Hallo Berlin

I made it to Berlin, and, thankfully, the journey was far less harrowing than my expedition to Halifax, Canada last summer before my Semester at Sea experience (read about it here:
The first thing that struck me about Berlin’s Tegel airport is how small it is, considering Berlin’s prominent place in world affairs. When I arrived at Munich’s airport two winters ago, it struck me as a modern, chrome and glass dominated monstrosity that screamed German efficiency. Berlin’s airport by contrast had a luggage carousel smaller than any airport I had seen before, and a laid back demeanor evidenced by the lackadaisical effort put forth by the customs and security officials. By the time I was cleared, my bag – unlike last summer – was waiting for me. I met up with four other Duke students on my flight and once all of our stuff was collected we looked for a taxi big enough for all five of us and our six-weeks worth of packed items. In my first “you’re really in Germany, now” moment, I asked in the taxi driver – “Herr Taxitreiber” as Frau Helbing would have wanted me to address him – if he could take all of us and all of our stuff. He told me he could, but once the mini-van cab was filled with our stuff there was only one row of seats left. So three of us took the mini-van, the others, baggage free, went in a regular cab and we met up at the apartments.
From the outside, the apartments were not especially welcoming. Across the street, buildings were tagged with graffiti and sayings, in English, like “take back the streets.” However, once we received our keys and found our way inside, the accommodations were much nicer than I expected. There are two bedrooms for two students, a quaint kitchen, a decent sized living room, and a fairly expansive balcony with a nice view. Additionally, waiting for us on our table were German snack foods, including the quite poorly named “Wiener blatter” cookies. While you get your English speaking minds out of the gutter, I will translate it for you: Viennese leaves – referring to the city of influence, and shape of the cookies, respectively.
Trying to fight the jet-lag as much as possible, I refused a nap (despite a 17-hour travel day that began at 4AM west coast time), and instead went wandering with my fellow Berliners, visiting the Potsdamer platz – an area in the former East Berlin that is experiencing incredible growth and transformation, which features an amalgam of beautifully fashioned buildings designed by some of the greats, including Pei and Gehry, that while disharmonious on some level come together thanks to the notorious diversity and contrasts that make Berlin the city it is.
Following our trip east, my roommate and I explored the Kreuzberg district where our apartment is located. I find many similarities between Berlin and San Francisco; if you believe that analogy, then Kreuzberg is to San Francisco as Berkeley is to the city by the bay. There are funky clothing shops, lots of, shall we say, “interesting people” out on the streets, and lots of hole-in-the-wall restaurants or “Imbisstubes.” We went into a small Turkish-run snack place (the area has a high level of immigrants, especially Turks), and had chicken pita’s. While we ordered the same thing, we got vastly different dishes – mine featuring diced potatoes, his fries, mine loaded with lettuce and tomato, and his with pickled radishes and chili paste. Regardless, the restaurateur seemed to appreciate our business, as he brought out complimentary chai tea for us to enjoy. A hot beverage, to go along with a hot meal (especially my roommate’s with the chili paste), on a very hot Berlin day wasn’t quite what the “Doktor” ordered, but it was a very nice gesture.
Thanks for checking in on my blog. Even though I don’t have access to the Internet in the apartment, I hope to share my experiences with you frequently. I was going to upload a bunch of pictures from my first day, but it's taking forever. I'll resize them and post them soon.

Potsdamer Platz: