Transportation

Searching for a place to live is one of the greatest ways to get to know a new city and how to navigate it. I have taken buses, trams, metros and trains all around Berlin. I now know the difference between the

The DB trains — go over ground, are fairly fast and go longer distances

the U bahn trains — go underground and are similar to the metro in Washington DC,

the S Bahn trains — go over ground and are slower than the DB trains

The tram — is yellow, goes over ground in the middle of the street with the cars

Buses – self-explanatory

Tickets – The idea with tickets is the honesty policy. You are supposed to buy a ticket, stamp it in the date stamping machine before you ride any mode of transportation. One great thing is if you buy a day ticket or a “Tageskarte,” it is good for all modes of transportation.

Today I learned that if you buy a ticket, it is only good for that day (When you buy a ticket, the date you purchase the ticket is printed on the top. Unless you buy a ticket specifically for another day, in which case that date is printed at the top.) Every so often, and it is more often than not, authorized personnel will come through the train, bus, tram or U/S bahn and check your tickets. If you are caught without a ticket it is 40 Euro. (A typical day pass is 7 Euro.) The man checking tickets, pointed to the incorrect date atop my ticket, and then ripped it up and gave me a very sad look. Luckily I was with a German friend who explained that I had know idea what I was doing, and I bought too many day tickets a few days prior.

Baggage

My luggage arrived today! Losing your luggage is kind of traumatic. The first day it was kind of nice, because I didn’t have to tug it around everywhere. On day two, I was still hopeful and tried not to think about it, but the idea of getting a couple thousand bucks to go buy some more clothes doesn’t seem that bad. Day three is when it starts to get bad. I start thinking about all the things I had in there, leather jackets, down jackets, sweaters and all of my work clothes. It actually becomes sad to think about how long it has taken to acquire all of these items. Years and years of buying things, and now all of my favorite jeans, shirts and jackets could never be seen again. =(

It adds a different spin to ‘starting my life over.’ Although, I was sitting in the train thinking about what my new apartment is going to look like and I began thinking about whether that is really what I am doing. “Starting over” seems difficult and troublesome even. One example would be when someone loses an ability to do something, they may have to “start life over” since they have a completely new perspective given their new circumstances.

I have simply picked myself and changed locations…although, in a way, I have lost some of my ability to communicate. It was very interesting when I had to draw a picture of cell phone minutes and text messages to understand the pricing structure of my prepaid phone plan. Some of the concepts I am used to mentioning in passing now take up huge chunks of time. Perhaps I will become an expert at pictionary.

Buying a cell phone

Buying a cell phone plan seemed to take hours longer than expected. First you have to decide between the prepaid phones and the contract phones. The prepaid are great because you can avoid a contract and you only spend as much as you need. This downside is that if you make international calls often or if you want to surf the internet, it is very expensive. Apparently with T-mobile, the daily rate for accessing a data plan, is 5 Euro! That is 150 Euro per month, just on data if you were to use it everyday!

The contract phone plans are much cheaper, but more expensive up front. Here you still have to buy the phone when you sign up for

Vodafone and O2 seem to provide the best service

T-Mobile is the only provider that provides the I-phone

Base seems to be less favorable

Also, a friend of mine told me that she had a lot of trouble getting out of the 2 year contract. Apparently German contracts are very strict and it is very difficult to get out of a contract, even if your time is up.

So, since I am not sure how long I will be here (could be six months or six years) and I have a hard time making long time commitments anyway, I finally opted for a T-Mobile prepaid phone.

Crossing things off the list

A few of the things you need to provide when applying to rent a new apartment include bank information and contact information. Now, this seems pretty obvious, until you apply and you don’t yet have either of these things. Today I set out to set up a bank account and obtain a mobile phone, which in germany, people call ‘Handys’.

I go inside Commerzbank and see the sign that says “private banking” and decide that I want all my banking to be private, so I follow the sign up the stairs. A gentleman meets me and notices I speak English, and greets me in English. He wants to know where I work, whether I will be making investments and asks me if I want a credit card.

Now, in America, credit cards are not linked to one’s bank account. Usually, people have numerous credit cards that they overspend on all the time, which is why so many people are in debt.

Here in Germany, the system is set up to avoid that exact problem. Here, you can have a debit card, which pulls immediately out of your checking account when you use it. A german credit card allows the user to make purchases everyday using ‘credit’ however at the end of each month, it automatically withdraws the money you spent on the credit card from your checking account. You don’t have the option to ‘pay later’ or ‘carry a balance.”

The second option is to get a “gold credit card.” This credit card costs 70 euro pr year, and will provide the user with insurance, so this one is the choice credit card for heavy travelers. Now, I suppose I find this strange, since most American credit cards also provide insurance. I decided to sign up for the free credit card and evaluate later whether or not to “Go Gold.”

Apartment Searching

So, if you are ever looking for an apartment to rent here in Berlin, you should know that Germans seem to believe that Kitchens and everything in the Kitchen is personal, just like your TV, your bed, or your couch. I looked at a few apartments today, and only one of them actually had kitchen cabinetry, a fridge and a dishwasher. All the others only have a sink and a stove. Apparently, people here like to bring their kitchens with them, when they move! So interesting.

First real day in Berlin

It. Is. Cold. Outside. I have a wool and cashmere coat that practically touches my ankles, a hat that makes me look like an eskimo, and mittens that make me look like I am going skiing. How will I ever find a place to live!

I decide to ride the bus. I pick the 200 bus and ride from one side of Berlin to the other. I see a street called Luststrasse. I wonder how that street was named. I see a ferris wheel, and many Christmas fairs and bratwurst stations, and mercedez cabs. I see a lovely area called Zoologischer Garten. Perhaps I can live there!

Honestly, I wish I could have taken a bunch of photos to include here while I am describing what I saw today. Unfortunately, the battery is in my luggage and my luggage is still on vacation.

First night in Berlin

First night in Berlin, I am staying in Postdamer Platz in Berlin. There are Christmas decorations everywhere! The Potsdam square is complete with an Ice hill, where people are sliding down on rugs, there are tons or little booths with crafts, warm toffee covered nuts, bratwurst, coffee shops, even a little ice rink. I sip my coffee with bailey’s and find a place to eat. I could definitely live here!