In Berlin now

[timwilde]

So, after years of self training (listening to german music and watching german tv and movies) and maybe about 6 months of serious study, I decided to give it a go and come here to germany for 3 weeks.

First, Berlin is awesome! Second, I was told by several friends to "relax and go with the flow. Germans work at a different pac than americans". To that, I call shenannigans! It appears that if you hesitate, you will damn near become invisible. More pushy and fast paced than new york. Took some getting used to but now that I understand it...its a pretty easy transition.

second, it's very odd what jetlag does to you. I haven't been very successful at actually speacking german even thou I understand what people are saying. Most of these experiences have either been complete blanks of my knowledge (e.g. I'm thinking "ich mochte ein apfel schorle bitte" but what actually is said is " an apfel soda please, thank you") or i'll stumble on a word and the other person won't let me continue in german. It seems a lot of people here like to practice their english. Which of couse doesn't do me much good as I want to practice german but it's all good.

other than those oddities, it's been fun so far although it turned cold and started raining. So I'm now in my hotel practicing. Btw: i'm staying in mitte near the markisches museum seems like a good area as everything is walking distance from here. Or a short u-bahn/s-bahn trip. I'll probably post more later. Since I just landed yesterday I haven't really tried any of the beers yet.

[timwilde]

btw: I appologize for the lack of umlauts. I'm using my phone and it's not exactly umlaut friendly

[timwilde]

Back home after 3 weeks. I have to say that Berlin is an AWESOME city.

Some tips for other tourists - ATM's arent as common as in the states but they are pretty prevalent. ATM withdrawls are also the absolute best currency rate exchange (very very close (within $2 USD of the current prices listed on the web) Actual currency exchanges are ripoffs, dont use them if you dont have to.

ATM's are listed as "Geldautomat" and usually have an "EC" logo. They can be found at virtually any Train station including the S-bahn and U-bahn stops. I've also found that they're usually located somewhere in every bigger shopping area and Arcaden (shopping mall)

I've only be home for a single night and I already miss the bakeries and kickass coffee. And sorely miss the cheap juices.

After 3 weeks, the german skills I did have grew quite a bit stronger. The shop cashiers picked up on it and tried talking to me more the last week I was there after I started asking for things correctly

One thing that also threw me and should be published somewhere is Dont rely on street names by themselves (or addresses for that matter). Most of the straße's tend to change names for no reason. Locals arent much help in that regard - I do suggest getting a map and trying to follow the street you're looking for to find any other names that will get you in the right area. As a good example, The hotel I checked in on was on the corner of Wallstraße and Neue Roßstraße. I knew the general area but ended up by walking all over Mitte trying to find this place. When I did start asking for help, not a single local knew where Roßstraße was. After I got to the place, I found out that it's only called Neue Roßstraße for like 2 blocks, it's also called Fischerinsel and Annenstraße depending on which direction you're heading. Maps will be your friend when trying to find places. Some common larger streets that change are Otto-Braun-Straße turns to Griefswaldstraße, and Karl-Marx-Allee turns into Frankfurter Allee as you head into Friedrichshain. The best tip I can offer is not only note the street you're on, but also landmarks and check streetsigns as you pass them, you may find that where you parked or where you came from just changed names because you crossed the street, or river, or neighborhood/district.

Dont forget to try the Berlinerweiss or Currywurst!