I am writing on day four of my time in Berlin. I arrived on Saturday 24 August and could not have had a better way to begin my time in Germany! Once arriving at my hostel, I sat in the back of the garden to enjoy the breeze and view. It was around lunch time, and I was suddenly offered a free Mittagessen from a nice Italian artist who lived in the area. We ate together and shared a beer, and I could not have felt more welcome. It definitely relieved some of the stress from having to wander around Tegel Airport without a clue of where to go.
While l love Berlin, Tegel airport is one of the shortcomings of this lovely city. For those unfamiliar with Berlin, there are two airports - Tegel und Schönefeld (essentially the East and West Berlin airports). They claim a new airport is coming, but that has been for many years now. In Tegel, the center is quite difficult to find unless you scrutinize a map very meticulously or know it well. Even after studying the map and trying my best to follow it, I continued to walk around the hexagonal shaped labyrinth of the A terminal. Finally I found my way to a bus where for 20 minutes I stood as if a sardine in this tin box of a bus with my two suitcases.
Nonetheless, it was all worth it because that night at 20:00 I saw the Berlin Philharmonic play Beethoven 9 at the Brandenburg Tor(!!!). This was a rare performance - the first time they played in an open concert other than the Waldbühne! What a phenomenal ending to my night (with the exception of course to drinking a beer walking home from the performance. That's something I may never get used to: openly drinking in the streets...at any time of the day...)
Sunday brought lovely vibes when I was able to visit a Vegan Festival in Alexanderplatz and meet a fellow Fulbrighter at a bookstore selling English books, Shakespeare and Sons. The vegan festival brought me Brammibals Donuts and vegan waffles (pictured below). I quickly found numerous restaurants and resources selling vegan options, which makes life here much more fun! I began my attempts at speaking German with the waffle vendor, and he was so patient with me, willing to try and work with my limited skills. Yet another confirmation of how nice people in Berlin can be.
At Shakespeare and Sons my Fulbright friend and I shared stories over coffee, commiserating over the annoying bureaucracy of school admissions and also laughing over our obsessions with journaling with the absolute best pens and pencils. Shortly after, we found an urban vegan restaurant where instead of asking for our waiter to speak only Englisch we had to ask for ,,nur Deutsch!" He was kind and funny and willing to work with us while occasionally laughing at our attempts of German. Any time we would try to speak Englisch to him when we couldn't explain it in German, he would ask, ,,what did you say?" and we would try again auf Deutsch.
Monday was simply an exploration day, mainly centralized around DB Hauptbahnhof. I did not have any plans and focused on taking in my surroundings rather than where I was going. However, I had one plan in the evening - and that was to visit my host mom in Schöneberg. It was so nice to finally be in the apartment I have been waiting for all summer, only imagining what it was like through a few pictures I had.
They had a full house that night, so I was able to insert myself in a typical family dinner. I met both of her daughters, one of whom will live with me, and some of her previous tenants. Her hospitality was admirable, and I felt right at home. As soon as I entered my future room, I felt an immediate sense of longing, a strong desire to move in already! However, I do not move in until October and will live with another host until then. Alas, alles gut, and I am happy with my living situations.
This schön (beautiful) Tuesday morning, I am enjoying a bowl of Müsli and a cappuccino. I am quickly finding all the coffee shops offering vegan options, and am taste-testing to find my favorites. So far, Milch und Zucker has the lead in my book. I apparently picked a great hostel location because Friedrichshain has numerous vegan options on every corner (including an entirely vegan supermarket~).
Thank you for those who read until the end! In the future I plan to write more frequently and shorter posts. Bis später - tschau!
PS pictured here is Igor der Igel (hedgehog). He will be my travel partner in all of my future endeavors!!!
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