The world is kinder than you believe.

Wednesday promised to be busy. Besides the FAMM work, I had set up three dates, connections with people that I had met through the Internet via my network connections or the ever-helpful Craigslist.

The first was lunch with Irene. Some time back, she had rented her place to Tobias, a friend of Karin’s, when he was headed to Berlin and she was headed to New York. Funny enough, they had actually never met. She had been extremely generous in her assistance to me even while I was still in the U.S.: placing a housing ad for me in the paper, running interference between potential German housemates, and offering to actually go and take a look at places on my behalf. She lives just north of my neighborhood in Prenzlauer Berg, where she also works as a graphic and web site developer.

On the map, it looked like a reasonable walk to P-Berg, and I’ve really tried to make it a point to get out and take in the fresh air, despite the cold. I allowed myself plenty of time and set off.

It took about 90 minutes to make the walk. Um, I threw in a thrift store stop along the way (Seán invited me out to a dress-up gala happening Saturday and I have nothing to wear), and a stop at a CVS equivalent (hey, you try gesturing the word to “hair rollers”).

Um, I need them, okay?

After first walking into the wrong office (and badly asking for directions to the right one), I made it to Irene’s work place.

I’ll see her on Sunday and convince her to allow me a photo for my blog but here’s a description: tall, model-thin, blonde and good-looking. I think I must have looked like her midday shadow…

We found a very yummy Indian restaurant and gabbed long enough about her experience with the U.S., politics and

That I was pretty late for lunch #2 with Lutz. Worse, I had sent him to a restaurant in my neighborhood that, unbeknownst to me, was only open at night. Unbelievably, he was still waiting for me…albeit at another café.

I connected with Lutz via Berlin-CL. He’d traveled to the U.S. for work contracts, and had lived for a bit in southern California. He wanted to find someone with whom he could keep up his English.

The man has the patience of God.

Lutz’s English is advanced, so my ultra-basic German made me wonder what the appeal could be. It turns out that he had done this before with a young American woman who was planning a whirlwind tour of Europe. Babbling words in German without a clue to what they mean? Lutz is your man.

The patience of…

I had a LOT of work to catch up on, so we made plans for Friday and I headed across the street to my pad read proposals and reply to emails.

And then there was actually meeting up with Seán, another CL-er, a former Scot, and a resource extraordinaire. From him, I learned about the monthly tram-bus-subway pass (I’ll save a fortune), area DSL providers (really, it’s a fiasco), and – if you read y previous blog – where to find a decent grocery store.

He came by to pick me up for dinner and…

…he brought flowers.

Really, life is good.