passive/agressive

a typical u bahn train (i guess that's redundant, but whatever). you'll notice that not all the doors are open - this is bc in berlin (i guess in germany in general) you have to push a button in order to open the door. i obviously noticed this the first time i rode the bahn (with schatze), but it wasn't very instinctive, and sadly still isn't. which means that sometime i just stand expectantly in front of the door, and some random person who has more sense than i do pushes the button for me and i have to give them an embarrassed smile of thanks. the best time was when i was waiting a while for the u bahn to come, so i had my arms crossed. the bahn came and i walked up to the door, still with my arms crossed...and was waiting patiently for the door to open. then this woman next to me gave me a dirty look and pushed the button for me....oh dear, i didnt mean to look like a snob! :-(

another thing that's still counterintuitive is just getting a seat at restaurants. the first few weeks i would just sort of stand expectantly in the middle of the restaurant floor waiting and waiting...until i finally just sat down somewhere. obv. i dont stand in the middle of the restaurant waiting anymore, but it feels komisch to take a seat.

so these two stories are supposed to lead up to this one awkward story with a friend of mine. he sells contracts with O2, a well-known cell phone service. when we first met at navarathri he mentioned that i should contact him and we could set up an appointment. i did, over a german social networking site, and he mentioned that we should make an appointment that evening (since navarathri was successive days of celebration). he didn't approach me that evening about an appointment even though we said hi, and he didn't message or contact me or anything in the following few weeks. i figured he wasn't interested, and i was a little annoyed that i was a potential customer and he wasn't even willing to meet me halfway. i found another plan (cheaper!) and so it didn't matter anyway. but just yesterday he sent me a message asking if/when i'd like to meet regarding a contract. it seemed from his tone that HE was waiting for ME to contact him. huh?!!

...so awkward...

tonight is a kunstnacht in my neighborhood - excited :-)