Hendre Janse van Rensburg

Quite late the other night, around midnight if not a bit later, I left an impromptu work social gathering and took the Metro tram home. For some odd reason even though it was the correct number, and therefore the correct tram in my opinion, it didn’t go where I expected it to. It ended quite a bit short of home and slightly off the usual path. In all fairness at this point I had only been in the city for a week so it could have been the correct number but incorrect destination since I don’t remember checking that when getting on. Needless to say though I found myself in a bit of an unknown neighbourhood. Doing the obvious thing and knowing that I should recognise some of the stops along the way I started walking back in the direction we had come. Finally, I found a stop and main road I recognised, I had run past it the day before, and slowly made my way back home.

It was on my way home that I realised why Germans, and I assume the rest of the Europeans, generally tend to get mugged in South Africa. Walking along a dimly lit road, graffiti littering the walls, there were some seriously dodgy looking characters. Of course, they weren’t dodgy at all, or at least not in the going-to-stab-you sense that we’re used to, just party goers in hoodies or hip hop clothing. Most probably really interesting and great people if you take the time to get to know them. I always joke with the Germans telling them that when you’re in South Africa and you see graffiti on the walls you should back away slowly and go back the way you came. Obviously you took a wrong turn and ended up in a dangerous part of town. In Berlin that is not true. Graffiti is seen here as an art form, and some of it is really beautiful, some not so much. If the owner of a building decides to have his walls cleaned then the chances are really good that he’ll wake up, if not the next morning, within the next week with fresh new graffiti. There is however an unspoken street rule that no graffiti artist will paint over another artists art. What this means, much to my delight, is that some of these owners have hired some really gifted graffiti artists to do some beautiful artwork on their walls. So instead of you having “Johnny woz ‘ere” or “J4J” with a big heart around it you now have some stunning flowers, or academic scholars, or rockets blasting off to who knows where. It does add some colour and beauty to the city. Naturally, the street I was walking that evening was not full of street or building art but graffiti. Not too pretty at all.

Some random street art along a main road

The other thing that added to the feeling of being in the wrong area that evening was that drinking in the street is allowed in Germany. So not only do you have a bunch of gentlemen and ladies dressed very smartly in their hoodies and other hip hop wear, they’re also carrying at least one bottle. I must add that even though my South African senses were tingling, I knew I could ignore the inherit fear. This area, like the rest of Berlin, is quite safe. It is the equivalent of walking through Hatfield Square back in the day as a student. So to get back to the reason why Germans get mugged in South Africa, they have no sense of danger or even recognise when they’re in an unsafe area. Dark alleys? Not a problem here. In South Africa, not so much. Graffiti sprayed all over the walls of a dimly lit street? Also not a problem here. In South Africa you might have a bit of a problem and should get out of there.

This is not my first time in Europe, nor in Germany and not even in Berlin. I have made the trip to Europe a few times in the past. Every previous occasion was in winter though. Long white slopes consisting of powder, and occasionally hard icy, snow. Knee deep in soft snow trying to make your way up a hill to get to the elusive perfect meal at the top. Walking down the street with sidewalks covered in snow. Grey skies and absolutely miserable cold. Melting whenever you enter any establishment from the bitter cold and then promptly freezing again the moment you step outside. Runny noses. Unable to feel my toes. Yes, I have only experienced Europe in the winter. Some really good times along with some really cold and miserable times.

I have heard it is wonderful in the summer. Nice and green with mild to warm long days. Hearing it though is one thing, experiencing it another. The city of Berlin seems to undergo a complete metamorphosis in the spring. Completely different, and it’s not even summer yet. Lush green parks I didn’t notice the previous visit abound, some even with water features. There were quite a few cyclists and the occasional runner when I visited in January but now they are everywhere. Especially the cyclists. The long days also caught me a bit off guard. It felt as if I was a bit jetlagged the first few days because it just wouldn’t get dark. I do have to add though that I struggled the first night since all I wanted to do was last until night time and then pass out. The joys of not sleeping on the flight. But once you are used to them it is amazing. Feels as if you can get so much more accomplished in a day, mostly because daylight is so much longer. What I am struggling to get used to though is estimating the current time. By that I mean that it is often a lot later than what I realise. For example, I start getting a bit hungry but think to myself that it could not possible be supper time, it’s way too early. Only to realise that it is already 20h30. Shops also only close much later than what I am used to, with many supermarkets and so on being open till 21h. Some of them even later. So it is really as if someone has extended the afternoon with another three hours for me. Suppose one problem is how do you convince yourself to be productive, indoors, in front of a laptop, in the “evenings” when it is still such a lovely day outside.

So the pedestrians can experience some shade

One of the untold challenges of moving to a new country with a new language and culture is that of shopping. I know what that sounds like, but hear me out. For example, I live in a furnished apartment, one without sheets though. That’s not an issue though, I’ll just pop over to… Um… Sheet Street? No. I’ll just pop over to the nearest mall I can find and… Wander around until I find a store that sells sheets? Right. That works. At the time of hunting for sheets I did not have a German cellular contract yet therefore no internet. I have to admit though that I’m not sure what I would actually Google for. Regardless, so I picked a direction that I thought a reasonably sized mall is in and started walking. No point taking the public transport if you don’t know where you’re going. Once I found a nearby semi large mall though this kind of exercise became much easier. Need a South Africa to Europe travel adapter plug? Well… I suppose walk to the mall and hopefully find a shop there that has some. Obviously this gets easier and easier as you get to know the stores and the area, but it isn’t anything that anyone ever mentions. I remember the first time I was in Berlin getting really hungry and spotted a fast food place down the street called Kaiser’s, which it turns out is not a fast food place but actually a supermarket. Luckily with a bakery section, but still. I was highly disappointed. Another part of the whole shopping challenge is the change in brands. So I want some protein bars. First question is where do I find some, and the secondly, which ones do I choose once I find a store that actually stocks some. The same issue with vitamins, etc. Of course, the fact that my German isn’t quite as good as it should be doesn’t really help the situation. You know what they say though, Google is your friend but DuckDuckGo doesn’t keep a record.

All part of the adventure though, always keeping it interesting

A closing quote and one that I try to live by when travelling, and now that I’m living in a new country, is “If in doubt, just walk until your day becomes interesting” – Rolf Potts, Vagabonding.