photos: Alejandro Arretureta.
Europe, not the continent, but the union, played a pivotal role in how my life turned out to be, and consequently who I am today; Europe, for me, meant belonging to something greater than just your own country, it provided this new identity you now have, you’re not just Greek, Spanish, French, you’re also European. This second identity connects you to so much more than what you could relate before it.
Because of Europe, I was able to travel abroad as an exchange student and also stay abroad as a young adult and work, an experience that has changed me in a million ways. I’ve met cultures I could never dream I would; not only met but thoroughly known, lived with, worked with, been friends with, laughed with. I’ve learnt about others, but also about my own self, got my head out of my own ass a little bit more than if I had just stayed in the perfect homogeneity of my country, where all I can see around me are reflections of me, of how I’ve grown up to think, what I’ve grown up to believe, nothing ever challenged.
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by Stella | Stories
Every time I spent a longer period of time abroad, staying in big cities always make me aware of what I appreciate the most about life in Berlin. Granted, it is exciting to roam through the restless streets of Bangkok or indulge in some ice cream while watching the sky go up in flames at sunset hour in LA, but never would I trade in Berlin for any other city in the world. Maybe this feeling can be blamed on the fact that I grew up here, but I believe that if you fell for Berlin once, you will stay incurably in love for the rest of your life. Below I put my feelings into words, summing up what I missed most about Berlin while visiting busy cities on the other side of the world.
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by Franziska | Stories
photos: Ema Discordant & Michal Andrysiak for Buttons
Berlin nightlife draws adventurous minds to our city like moths to the flame, craving to understand the myth of a Berlin night. Week after week, countless Berliners go down, down the rabbit hole to sweat, to move, to dance. Buttons at ://about blank is one of Berlin’s most infamous party nights. They have not only created a place where people of all sexualities and backgrounds can come together on the dance floor but established a diverse community of like-minded people. Their monthly photo reports are a unique visual collection of those who have a strong, personal connection to Berlin nightlife. Every dance floor has a unique story to tell, whether good or bad, a story of liberation, or escapism. We wanted to get to know these stories and asked around. Let’s go on a journey through the mind of a Berlin night.
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by Andy | Party, People
photos: blnlove
Looking back in time it feels like ages since I moved to Berlin. Yet, it has barely been over a year. I keep trying to get my head around it, but I simply cannot explain it; especially since I have lived in other big cities, such as Barcelona and Athens, for a much longer period of time; maybe it is the fact that the life I have lived in Berlin has been so fulfilling; maybe it is the fact that I have experienced here so many things for the first time . In an attempt to express with gratitude what this city has so generously given me, here is what comes to my mind first:
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by Nikos | Stories
photos: Eylül Aslan
I’m looking forward to January 18th. Not only is it my birthday, but, thanks to the almighty coincidence, it’s also going to mark a year since I put my signature on my first WG contract. But metaphorically, although I was quite unaware of it at that time, I signed up for so much more. Saying that Berlin made me grow up wouldn’t be quite enough – any place where you need to pay for your food and rent for the first time would make you grow up. But Berlin, with all its peculiarities, which became evident as I started to get to know more people here, proved to be a very special environment. It made me question virtually everything – the only thing I’m sure of is no matter how often things would escape my mental and/or emotional capacity, I have never entertained the thought of leaving. I like it here.
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by Michalina | Stories
Berlin during winter is inspiring in its bleak scenery. Sitting here, breathing there – existing, like a child that was told what to do. There is no way to live it right or wrong – if you’re dressed up well, it’s going to be fine. It’s going to be fine. For myself, coming from the warmer climes, the winter here has been harder to go through than I expected. It’s colder than I can take, but that feeling when the brain freezes – that’s a true wake up! And if it’s too cold and work allows so, I can stay at home and make music in bed, pretending I’m Virginia Wolf, during a downfall. No matter what I ask for, the city can bring me. The city will accept my doings. The city will let me be who I feel like being without judgements and assumptions. The city understands it’s cold during winter, the people understand it’s cold during winter. They don’t expect much, but appreciate it when you do. So privileged we are, here in Berlin.
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by Guest Author | Stories
photo: Harald Hauswald
We all know the stigma: True Berliners are grumpy people. People who directly speak their mind, could not care less about unnecessary chit-chat and definitely have a strong problem with, well, for simplicity reasons, let’s call it hipster culture. Despite stereotypes being generally untrue, it doesn’t really take you long to see that person right in front of you, does it? But is there a reason for all the grouch? Has anyone ever dared to ask when you saw one of these rare True Berliners? It feels like in Berlin there is this ongoing, unspoken, not clearly defined tension pressing under the surface of the city; an unverbalized conflict between these who came and those who were already here. The “Neuberliner“ vs. the “Urberliner“.
In search of an answer for all this bad mood, we, the “Neuberliner“, need to go back in time. As finding the cause for these temper issues is just not that simple. This text is one approach, but of course there could be one hundred other reasons for grumpy Berlin people being grumpy. But let’s try…
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by Guest Author | Stories
Just a couple of days ago I had an interesting conversation with one of my co-writers about the current mood in the city and it was pretty surprising how contradicting our individual impressions were. It really got me thinking about my views of the city that I have kept for a long time. Of course it is pretty much a given fact that the place you live in becomes a conduit for your personal moods. But I had this idea about Berlin that – beside the obvious spikes up and down – it somehow averaged in a state I would describe as a bit grey, a bit dirty and a bit grumpy. I remember I often thought that the people in the subway had the corners of their mouths turned a little more downwards than any other city in the world. And the perception of my co-writer that she currently had of Berlin pretty much confirmed this notion, even though her view was even a bit more gloomy than that.
I reacted almost perplexed. My perspective was completely different. I was away from Berlin for the past 6 months and after I returned recently the city has greeted me with such a good mood. The city seemed so cheerful, so many people in the streets smiled and me and looked so carefree and happy. I saw such a colorful, vibrant and relaxed world around me. So clean and so green. I felt and still feel like in some kind of paradise, every day that I leave the house. It was really curious, because I absolutely didn’t remember the city like that. Of course now in the summer the mood of the city and the people is generally on an upwards trend. But this was more than usual.
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by Frank | Stories
