photo: Mike Kotsch
You fell in love with Berlin, the vibrant party location that sometimes forgets it’s supposed to be a capital and acts like a huge open air techno festival instead. It felt good, so you thought you’d stay, taking your relationship with Berlin to the next level – calling it your home. But every single commitment drags along its gnarly twin – monotony.
Now that you’ve dropped your anchor here, that morning glimpse of the Fernsehturm on your daily commute may not feel quite as exciting as it used to. Even the most unique sights can grow old, and what draws your attention instead is the smell of piss and trash lying all along the curbside.
Read on…
by Michalina | Stories
illustrations: Berk Karaoglu
Expats arrive in the city with varying levels of life experience and capacities to adapt. Everyone is anxious to speed up the initiation process and finally become a true Berliner, but few are aware that this noble title comes at a price. First off, you have to learn to live with extremely capricious Internet and the general reluctance to accept cash payment. But that’s merely the beginning. Read on…
by Michalina | Stories
It’s Monday, guys and you’re just rolling out the club heading straight to work not having changed or showered in 3 days. So what? It’s Berlin!
This video series by comedian Daniel-Ryan Spaulding hilariously mocks some of the biggest cliches of our outrages Berlin lifestyle. It’s so painfully true sometimes the only thing you can do is laugh at the absurdity. Probably the funniest Berlin videos ever! But see for yourself.
If you want to see Daniel live doing stand-up in Berlin you are in luck as he is having shows all the time in Berlin in various bars over town. Also, you should subscribe to his Facebook page for upcoming shows and there’s also a line of merch with some of his most beloved catch-phrases.
We updated our story with new videos from 2019 in the very bottom of the article. Enjoy Daniel’s take on the Cologne Carnival, the Anmeldung and gentrification…
Read on…
by Frank | Videos
photos: Keith Telfeyan
People say Berlin is a city of lost souls. You can feel the drifting energy, black-clad and disembodied, the streets at all hours full of ghosts and zombies… There’s a prevalent zeitgeist of Sisyphean searching. You can drink cheap beer all day, never opening your eyes beyond what is necessary to obey the crosswalk signs. You can cut off all contact, drift away into total obscurity. Berlin: where young people retire, or: How to disappear completely.
Of course you can also get a job, start a family, normalize just like anywhere else. But there is a difference in Berlin… And first, in order to find yourself, you have to lose yourself, or at least recognize that you are lost. It tends to be a theme in this town.
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by Keith | Stories
I’m not really the quarrelsome type. I stand by what I believe in, but I’d never try forcing my spin on things upon you and I don’t mind exchanging thoughts with people that have different turns of mind. However, there’s this one declaration that invariably has the ‘’red rag to a bull’’ effect on me even on a small talk level.
I usually kind of feel it coming, because my interlocutor’s eyes inadvertently betray exactly what mood has just crept into the conversation. It can start inconspicuously with them admitting they actually did not go out last weekend, to which I can often relate. They usually mistake this for an invitation, and the first thing I know is them intimately leaning down in my direction and letting me in on the gist of their self-taught philosophy: ‘’Well, because, you know, Berlin is no place to settle down anyway, right?’’
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by Michalina | Stories
photos: Tania Strauss
My story is not different from anyone who has moved to Berlin and got stung by its venom. The venom is strong enough to infect you and leave you alive with its side effects, happily suffering. My friend describes it as “Berlin biting you in the ass”. This is quite accurate. You see a bite in the ass leaves a mark, a literal mark and a feeling. So does Berlin.
I moved to Berlin exactly 300 days ago. Just writing this is making it even harder to believe. 300 days. That is the longest I have ever been away from home. Well, I am kind of confused now as to where home is, but Berlin seems the most appropriate next to this word. I have found a home in the coldest, greyest, probably cruelest city in Germany. It is also the coolest, most liberal, accepting and very different from the rest of Germany.
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by Guest Author | Photos, Stories
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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by Michalina | Photos, Stories, Travel
photos: Jan Rückert
My dearest Berlin,
you are loud, moody and exhausting. A city driven by hectic energy.
But you are also calm. This is why we come from all around the world.
We – the outsiders of norms. We – who love to go against the flow.
And here with you we can be free. No cages, no bars.
You are a city of freedom. I can’t think of a city that is more free. No rules, no limitations.
Read on…
by Guest Author | Photos, Stories
illustrations: Berk Karaoglu
Prior to moving to Berlin I never thought about how important language was when attempting to get to know someone better, particularly while dating. I always dated guys whose native language was English, American English at that. As if dating wasn’t confusing enough, try dating someone who doesn’t dream in the same damn language as you. It wasn’t until I started dating guys from around the world did I begin to understand how uncomfortable it felt not to be able to fully express myself. But, was this necessarily a bad thing?
Sure, when you speak the same language, you understand one another on a molecular level. You share the same phrases to describe mundane situations. You can even talk about your feelings (yuck!) until the cows come home…UM, WHAT? That was all fine and good, but I still wasn’t convinced that the benefits of speaking the same mother tongue outweighed the surmounting disadvantages.
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by Guest Author | Stories
To You, brave adventurer who is in Berlin for the first time and who has left his comfort zone for a fresh new start and brand new experiences.
Let’s assume you have managed to pass the test of finding a permanent home, one of the worst nightmares of all the new Berliners, have one or two acquaintances in the city (even if it is the son of your grandfather Julius’s cousin that you have never heard of before but know he has three Siamese cats) and have already planned on how to get a job or to go further in your education. You have everything outlined and you are all excited – “This will the BEST time of my life”, you think, “Berghain, I will destroy you with my dance moves” – however, when you arrive (with a big smile on your face and high expectations), you see that things are not quite what you have imagine they would be. The son of your grandfather Julius’s cousin is not that interested in showing you around, maybe because he is too busy or simply because he is a jerk, getting a job is harder than you have imagined and you feel lonely at times.
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by Guest Author | Stories
