly patrol parks and outdoor spaces to make sure everyone complies. Apparently, they are making a special effort to be friendly and understanding. Last time we went for a walk in the park we saw three police cars, but they didn’t stop to speak to us as we weren’t breaking any rules.

It’s amazing how quickly we have adapted to the new normal. In my case, Spotify has completely replaced the BBC World News app. Usually I listen to the radio every day on my phone. Now it’s only music or audiobooks.

Still, however much we try, we can’t quite eliminate the coronavirus from our minds. For instance, we have a new greeting whenever one of us walks through the door: “Have you washed your hands” has replaced the obsolete “Hello”. This is especially necessary when my husband returns from work after sending reassuring news, such as, “We had three confirmed cases of Covid today!”. When this happens, I also shout: “Just pretend you’re in the operating theatre”. Otherwise, he’s not very good with hygiene.

Also, when painting Easter eggs last week, my son added an interesting detail to one of his pictures. He drew a park with red tulips and the sign “no picnics allowed due to coronavirus”.

Life in lockdown - week three

While the rest of the world was fighting COVID-19, I was at home battling against tonsillitis. Fortunately I had a powerful and effective weapon on my side - antibiotics - so I was able to extinguish the fire in my throat relatively quickly. Unfortunately I had to give my video yoga classes a miss and, as I could only communicate by whispering, phone or video calls were a no go. 

The week began with a dramatic change in the weather: Berlin saw its first and probably last snowfall of the year. The temperature plummeted, the sky went back to its usual grey tones, so for a few days nobody missed much by staying at home.

It was the last week of homeschooling before the Easter holidays and I spent most of it with my head under a towel inhaling steam. Schools in Germany are supposed to reopen on 20 April, but it seems unlikely at this stage. By the way, is it der virus or das virus? Luckily one of us knows the genders of German nouns. My son and I have found a way of making home lessons even more entertaining. We take it in turns to be the teacher. If you live in Berlin and you've heard a child laughing his head off, that was probably my son after I gave a wrong answer.

So what will we do with ourselves now that we are "on holiday"? Not to worry: we have plenty of ideas, including planning a Formula 1 quiz so that we can play with the rest of the family on Skype. We are determined to make the best out of this situation and, so far, we've done a pretty good job.

Life in lockdown: week two

The second week of lockdown in Berlin is over. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. In fact, I’m so tired that I’ve stopped worrying about the Coronavirus (at least that was until I woke up with a sore throat and had to remind myself of the symptoms of Covid-19 – fever and dry cough. So, do I have it? That has to be the most commonly asked question in the world right now).    

   

I try to avoid following the news these days, as it makes me feel anxious, but I did read on the Guardian website the other day that there has been a surge in the number of submissions to publishing houses. One has to assume that these writers don’t have a child at home in constant need of attention and feeding.

You’ve heard of phantom ringing syndrome, i.e. the perception that your phone is ringing when it actually isn't. Well my son and I have developed a similar syndrome: he hears me calling him even when I’m not and I hear him calling Mamma even when he’s not. That must be a consequence of spending 24 hours a day in mutual company.

Like many parents in lockdown, I’ve suddenly become a full-time schoolteacher. I used to think that helping my son with his German homework was manageable: «Ok, I still don’t know when to use der or das, but I should know enough to get through the second-year homework». Suddenly I find myself having to teach German on a daily basis, as well as maths, Italian, physical education... and even botany! Did you know that flowers have the most peculiar names in German? Just to give you an idea, a pansy is called Stiefmütterchen, literally stepmummy. I’d like to know who came up with that name.

I’ve also turned into a postwoman/messenger/photographer, as I also have to take photos of my son’s homework and email them to his teachers on a regular basis. Is this what they mean by digital learning?

As playgrounds and sports facilities are off limits, our living room now functions as a classroom, football pitch, yoga studio, Formula 1 racing track, and much more.  

I should point out that since the lockdown measures were introduced, the sun has shone every single day in Berlin (except for today). This is unprecedented.

We leave the house once a day to get some exercise and fresh air. A shopping trip to the supermarket has become one of the highlights of the week. The newly discovered thrill of walking into a shop and finding what you actually need. Mind you, you’ve got to time it right: too early and they won’t have had time to stock up the shelves; too late and everything will be sold out. This is when East Germans get a sense of déjà vu. As some ladies from my yoga class noted recently, bare shop shelves were a common sight in East Germany. 

Forget about toilet paper, those shelves are always empty. I have never seen so many men walking down the street carrying large packs of toilet paper as if they were trophies. Another commonly asked question: where on earth did they get it?

On a positive note, we’ve adapted to this new situation surprisingly quickly. My son is having a great time, in spite of not seeing his friends (except for Skype or video call). He enjoys homeschooling and he appreciates having so much time for playing and listening to stories. We have a strict rule of no studying at weekends during quarantine. This is how I managed to find time to write.

My crowdfunding campaign to publish a book

Writing the book was the easy part. 

Today is day 6 of my crowdfunding campaign. I've written a book, you see, a novel actually and I'm hoping to get it published through crowdfunding. Considering I'm trying to publish a book written in Italian, while living in Germany, and considering that a lot of my friends can't even pronounce bruschetta properly, I haven't done badly. My goal is 200 pre-orders in 100 days and I've reached 31% of the goal so far.

I think my next book is going to be about how to run a successful crowdfunding campaign. I wish I'd read this book before I'd started. Well maybe not. I probably wouldn't even have tried if I had known what was lying ahead. It's like when I was pregnant and I was told: "This is the easy part; you wait till the baby is born." I feel the same way about this campaign: writing the book was the easy part!

By the end of the 100 days, I'm either going to love or forever hate social media. Over the past week, I've discovered there is another world out there: it's made of bookbloggers and writers with Instagram accounts and thousands of followers.

There is one very successful self-published author who found me on Instagram and on Twitter. I asked him if he could share some advice. His response was simple: "As you can see, social media." I can see that. He has a friendly but rather determined approach. How did he even find me? Hashtags?

One positive aspect of the campaign is that it's kept me so busy I've barely had the time to worry about Brexit. Do they really believe the EU will renegotiate the deal?

If you would like to support my campaign and practise your Italian, please pre-order a copy of my book. The e-book is a bargain at €5.99!

https://bookabook.it/libri/liberate-lina-pellica/

The book will only be published if I can get 200 pre-orders in 100 days. The clock is ticking (not just for Theresa May). 

Celebrating the first day of school

Do you remember your first day of school? If you went to school in Germany, the chances are you do, and you probably remember it well. Or at least you will have fond memories of your Schultüte, a giant colourful cone made of cardboard full of sweets and other surprises.

In Germany starting school is a major life milestone and, like all important events, it deserves a proper celebration. There is even a word called Einschulungsfeier, the party to celebrate the first day of school. Feier means party by the way. This is perhaps not so surprising considering there is also a word called Feierabend for when you finish work. Germans like parties after all.

Last Saturday, 34,000 children in Berlin alone celebrated their first day of school at the 400 primary schools or Grundschulen across the German capital. If you happened to walk by a primary school, or had lunch in a restaurant close to one, you probably noticed all the hustle and bustle, unusual for a Saturday when schools are normally closed.

On the morning of this special day, the children starting primary school together with their families (parents, siblings and often also grandparents) gather in the main assembly hall, where they are greeted by the headmistress or headmaster. Each child holds a Schultüte (in some cases it is as tall as the child itself) and carries a school bag, or Schulranzen in German.

The ceremony to welcome the new pupils usually involves a play or performance put on by the older children and a short speech by the headmistress or headmaster. Then each child is called by the teacher and together they walk to their classroom, without the parents. This is when the first class officially begins. After 20-30 minutes the children re-emerge with their teachers in the schoolyard. For some children now is the time to finally find out what their parents have hidden in the cone (usually a combination of sweets and school supplies); others will have to wait until they get home. The party is not over yet though. After taking pictures, the families move on to a restaurant or go back home for lunch.

By Monday morning, once all the excitement has worn off, the children are ready and eager to start school.