Exit Life Through Window

On Sunday there was peace on Afghanistan. For twenty-four hours, midnight to midnight, the guns ceased on both sides. After urging by international aid agencies, in particular UNICEF and the UN, both the international forces stationed there and the Afghan forces, including the Taliban, agreed to honour one day of peace, in order for charities to reach children in areas which had been unreachable for the previous two years to vaccinate them against polio. But those agencies would never have dreamed a day when all the fighting would stop on both sides was even possible if it wasn't for the efforts of one man: Jeremy Gilley.

Jeremy Gilley set out in 1998 to make a film about peace. His only problem was that there was no peace; not a single day in any year when human beings were not killing one another. So, he decided he would start out by trying to create one day every year on which a worldwide ceasefire would take place, and document his efforts through film. If he was unsuccessful, the film would show how human beings were incapable of peace; if it was a success, then he would have created something incredible. He set the date for this day to be the 21st September every year. Peace One Day was born.

On Sunday night, I saw the Peace One Day concert in the Royal Albert Hall in London. As part of the concert, Gilley's film about the project, 'The Day After Peace', was premiered. The film has been ten years in the making, and now, finally, ten years on, Jeremy Gilley's persistance, charisma and persuasiveness has resulted in something wonderful: on Sunday, for the second year in a row, the guns ceased on both sides in Afghanistan. The film may now be complete, but this is just the beginning for the Peace One Day project.

I know that I am now going to do everything I can to help. If there can be peace across the whole world for just one day, then peace every day is just one step closer. What amazes me is that this is all the result of one man's dedication and tenacity. It really made me think, because ultimately every idea in the world begins with the idea of just one person.

I want to be one of those people.

(if only I was actually capable of writing this post in Berlinerisch... that would be amusing)

Actually, I wanted to make a list of things that I would love to do in Berlin this summer. Because lists are great.

- go sailing on the Wannsee
- get a gig (and soon!)
- go to the Tropical Island (http://www.tropical-islands.de/) or one of the thermal spas in Brandenburg as soon as my car is in Berlin (in a week, woo!)
- find some new bars... there's only so often I can use the excuse of 'but it's just over the road!' for going to Kaffee Burger because I can't be bothered to think of anywhere else to go. Not that I don't like Kaffee Burger... the Russian Disco is especially cool (and I discovered they have an LJ!)
- finish learning the tour and start my tour guiding job (and this doesn't feel like a tour.. well, the starting the job part anyway. I just have to somehow learn to be witty in the next week, is the only problem!)
- go sunbathe on the beach in Potsdam
- go to the swimming pool in the Spree (the Badeschiff! http://www.kulturarena-berlin.de/CmsImage.aspx?srcId=613)

I think that's enough to be getting on with. Oh, and write a few songs, but that's kind of always in there somewhere...

( Insecurity... )

I am actually really hopeful for this band thing - I think it'll be great to get gigs and so on. I just wish I didn't feel like I'm pretending to be part of the cool crowd and that sooner or later they're going to notice and drop me.

( Ruminations about my own personality... probably not all that interesting! )

(And GIP for the new one I stole from... somewhere... can't actually remember where!)

I'm feeling less moany now - just re-did the test for the German language courses at uni and got 92/100 since I actually paid attention this time! Much better :)

I realised quite soon after writing my last post that actually I do have some vaguely interesting things to say. I bought stuff for making sushi rice when I went food shopping today and also some green curry paste and some miso soup, and I also ordered a bento box and supplies for it online! So hooray :) The only annoying thing is that, because it's from a Japanese website, I have to send them a scan of my card and driver's licence... seems a little OTT but I know it's a reputable site so I don't think they're going to steal my identity! Just means I have to go to the PC pool tomorrow and try and persuade them to let me use the scanner!

My Aunt and cousins were here when I got back from England, so I spent my first three days back in Berlin running around after them (which is why I've yet to unpack). It was fun to see them though, since I don't get to go home all that often at the moment!

I also have pictures of snow in England to share, which are here: http://pics.livejournal.com/mk_tortie/gallery/0000p7bw They're a bit too big to paste straight into this entry!

Anyway, now I'm off to really unpack this time :)