How Mary and Berlin met.

Hi,

I had not told almost anybody, but a 2-3 months ago I took part to a writing competition for bloggers.

Unfortunatly I did not win, though I think my text was not bad at all. The topic we had to develop was our relation to Berlin, our feelings and our experience.

As I do not want my entry to rest peacefully and forgotten in my hard disk, I have decided to disclose it here to you. I hope you will enjoy the reading! (I added photos later, as they were not part of the competition).

The first memory of Berlin which comes to my mind dates back to 10th November 1989. I was 8 years old and lived in the small Italian town where I was born.

That morning, when my classmates and I arrived at school, we discovered that our teacher had provided each and every of us with a copy of the local daily newspaper, something had happened: the Berlin Wall had fallen. The teacher had us reading the articles and she explained us step by step what they meant. Even we children should have been informed of this historical fact, as it was going to change the world and maybe our lives. And still I did not know how much Berlin would have changed mine.

Fourteen years later, in August 2003, I was standing in front of what remained of that Wall for the first time. My mind automatically recalled that childhood memory and somehow I felt that it was meant by the fate. That first stay in Berlin has been magical, I was there with my best friend and we felt free and accepted, it was like I had finally arrived where I had always belonged, like the city itself had told me: “Here you are! Why did you lose all this time?!”.

We had rent a one-room apartment in a colorful hostel near Warschauer Strasse, which had opened only a couple of years before, and there we felt like on top of the world! We left in the morning and stayed out all day, I have never walked so much! We got in touch with people of any kind, from policemen (no, we did not get in trouble, they gave us information), to old ladies helping us with our shopping list at supermarkets, to clochards who invited us to sit with them to tell us their story.

And at night… the big discovery about Berlin clubbing and about ourselves at the same time: we started attending dark wave parties, by chance, and we understood that it was our way! Also in this occasion we have experienced how much Berliners are open minded, because when we set off from Italy, our suitcases were full of colorful clothes and we did not have many options when getting ready for a night out. Well, we have always felt welcome at parties, no matter how we were dressed or how shy we were.

Those beautiful days ended up with two 22 year-old girls crying on a plane which was supposed to bring them home. In that moment I promised to myself that I would have to come back.

It seems that it did work.

Twelve years have passed and since then I have travelled continuously to Berlin, at least twice a year. I got to know many people and I have many dear friends there. Now, leaving for the German capital means having my husband, my dog and myself in a car and driving from Turin to Berlin (as we would not like our dog travelling in the stow of a plane), crossing the country and stepping by over night to rest and get to know other towns. The adventure goes on, it changed, but it never stopped!

All along this time my bound with Berlin has grown stronger and stronger, there are smells, sounds and sights that are carved under my skin, although they may seem like little nothings. I shiver if I think of the smell of fresh bakery when entering Kaiser's, or the strong smell of oil and grease when walking down the stairs of Frankfurter Tor’s underground, not to mention the incense perfume in some gothic clothes shops or in Duncker Club.

The voice in public means of transport saying, for example, “Nächste Station: Alexander Platz”, “Ausstieg: links” is so familiar.

Last, but not the least: seeing the sunset going down behind the TV Tower, when walking along the Warschauer bridge: this is quite often my last sight before leaving to go back home and it is as beautiful as it hurts.

Then faces, all those people who became close friends of mine. Seeing each other only from time to time means having much to update, but I have to admit that they make me feel like I had never left.

This is how I like to describe my feeling towards Berlin to anyone who asks me: in 2003 I went to Berlin for the first time and, since then, I have never really come back home.

"Ti ho fatto una cassetta" / "A music cassette for you my friend"

(English text  follows)

Ciao!

Oggi vorrei parlarvi di un argomento in cui penso vi riconoscerete, a chi non è mai capitato di sentirsi dire da un amico “Ti ho fatto una cassetta”?

Erano gli anni ’90-’00, il passaggio al digitale era in atto, ma non era ancora arrivato a tutti, e scambiarsi la musica su nastro portava l’amicizia ad un livello superiore.

Mi riferisco in particolare alle compilation che creavamo ad hoc. Era un modo per comunicare qualcosa al di là delle parole. Spesso facevamo una cassetta ad un amico/a per renderlo più partecipe del nostro stato d’animo, il messaggio intrinseco era: “sto vivendo questo e passo le giornate ascoltando queste canzoni, voglio condividerlo con te, perché tu possa capire come mi sento”. Oppure c’era l’empatia vista dal lato opposto: era l’amico a percepire in noi un particolare stato, che poteva essere gioia, tristezza o preoccupazione ecc …, per cui era lui a farci una cassettina con i brani che riteneva potessero interpretare o consolare i nostri pensieri: era una rassicurazione del fatto che aveva capito cosa ci stesse accadendo e che, per qualsiasi cosa, lui/lei ci sarebbe stato.

I casi, pero, non si esauriscono qui e vorrei citarne ancora due. Molte volte ci si scambiava una cassettina con una track list di canzoni per ricordare un periodo o un’esperienza trascorsi insieme ed indelebili, quasi la colonna sonora di un pezzo di vita (quanti pianti e/o quante cantate ci siamo fatti ascoltando queste compilation???). Infine una delle situazioni più gioiose: quando qualcuno che stavamo iniziando a conoscere meglio ci faceva una cassetta con i suoi gruppi/brani preferiti, con cui noi fino a quel momento non avevamo familiarità. Era un invito a tenersi pronti: al prossimo concerto saremmo andati insieme. E ditemi che questo non è un salto di livello dalla conoscenza all’amicizia?!

Non parliamo poi del processo creativo di tale cassettina! Produttori, case discografiche e studi di registrazione facevano un baffo alla nostra inventiva. La fonte non era quasi mai unica: prendo quel pezzo dal tal cd, l’altro ce l’ho su un vecchio nastro, questa canzone la registro da un programma radiofonico (e provate a stare ore ad ascoltare la radio pronti a fare lo scatto felino sul tasto “Rec”!). L’impresa più rocambolesca che ricordo di aver compiuto personalmente risale ai tempi in cui non avevo ancora un masterizzatore, ma avevo dei brani sul pc. Ho piazzato il mio stereo a cassette portatile di fronte alle casse del computer, ho fatto partire la canzone in digitale e l’ho registrata su nastro con il microfono. Dolby surround, home theatre… macché! Ovviamente non si sentiva quasi nulla, ma l’amica destinataria del mio regalo l’ha apprezzato.

Non finisce qui.

Il “packaging” era anche fondamentale. Ci armavamo di penne e pennarelli colorati per scrivere titoli e fare eventuali decori, la dedica nella parte interna era immancabile. I nomi di tali compilation erano estremamente fantasiosi perché, ovviamente, di nostra ideazione e a tema.

Io ho scaffali pieni di queste cassette, non ne ho buttata nessuna. Ogni tanto le riascolto dal mio ormai mediocre mangianastri e mi fanno rivivere tantissimi ricordi.

Colgo l’occasione per ringraziare, ancora una volta, chiunque mi abbia fatto una cassetta, spesso aprendomi nuovi mondi!

A presto!

Mary

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Hi everybody!

Today I’d like to deal with something which was quite popular when I was younger, let’s say in the years 90s and 2000s and I would like to know if it was so typical also outside of Italy and if it happened in the same way. I’m talking about the home made compilations we used to exchange with friends, recorded on music cassettes.

Those were the years in which digital support was diffusing more and more, but it still didn’t reach everybody, and exchanging music on tape was the step which brought friendship to a higher level.

I refer to those compilations we created ad hoc. It was a way to communicate beyond what words could do. Very often we made a cassette for a friend so that he/she could get more involved in our current mood, the underlying message was: “I’m living this and I spend my days listening to these songs, I’d like to share them with you, thus you can understand how I feel”. Or there could be empathy coming from the opposite direction too: it was our friend who perceived a particular state of mind in us, which could be joy, sadness, worry and so on…, so it was he/she who made a cassette for us with all songs which could interpret or comfort our thoughts: it felt reassuring to know that he/she had understood what was happening to us and that this person would have been there in case of need.

There were further situations and I would like to tell about other two. Many times we gave a friend a cassette with a track list which was meant to remind a period or an experience we spent together and that became unforgettable, a sort of sound track of a piece of life (how many times we did cry or sing loud listening to these compilations???). Last, but not the least, one of the most cheerful cases: when someone we were starting to get to know better recorded for us a cassette with his/her favorite bands and songs, which we were not familiar with up to that moment. It was a clear invitation to get ready: we would have attended next concert together. Is this not filling the gap between acquaintance and friendship?!

The creative process itself was challenging. Producers, labels, recording studios were nothing compared to our inventiveness! The source was rarely only one: we took a song from a CD, another track was on an old tape, that other song was to be recorded from radio programs (just try spending hours listening to radio, ready to jump on the “rec” button!).

I proudly remember my most remarkable accomplishment, dating back to the time in which I did not have any CD burner, but I already had songs in my computer. I had put my cassette recorder in front of the computer speakers, I played the songs in digital and recorded it through the stereo microphone. Dolby surround, home theatre… those strangers! Obviously you could hardly hear that song, but the friend who received my gift deeply appreciated it.

“Packaging” was also fundamental. We gathered pens of many different colors to write track titles and make possible decorations. A short personal message in the inner part was never missing. Names of such compilations were extremely imaginative, as we invented them according to our mood.

I have shelves full of these cassettes, I did not throw any of them away. From time to time I listen to them through my poor quality player (technology went on for a reason…) and suddenly many memories come to my mind.

I would like to thank once more all friends who made a cassette for me, thus bringing me in new worlds!

See you soon!

Mary