Germany Week 1 (28th March-5th April 07)

Well, here I am. As I write this (which is probably a while before anyone reads it, as I’ve not got the internet yet), I’m sat in my flat in Berlin, where I’m going to be living for the next 4 or 5 months. I’ve been here a week now, though to be honest not much has been happening, I’ve just been settling in. Finally got my room all sorted and decorated with posters, plants and the like today, so it all feels much more homey. I’m living in quite a good area – it’s pretty much the centre of the student district (or one of the student districts), and everything I need is within about 10 minutes walking distance - including lots of bars! Well, nearly everything. My university for this semester, Humboldt-Universität, is about 30 minutes away by U- and S-Bahn. But as there’s a station right outside the house and I have a semester ticket for local transport, that’s not much of an issue.
The S-Bahn’s a funny thing, actually. I’ve been told the ‘S’ stands for “Subterranean”, but the only stretches I’ve ever done on it have been overground…ah well, just have to put that down to artistic licence, I suppose! Basically though it seems just like another version of the U-Bahn, only on a different network and possibly a bit faster. Either way, the local transport network runs pretty well, and is full of the legendary German efficiency.


Which is more than can be said for my university. I registered last Friday (30th March), and have spent most of the time since trying to work out which courses I can do and register for them. For pretty much every course, you need to register with the relevant lecturer in person, some in writing. This is made even more fun by the fact that this week, when I need to do all my registering, most of the lecturers I need are on holiday, even in the hours they’re meant to be available every week. I eventually managed to complete my part of the signing up for my courses yesterday, when I posted no less than 5 separate forms to lecturers for translation courses. In fact, it’s not even different translation courses – they’re all the same course, just at different times during the week. But there are limited places, so we’re advised to apply to as many as we can and indicate preference on the form. This makes a vague amount of sense, but why 5 different forms? I swear the Germans are hell-bent on single-handedly destroying the rainforest.

Anyway, with a bit of luck that’s all sorted now. Apart from that there’s not been much going on. I’ve not had real chance to meet anyone other than the people I live with yet, though I have had a good wander round a few parts of Berlin, and it seems very promising. It’s absolutely huge, or at least seems it to me, but there are so many different things, I can’t imagine getting bored of the place at all. So far I’ve had a wander down Unter den Linden and through the Brandenburger Tor, and spent a sunny afternoon in the huge park in the city centre. This place is great – you can go in there and feel like you’re not in a city at all, just completely relax. I can see myself spending a fair bit of time there in the coming months. I’ve also been to Potsdamer Platz, now completely rebuilt after 30 years of being the no-man’s land through which the wall ran between East and West Berlin (and very snazzy too), and Alexanderplatz, home of the big TV tower, and also this week, the Easter Market, where I spent a few hours yesterday.
All in all, I’m really looking forward to the next few months here. Admittedly it’s been a bit slow so far, but lectures and ERASMUS events start next week, so it should be all go from then on. This weekend I’m going to Bonn to visit Jane for Easter, so there’ll be more on that when I get back!