A couple weekends ago I found myself in Berlin, i'll be honest I had no idea what to expect. Berlin seemed in every way like the New York of America, if people knew one place in a country that was it, there was no describing Berlin it was just ... well Berlin. Realistically though as a city girl myself, I wasn't impressed or star-struck by the name ,it was a city, as cool as it could be it would always be just another city. To me all big cities are the same in different ways and although it's nice to visit and see each one, at the end of the day they just merge a none of them are home .
Yet, as soon as I got of the train I felt just the slightest shift in that thinking. I suddenly felt weird, almost at home, Id forgotten that being in a city has its own intangible vibe. It was the smell that hit me first (ahhh Chinese food and fuel exhaust) then I suddenly started noticing how many people were around me, which quickly lead to hearing every language imaginable, and then I saw it , the undeniable proof that you are in a big city , street performers. Is it weird to feel cozy in a place as hard and cruel as a big city because at that moment that's what I felt, don't get me wrong I love my village everything about it but being in Berlin was like being at home for a minute.
I processed all this in a matter of seconds because well frankly we were about to be late to our appointment at the Bundestag, oh wait did I forget to mention why it was I was in Berlin? Rewind !
Yet, as soon as I got of the train I felt just the slightest shift in that thinking. I suddenly felt weird, almost at home, Id forgotten that being in a city has its own intangible vibe. It was the smell that hit me first (ahhh Chinese food and fuel exhaust) then I suddenly started noticing how many people were around me, which quickly lead to hearing every language imaginable, and then I saw it , the undeniable proof that you are in a big city , street performers. Is it weird to feel cozy in a place as hard and cruel as a big city because at that moment that's what I felt, don't get me wrong I love my village everything about it but being in Berlin was like being at home for a minute.
I processed all this in a matter of seconds because well frankly we were about to be late to our appointment at the Bundestag, oh wait did I forget to mention why it was I was in Berlin? Rewind !
It all started about 2 months ago when I received my Patenabgeordneter, which is a really long German word for the man who represents my area in the Bundestag and basically sponsors my being here, his name is Herr Klaus Brandner MdB, and he's pretty cool. I emailed him and his office called back a week later, he was inviting us to go see him at the Bundestag in Berlin. It was incredibly surreal, they could have just given me a date and I would have shown up, but because that lack of planning is ungerman the host-parents worked everything out.
A month later we were on the ICE from Bielefeld to Berlin. As soon as we got to Berlin we dropped of our bags at the hostel and headed over to the Bundestag, id say we spent a total of about 4-5 hours in the Bundestag. We ate, met with out Patenabgeordneter, took some pictures, talked some more, got a small private tour from him and then a much more in-depth tour which included a presentation of sorts inside the actual parliament chamber.
A month later we were on the ICE from Bielefeld to Berlin. As soon as we got to Berlin we dropped of our bags at the hostel and headed over to the Bundestag, id say we spent a total of about 4-5 hours in the Bundestag. We ate, met with out Patenabgeordneter, took some pictures, talked some more, got a small private tour from him and then a much more in-depth tour which included a presentation of sorts inside the actual parliament chamber.
After the Bundestag we went in search of Berlin Bratwurst were highly disappointed and went back to the hostel only to head out again to Potsdamer Platz for some outdoor ice-skating.
We all headed back to the hostel my sisters stayed in, my host parents went to find some decent Bratwurst and me, well lets just say my night hadn't begun yet. You see I have my own Berlin City Girl and that's my roommate , it just so happens that my other roommate was also in town visiting her. I can't make it any clearer that there would be no option that night I had to see my girls ! I headed out with Deborah another CBYXr that was with us from Bielefeld and we headed of into the Berlin S-Bahn U-bahn system that would take us to see our friends .
Seeing Lesley and Mia again was great, Lesley has adapted so well to Berlin I can't help but wonder if she knows it better than she knows Lincoln Rd and Ocean Drive at this point . We walked all through East Berlin and ended up eating the best hamburgers of my life in an old bathroom turned restaurant under a S-
Bahn stop before at 2 in the morning it was time to head back.
This ladies and gentlemen is where my night begins, I subsequently got lost in the Berlin train system till nearly 5 am in the morning. I think I may have passed through every station in East Berlin . How you ask ?
Well there's a lot of reasons and Berlins highly intricate train system is probably the least influential ...
1) Berliners know where there going but don't ask them for directions cause their clueless about it
2) German at three in the morning , names start to look the same (this placed us as deep as we went into East Berlin after almost being home )
3) There's a lot of people and chaos to much to think about when you don't know where your going
We all headed back to the hostel my sisters stayed in, my host parents went to find some decent Bratwurst and me, well lets just say my night hadn't begun yet. You see I have my own Berlin City Girl and that's my roommate , it just so happens that my other roommate was also in town visiting her. I can't make it any clearer that there would be no option that night I had to see my girls ! I headed out with Deborah another CBYXr that was with us from Bielefeld and we headed of into the Berlin S-Bahn U-bahn system that would take us to see our friends .
Seeing Lesley and Mia again was great, Lesley has adapted so well to Berlin I can't help but wonder if she knows it better than she knows Lincoln Rd and Ocean Drive at this point . We walked all through East Berlin and ended up eating the best hamburgers of my life in an old bathroom turned restaurant under a S-
Bahn stop before at 2 in the morning it was time to head back.
This ladies and gentlemen is where my night begins, I subsequently got lost in the Berlin train system till nearly 5 am in the morning. I think I may have passed through every station in East Berlin . How you ask ?
Well there's a lot of reasons and Berlins highly intricate train system is probably the least influential ...
1) Berliners know where there going but don't ask them for directions cause their clueless about it
2) German at three in the morning , names start to look the same (this placed us as deep as we went into East Berlin after almost being home )
3) There's a lot of people and chaos to much to think about when you don't know where your going
Looking back it's an adventure I wont forget but I learned something about myself, sometimes you just have to relax. I didn't maybe it was reasonable to be upset lost on the metro system at 4 in the morning but I know that if I would have been more easy-going I wouldn't have been as miserable as I was. I probably annoyed the crap out of Deborah as well . Some were around 4 or 5 we got to our station, and I'm not kidding exaggerating or being metaphorical when I say that we ran the good kilometer to the hostel almost full sprint in evening clothes, we were THAT happy .
The next day included lots of great sight-seeing and time with my host-family, it was wonderful to have them after I'd roughed it out the night before and I was more than obliging when my host mother took the map!
I'd also like to add that Berlin is my new favorite city it has the history and politics of D.C (actually a lot more but you get the point) with the cool edgy vibe of New York . Like Arnold put it "I'll be back"
The next day included lots of great sight-seeing and time with my host-family, it was wonderful to have them after I'd roughed it out the night before and I was more than obliging when my host mother took the map!
I'd also like to add that Berlin is my new favorite city it has the history and politics of D.C (actually a lot more but you get the point) with the cool edgy vibe of New York . Like Arnold put it "I'll be back"
p.s. http://www.ralph-brinkhaus.de/2012/12/03/bundestagsabgeordnete-empfangen-gastfamilien-und-amerikanische-gaste-im-bundestag/
(link to the article about our visit !)
(link to the article about our visit !)
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