A Year in Berlin – Five Things We’ve Learned
by Zoë Noble
We started with good intentions. We did an intensive course for two months when we arrived, but three hours after a full day’s work, four times a week, was clearly too much German for anyone. By the end I was ready to shoot myself AND all Germans, just for the Dative case alone! Not the attitude I wanted to have with my new countrymen so a break was probably a good thing. Only now are we getting back on der Waggon – join us on Twitter where we are posting a word a day under the hashtag #dailydeutsch.
A German accountant is your best friend.
With our limited understanding of German, receiving letters with official looking stamps on them can be quite scary. Opening them to see pages and pages of text, some of it bolded AND underlined, with intimidating words like “Lastschrifteinzugsverfahren” (“Direct Debit”, for God’s sake!) can be quite unsettling. After James took over three hours to Google Translate one letter which simply informed us of our tax reference number, we knew, for our own sanity, that we needed to get an accountant.
Germans stare.
This one took a bit of getting used to. For the first few months we just couldn’t understand what the hell was wrong with people or, more importantly, with us! We initially put it down to the locals not being used to seeing exotic London folk like us (we’re the only ones here, right?), but we now know this is just their way and not to take it too personally. Also, I’ll win any staring contest so BRING IT ON BEATCHES!!
To carry cash at all times.
Debit and credit cards aren’t accepted in 99% of Berlin’s restaurants, cafés and bars. We English are so used to handing over that little bit of plastic for everything that this was hard to get your heads around: “You don’t accept THIS card you mean, right??” Er no… So off James would go in search of a cashpoint, leaving me alone for twenty minutes, looking like a jilted lover. Lesson learned – we now carry a wad of cash that would make Tony Soprano feel self-conscious.
Everything is shut on Sundays.
Seriously, everything – supermarkets, clothes shops, IKEA…the lot! This can be frustrating when you haven’t got any food in the cupboards or desperately need to buy that new oven mitt, but when you get used to it, it can actually work to your advantage. Sundays are now perfect for that lovely stroll along the canal, cleaning up the house or doing all those odd jobs you keep putting off. Or even better, going for brunch and then off to pump some fists in the air at Berlin’s best club Berghain!
[…] epic list when she lived in Münster, Nord Rhine Westphalia. While a lot of it differs to the things we’ve learned while living in Berlin – and it sounds like our clubs are a lot better! – much of this is […]
Excellent article! Very funny to read this and reflect on my similar experiences in Germany.
I love your site, I’m definitely a fan now
[…] this epic list when she lived in Münster, Nord Rhine Westphalia. While a lot of it differs to the things we’ve learned while living in Berlin – and it sounds like our clubs a lot better! – much of this is […]
Right on!
Even though I’m German, after a long time away, I have to say that I had to learn all those things (again) as well. Except for the “stare”. I’ve been keeping New Yorkers in line with that one for over a decade.
10pm is pretty alright, I must say… In the town where I live (160,000 inhabitants), most things close at 7pm. 10pm is for some supermarkets.
You really get used to it.
[…] place.__ Interested in some other articles about living abroad as an expat? Check these:überlin: A year in Berlin – Five Things We’ve Learnednicoleisthenewblack: F.A.Q with a Black Expat in Germanytravelsofadam: life as an expat in […]
Okay- this post was brilliant. Loved your photos and your summations. As easy as it may be for me to move back to America, all these quirky things about Berlin really just make me want to stay even more!
Thanks for the pick-me-up!
aw thanks dude… anytime!
love it love it love it ..so funny as well but remember the progress you have made in one year and how settled your lives have become.. am well impressed…..lets hope the future years are as good!!!
Berlin is great in that there are a few places open on Sundays. Hit-Ullrich Markt am Zoo is a personal fave, with their extensive booze selection (seriously!). However, if you’ve ever been aufm Land in Germany, you do feel the cruel truth that NOTHING is open on Sunday, not even a small shop at the Bahnhof.
I also wanted to say that I found German relatively easy to learn, but it’s partly because I know English and Spanish and kept filing new German words in the “Germanic root” section of my English knowledge. Eventually, I realized that German is basically English minus Spanish, so to speak.
And, German is super logical. Once understand the rules it makes tons of sense. It’s just the memorization of the gender (seriously? three?) in order to declinate correctly which is difficult. One thing I’ve found is that people switch to English not so much to help you as to practice their own English. When I persist in German, (which I always do) they’ll switch back.
Glad to see you’ve both survived your first year!
How funny… I love the pics!
If you find people staring in Berlin then I wonder what you’d say about people scanning you in other cities. (In Berlin no-one really cares about other people’s appearance, way of life and in general, which is good and bad at times.
I’d be happy to help with learning German. Come over, let’s have some Stollen (German Christmas season treat) and talk about that…
Thanks for the kind words and the generous offer.
I totally agree that Berliners (Germans?) are a lot less judgemental, despite the staring. The snobbishness apparent in other capitals (London and Paris especially) just isn’t there – yet another reason we love the city!
I’ll drop you an email about some German lernen shortly. Tschüss!
I was referring to other German cities. Most tend to be way more ‘kleinkariert’ than Berlin.
http://www.dict.cc/?s=kleinkariert
Ah, good word. Thanks!
love the post! and your photos are great, haha! at least next time i’m over i’ll realise there’s nothing wrong with me when people stare, i do get paranoid over that here in england!!
Ah yes, the memories of living in Germany, and you’ve brought them all back in a hilarious way.
1. Denglish is your friend. It really is your friend, until the dative rears its head.
2. I never thought about the accountant, but I remembered to bring my official statements to native Germans who’d seen it all before. Before they rolled their eyes at the jargonific language …
3. Even the kids stare … well, I showed them – I got it all down pat. Oh wait, I shouldn’t stare when I’m back in North America, should I? Yikes.
4. Imagine walking along a Hauptstrasse somewhere on a weekday afternoon, and realizing some of these people have wads of cash in their pockets for big-ticket purchases. Ah, good times.
5. I learned to love Aral Tankstelle and the Hauptbahnhof, even if it killed me to walk there. At least the store is open on Sunday …
Thanks for your post, Zoe!
lol thanks for your take Henry!…yeah I hope no-one now sees us as a target for our huge wad of cash now!
I’m so glad that I’m not the only expat who has been living here a year and who still hasn’t got their head around German. Their grammar is killing me.
it’s just even harder because you CAN get by without German here…so you have to have ALOT of will power to keep learning!
LOVE this post! The photos are hilarious. You two crack me up. One thing I’ve definitely learned about Berlin, don’t ever ever ever be late to catch a connecting flight… NUBOVS! (I know it was technically Brussels but still….) Seriously though, our short visit to Berlin was amazing and would love to come back again. Thanks so much for having us. Hope you two are well. Happy 1 year anniversary guys!
aww thanks hun!! you know you and the lasses are welcome back ANY time you like:) seriously I had so much fun…and the very fact you guys missed that flight just makes the trip that little bit more memorable/hilarious! hope you and Stephen are well and hopefully see you soon!! NUBOVS! x
Great post and loving the pics. And congrats on your first anniversary in Berlin!
Thanks Lolly, that means a lot coming from the BlogQueen! Hope all’s good in the London hood.
Oh Ya and the Ullrich at the Zoo is open on Sundays and as far as I can tell, doesn’t charge the premiums that Kaiser’s in the Hauptbahnhof does for example. Although it is a bit of a trek for you guys.
thanks for the tip! but yes we’re so lazy if it’s further than 15 mins away pizza.de it is!
I started to read this post on my iPhone and then thought “this one is too good” And I fired up the Mac.
So funny, so to the point. Hysterical pictures!
lol we feel honoured that you fired up that baby just to have a better reading experience!
Loved this post – everything rings true with me. I spent hours, days really, at the Rathaus trying to register and get my residents pass with my Germlish language skills and the help of a German friend from time to time. I was trying so hard, and had to provide so much paperwork, that I almost wept. When it was all done and dusted and I had the paper in my hand, the Rathaus man broke into perfect English. Bastard! He refused to speak English with me, even though he could see I was nearly dying, because it wasn’t the “official language of Germany”. Grrrrrrrrr. Ah well, live and learn.
how mean of him! we’ve heard so many stories like this though…don’t see why some people have to make others’ lives harder than they have to be! we pay our taxes like everyone else
They do the same for Germans, though. Whenever I have to go to the Rathaus, the people there make me want to puke. (Vomiting wouldn’t be appropriate for what I’m feeling when there.)
When I was in Australia, that was soooooooo much easier.
Hahahaha, so funny. And yes, our language is hard, most of the Germans are not using it correctly either, so wtf. I am happy if others try at least! And you did, so bravo! And another thing: even Germans do’t get along with all that Finanzamt-Bullshit. At least I am not… so complicated. So fucked up. I did not realize the staring at others is a German thing, but I will watch out. Maybe it’s because lazy bone that I am – I am not using public transportation anymore. Hope there are as many things you like about this country, but I guess so: you live in Berlin!
oh yes we love this place! any negatives are tiny in comparison to what our lives were like back in the UK. this really is an amazing city and we still can’t quite believe we get to live here
DER DATIV IS DEM GENETIV SEIN TOD loved this post! we really need to meet for coffee soon!
coffee sounds great! us freelancers like any excuse to get out the house
very good your post.
i am brazilian, living in belgium.
here everything are close on sunday, during the week open at 9am… and my first impression was: “ok so this people don’t like to work?!?!” now i am used to it hehe.
about the language here is not really a problem (at least in the dutch speak part) because almost all speak french, dutch, english and a bit of german or spanish so you can really find a way to say what you want… in other hand in the french speaking part it is just french and that is it really more like you said in your post.
as i come from a huge country with just one language, one gorvenament, one all… it is strange for me, sounds belgium have two countries inside in one really small country hehehe
Thanks Deborah, glad you like! I visited Belgium a few months ago and yes it was amazing how many languages you have on the go there! The road signs were huge!
what I miss most when I come back from trips to London: the Marks & Spencer food department. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else but in Berlin but I want to have that shop here!!
oh god yes! and we really miss Tesco online But yes, none of this would ever make us want to leave Berlin…just if Berlin had these things it would be EVEN MORE amazing
Oh man… I laughed really hard. Felt all these things here just as explained. The comic tone was just the cherry on the top of the cake.
Other things I also noticed:
– It’s kind of long shot to assume pubic services employees speak english. Like the Burgeratm, Finanzamt and others.
– Cigarette packs have weird quantities. Like 19, 24 and 30 instead of de default 20.
– It was really difficult to get a good apartment. Took me 6 months!
– Clubs like Berghain virtually don’t close.
– With so much cheap good food around me I rarely get to eat home.
…
Could continue but It would be exhaustive. Thanks for this article! Made my morning.
glad you like Tomás! and your points ring true with us as well..our waistlines are rapidly expanding with all this awesome cheap food all around us! We’re heading to Hudsons for an amazing soup and sandwich combo today so already salivating at that prospect
That`s not a lot you learned there. What about food, public transport, nightlife, dating, the art scene, the german soul etc. ?
that’s why we say “Five Things”
If paying cash and filling up your fridge during daytime hours is all you need to do to enjoy a lifestyle at a third of the costs you’d need in London, I wouldn’t complain. And you can’t complain about the communicativeness of the Berliners too: I bet, if I’d live in London and would talk German to the people on the streets, I’d not get much response.
Oh – a shop that is open till 10pm – that won’t happen in Vienna…..;)
really? that’s tough! I shouldn’t complain then;)
Well and I found it really fascinating that in UK every single shop is open on Sundays! Best thing ever!
I didn’t know that we have a scary stare but hm okay Don’t take it personally it’s just that we’re all very bored, especially in trains and stuff…
When I was in UK I had a lot of cash with me all the time and realized: a credit card would be much more useful for me
I think you’re right about being bored on the train and needing something to look at…also in London you just have so many people squished on the Tube and not enough room to even look around that maybe it’s just more noticeable in the roomier spacious U-Bahn!
Almost true, but..
there are a few supermarkets open on sundays, for example at Hauptbahnhof, Ostbahnhof and Friedrichstraße
there was a maybe little exaggeration for comic effect and it’s just annoying that you have to travel to get to those places, rather than supermarkets in your neighbourhood just be open!
Of course, it’s annoying.. and embarrassing for a metropolis!
thanks for this post. i’m planning to move to berlin early January so these tips will come in handy!
glad we could help Alanna and good luck with the move! See you over our side soon
oh that’s brilliant. the stare part expecially – I haven’t got it until this very moment. thought I freak them out with a too polished or sometimes too goth a look. so you say they stare just because. hum, hum.
a hint: at major train stations – hauptbahnhof, ostbahnhof – the shops are open 24/7 and so are a few “spätis”. and some spätis would sell liquid food only
Ah yes someone did tell us about the train stations which is a life saver you’re right! We’re just very very lazy and don’t want to travel that far!;)