At the language party on a boat-cum-hostel in East Berlin, everyone asks for Charles Clawson.


Eventually, the “English Party” host is found lingering inconspicuously around a group of chatting people. He is not the centre but merely part of everything he has created, moving from table to table on the 30-foot boat, introducing perfect strangers who a few hours later are still chatting like old friends.


It is here that Clawson is in his element, in the middle of a group he has assembled, orchestrating Americans, Brits and other English speakers to mix with Germans as well as the French, Israelis and other nationalities that attend weekly – all in English – to promote language and culture and nurture new friendships.


“I think that most people who come down have been living here for a few years and have developed a need for something outside of German culture,” he said. “Berlin really needs this kind of thing.”


The mystery


Clawson’s English Party has come a long way since its kickoff in 2004. Beginning with a handful of people who found his flyers posted around Berlin, it has changed locales a few times, from small bars in Mitte to its latest home, the Eastern Comfort boat hostel where the host offers his homemade hummus, live music, tandem partners and now a smoke-free atmosphere. Clawson also puts on special events such as comedy evenings or talks by expatriates on their travels or life in their home country: Expat Margaret Nathan recently spoke at a brunch, Clawson's other regular expat meeting, at Ars Vini restaurant about growing up on a sheep farm in her native New Zealand.


As one German attendee, a medical student from the south Berlin suburb of Steglitz said, “The parties just allow me to get away from Germany and speak English for a few hours in a natural way.”

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