“You aren’t a student are you?” the realtor wanted to know.

“No, I’m a teacher.”

“Good, because students don’t have a chance.”  He laughed, picking out several application forms for the apartment and tossing them into the trash.

I was sitting at the kitchen table of yet another apartment.  But this time I was done with WGs.  This time I wanted to find a place just for me, two rooms so I wouldn’t have to work in the same room where I slept, a kitchen that made me want to always be cooking, my own bathroom, reasonably priced, in Frankfurt. (Who I was kidding?)

Young Germany headed to the Rhineland and soaked up some of the carnival atmosphere, have a look at some photos from a village carnival parade here

This was a match day to remember. A weekend that produced more memorable moments than a trip to a Kodak factory. Spectacular goals, a couple of surprise results, a last-minute penalty miss, a last-minute winner and a new league leader made for compelling viewing.

Yet no matter how many good matches there were, the stand-out moment of the weekend was produced by 1 FC Köln. The team from the carnival capital traveled to Munich, a place they had not won at in over a decade. The bookmaker’s odds hovered close to 10/1. Christoph Daum had never even won there as a coach. It seemed like a foregone conclusion.

The 74,244 people in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium could not believe it. Millions following the Bundesliga throughout the country had to do a double-take. But for good measure they flashed it up on the big screens at Berlin’s home ground: Hertha BSC were top of the league. Following a 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich, courtesy of a Liverpool-reject’s brace, they were league leaders.

Normally, watching Hertha BSC is enough to make root canal surgery seem an attractive proposition. For years they have played gauge-your-eyes-out football. Their stadium is always half empty, making for a poor atmosphere. And there’s a running track that puts you miles from the pitch – further putting your eyes at risk. Add to that a chilling wind in autumn and winter and you have an idea why it’s not people’s first choice place to be on a Saturday afternoon.

Film download

The current financial crisis that is rampaging around the global economy seems to be affecting everything, including the 59th Berlinale – the Berlin International Film Festival – that kicked off on Thursday. The festival is one of the most prestigious and important in the world of cinema – right up there with Sundance or Cannes Film Festivals. However, due to the situation, the organisers canceled one of the most famous of the numerous Berlinale parties and events, in fear of displaying excessive flamboyance. This did nothing to dissuade me from jetting into Berlin (the train had to do, actually) and savour a taste of the atmosphere and rub shoulders with the who’s who of the international film scene.

I am looking forward to watching some great films but my mood takes a nosedive akin to Lehman Brothers stock when only a few hours after the official tickets went on sale the official website lists nearly all films as sold out. Not to be discouraged I head to the Potsdamer Platz – the hub of the Berlinale. The weather is rather subdued – it is February after all – but there are lots of people milling around: camera crews; photographers and unidentified, but arty-looking people with the obligatory ID cards around their necks and official red Berlinale shoulder-bags. The bustle creates a sense of excitement and so I wind my way through little knots of people toward the Berlinale Palast.

I cast a longing glance at the red-carpet and am disappointed, but not surprised, to see that there is no line of stars waiting for me take some snaps. I feel rather better after being told an interesting anecdote about the star-studded red carpet shows: I was under the impression that the stars are picked up in their hotels by their limos and then pull up in front of the red-carpet. Nonsense! At least at the Berlinale, the stars make their way (more often than not via public transport or taxi) to the Potsdamer Platz and then get changed, styled and driven a distance of no more than 200 meters to the red carpet. I have been unable to verify if this is an additional gesture of solidarity with those affected by the financial crisis, but I do like the image of Hollywood stars riding the grimy Berlin subway. (See picture l’oreal styling booth).

Hunting around for tickets I find that I am not the only one – major queues have formed in front of the ticket offices. After consulting the extensive listings I realise I am too late for today’s films and braving the queue is not to be done with a rumbling stomach. My fixer (at least I am getting into the film lingo) suggests an up-market restaurant but as I want to keep in the spirit of restraint, exemplified by the organisers of the Berlinale, we settle for a German Bratwurst at a stall with the most famous view of Berlin – the Brandenburger Tor. I am pleased that I get my Bratwurst for free and spiced with a great story: the vendor that handed me the Bratwurst is a multi-millionaire and proud owner of a 180,000 euro per year VIP box at Hertha BSC.

At the end of the day I may not have caught a glimpse of international stars, but I have contributed toward the amelioration of the current financial crisis by disproving an important economic theorem: I had a free lunch.

With a bit of luck, in the next few days I will be able to give you a review of one of the films…