Things I've Learned in Berlin #2
- My hair is so tangled. While the dry air is a nice change from the humidity of Seattle, my hair is literally a rat's nest. I'll brush it and then two minutes later its in exactly the same tangled state.
- The club scene is insane. I never knew going out could get so weirdly wild. See an example below.
- Everyone is blunt. I love it. Nobody apologizes for running into you. You'll blatantly get stares from someone judging your clothes to checking you out.
- The PDA is nasty. Perhaps as a consequence of this straightforward culture, couples are very into touching each other in public. I've seen one too many people trying to slide into second base on the subway. It's uncomfortable...
- The men (and women too) are ridiculously attractive. It had to be said.
Graffiti of Rhianna on the women's bathroom door of a school I visited (This one is for you, Dad). | Pepsi Light, otherwise known as Diet Pepsi. |
My first weekend in Germany flew by without a hitch. Friday morning my study abroad group visited an integrated high school where we learned more about the German education system. It was fun to talk to the students. Their English is amazing. It never fails to impress me how good people are at speaking English here. The group of kids I was paired with were a funny lot. They interviewed me in English (one girl was particularly intent on learning all about my dating life) and then they gave me a tour around their school. I knew I made the cut with them when they showed me the secret spot where all the kids smoke. (It still gravely concerns me that smoking is a cultural norm here...)
A small note about Berlin--graffiti is not looked down on but celebrated in the city. Case in point-- I found a mural of Rhianna on one of the girl's bathroom door at this school. I obviously had to take a photo for my dad because his love for Rhianna knows no bounds.
My weekend also exposed me to Berlin's clubbing scene AKA one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had. Friday night I went out with a few people, with no real intention of clubbing, but one of the people in my group heard about this underground club fairly close to our hostel so we decided to check it out. There's a bit of a line when we find the club. Our group split up into two and threes for maximum chance of all getting in. I had a guy in my group of three which the bouncer was wary of. The bouncer himself was this ginger bearded fellow in a beanie. He thought that the guy in my group looked "grumpy" and the bouncer claimed that he only allowed "magical people" into his club because it's a "magical place". I don't know how many drugs he was on. Regardless, I worked my charm and promised that I'd make sure his club stayed magical and we got in.
The venue was nice. It consisted of this giant warehouse surrounded by a garden with quite a few water installations. The warehouse itself was pretty raunchy. There were various rooms (one with a pole, one with a bed, a couple with lofts) that people floated in and out of. No photography was allowed in the club so unfortunately I have no evidence.
A small note about Berlin--graffiti is not looked down on but celebrated in the city. Case in point-- I found a mural of Rhianna on one of the girl's bathroom door at this school. I obviously had to take a photo for my dad because his love for Rhianna knows no bounds.
My weekend also exposed me to Berlin's clubbing scene AKA one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had. Friday night I went out with a few people, with no real intention of clubbing, but one of the people in my group heard about this underground club fairly close to our hostel so we decided to check it out. There's a bit of a line when we find the club. Our group split up into two and threes for maximum chance of all getting in. I had a guy in my group of three which the bouncer was wary of. The bouncer himself was this ginger bearded fellow in a beanie. He thought that the guy in my group looked "grumpy" and the bouncer claimed that he only allowed "magical people" into his club because it's a "magical place". I don't know how many drugs he was on. Regardless, I worked my charm and promised that I'd make sure his club stayed magical and we got in.
The venue was nice. It consisted of this giant warehouse surrounded by a garden with quite a few water installations. The warehouse itself was pretty raunchy. There were various rooms (one with a pole, one with a bed, a couple with lofts) that people floated in and out of. No photography was allowed in the club so unfortunately I have no evidence.
The only photo of Saturday night at an underground club-- taken on the bridge near our hostel.
The first thing I noticed right away was the style of dance. It was awful. Everyone was doing this weird shake and slide thing. I can only assume it's because they were all hopped up on the same drugs (or maybe Germans just have a weird dance style). Did I forget to mention that every bathroom and doorway was manned with its own personal drug dealer? I got offered every drug in the book. Did you also know that speed (or "speeeeed" if you have a German accent) is a code name for meth? Because that's what I learned Friday night.
Drugs are a a very hard no for me so this club was only gaining strange points. The funniest part about this night had to have been the people we met. We hung out with a group of guys who were all thirty-somethings living in New York. Most of them had met at Yale together. They were all funny and obviously very well educated men. A couple guys were lawyers, one guy was a writer, etc. The writer was writing an article for GQ about the Berlin clubbing scene. He gave us the lowdown on the club we were at which was surprising to say the least. Apparently this club is a 72 hour non stop party of dancing, drugs, and debauchery. People are allowed to bring backpacks in with some essentials for this sole purpose (I thought it was strange that they were letting people bring in backpacks....). So yeah, that happened. Needless to say that night was an intriguing experience. I most definitely did not stay for 72 hours.
Drugs are a a very hard no for me so this club was only gaining strange points. The funniest part about this night had to have been the people we met. We hung out with a group of guys who were all thirty-somethings living in New York. Most of them had met at Yale together. They were all funny and obviously very well educated men. A couple guys were lawyers, one guy was a writer, etc. The writer was writing an article for GQ about the Berlin clubbing scene. He gave us the lowdown on the club we were at which was surprising to say the least. Apparently this club is a 72 hour non stop party of dancing, drugs, and debauchery. People are allowed to bring backpacks in with some essentials for this sole purpose (I thought it was strange that they were letting people bring in backpacks....). So yeah, that happened. Needless to say that night was an intriguing experience. I most definitely did not stay for 72 hours.
Portions of the East Side Gallery, one of the only remaining sections of Wall still standing. It's more of an open air art space than a memorial.
Saturday was much more tame. I spent the day doing mostly touristy things like visiting the Berlin Wall, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a Roma and Sinti Memorial, and the outside of the Reichstag. The Reichstag is by far one of the coolest buildings I've ever seen. I have a reservation to go inside it next week, so stay tuned.
Memorial to the Murdered Jews
After my day of being a tourist, I went and tried a currywurst place called Curry 36. Every guidebook and website I read recommended the restaurant, and it did not disappoint. Currywurst in general is pretty good--it's essentially sausage covered in ketchup with a bit of curry powder. It's usually served with fries. The rest of my Saturday I spent working on some research.
Displaying what's left of my currywurst from Curry 36.