We arrived in Berlin yesterday, after an uneventful flight from Liverpool. We were picked up in a taxi and driven to our various destinations across the city. I am on the north west side, so was dropped off last. After two hours in the car, two hours on a plane and everything else preceding that, all I wanted was my bed. Naturally this didn't happen. We couldn't find the keys my flatmate had left for me. After much searching for the mysterious 'Rot box', Georg and I gave up. Georg is one of the staff from ILE Berlin who had come to collect us, give us our travel passes and settle us in.
Whilst I was pretty tired and beyond hungry, I was quite pleased to go back to Haus von Dave(yes, the German organisation organising our placements put three boys called Dave in one flat) and crash out on the sofa for the night.
One of "the Daves" is keeping a blog about his time in Berlin, which you can find here. Dave is very talented at drawing so his blog is well worth taking a peek at!
In the morning, we went exploring in the area they live(Wilmersdorf, SW side of Berlin). I learnt three things:
1) A German bakery is my new favourite place on earth. I've never smelt anything so good.
2) Nothing which could constitute a supermarket is open on Sundays. So no cooking for us till at least Monday afternoon.
3) My German is better already. I can translate signs on shops, ask for directions(and understand them-defo a problem in German class!) and much more. Part of my overall goal is to be able to read some basic articles in German by the end of my time here, so by immersing myself into it I will hopefully manage it.
I finally reached my new place around lunchtime and it is lovely. I share the flat with another lady, but I have plenty of space to myself and I live about 5 minutes from an S-Bahn stop. The area I live in is crammed full of kebab shops, casinos and the odd tanning salon. However, the upside of that is that I ate the best veggie kebab EVER in life today.
For all those that were concerned about my vegetarianism out here in Germany, it's not been a problem. 'Vegeterisch' is marked pretty clearly everywhere, even in the kebab shop. Plus, nearly everyone we've encountered speaks English. So far, so good. A special thanks to Chandni for the wonderful list of phrases she gave me to communicate my dietary requirements to people.
We have been exploring Berlin a little, seeing some amazing sights in the sunshine(although it is VERY cold) and finding bargain meals, like a plate of pasta for under 3 euros. Tomorrow is the first day of language school, so I should probably stop typing and open my folder.
Tschuss!
x
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