Hold on to that nut!

Ok, sorry for the break..will make up for the time.....I was busy cleaning my apartment in Berlin, selling my furniture, arranging things at Duisburg and getting screwed (knowing it very well) by my rental agency at Berlin. Did I say getting screwed? I think thanks to some really really nice German friends ( yeah they exist and are not rare!!), I did not pay the 900 bucks ( Euros) that my rental agency demanded for renovating my ole' DDR apartment. I was ready to pay up, ohne ( that's German for 'no') receipt and in cash, when I was saved ( Thanks P & R). Now I guess its up to the agency to find what the repairs are worth and send me a receipt. More kind German help followed and I think I am clear, atleast for now. Lets see how it goes. But I thought all the pain was a worthy end to a week that's basically been sell furniture, help move it, call up Duisburg to check if my packages have arrived and go through the cycle all over again.

I thought that was the end! Stepped into Bergfest ( which is what the weekly parties at my school are called...where a bunch of MBAs try to get off studies and concentrate on some serious German style drinking for a few or several hours, depending on which part of the earth are you from) for a second to just meet friends. Well since lunch was basically hearing my German friends negotiate with my rental agency ( P....thanks a tonne...but too bad you came to get an MBA, you'd 've made a fine sight in the Bundestag....not too late), I thought I'd get a quick something into my mouth for a change. Well, I got this allergy for ...among all things....damn...sesame. For those who believe in "Everything happens for a reason", the only thing that came out of this allergy is me being forced to learn 'sesame' in every language I come across - sesame ( Eng, pronounced cess-a-me), sesame ( German, pronounced Zay-saam), nuvvulu ( Telugu), ellu ( Tamil), yellu ( Kannada), til ( Hindi) and a few more languages ( I dont visit people who speak these languages any more). The only thing that has come out of this is misery, absolute, but temporary, which is the worst part. It is not easy to be a vomiting ( stuff that's gone down up till your small intestine), scratching ( it iches like when you sit in one of those 6 hour meetings, but all over the body) and spouting rashes and swelling alien ( Something similar to Will Smith in 'Hitch', but without Eva Mendes or the salary) and still convince your friends ( or even worse strangers around you) that you are doing fine and all you need is a few hours sleep to become Superman, er, scrat again. If anyone knows a cure for sesame allergy, please pass it to me. Now I get smartasses who ask me 'If you know you are allergic to sesame, why do you eat it?' Well, for all those out there, a lot of seasonings and stuff just have sesame powder thrown in, especially Asian, Arab and Mediterranean cuisine, the label ( or the waiter in the restaurant) says 'approved spices and herbs'(Approved, but for whom).I never had a problem with American food, just get those burgers with two bottom buns, instead of the bio-grenade sesame topped top bun....On that note, which cruel b...d invented something with a nice meat patty, crunchy lettuce, slices of juicy tomatoes, some nice tasty dressing, sandwich them between two buns and then sprinkle sesame on the top bun. Reminds me of those weird villains from 60's and 70's, especially Sean Connery's Bond movies, those psychos who'd crackle and guffaw as they press the button for a red gas to be released into a glass chamber. More than the pain, it is the embarrassment of having spoilt a fine party or spoiling a restaurant's reputation ( Imagine a guy turning red and throwing up after his first bite). Anyways, I had one of those thingies on Friday night, almost threw up my small intestines and abandoned any plans to leave in the early morning. Left Berlin around 11 am to reach Duisburg by a surprisingly late train ( I am not asking, I know, it's me!).

It's been a quiet day in Duisburg, ah, except ofcourse the McDonalds incident. Woke up at noon and went to the Mcdonalds at Konigs Allee to get something to eat. For some reason the chicken burgers at Mcdonalds all over the world ( bragging rights, well, I've been to Mcdonalds in, lets see, India, US, Malaysia, Germany, Taiwan, China - I consider the last two in this case as separate countries for selfishly increasing my visit count,you can discuss other cases with me) are sold with non-sesame buns. If you are not yet asleep reading this long post, thats a bonus for me. Ordered one here with some fries. Now Mcdonalds was the place where the German business concept was revealed to me, simple, "Thou shalt not give the customer any freebies", not even ketchup. When I asked for ketchup on my first night at the Berlin Alex Mcdonalds, the smiling Mcwaiter/Mccashier told me, "15 cents, and, welcome to Germany". Anyways today was not such a nice day. I got the burger and my drink, but had a token instead of my fries. Everyone else except me had their tokens replaced by food. 15 min later ( yeah, f****kin fries) another waitress came and removed ( even ) my token as she apparently took in as my 'satisfied with my Mclunch' look( I should really be pathetic in appearing angry). Then I did my march upto the waitress and she gave me a "Dude, you're done, what do you want" sigh. When I patiently explained that I still hadn't got my fries, she walks up and starts searching for the girl who had initially served me. Duh, as if I'd dupe the Mcdonalds of their fantastic fries of gold. Then she comes back after a few more minutes of vain search for her colleague( who'd obviously gone into hiding or the toilet, precisely at that moment) and says (nerve), few more min and reaches out for another token. I had obviously had enough, shouted out my disappointment and walked out. Poof!, there goes my lunch. Thank you, Mcidiots...And I thought it was called 'fast food' for some reason!

That over, found a cheap Internet cafe, an expensive Indian restaurant and a more expensive Mexican sports bar ( Berlin, you really spoilt me). Evening, bought my monthly pass for the Ruhr region ( hurray..more public transport!) and went up till Dusseldorf Altstadt with a couple of friends. That did the bit for me, calmed down, before my big day tommorrow. Actually it's gonna be interesting to go back to work ( certainly remunerative, salary here I come!) So life's been worse than normal for the past few days, with the only thing I could hold on to was the thought that I can now make 'em fantastic burritos! Javoll ( yes in Old German), I tried my hand at these thingies a couple of weeks ago and I can shrug my modesty off, and say "boy, were they wonderful". So if nothing goes well, just hop on that Regional Bahn Express to Dusseldorf with that super cheap Monthly pass, reach Konig's Allee in 17 min, and hit Galleria Kaufhof for some serious Mexican grocery shopping and few hours later, burritos from heaven. Nothing can mess that up! Desperately holding on to that nut, yours... scrat.