The Euro

The Euro is quite unique, one of the first observations I made was that each of the bills are different sizes.  With each increase in value of the Euro, the bill itself increases in size. This is to make it easier for blind people to pay with the Euro.  Each of the Euro bills are also different colors.  The Euro bill colors are as follows: 5 is gray, 10 is red, 20 is blue, 50 is orange, 100 is green, 200 is yellow, and 500 is purple.  I have only seen a 500 bill one time, a gentleman was paying for a meal at a restaurant.  The one and Two Euro coins have a interesting design, in which the colors are inverse to each other.  The one Euro has a gold outer ring with a silver center and the two Euro has a silver outer ring with a gold center.  On one side of the coins there is a picture of Europe with the value of the coin, and on the other there is a symbol significant to one of the countries that use the Euro.  The most common one I have seen is the Eagle that hangs in the Reichstag. 

Here in Berlin, the only time I have seen anyone use a card, whether it’s a debit or credit card, has been at the ATM and they were withdrawing money because cash is far more commonly used to purchase items.  When I have gone into a store to buy a couple of items, I haven't been asked “Cash or Card?”  I had put myself in an awkward situation when I tired to purchase ice-cream with a 20 Euro bill.  The total was one Euro, but all I had were large bills, and the cashier refused to take the bill because it was too large of a quantity for the item I was trying to buy.  Because cash is used to pay for everything, bars don't open up tabs, you have to pay for each drink individually. The only time there has been an exception to this has been at a restaurant.  The money here is quite different from what I am familiar with, however, after a week here I feel I have a better understanding on how to spend my money without seeming ignorant to common customs. 

Graffiti in Berlin

          One of the first things I noticed in Berlin after leaving the airport and driving to the hotel was the graffiti that was plastered on almost every visible surface. I automatically had a slightly uneasy feeling. I do appreciate these wall paintings as art, but I also see them as lack of maintenance or care in the facility that the work is displayed on. This was confusing, because many of the places where it was displayed were nice restaurants and shops, like a quaint little café down the street from our hotel, across from an old protestant church. As I began to explore the area around the hotel even more, I realized it was more prevalent than what I imagined. The graffiti did not seem to signify a bad or dilapidated area, but it also did not seem to add much to the area either.

            I asked Britta on our walk home from dinner why it was so common and if it was seen as unnecessary to cover it up, because it would just be painted over again. She thought the reason was two-fold. Yes, it would be somewhat of a hassle to cover it up, because it would constantly be getting repainted. Also, graffiti is often seen as art and didn’t have such a negative connotation.

            This made sense; even while taking the city bus tour yesterday, I noticed it on more building façades in downtown Berlin, even on other art work, like the sculpture that France had given Germany for its 750^th birthday. Although I realized it is part of the culture, I still found it disrespectful and inconsistent with the perception I have of a modern city with the ability to cover up or prevent the graffiti from being such a dominant visual. It seems that it doesn’t serve a true purpose for the city and therefore, seems unnecessary.

Breakfast?

My eyes flutter open and I look at the clock. The large red digital numbers read 9:30. "The free breakfast ends at 10!" I think to myself as I briskly hop out of bed and make my way downstairs. The first thing that greets me is the breakfast attendant who gives me an evil glare. She gives me the up-down and snarls “Guten Morgen.” I look down at myself. My mis-matched socks are showing through the flip-flops I slid on and my matching bright pink pajama top and bottoms are a stark contrast to the other patrons that are dressed in their everyday wear.

             I look back up, eager to see what food selection lay before me. I grab a plate and start with the first item on the buffet, bread. At the top there is a basket of what looks to be dinner rolls in a couple different varieties of breads. Next to the dinner rolls are a case that hold flat, dry, crusty looking pieces of large crackers. These too come in brown, black and white colors. Below these are dessert breads. The moist, cakey thick chunks of yellow swirled bread are eye-catching and enticing, but due to my extensive list of allergies I must pass on the sweets.

            I move to the next item on the bar, which is a large metallic bowl that is filled with ice and has various packages stuck haphazardly into the make-shift refrigerator. A couple packages are green and have pictures of fruit on the top, and one is a clear base with a brown pudding like substance that fills the container. The text, if there is any, is written in German-a language I do not speak.       

Five medium size cauldrons are situated next to the bowl. I peer inside and see a goopy, runny-yet-thick, substance. There are chunks of what appear to be fruit pieces in each separate bowl. The signs on these cauldrons are, once again, in German. Next to these cauldrons are three miniature ceramic beehives. Little bees surround the hive and the honey scepter is next to them.

            The little bees point to the three silver platters that are next to them. One platter holds cheeses, the next deviled eggs, and the last assorted cold cuts. The cheese has two different types: the smelly, holey Swiss, and the other has a red, slimy rind that is attached to the outer edge. The eggs I must pass over, as they make my allergy list. Last is the deli style cold cuts presented on a silver platter. Some of the thin meat slices have chunks of other meats inside of it, and the others are red, and pasty in appearance.

            With the meats rounding out the end of the breakfast selection, I set down my plate, head back upstairs, grab a packet of oatmeal that I brought from home and trudge back down to the breakfast bar. Still in my pajamas I grab a bowl, mix my oatmeal and move to the microwave to heat my disappointing breakfast. The looks I get every morning for touching the microwave- now that’s a story within itself. 

Baffled by the Bottles

            I have discovered at fast food restaurants that you put all your garbage on a tray rack and place glass bottles in a crate: instead of dumping it all in a garbage can.  I noticed that every restaurant has this system of garbage racks and bottle crates.  As someone who has an environmental element to both my major and minor I expected the Germans to be very responsible when it comes to disposing their waste.  In fact, many of the small shops have stacks of crates full of empty bottles that customers had returned.  I also witnessed something during my first few days in Germany that contradicted my view of Germans being more responsible with their waste.  Many individuals whom had just finished their bottle of beer or pop had just left them randomly on the street.  This behavior totally baffled me and seemed to be the opposite of my view of Germans being more self-aware when disposing of their trash.  However, I also noticed that I haven’t seen an abundance of bottles around the city.  There are individuals with three or four bags hanging from their bicycles; all filled with bottles.  On Sunday alone, at Mauer Park, I saw three gentlemen scampering around the park picking up as many bottles as they could. I realized that these people were picking the bottles up to turn them in for money.  So it all started to make sense why people randomly placed glass bottles down across the city because, they know the bottles will be picked up.  I paid close attention when Brody and I rode our bikes back through the park in route to the hotel and I don’t remember seeing one bottle lying around in the park.    If only there was some sort of monetary incentive to pick up dog dung and cigarette buds, then Berlin’s streets would be among the cleanest in the world.

Schokolade in Berlin

Chocolate is one of the first foods that I was eager to try in Europe. The chocolate that I’ve had here is creamier and not so sweet and sugary as chocolate in America. Before this trip, I had never been to Europe and the only European chocolate I had were brands that can be found in the United States. These brands, such as Godiva and Lindt, are usually considered more expensive, which makes it seem like European chocolate is higher quality. All the stores that sell food that I have encountered have a wide selection of different types of chocolate. I also tried chocolate ice cream in Germany, which had the same differences as regular chocolate; it was richer and had a deeper flavor. I have noticed places that serve ice cream in Germany seem very common. I even tried Italian ice cream here in Berlin.

When I saw the displays of chocolate in the Kaufhaus des Westens, I saw that Germans have a lot more variety and experimentation with chocolate. This was probably a wider selection than is usually found, but it was still interesting all the ways in which the chocolate was presented; it was mixed with fruits, nuts, and alcohol, and made into shapes of animals such as cats and dogs. There was far more chocolate in the store than any other type of candy. Even small convenience stores have the brands Milka and Ritter in many different varieties.

Food Discovery

In Berlin I have noticed that there are very few uniquely German foods to eat here. Yes the potato is an important item, often being the main portion of a meal with other vegetables or meats as an accompaniment. Also, probably more common than potatoes are the Döner and the Currywurst. These can be found all around town in various places. These two options seem to be the quintessential food to try when in Berlin. 

This is your run of the mill Döner. None are bad, some are just better.

Walking along the streets of Berlin gives you a lot of time to survey the small shops and food places that are on the ground floor of all the buildings.  On my walks I have seen Indian restaurants, Thai restaurants, a bunch of Italian places, as well as hamburger places and hot dog places. The interesting thing about these other cultural restaurants is how authentic their cuisine is.  I have an Indian friend at home who has informed me very specifically about the food that they eat regularly. What I and the rest of our group ordered at the Indian restaurant was very accurate to what my friend would have at home. I also have a friend who is from Thailand, and he would have been pleased with the dish that they Thai restaurant brought out to us.

Pad Thai dish with pork. This was Brody's and my third meal. Italian, Indian, and Thai. In that order.

I have yet to find a specifically German restaurant here. I may just not be realizing I'm in one. I've discussed the issue with Herr Chaouli and have been informed that if I were to ask for one, people would be stumped on two levels. The first being that they don't know where one is and secondly that why am I searching for one. So although I haven't found something yet I will continue to search and observe. Over next few days, a German restaurant will be a top priority for me to stumble across. 

Certainly I can find one spot in this big, beautiful city.

Bad internet is worse than no internet

When I decided to participate in this program, I asked my boss if I could have the time off from work. Her response was: "Will you have internet?"

"Of course," I responded.

"Are you willing to work remotely?" she asked.

"Yes, I'd be happy to!" And with that, it was settled that I'd be working remotely from Germany during my time abroad. What I hadn't expected was the dramatic difference between the quality of internet in the United States and Berlin.

Yes, I have internet. But I don't have stable internet. The hotel's W-Lan (the German word for Wi-Fi) is virtually useless, and IES' isn't any better. I work in IT, so I thought: "I can figure this out!" I decided to start searching for coffee shops or bars with free or for-fee connections.

I found a little coffee shop a few blocks from the hotel that has a Telekom (T-Mobile) hot spot and decided to give that a try. I bought a day pass and ran into the same problems I had experienced elsewhere -- an intermittent connection that couldn't support the work I was trying to do. I tried a few more and found the same thing. The internet worked, in the most basic sense of the service, but it wasn't stable when it came to needing a persistent connection. It seems to drop connection almost completely every few minutes, and then comes back to a reasonable speed. This has been my experience at coffee shops, IES, and at Kastanienhof.

So, I thought a bit more and remembered that nearly all universities are members of the Eduroam network, a high speed wireless network that allows members of one university to use Wi-Fi at other universities simply by logging in with his/her email address and passphrase.

I went to Humboldt Universität. The internet was no more useful than the coffee shops or other locations I'd tried, even on Eduroam. This didn't seem right.

I took the train to Frei Universität. Same thing. Unstable internet that couldn't maintain a fast connection for more than a few minutes at a time.

I took the train back to Humboldt and tried the buildings off Unter den Linden. I asked a couple students where they downloaded movies on campus, and eventually someone gave me a lead. A girl selling some used books outside the main entrance to Humboldt told me about a little nook outside a nearby building, between two offices, where the internet was "ganz toll!"

So I went there and she was right! I was finally able to connect to a (mostly) stable point on Eduroam and dialed into a video conference and had very few issues. Unfortunately, I had to explain why I was sitting in a dark alley with road noise -- but I had a persistent connection that worked, and that's what was important.

I haven't really explored this much more than my attempts to find a solid spot, but now that I have found one, I'd like to learn more about why the public Wi-Fi is so much less stable here -- and why it doesn't seem to be a big issue with the Germans I've talked to. 

Surely Germany isn't a third-world country (in terms of Wi-Fi). Do they place less value on a persistent connection? Is this why they still have DVD stores a la 1990's US?