So Sonntag means Sunday btdubbs. Which is what today just was. For some reason, this weekend was crazy and relaxing and quite possibly the best first weekend I could have asked for in Berlin. Let me start from the beginnning...
So Freitag (Friday), I have the feeling that the night will be a long and ridiculous one, so after classes I prepare and take a nap until about 6. Still a bit jet-lagged, it's all I can do at 10 when Bianca calls me to meet up to not roll back over and sleep through the night. But I throw on a few cute layers, my huge overcoat and head out. We meet up with some other Stanfordians in Kreitzberg, which I didn't realize at the time but apparently the stop we got off at is known for its rampant drug dealing. I suppose all of the crazy graffiti should have tipped me off. But (tangent warning!) Berlin has really made me realize something about the way I look at graffiti. Graffiti in general has always unsettled me a little bit - I've always seen it as marking of territory and not really been exposed to the artistic side of it. The more graffiti I saw, the more unsettled I would be because I would immediately assume there were more groups fighting for dominance. But here, more graffiti doesn't necessarily mean that. In East Berlin, creative expression was repressed for so long that with the fall of the Berlin Wall came this re-surge of artistic expression, an emergence that really expressed itself in many forms. Including graffiti. So after I got past my initial discomfort and really paid a closer look to the graffiti around me, I really realized the unique artistry that is Berlin graffiti. The exciting part too is that I know I have barely scratched the surface of Berlin's artistic scene, something that I am really looking forward to exploring.
Anyways, so Freitag nach (friday night). We all hang around the apartment for a while then head out to the club, stopping at this awesome old school soul meets techno music bar along the way. At some point I managed to lock myself in a bathroom for a half hour - these keyed locks in Berlin can be so confusing sometimes. I still have issues getting myself in and out of my apartment sometimes. I feel like most American doors push out when you leave, but most German doors are pull doors. So every single day, I throw my entire body weight into the door on the way out. And then, feeling slightly stupid in addition to slightly in pain, I remember that I've done this every single day and the doors swing the other way haha. In a nutshell, me + German doors do not have the best relationship.
But anyways, back to the nightlife. Berlin nightlife is just ridiculous in so many ways. First of all, the clubs don't even really get going until after midnight. It's ridiculous. And they don't shut down until the last person leaves. I'm not sure when exactly that is because my lame American self has to make it home before the sun comes up haha. But we were about to leave at 6:30 in the morning when our German friend was like what is wrong with you guys? Are you sick? Do you not like the club? We were like no it's great, it's just 6 in the morning haha. So then we got some delicious Turkish food and called it a night.
The next day, I venture out and try to find an English-speaking, Catholic church. I get so ridiculously lost that I have to stop and get coffee and a croissant just to keep up the battle of being lost in the snow and 15 degree weather. I finally make it for the last 10 minutes of church, feeling slightly guilty for missing most of Mass but hey, I seriously tried. After that, I met up with Bianca and our German friend and just hung around the city for the day. Sunday, everything shuts down in Berlin. Even the grocery stores and drug stores. It's crazy. Pretty much only the restaurants and the cinemas are open. So that's what we did - hung around in a cafe for about 5 hours. But it was so much fun. I can't remember the last time I've had no work, no extracurriculars, not much to focus on but school and making the most of where I am. It's kind of an amazing situation to be in.
Alright, it's late and I'm about to watch Jersey Shore and pass out. Guten nacht!
No comments:
Post a Comment