10,000 steps or something
My first week in Berlin involved... a lot of walking.
Everyone says Germans are cold and unfreundlich, but I watched a group of people gather around a tree to help some old Turkish men grab some pants that had fallen from a clothesline above. I watch younger kids mix and mingle, drinking from communal beers and furtively passing joints between each other. Passersby smile amicably at me in the streets: it seems less about politeness and more about a genuine welcome. Maybe I landed in the wrong part of Berlin.
Altbau mixes with neubau in parts of the city, elaborate pre-war architecture bumping up against brutalist post-DDR concrete and post-capitalist modular design. I am from a young place in a new world; neighborhoods have pleasantly generic names like “Hidden Hills” despite there being no hills in the region and the buildings are quaintly sameish. Naturally I’m enjoying Berlin’s architectural diversity juxtaposed against the bike lanes, streetcars, wide sidewalks, S-Bahn, and U-Bahn.
My apartment is in a part of town that receives mixed reviews among the Reddit crowd. Wedding is not as trendy as Prenzlauer Berg or Kreuzberg because many other potential expats/immigrants find it dirty and dangerous. I’m not entirely sure that I’m getting the full experience or if Oakland has prepared me for much worse. I read on another hand-wringing Reddit post that Wedding represents Old Berlin right after the Wall fell. I like to hope so.
I’ve made a point to get outside to make up for the last few months of work that had me tied to my desk at home. I wander a lot during my first week here. Ostensibly I am searching for a spot in the sun to study Lokalpräpositionen and neue Wortschatz though I will never say no to a silent cemetery stroll or meadow-side meditation. My meandering throughout the week takes me to Goethepark, Volkspark Rehberge, Tiergarten, Mauerpark, and a wooded trail along the Panke. While on my strolls I see everything ranging from naturists lying out with a book to early-20s coming down from a night of clubbing.
I have a German test that I’m certain to fail later this evening, but I don’t feel too bad about it since I dove into this class in the middle of a segment. I’m still getting back in the groove of learning for the sake of learning — it’s been so long since I had the chance to study something and not stifle myself for the sake of my classmates or career. German A1.2 is challenging and reminds me that I do like to use my brain and study techniques.
Next week I’d like to do some more touristy things and check out some of the Freikörperkultur (FKK, or naturist) spots. I also thought about booking a last minute flight to somewhere else in Europe just because it’s so available. We’ll see!