München

Last Saturday I visited München to volunteer with the Bavarian Red Cross alongside a friend. My previous visit to this city was marred by Deutsche Bahn’s infrastructure issues; however, this time everything went wonderfully: the city blossomed and revealed itself to me in a completely different light. I brought my Agfa Optima 200 to take some photographs. Granted, it’s not in working condition, but that doesn’t stop me from experimenting: I use my Nikon D7000 and take photos through the viewfinder of my other camera, using it as a filter. The results are usually quite fascinating frames that look as though I’m observing everything through a dream.

I try not to miss any opportunity to improve my conversational German skills, which makes volunteering perfectly suited for me in this regard, especially since I frequently volunteered in Russia as well. Before this weekend, I hadn’t been registered with the Red Cross as a volunteer, but I decided to sign up and they recently got in touch with me: I clarified that I don’t live in München, and my application was redirected to Bitterfeld-Wolfen. I was copied on the email, and I found it rather charming that the Bavaria coordinator concluded his message to my city’s coordinator with “Herzliche Grüße aus Bayern nach Sachsen-Anhalt”. All in all, the trip proved to be highly productive, and it wasn’t for nothing that I set off from my home at midnight to reach München by morning.