1)
The Bahn. I took a flight from Berlin direct to
Boston and when I hopped on the T, Boston’s subway system, I was already
missing Berlin. If you’ve ever
ridden on the T then you probably know that ‘hopped on’ is actually never a verb
associated with it. You usually
have a painfully long wait before another two-car subway comes screeching
leisurely down the tracks. Nine
stops, forty five minutes and two homeless men later I had arrived back
home. This is a far cry from the
humming efficiency and cleanliness of Berlin’s public transportation
system. It gets you anywhere you
need to go, and it gets you there fast.
2)
The Parks. Granted I studied abroad over one of
Berlin’s longest and coldest winters recorded, but in the finals weeks I still
got a taste of how enjoyable the public parks and gardens could be. Aesthetically the parks themselves
couldn’t hold a candle to others, like say, Paris’ parks, but that’s not why I
miss them. Take Gorlitzer Park
located in Berlin’s Kreuzberg neighborhood for example. It’s very Berlin—a mash of cement seating
areas and steps amongst a fair, but not thick, stand of grass laden with
cigarette butts. However, I’m
certain as a center of intrigue, Gorlitzer Park goes unmatched. The locals scour the terrain, playing
music of every kind, barbecuing, throwing Frisbees, picnicking, chatting,
drinking and doing it all in that authentic, carefree, stylish way that only
Berliners can do. If you enjoy
people watching, I can imagine no better place in the world.
3)
Open
Containers… And why won’t I
ever enjoy a park as much as I enjoyed those in Berlin? Open container
laws. Oh how nice it is to sprawl
on the grass with friends, music and a cold, sixty-cent beer you just picked up
from a kiosk down the street.
4) … And Open Airs. Once the weather starts warming up in the spring, Berlin
puts on free public concerts in the parks, open airs. They are really just a mass of dancing, drinking Berliners
surrounding a DJ booming his track into the dense of the night. A club without the club.
5) German, and Germans. I think you’ll find a lot of people
who have the perception that the German language is harsh and unpleasant. I believe quite the opposite is true;
German can be fascinating to turn an ear toward. I’m not sure what my love for German is founded on but I
suspect it’s the German people themselves. The way the Germans carry themselves, interact and function
is entirely different from Americans. Each one I imagine has a brain-chest of interesting ideas and
stories if only you could break through their shell. And you can’t, which makes them mysterious and all the more
fascinating.
6) Late Nights, and Laaaate Nights. If you end your weekend night at
four in the morning here, you say to yourself, “Wow, what a late night.” And it
is. If you end your night at four
in the morning in Berlin your friends might tell you, “Why are you going back
so early?” Eight in the morning was the new four in Berlin. And others had impossibly late nights
that lasted into Sunday afternoon. Berlin redefined the word nightlife for
me, and nowhere in the States even comes close.
7) The Subtleties. This was probably the one time in my
life when I was not traveling, not visiting, but I was living in a different country. And there were so many things everyday that brought me
back to this fact—clocks attuned to military time, Mercedes taxi cabs, little
or no tipping at restaurants, strict adherence to cross-walking signs, mayonnaise
on french fries, getting a haircut and them leaving more hair on the top than
you wanted (German style), supermarket cashiers who sit in a chair, different
cereals, different currency, different toilets—all of the differences, good or
bad, that reminded me everyday that I was in a new, exciting place and made me
glad to be a part of it all.
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