Quickly Falling in Love With This Amazing City

A day or two of orientation done now! This sounds so cliche, but I really feel like being abroad is starting to make me simplify and re-prioritize things in my life. For example, I never thought successfully opening a German bank account could make me feel so competent haha. I never thought successfully navigating the U-Bahn (subway) could make me so proud of myself. In the beginning, I kept having these overwhelming feelings of helplessness. Not speaking the language, not knowing the city, not having clothes - the first few days here were a crazy and confusing blur. But now, I really feel like I'm starting to feel at home here, less like a visitor, and really starting to appreciate what an amazing city I am living in. Berlin is truly unlike any place I have ever been before. Cliche as it sounds, it has one of the richest and most diverse histories of any city I know. And the history isn't just something you read in a book, it smacks you across the face and over the head here. You can see the remnants of the wall breaking up the cobblestones when you cross the street. Through the "walk" and "stop" little men on the stoplights, you can differentiate whether you're in East or West Berlin. (The Picture above is East Berlin). Talking to any German person, the history that I feel I have learned so much about academically is humanized. My host mom was actually alive when World War II was going on. Getting that kind of perspective is so amazing.

On a lighter note, the food is soooo bomb. Pretzels, muesli, currywurst, I could go on forever. German bread is. so. good. There's bakeries everywhere. There's also surprising a lot of coffeeshops which I definitely did not expect. I live above one!!!!!!!! It makes me soooo happy haha. And then I pass about 3 on my way to the U-Bahn to get to class in the morning.

Favorite things so far that I did not expect about all things German. German people are not afraid to stare. Especially on the subway. It's great. But I really feel like it's less of a threatening thing and more of a curiosity thing. German people are supeeerrr straightforward. But I really find it amazingly refreshing. They don't sugarcoat things or complicate them, they just say it straight out. They also really stick by their commitments, which I greatly admire. In general, I think they are really respectful and considerate. And once you talk to them a little bit, I have found pretty much all of them to be very warm and hospitable.

People also don't talk much on the subway, or if they do it's in really quiet voices. That's part of the reason Americans stand out so much and can get such a bad rep. I was sitting on the subway today and about a group of 5 American girls came in (which doesn't happen too often). But I could tell they were American before I even heard them speak English. They gestured wildly, laughed loudly, and walk with a really large sense of space entitlement. Not that either one is good or bad, it's just different. And really interesting from the perspective I feel like I have now. If I don't open my mouth, people automatically assume I'm German. I feel like I really blend in and can observe so much.

Sorry if this post didn't make a whole lot of sense. It's late and I'm really tired. Until next time!