Random Late Night Musings

Rewatching Grimm reminded me of how much I love that show - and how terrible their German and their translations were. And don’t even let me get started on the supposedly German passports… 🤣 You’d think they pay more attention to such details with a show that deals with a lot of German stuff, but it seems they were too lazy. You have no idea how many facepalms I did while watching and rewatching that show. 😄 And yet, I adore this show.

The downside of living in a house that is about a hundred years old? Ghosts. Yes, I’m serious.

You get this a lot with houses in Berlin, because there are many very old ones left and many of those got damaged during WWII. Are they all haunted? Maybe. It honestly wouldn’t surprise me.

Our house is one of those that got damaged during the war. The whole front of the house was gone after a bomb hit the street here, just like with most of the neighbor houses. One was completely destroyed and was rebuilt afterwards. Fun fact: All the houses here in the street were connected through long tunnels and every house had a hole in the wall for people to flee through those tunnels in case of an attack. Those openings were walled shut after the war, but it’s still interesting to see that there was such an opening and why it was there.

So, with everything that went down here, it’s not too far-fetched to think that this house is haunted, right? I keep seeing and hearing things every now and then. Sometimes it sounds like silent crying and whimpering in the attic, sometimes it’s odd smells all of a sudden. On my birthday, the doorbell rang, but nobody was there. The door camera didn’t even react, so it wasn’t like somebody rang the bell and ran. When we opened the door, it smelled like cigarette smoke. There was absolutely no explanation for this though.

Sometimes I see movement or shadows. And before you say that it could be my cats: No, it’s different. Like two days ago. I was watching tv and it was dark in the room. Suddenly I saw something moving in the hallway. It looked like someone was walking past the door. I could clearly see a face in the dark and the person was about 6’2”. I was alone in the house though, so it couldn’t have been a living person…

There have been incidents of the lights being switched on in the middle of the night or weird noises in the walls. Keep in mind that we don’t have hollow wooden walls over here. It’s all thick brick walls in this house. And then there are the knocks in the basement. My cats often sit at the top of the staircase and watch whatever it is in the basement. Our basement isn’t for storage though. There are a bedroom and bathroom etc. So, no, there can’t be any animals between any boxes.

The thing is, it never feels threatening or dangerous. It’s just there, whatever it is. I’ve accepted that there is at least one ghost here. Most likely it’s more than one. I’ve never been afraid of anything supernatural. From a very early age, I kept dreaming about odd things - including the devil juggling with my toys when I was four. I thought it was funny and wasn’t afraid at all. Sure, I’m a weird person, but I like that about me. 😄 So, ghosts in our house is just something that belongs to my life, I guess. But it definitely always amazes me when I see or hear these things here! 😊

Let me tell you something about last year…

2023 had been full of ups and downs. Some things were terrible, some were exciting. I won’t list everything, so don’t worry about that. 😄 But there was one thing that still makes me smile.

During the summer, I went shopping with my mom. I decided to wear one of my favorite dresses that day. I felt good about myself, which wasn’t exactly due to the dress but in general. It was just one of those days, you know. On our way to the mall, two random people walked up to me and told me that they absolutely loved my dress. On the way back home, a random stranger on the bus tapped me on the shoulder and said: “I’m sorry to bother you, but I totally love your dress! It looks amazing!” Now the thing is that I bought this dress about two years ago and have worn it at least five times during that time. Never before had anybody said anything like that to me. It was a simple thing to say, but it made me smile. It truly made me happy, because those were such honest compliments.

Nowadays it doesn’t happen very often anymore that people just say things like that to a random stranger. So many people always complain or bitch at everybody. Even when you’re being nice, they often act like you annoy them. When you hold open the door behind you for somebody else to go through, they march through the door without a word or a smile. They just ignore you. So, when people are saying something nice just because they feel like it, it’s so special. It made me happy, it makes people happy.

The bottom line here is: Just say something nice to someone, even if that person is a complete stranger. You never know if it makes their day or even their year. It might be something simple for you, but it could mean the world to the other person!

New Year’s Eve in Berlin is literal hell nowadays. It took a sharp turn last year, when people attacked policemen and all kinds of emergency vehicles with fireworks. Like serious attacks with people shooting those fireworks directly into police cars and at policemen. I don’t expect it to be any different this year. It’s probably going to be worse for various reasons. There already were some incidents yesterday in some places here…

And right now? It sounds like actual gunfire at the front outside since about 5pm. It’s insane! New Year’s used to be so amazing a couple years ago… 😔