Not so long ago, I used to spend two hours on a train to get to my high school in Warsaw. The long commute and initial alienation were worth the thrill of being surrounded by a strange crowd. I got engrossed by it. Every morning, I’d spent at least 10 minutes of my ride in the joyful anticipation of the moment when the train rolls onto the station and I get lost within the urban flow.
This notion of pure excitement and longing for some big city action accompanies me to whatever metropoly I visit, and obviously New York was no exception. I wanted to find out if the famous city that never sleeps could cast a spell on me quite like Berlin did – getting off the plane, I was wondering if I might end up feeling like I want to stay.
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I was thinking about all the NYC expats I know and how some of them consider coming back. I inadvertently started to draw up a comparison noticing some common characteristics, like a complex subway system and random smell of weed.
But then it came to the differences – and I was myself truly surprised at the level of Heimweh that even little things evoked. New York definitely lives up to its reputation, but I’d rather stay a faithful resident of the Hauptstadt that’s waking up every day to be greeted by a disco ball, and below are my reasons.
Because Berlin is located in the heart of Europe, what makes it more geographically accessible, it can become a destination for a wide range of nationalities, making up for an amazing multicultural community. While it’s often regarded as a transition city, rather as one of the stops on your soul searching highway than a place to settle down, the people who actually end up doing that have usually thought well about this decision and it reflects what they actually want – as opposed to just accepting their conditions, what’s more likely to happen in the distant New York that remains unreachable for many who need a visa to even show up there.
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Which is pretty much my case. I got a tourist visa to go on a trip – and don’t you think I have any regrets. New York’s just visually breathtaking – there’s no comparison between the architecture of Manhattan with Ku’damm or the fanciest corners of Mitte. But I don’t mind it at all. Facing the mundane existence, you rarely get the chance to enjoy the view from Top of the Rock. It’s amazing, I know, but how does it enhance your everyday life?
In Berlin, one thing that does enhance mine (and I bet yours too) are the U-Bahns. On my trip, I realized I never really appreciated the ingenious design of our stations. After being used to the wide Berlin underground platforms with as it turns out relatively high ceilings, I found the stuffy New York subway pretty claustrophobic.
When taking the M train through Queens, for example, you can breathe better on the overground stations, but that’s when the majestic skyscrapers get replaced with the real concrete jungle – houses of various shape and size and invariably with a fire escape. New York City areas tend to fall under either the posh or, the farther you are from Manhattan, poor category, while Berlin is a bizarre unity, featuring instances of designer showrooms or fancy cafes neighboring with Turkish carpet shops and kebab joints.
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For me, this Berlin cultural potpourri is an invaluable inspiration. The kick I get from strolling around Kreuzkölln is irreplaceable, although New York means so much to me in terms of artistic heritage. It makes me instantly think of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote, The Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop’s Avenue B, PJ Harvey’s Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea.
The Metropolitan Museum filled me with awe and those two and a half hours I spent there were not nearly enough – it’s a little ironic though how whatever thirst for knowledge I might feel, there’s no chance of me satisfying it in the US without getting knee deep in loans. Nevertheless, the Metropolitan Museum, an institution where you only get to pay the donation of your choice (pro travel tip), is truly remarkable.
But sadly, that’s not where the focus is – Times Square is an embarrassing vanity fair, a weird place of commercial worship where the exacting Berlin hopefully wouldn’t quite venture.
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While I know this report can get me in trouble with any Sex and the City aficionado, please keep in mind that I do not claim to be objective. Quite the contrary – I am inherently biased, for I feel like falling in love with Berlin, notwithstanding some of the Liebeskummer that followed, was the best thing that ever happened to me.
