B-E-R-L-I-N

I got here on Saturday evening, so I think I’ll name Sunday “Day 0“, as I did all the necessary boring adult things then.

1. The Scheuchs

Mrs. and Mr. Scheuch, along with their lovely dog, Eddy, are a super-duper nice family living in Berlin, which have welcomed us into their home with so much joy… They trust mankind strong enough to let us into their lives… and that, my friends, I find rare these days.

My experience with them is yet at square one. Today is Wednesday and they’re off on a short trip. I arrived here on Saturday evening (quite late, I would say) and yet they were so happy to meet me. Unfortunately, I am not quite sure how to act around them… You see, if you come from Romania, just like me, you should know that, well uhm… where we come from, tenants are basically invaders. They are expected to lay low… Don‘t move, don’t make a sound, don’t change anything around the apartment and do not breathe too loud. If you could somehow stop existing but still pay rent, that would be awesome. However… I’m currently under the impression that things don’t run the same around here, for the Scheuchs. And that troubles me. Like… what? Do I just behave normally? Is that a thing around here? But I’m a tenant, a home-invador. On day 0 we had breakfast together. Mr. Scheuch is super funny and Mrs. Scheuch is soooo motherly. She reminds me of Frau Stade…

2. Accommodation

I find the apartment to be effin huge. I personally prefer to live alone, so that I can concentrate on my stuff and organise my sh*t as I please. And at times I feel like I don’t want to talk to anyone, and I guess it would be rude if I were to live with someone and simply choose not to answer their questions sometimes. Uhm… yeah – me. But the place has a huge room, a big kitchen, where there’s also a second sofa. I guess two normal people could live here… but that’s not the case for me. I am not a normal functioning adult. Yeah… the bathroom is also pretty cool. The whole place is clean and you have virtually all you need right here.

I struggled to find some disadvantages about the accommodation…

a. If it’s winter, the place is a bit far away from the city center, I guess… I mean by 4.30 pm it’s already dark outside. And if you check out Video 1 or 1-B, you’ll notice a big parking lot that you have to cross. I would recommend you not to spend too much time there, especially at night and also don’t take the narrow alley behind Aldi (at night). Just make a short detour, it will cost you 1 minute.

Video 1

 

Video 1-B

 

b. Also by winter: there are these regulations of some sort around here…. regarding heating. They just stop it or set it to a minimum at night… I cannot fully grasp the reason why they do that, but it was a bit problematic to me and I couldn’t rest so well… Just take warm clothing with you. ))) I did so, and I should thank Mr. Karbownik for his tip – Vielen Dank, Herr Karbownik! But after three days I could say I’ve pretty much acclimatised to these temperatures.

3. Monthly Ticket

It would be so much easier if you just bought the A-B-C Ticket… It includes both airports. So go to the Ticketmaschine, choose „BERLIN A-B-C“ -> „ZEITKARTEN“ -> „MONATSKARTE VBB-UMWELTKARTE“. It should cost 100.50 euro. You can only use 50, 20, 10 euro banknotes or coins… you can also pay by card, I guess. Either way, you can check out Video 2 for some visual instructions :)))).

Video 2

 

If you don’t know how to use such machines, just buy a simple short trip ticket (that should be available on the main screen), go to Friedrichsstraβe (S7, Richtung Potsdam Hbf) -> DB Reisebüro (Video 3) -> nice lady there -> buy the monthly ticket… This is the route you’d have to take if you live by the Scheuchs, obviously.

Video 3

4. How to get from the apartment to Springpfuhl Station:

Here’s a lovely G-maps sketch. Also, check out Video 1 and 1-B.

You can mock me all you want, but I actually got lost on the way back from school… that is, I didn’t know which way to go from the S-Station… so I find the second video quite helpful 😛

 

5. Shopping

In Video 1-B you will see my beloved Rewe <3 Supermarket, behind the S-Station. I would recommend you that you buy food from Rewe and drinks from Aldi or Lidl, cause they are closer. I’ve also heard that there’s a Netto Shop in the area, but I haven’t looked for it to be honest. In case you arrive here during the weekend, you can go to the Edeka Supermarket in Friedrichstraβe… in case everything else is closed. So yeah… in case of emergency – Edeka Freidrichstraβe.

!! During the weekend (especially on Sundays) most shops are closed. !!

6. School

Address: Georgenstraβe 35. How to get there:

From Springpfuhl S-Station – you take S7, Richtung Potsdam Hbf, for 10 Stations => Friedrichstraβe. Then:

• Video 3 (Friedrichstraβe Hauptbahnhof -> Schule Wegbeschreibung)
• Then:

And that’s about it for Sunday.

!! If there is something I completely despise about Germany, it’s the Internet speed here. On the first days I couldn’t even phone someone on Whatsapp… Germany, do something about it!!