Butterflies in my tum! My fist big entrance on the construction site and I haven’t slept a wink for two nights. I even managed to get my girlfriend’s back up last night, poor thing. She cooks me my favourite meal, caterpillar cocktail in a sesame crust, and what do I do? I talk non-stop about spades and concrete and steel. No hope of any conversation worthy of an ant that night! The start of construction work on the BBI Infotower had already commandeered my antennas and senses. I’m sorry, but I just happen to be a bit of a perfectionist and when things don’t go absolutely smoothly, it really bothers me. But everything went like clockwork today – except for one little hitch. But I’ll come back to that later.

So, this morning I put on my best boiler suit and zoomed off to the site. I would love to have taken my beloved with me, but the mere idea of setting foot on a building site transforms her cute little face into an unpleasantly grumpy one. Okay, I don’t mind admitting that there’s not much glamour to a building site. The first thing I had to do when I arrived at the site was to hide. The plan was to go under cover, so to speak, and later to be “unveiled” in front of the guests as a new member of the team. That was fine by me because it gave me a chance to take a good look at the guests as they arrived: journalists, photographers, the Mayor, architects, lots of other important-looking people and airport staff taking a look round, exchanging notes, talking shop or simply having an animated conversation. Then the time came at last and airport boss Dr Rainer Schwarz and managing director Thomas Weyer opened the event and gave their speeches, talked about the airport expansion, the future, milestones and the new, futuristic Infotower that is destined to be the BBI’s emblem: a 32-meter triangular tower with an interesting twist to it that will offer a unique view over the gigantic construction site that’s so big you could fit 2000 football pitches into it. Construction begins today and the tower is scheduled to open before the year is out. Quite an adventure!

And then it was my turn. Big fuss. Cameras flashing. Inquisitive eyes and ears. “This is Armin, one of our hardest-working, most conscientious workers,” says Dr Schwarz. “He’s laid-back, charming and easygoing and he’s the man who knows what’s what. In future, he will be reporting to you about progress on site…” Praise from the boss is the best kind of praise! I was speechless, touched and happy. That’s not something you experience every day.

When the official ceremony was over, it was time to party. The food was a dream: rissoles, potato salad, roast pork, red fruit jelly and a delicious glass of malt beer. "I was still very much in the limelight, with journalists crowding me, crazy photographers vying for the best shot and the Mayor, too, all wanting to clink glasses with me. All a bit much for Wednesday lunchtime, 12 noon. Out of sheer excitement, I put away a second helping of roast pork and rissoles. And then the inevitable happened! In my ant-brained dopiness, a rissole slipped out of my hand and straight into my glass of malt beer. Before I knew it, my neighbour’s white shirt had, well, some pretty unpleasant-looking brown liquid down the front. I wanted to throw myself on the ground and hide under the tablecloth. Luckily, the gentleman in the shirt took my mishap in cheerful, mayorly good part. All was well. Time to go home. My first public appearance had already caused quite enough commotion in my already exciting ant’s life.

Wersja drukowana berlin-airport.de (Copyright Berliner Flughäfen)