I have been in Berlin for a week now and I’d have to say that it’s been so different than I initially expected. One big thing that I did not expect here was that I wouldn’t be able to find smoothies. This may seem a bit random, but smoothies are really good and it took me a few days to find one (which was in the Europa Center). Another pleasant but unexpected surprise was that there are so many cute dogs in Berlin!! In addition, most of the dogs I’ve seen are not on leashes and just stroll next to their owners (it is the cutest thing).
One thing I miss from home is the abundance of water. I personally can’t drink the tap water, so always having to find and buy water can be a little inconvenient and pricey. Another thing I miss from home is the food. Specifically, I really really miss arroz con guandules and all the other good Puerto Rican food my mom makes. I’ve seen a lot of German or Italian food places, but I have not seen any type of Hispanic food here what so ever.
I love love love how green Berlin is. It’s great to see so many people riding bikes, taking good care of their gardens, saving bottles, taking their own bags to the store, etc. and I wish America in general was a bit more green like it is here. Berlin also has really really good apple juice and I wish I could buy Apfelschorle in the U.S.!
Although I am experiencing new things daily I feel that it has been easier to adjust to Berlin, because so many people here speak English. Additionally, every sight we go to has English accommodating captions/ audios and this makes it seem less foreign and more familiar. This was something that was kind of expected, but I still look forward to flexing my German speaking skills and hopefully by the end of the program I can order all of my meals in German!
Overall, Berlin has been so fun thus far.The architecture is sehr schön, the food is sehr lecker, and the German culture is sehr interessant . I’m so thankful to be able to learn, experience, and immerse myself in another culture alongside some cool engineers 🙂 I look forward to learning new things about Germany in the next five weeks!