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21.03.22-03.04.22
Week 8/9
Okay soooo I wrote this whole thing up on Sunday and then it... disappeared so... I am updating this so late because I hate technology. So here we go again... forgive me if I sound unenthusiastic
Went to a really good Georgian restaurant near my school w Harper and Ellie and another grinnellian who was visiting from Freiburg!
went to Tiergarten finally and did homework outside in the wonderful sun
went to Cafe am Neuen See, a beer garden, it was soooo beautiful but unfortunately there was only one beer and it was not on tap and it was pretty bad...
Went to FLINTA, it was fun as always and more crazy than usual. potentially more fun than usual too
my friend Danny came to visit from Grinnell, we all went to Franken it was very fun
finally went to Ikea again and got more hangers and a good pillow finally
also went to Schwuz! it was... ok... that bar/club might suck actually... but I drank... definitely too much because the next morning I left for Madrid and was... still drunk at the airport
Madrid!
Ate... lots of tapas they were so yummy the pan con tomate was so simple but... so good
Went to a rooftop bar with Deniz, we shared a pitcher of sangria and it was so good and the view was amazing and the weather was absurdly beautiful
our hostel was in Sol, which was a rly cute little area but we spent a lot of time in Chueca going to the bars there at night
Tried Span’s Doner and the falafel was okay but according to my meat eating friend the Doner itself was not nearly as good as it is in Berlin
Spent a lot of time in Retiro park, it was soooo beautiful there its so green and it made me realize how... not green it is
Didn’t really do much sightseeing, kind of just wandered around but went to Palacia de Cristal which was very beautiful!
Also spent a lot of time at outdoor cafes and restaurants just chilling, it was very very relaxing
Saw beautiful beautiful music on the streets... and the buildings are so beautiful it was just such a beautiful place but I would NOT live there because the public transportation SUCKS compared to Berlin and the people aren’t as cool
Met up with a bunch of Grinnellians in Madrid because my bestie Gabe was there on a fieldtrip with his class! It was sooooo good to see everyone, I joined their walking tour, got dinner with them, and a few of us went out to bars after, it was soososo good to see so many familiar faces
Berlin again:
It was soooo good to be back and being alone for the first time in like 2 weeks was so amazing and so needed. did lots of little errands and tried to get my life together again before school started back up
Hung out w my friend Davis, it was so good to see her, also hung out w Syona and Claire the next night and its just.... so good to see everyone! I really missed my Berlin friends
Planned to get a tattoo with Claire on Sunday, but unfortunately we were not proactive enough and didn’t think we could make it to the tattoo shop in time before it closed
went on a Pommes tour... kind of... Claire and I were trying to find good fries so we like travelled around Berlin looking for a Doner place with amazing fries but the one I really love was CLOSED already... but I will definitely find the best fries in Berlin and let you all know...
have been talking a LOT with my friends from home and its been really really amazing. as the end of the program is getting closer and closer I’ve been really worried about how much its gonna suck to go back to the US, but talking to my besties makes me feel so much better about it because I’m so excited to see them
Sorry this is so short, a lot has happened but I do not have the energy to write it all out in detail again. Hopefully I will write more next week :|
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14.03.22-20.03.22
Week 7
Another... GREAT week :D
Highlights:
hung out w someone who grew up in south germany and the cultural differences were hilarious, shocking, amazing (i told her i think its rude to assume people speak english here, she said they are flattered if you assume they speak english... i still don’t really believe her)
went to Kit Kat w some friends! was really really cool! they took our phones at the door which was crazy, we had no concept of time but it was a fun night! we went on a Monday which was good because it was a much tamer night, idk if we would’ve been ready for kit kat on a wednesday / weekend
skipped FLINTA this week |: first time ever! was still recovering from Kit Kat on Monday
only got like 3 hours of sleep monday night, had four classes on tuesday (9am-4pm) but somehow made it through all of them and made it through the entire day without napping!
went to the DDR museum in Mitte! my only class on Wednesday was this field trip and we didn’t have to be there till 11 so I walked with some friends along the Spree to get there, it was such an amazingly beautiful morning and the museum was really fun and cool!
the sky was PURPLE on thursday night!!!... my friend was walking over to my apt and sent me pictures of everything being purple and i looked outside and everything was PURPLE!! it was crazy beautiful
watched Jackass with a friend... stupidest movie I’ve ever seen. so so incredibly bad but somehow good
went climbing alone Friday! first time going alone in a while, and definitely had an off day but it was still really fun and such a beautiful day, so nice to be able to climb outside even if its all fake rock. hoping to finally send this traverse across a WWII bunker next time I go
went to Crack Bellmer Friday night w some friends, it was really fun at first and we took shots with the lady running the coat check, but then it got weird and we went home
spent literally all of Saturday recovering from Crack Bellmer (WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS CLUB.) UNTIL Harper arrived in Berlin at 9:30! I went to pick her up at the station, we came home, got ready to go out, put on cute clothes and makeup and everything and then... decided neither of us had any desire to go out and stayed in instead. we ended up watching wipeout until we fell asleep. it was so fun and its so insanely good to see her
spent literally ALL DAY sunday outside. we left the apartment around 10? maybe? and didn’t get home till after 8. we...:
got breakfast in Alexanderplatz
walked around Mauerpark, drank beers on the hill, got Gozleme
walked towards Viktoriapark, met some people at Vereinszimmer, had another beer and coffee
walked 45 minutes to Gelateria Mos Eisley (the gelato was sooo good and the walk was really nice!)
met up w Harp’s friend who is in my program here!
watched the sunset together at Tempelhof, ellie (Harper’s friend) brought her guitar and it was so nice, a perfect moment
got Doner nearby Tempelhof, it was so good and the guy working there was so nice and funny
went back to my place! finally! we initially planned to go to either Berghain or Sisyphos w some people, but we realized we were insanely tired so we showered, changed into pjs, and watched Jackass 2 (lowkey this one sucked). i fell asleep watching it and it was such an amazing end to my weekend
Sunday was such an amazingly wonderful day. It’s so good to have Harper here, and it’s also just really really crazy and weird. She’s the first person from home who’s come to visit me and it feels like my worlds are colliding. But I’m so glad she’s able to see this place I love so much. This week is midterms and Harper will be here all week, so its gonna be pretty busy, but I’m so so so excited. Also I’ll be in Madrid next week (for spring break)! so not sure when I’ll be able to update next but see u soon!
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07.03.22-13.03.22
Week 6
This week has been absurdly amazing. ABSURDLY amazing...
Monday
I started the week off with no classes on Monday, just a field trip. It was so beautifully sunny outside, and we went to the Soviet War Memorial in Treptow. After walking around the memorial a bit some friends and I got lunch and ate on the water. It was so so beautiful and some of the best weather I had seen in Berlin until that point. The falafel was soooo good and we had amazing ice cream and fresh mint tea. I did my laundry like every Monday, watched Wipeout with a friend, just had a really amazing day.
Tuesday
Had a walking tour in Nollendorfplatz. It was soooo interesting to hear about queer history in Berlin, but also just sooo nice to walk around such a pretty area. Got lunch with friends again including a new friend Claire and it was soooo sunny and beautiful again and the day was just insanely beautiful. And after that I went to FLINTA night w more friends! Then came home to a bunch of floormates in the kitchen and we all hung out for a bit and ate snacks it was so nice but made me miss my best friends a little bit (most things make me miss my best friends at least a little bit)
Wednesday
Got dumplings with Elise and Alex after class at a vegg dumpling place near our school! Then went climbing with a friend and it was SUCH a good climb, and we saw a dog at the gym! I’m finally able to consistently send and even flash some blue routes (probably like v3 rating in US) and its so exciting to be able to notice my progress ((: Then biked home (which is so nice, biking is so amazing here) and watched A Foreign Affair with some friends for our Transatlantic Cinema class
Thursday
Had a long lunch with some friends (one of my classes was cancelled so I had extra time) and we got lost on the way back bc i told everyone the wrong tram was the right one... and 4 of us were 15 minutes late to class.. but it was okay because it was so sunny and warm outside and we got to wait from the tram in the sun :D Then went to a beer garden after classes (biked there again and it was amazingggg) and then hung out with new friend Claire!
Friday
Had one class (usually don’t have classes on Friday so it lowkey sucked) but it was nice because I had a really slow morning since my only class was at 2:30. It was another insanely beautiful day, and after class my friend Caroline and I got an early dinner at a restaurant called Cowei in Hackesher Markt. It was suchhhh good food but I ate wayyy too much which was a problem because only a little bit later I had a dinner party date thing... and had to eat more... but had a really fun night at dinner! and biked home and night bike rides are just. so amazing, i didnt even use google maps for the most part, just headed towards the TV tower because that always takes me in the direction of home
Saturday
Met up w same girl from last night and her friends at a cafe in the morning, biked like probably 2 hours, facetimed some friends from home, including ARI WHO BOOKED A PLANE TICKET TO COME SEE ME IN MAY and then pregamed with friends, and went to Schwuz in Neukolln. It was really fun although it definitely wasn’t really a club... more bar vibes.
Sunday
Tried to go to a terrible sounding American Diner with a friend because we were terribly horrendously hungover from Schwuz, but when we got there it was closed so we just. went to mcdonalds. Then went to Mauerpark and had the most amazing time. The weather was so beautiful again and after getting some new rings and earrings my friends and I got food and then sat on the hill listening to live music and just enjoying the sunlight for hours. Unfortunately they started getting cold so they decided to head back, but I didn’t want to go inside so I met up with a friend to watch the sunset on a roof. I forgot how much I love the sunset, it was so nice just being outside for an hour + with no goal except enjoying the sunlight and watching the day turn to night. Then I went home, and pretty much immediately passed out. I think I had a really, really long week.
Overall this was honestly,,, probably the best week of my life. It felt like everyday was just so remarkably wonderful. I fall in love with Berlin more in more everyday. I know I say this in like every post but I feel so so so lucky.
See u next week!
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big things in my life rn
ok so in my agenda book ive been keeping track of some important things each week, i think im gonna try and do that here instead. idk if ill do the same categories every week, might just do whatever stands out
(07.03.22)
fav song: Blessings
fav book: A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing (I’m like two pages in.)
fav poem: celebration (mari evans)
fav place: the waterfront street food and tables in Treptow near the Soviet War Memorial
fav food: amazing. amazing. amazing chocolate ice cream from the aforementioned street food
fav small thing: incense, and leaving my window open all the time
biggest emotion: grateful
most excited for: seeing Harper, queer tour on Tuesday
most proud of: myself for doing laundry consistently, climbing finally, biking, taking advantage of the sunlight, taking care of myself in general
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28.02.22-06.03.22
Week 5
Okay so this is a little late... Sorry to Bethany specifically bc they were waiting on the edge of their seat for this post :-)
Not gonna lie, I was sick for most of this week so it hasn’t been the most eventful, but here are some highlights
Went climbing! With some people from my program, at a climbing gym I haven’t been to yet and it was sosososo amazing I forgot how fun it is to climb WITH other people
Tested negative for COVID 5? or 6 times
Tried to find cold medicine in German pharmacies and it was... really confusing. especially because there is no combined medicine for cough and runny noses here... but eventually I got everything I needed (the cough syrup came in a glass bottle and that is crazy to me)
Had a very good flinta night, met up w someone at the bar after my friends had left and we got doner after, it was very fun
went on a field trip to Adlershof! not a pretty place at ALL but it was my first field trip and it was pretty fun just to see another part of Berlin. especially because Adlershof doesn’t really count as Berlin and definitely isn’t a city... it was interesting!
went to like 3 or 4 english bookstores and got two books! (A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing and Parable of the Sower
tried brammibal’s donuts... they’re vegan and i got the cookie dough one and it was sooo amazing! went w my friend Lea after getting bagels and we did some homework there before going thrifting at the five story Humana in Friedrichshain (Humana is a huge chain of thrift stores but they’re actually rly good for a chain)
started biking more! it is starting to get a little bit warmer which is nice, but regardless I’ve just been biking even when its cold and its soooo nice and super cool to see the city, there are a lot of rly cool buildings and places i have been missing out on when i take the train
got brunch (after climbing) w friends at this really cool buffet (Cafe Morgenland). it didn’t seem like it was really traditionally german food but it was all soooo amazing and was just such a great time
hung out a lot w a lot of people from my program who live in the other building... it was rly nice to get to know some people better
wrote a thousand + word paper on an hour long black and white film (Berlin, Symphony of a Great City). also gave a presentation on it. the presentation went super well (especially considering i was so sick i stayed home from class and did the presentation online) and im really proud of the paper! i actually... worked hard on it and lowkey feels so nice to put effort into academic things
went to ANOTHER flinta night Thursday night at a different bar... it’s called Stück, and it was such a pretty little bar, the bartenders were soooo nice, there was a dog, and they had some shots that were only a euro each (they were terrible tho) and when we sat down they gave us each a free shot and gave us all water and pretzels... it was CRAZY getting free water in Berlin is so disorienting
have been seriously considering cutting my hair... almost did it impulsively today......... which is a SPOILER for next week’s post but... we’ll see what happens
finally tried this vegan fast food place right next to my apartment (called Vedang) that I have wanted to try since getting here! finally decided to because I was heading home from school, needed to do a lot of stuff and didn’t wanna cook and it turned out to be pretty good! got fake chicken nuggets and fries, and am excited to try their vegan burgers sometime
didn’t go out at all this weekend! the clubs opened this weekend and i just... didn’t go... this was definitely largely due to me feeling a bit sick still, but it was actually really nice and refreshing to just hang out with friends and have some chiller weekend nights. maybe ill get back to bars and clubs this weekend lol
Overall it was a great week. Sunday was one of the best days I’ve had in a long long time. The combination of climbing, biking, being in good company, using my brain and being productive was absolutely amazing and I just felt so happy and grateful. Feeling happy and grateful all the time lately. I miss my people and my dog more and more with every day that passes, but I am really having the time of my life here, and learning and growing so much. March is off to a good start :)
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21.02.22-27.02.22
Week 4
Soo we’re coming up on a month in Berlin which is absurdly crazy. It doesn’t feel like its been that long at all. This week was really busy! I went to Prague!
Prague!
left Thursday afternoon right after class, bus back home left Sunday morning so we were there for twoish / three days
went clubbing for the first time! I had a lot more fun than I excepted and am actually excited for clubs to open in Berlin!
went to some gay bars / clubs in Prague and they were... prettty cool... went to Friends Club which was actually a lot of fun! definitely a mix of a bar and a club, which was nice
the food was soooo good and so cheap. I went to this one Vietnamese restaurant two times in one weekend
stayed in a hostel all three nights, two different hostels. it was my first time staying in a hostel and... surprisingly anti-climactic. i feel like my days of taking naps in academic buildings at grinnell really prepared me for this
the skies in Prague were so clear and blue everyday it was such a nice break from Berlin’s perpetually grey skies
the beer was lowkey really good, even the super cheap stuff
went to Vyšehrad, was exhausting to get up the hill but it was so worth it, it was such an amazing view of the city
spent a lot of time just wandering around the city aimlessly which was... so fun just to see the cobblestone streets and old buildings
understood a small amount of czech (generally only when i saw it written) because its somewhat similar to russian! they say good day (almost exactly) the same way, and i kept thinking how czech sort of just sounds like russian if you we’re guessing how to pronounce everything
forgot my passport... figured it’d be fine because i wasn’t leaving the EU, and I didn’t really have time to go get it because I was leaving straight from school, but we got to Prague with no issue at all....... until we were on the way back to Berlin and we got stopped at the border (: it all ended up being fine but we were wating at the border for about and hour while the police checked passports and my ID (((: it was crazy
was talking to a security guard at the club entrance trying to convince him to get us in, and then he told us he’s german so we tried to speak (very broken) german to him, and I think asked him if he spoke Russian bc my russian is def better than my german and he said “first you want me to speak German now Russian?”... he did not speak russian.
went to a bar that was in a former WWII bunker I think? It’s called U Sudu, and it was really cool! it was like a maze. I got there before all my friends so was alone for a bit and this old man kept trying to talk to me in English, but I got a really bad vibe so I said in Russian “I don’t speak English” but unfortunately... he spoke Russian. I probably should’ve said it in Spanish instead.
Not Prague:
Went to FLINTA night as always... took the bus home the wrong way at first but got home eventually
Presented on the GDR border trials in my Urban Identities in Contemporary Europe class... I think it went really well! and its good to have that out of the way
went to a Jazz bar with some friends... was pretty cool, very chill but definitely not something I’ll do all the time
honestly didn’t really do tooo much because I was working on this silly little presentation all week, but even that was really fun because I got to hang out with Elise who I did the presentation with!
started reading the Unbearable Lightness of Being, which is pretty topical since I started reading like the day before leaving for Prague! pretty good book so far, but also really terrible... in some ways its just not good
I have been spending a lot of time alone over the past few days, whether it be wandering around Prague or doing homework in my room, and this has been really nice, but I miss my friends from home so much, and I’m very excited to have a hopefully more normal week with less homework and hopefully see Harper this coming weekend!
Overall a good week, but definitely the most stressful and simultaneously monotonous one yet. Despite this week being a bit hard, I still find myself constantly in shock at how lucky I am and how grateful I am to be where I am right now. I’m so excited for March and for the future in general! See you next week!
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14.02.22-20.02.22
Week 3!
Week 3 is already over and its crazy how fast time is passing, but it was such a great week! A lot happened. I...:
went to Potsdam! the weather was really bad, there was severe wind and some rain (as usual) so all the parks were closed which meant we couldn’t get a very good view of any of the palaces, much less go in them, but I plan to come back in the Spring!
went to IKEA and finally got hangers, organizing bins, wine glasses, and a bath mat! desperately needed all of these so its good i finally got them
went on two really fun dates ((: and at one of them she introduced me to a really cool bar called Ä, its a bit far from where I live but I think I might eventually go back again, it was very chill and the drinks were pretty cheap! (I’ve tried some other bars but honestly I don’t really remember the names, friends chose them and I sort of just followed them there...)
I’ve been meeting soooo many people ever since I got here, but especially since classes have started and so many people are so cool. I weirdly met my friend Harper’s childhood friend... they went to the same elementary/middle school together, and I really like her! We got lunch for like two hours on Wednesday and then rode the train home from Potsdam together, its so so cool talking to someone here who knows Harper and loves her as much as I do :D
Found this AMAZING wine at Aldi, it was like a little more than 2euros, but is so so so yummy its like rose wine? i dont mean rosé, I mean like the flower rose, and its soooooo good, very sweet but just. really good. wine is so good and so cheap here
I have a presentation for a class coming up, so today my presentation partner and I worked on it, and she’s really cool and fun, I had a lot of fun! Will be presenting that this coming week :|
There has been really intense wind this past week, and when we went out Friday night the S-bahn was closed because of intense winds, it was crazy
New friends Lea and Allison invited over one of their friend’s cousin? and like their whole friend group so I met a bunch of people from the US who go to Bard Berlin, and not only does Lea know one of my besties Ruby, but two of the people I met through Lea knew two separate people who I know at Grinnell. it was crazy. so far I have met like. 5 or 6 people who know someone who goes to Grinnell, and every single time I have known the person they know at least a little bit.
did a Tarot reading w Elise (my presentation partner) after working on our presentation, it was so funny and fun cuz we had no idea what we were doing and sort of just. made things up.
bought myself flowers for valentines day and put them in empty (cleaned out ofc) marinara jar and wine bottle, and they’re so pretty everytime I see them they make me happy
also on valentines day me and a bunch of people in my video had a euphoria watch party! i had never seen an episode before so i didnt really know what was going on aside from what ive heard on twitter, but it was really fun even if only just to see the reactions of everyone who did know what was going on... and then I went to my room and watched the first two episodes in one night... so i might be a euphoria fan in the near future
have been eating so much doner. its so cheap, so yummy... available everywhere... its amazing
started my real german class and its. pretty absurdly easy, but its okay because I think the next level up would be two hard because it would expect me to be really comfortable with accusative and dative cases, and I definitely need more practice with them
went to the end of the U8 line for the first time (Hermanstrasse) and it was such a cute area and so weird actually being at the stop that I always head in the direction of... got pretty good Doner there tho!
have not been keeping in touch w people from the US too too well this week... sorry about that guys,,, but ive just been super busy (and having a lot of fun) and trying to find time to do homework... ugh
classes have been okay so far.. not too great. Definitely like my Transatlantic Cinema class the best, Urban Identities in Contemporary Europe is pretty cool, and German Pop Culture is okay so far. I hate Urban Design and Sustainability... but hopefully it’ll get better... at least its just boring and not hard
went climbing and climbed the weirdest, funniest route ever, it wasn’t even that physically challenging, just took me a few tries to figure out what the fuck to do
Hope for the future!
I think I’ll be going to Prague next weekend with some friends from school! and hopefully the weekend after that I’ll go to Freiburg to see Harper because she arrives March 1st!
someone on my floor found a pub crawl in Prague for only 24 euros that has an hour of free drinks and a free shot at the entrance of every venue... sounds amazing and i’m definitely going to try to do it
Very excited to see the two people I went on a date with again... and some other people too, I feel very optimistic about the relationships I am building here. Harpers friend Elliott had a really good point in our two hour long lunch on Wednesday; she said because we’re only in Berlin for a short time, we have the option of either saying “these relationships probably won’t last past this semster, so we shouldn’t put too much stake in them” OR acknowledging that this is a really pivotal point in our lives, and the relationships we make here and the time we spend here (regardless of how far into the future we carry these relationships) have the potential to be tremendously fulfilling and life-changing. I think it was such a good observation, and I know I’m definitely going to do my best to take the second option
the clubs are supposed to open in Berin soon! very excited to try some even if i dont end up liking clubbing
want to go to this bar called Oya, I only haven’t been yet because it requires a negative test within the past 24 hours, and I just keep... not doing it in time
hope to find incense somewhere soon! want my room to smell nice all the time
Okay I can’t really think of anything else important, and I should definitely get to bed so I’ll be back next week to update! possibly on monday instead of sunday bc if all goes according to plan I’ll be coming back from Prague on Sunday!
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07.02.22-13.02.22
Week 2
find a climbing gym
go to FLINTA night at Mobel Olfe!
go grocery shopping at ALDI
find an adapter /:
try actual german food (kind of)
find bagels
So I found a climbing gym! I went to Der Kegel, which is in the Friedrichshain area which is suchhhh a cool neighborhood. The gym was so sick, had climbing and bouldering and outdoor and indoor areas. They also had a bar/cafe inside and for a lot of routes instead of there being a marked top out you just climb to the top of the wall and over it... its crazy
I’ve found pretty good bagels, and I’ve tried vegan currywurst (it lowkey was terrible though, the fake meat was just... really bad) but I’ll try and find a better vegan currywurst option.
Other updates:
I got two new tattoos! one for my dog, Gunner, who passed in January, and one for my dad. the tattoo shop was really cool and in the same area as my climbing gym
I bought two new pairs of pants for only four euros each
I went out Thursday night with some ppl from my program who kind of know my friend from home which was. crazy... hearing them talk about someone I know while we were all in a bar in a Berlin was so wild...
We had German classes this week only, (the rest of our classes start tomorrow) but it was basically just introductory german, trying to cram as much as possible into one week... so i already knew everything and was really bored but ive been assigned to german 301? idk what that means bc idk how the levels work here but I was talking to my German professor here and telling her what I learned in german 101 in the US and she said this class would likely be all review for me... so idk we will see... i dont want to be stressed but the one thing I want to do here is... actually learn german
we went to a museum exhibit with the school i think it was called berlin global or something... it was pretty cool considering i hate museums, but we met another american studying in berlin there and got drinks with them Friday night!
was able to stick to my week’s meal plan really well, and having leftovers is sooo nice when getting back from the bar at 2am
got pizza at a turkish doner shop last night and ended up talking to one of the guys running the shop in russian? it was pretty funny but great because it was pretty could out and i was able to ask if we could eat inside and he said yes (we also got some garlic sauce from the doners and used it as a dipping sauce for the pizza and it was REVOLUTIONARY)
took the bus for the first time (bc on weeknights the sbahn and ubahn dont run all night) and we acidentally got off wayyy too early and ended up walking home like 15 minutes anyways... it was super fun though, berlin is kind of a lot prettier at night, and we were in a pretty big group
Spent most of Saturday thrifting and walking around Friedrichshain with a new friend lily, we also got curly fries cuz we both hadnt had them in a while and they were... so amazing... germans really know what theyre doing with this whole ketchup and mayo on fries thing
More bars we’ve tried:
Mein Haus am See (pretty okay, the bar itself was cool but there were too many annoying men)
ROCKz (older people, seemed like more locals than usual, and very chill vibe so we didnt stay long)
Kaiabar (pretty cool! also very chill but much less people, there were couches and it was a lot comfier so we stayed for a while)
Südblock (this is a weird one because its like... more of a cafe/restaurant than a bar but is open very late and... it was okay, my friends liked it a lot more than I did but again it was very chill and we stayed there for a while, it was much easier to talk here than any other bar because there was either no music or the music was pretty quiet)
Interesting things:
The dogs here really are so well trained and are allowed everywhere. It always makes me think of my dogs and how much they would love it here... Gunner would’ve LOVED never having to be on leash, and he was so well-behaved he would have fit right in. Darling would love me never leaving her alone and being able to take her anywhere. Someone who works for my IES program has a sling for her dog and brings her dog everywhere... darling would LOVE that
Americans are so loud. This is especially apparent on public transportation. My friends and I are the only ones ever talking. Even people who enter the train together do not really talk to each other while on the train. I can’t imagine how Berliners would react to the DC or NYC metro/subway when high school students are on their way home...
The longer I am here the more apparent it become that Berlin is in many ways such a new city... So few parts of “historic” Berlin are really even that old...
if someone on the street asks you if you speak english IN english, they want money... if they ask in german (especially broken german) they’re probably asking something else
while waiting in lines to enter bars people will come around with a bag or a wagon sort of thing collecting glass bottles... this is an absurdly smart thing to do because in berlin you can drink in public, and everyone in line at the bar is usually drinking a beer or something
you can skip the line to get in if you know someone inside who has a table and enough room for you at the table. Friday night I got two people in this way and it felt so powerful... I walked out of the bar, walked to the back of the line, found them and just... walked back in with them. lowkey felt so bad for everyone else in the line though
Honestly I can’t realy think of anything that has been especially hard this week, which is great, I just really miss Darling lol. I think things will be a lot different and I will have to readjust this coming week though as classes are finally starting. See you next week!
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01.02.22-06.02.22
Summary of my frst week(ish) in Berlin!
Went with some friends to bars:
- zum schmutzigen Hobby
- Mobel Olfe
- Franken
Foods I’ve Tried:
- Vegetarian Döner
- Gözleme
- Pho (which is not german, but was so good it needed to be included... and technically both of the two above are Turkish)
Times lost on s or u bahn:
3.5 (twice in one day, DIDNT get lost for the .5 but asked for directions to make sure i was going the right way and i feel like that’s cheating)
Favorite things I’ve found so far:
- 1,5 litre of white wine for less than 3 euros (it tastes like watered down juice but is 9,5 percent alcohol...)
- Turm Kakao Drink... its the best chocolate milk i’ve ever had and i’ve already had 4 bottles in less than a week...
- Kinder eggs! Haven’t had one since probably middle school and I missed them so much they’re just as good as I remember
- Peppermint liquor... kind of disgusting but very cheap, tastes like mouthwash and is... effective
Other things I’ve done / cool things I’ve found / shocking moments:
- Mauerpark Südseite fleamarket on Sunday (this is where we got the AMAZING Gözleme)
- tried biking (did Not go well but we’ll try again next week)
- walking tour of historic berlin, saw a bunch of amazing memorials, a 5 month old castle, passed through the Brandenburg gate, museum island, part of the wall and checkpoint charlie
- met some people at Mobel Olfe who asked us to come back on Tuesday for FLINTA night (an acronym that basically means anyone who’s not a man)
- KN95/ FFP2 masks are very cheap and available everywhere and even have different, pretty colors
- testing is free at cites across the city AND theres self tests for like 2-3 euros at grocery stores
- its kinda true that no one smiles on the street but everyone has been really nice if you talk to them
- bathroom stalls in bars with signs saying not to do drugs...(seems necessary as we were offered hard drugs in a bar bathroom on our first night out...)
- thrift store is really nice and pretty cheap but theres like NO real denim
Hardest adjustments so far:
- all the deodorant is roll on ):
- the apples are... weird... and soft...
- water costs money at restaurants but i usually bring my water bottle everywhere so this hasn’t been too bad
- can’t find bagels anywhere ):
- can’t find eu -> us adapters (only have really checked Saturn, but thats like a huge tech store so it was really surprising they didn’t have it) so I’ve been borrowing a friend’s
- TJ Maxx was SO expensive... not even a discount store
- i did NOT bring enough pants.
To-Do List for Next Week
- find a climbing gym
- go to FLINTA night at Mobel Olfe!
- go grocery shopping at ALDI
- find an adapter /:
- try actual german food
- find bagels
i’ll try to update again next sunday!!
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