Observations from Berlin
I spent about 13 days in Berlin: the first half doing the tourist thing with Kate and the second half just chilling. I had a feeling I would like Berlin and I did. Something about Berlin made me feel free.
Instead of describing everything I did, I’m just going to share a few things that hopefully capture my time there.
It didn’t cost a lot of have a good time in Berlin. Your allowed to have open containers in Germany. So all the time you would see people walking around with a beer in their hand. At this park near the hostel I stayed at, on Sundays someone brings a karaoke machine and hundreds of people gather just to sing songs. It was such a joyous experience to witness. And it reminded me of what I like best about cities: the way they create opportunities for groups of diverse strangers to gather and connect.
Here is a video I took during the karaoke:
My time in Berlin also reminded me that nothing worthwhile can come about without taking some risks. I had been feeling a desire for more connection so I decided to take this art class where we made vision boards. I was nervous about it. After so much isolation in the pandemic, I wasn’t sure I could meet strangers again. At that point, I had been staying at a hostel for a few days and was having a difficult time connecting with the people there.
But I had a wonderful experience. I even went out with two of the people I met there and got to explore Berlin’s nightlife with them. They were both so kind and lovely. It reminded me of what is possible if you just put yourself out there.
When I was with Kate, we saw all the main tourists sites. We were primarily guided through this by Rick Steves. For those of you that don’t know, he’s a travel writer that has written guidebooks and even has an app about European travel. And we would diligently follow his guided walking tours through various neighborhoods in Berlin. I appreciated getting some additional historical context to everything we visited and Rick definitely became a third companion on our trip.
The main thing that I took away from this time was that the 20th century in Berlin was ROUGH. From World War I to the economic crash after the war to the rise of Nazism to World War II to the Holocaust to the Berlin wall, the 20th century in Berlin is an almost unbroken stream of violence. But what I appreciated about Berlin is that they don’t shy away from that darkness. Museums like the Topoography of Terror go into detail about how the machine of terror was built and utilized by the Nazis as well as its horrible consequences. I wish the United States would acknowledge our own dark history more. Because until we face our past and learn from it, we are destined to repeat it.
I was bored one day and make a collage out of all the brochures I had collected from the trip so far. And the result ended up being DARK, but that’s because the history is dark.
Finally, I spent a lot of time adjusting to my new work schedule. Right now, I work from 4 pm to midnight Sunday through Thursday. It definitely took a few days for me to get used to this schedule, especially while staying in a hostel. Hostels are often permeated by this ambient pressure to be friendly and social. Which is good if you are trying to meet new people, but is bad when you are trying to get stuff done for work and some random person is asking about where you are from. Also, the hostel I stayed at in Berlin made me feel my age a bit. And since then I’ve only stayed in hostels for a few days at a time in between Airbnb stays. That has been working much better.