"ich bin in Berlin?!": Drei Wochen in Berlin.... (three weeks in Berlin)

so, after three weeks (how has it been that long!?) I've learned a couple lessons for life, the short list:

1. Being cheap doesn't always pay off...
--when I arrived in Berlin I didn't want to buy a 1Euro Berlin map--resulting in getting lost for a good half hour with all my luggage.

2. Look at the ground when you walk, it might just pay off!
--Since I arrived I've found 15Euro on the sidewalk! Here's hoping that luck continues!

3. Stop using "pay off" as a pun, it gets redundant
--see above

4. There are no strangers, only people you haven't met yet
--(cheesy I know :) But by forcing myself to ignore fears and insecurities I went by myself to the dining commons and an Art History lecture, and made two new friends in both cases! The world is as foreign as you let it be.

Stock photo of Potsdam students pretending to study!

The Museum Lecture I attended!
Held at Humboldt University Art History Dept.

Blisss...... too bad they aren't real!

5. You can never buy too many Ritter Sport chocolate bars when you visit the factory!
--The official factory/wholesale store for RitterSport combines two of my loves: saving money (they are all on discount) and endless varieties of chocolate! so I left with 8 different chocolate bars (double what I had intended to buy)--yes, I told myself that I was buying them as gifts and but as I carried the bag full of delicious varieties out of the store, I knew I would eat them all before leaving for the states :) I believe there are 24 official flavors now (not including seasonal!) these were my choices:

The Flavors? Chocolate Mousse, Hazelnut Caramel, Dark Chocolate Marzipan, My Creation!, Rum Raisin Hazelnut, Nougat (hazelnut cream), Olympia (yogurt, honey, hazelnut, and sugar), Bitter Chocolate (71% Ecuador).
*notice that the Nugat has already met its fate! (it was delicious :)

In addition to these life lessons, a week of classes at Potsdam and a third week of life in Berlin have given me a better understanding of German culture, a few things....

1. Berkeley time of 10 min = 15 min in German schools (but literally 15 and ONLY 15 minutes after the hour, any later is too late). Although I am only enrolled in one actual Potsdam course, this was definitely the case. The professor stopped her lecture and stared down each student who came in late until he or she sat found a seat. For one student who waltzed in 45 min in, she fiercely stared him down and the hall was awkwardly silent until he finally found a seat. She stared and raised her eyebrows at him, "I am sure that this is the last time you will be so late" after another 10 seconds of her piercing gaze she quickly dove back into the lecture material. Sure it's a bit strict but I respect that she requires respect--silently I smiled in approval (here's hoping I never miss a morning train!!)

2. At the end of a lecture American students tend to awkwardly shuffle their papers and pack up, or perhaps clap if it was a really good lecture, but German students knock on the desks (like knocking on a door); somehow this sound of thunder equates approval in University settings? Perhaps its simultaneously making good luck! I'm guessing there are a few reasons why this practice never quite caught on in the US: 1. it seems to be a way to call attention or interrupt (like tapping a wine glass with a spoon) and 2. America has an addiction to plastic, and with each year there are fewer and fewer wooden desks and tables in classrooms: it just would sound lame on plastic!

3. German playgrounds are WAY cooler than modern American playgrounds. I walk by numerous playgrounds on my way home from school (another difference from the US!) and all of them are much more interesting than any cookie cutter jungle gym of the good ole USofA. Americans are too worried about kids getting hurt (I'm sorry, but that's a part of learning) that today it is hard to find a wooden playground, metal slide, or one of those cool spinning platform playgrounds which were all taken out of parks years ago (and replaced, of course, by plastic). German playgrounds have plenty of sand to play in, rock structures to climb on, wooden towers to command, and metal slides to escape on and the kids seem to love it. Honestly I think it's better for kids to face fears and experience "danger" through curiosity (within the reasonable limits of safety) instead of having a totally sheltered bubble wrapped childhood. Plus, what would my childhood have been like without sand castles and sand pies?

Good Ole American playground:
Lots of plastic and rubber and of course super safe wood chips;
Oh, and the trees are safely on the other side of the parkinglot

Stock photo:
illustrating my point

"Wish Garden" Playground!
complete with the craziest "swing" I have ever seen: plus lots
of trees, grass, and sand: child's paradise of curiositie

And the trees! Germans (Europeans in general) cherish their green spaces even within a big city. Playgrounds are no exception to this. Americans worry about children getting too adventurous and climbing trees, so trees are rarely found in play areas (making such play grounds frustratingly hot and sunny in the summer). Germans cherish the green of the trees and the shade they provide, sure kids may climb them, but if the playgrounds are fun enough they wont need to!

Enough culture comparisons for now, I love America and all but I must admit the European mentality of life is growing on me! More stories to come :) And in the meantime, I'll let pictures tell some of the stories for me! Feel free to click HERE to access my public photo album of Berlin on facebook!