1st Impressions of Berlin: Part 2

Here we are, back with the final installment of my initial Berlin impressions.

Berlin Apartments (memory = toss-up, reality = toss-up)

When you tell someone you are going to Berlin they tell you how you can get a gigantic place for next to nothing.  At least that’s what they told me.  So that’s what I expected.  The second part came true.  The downside was that my room was exactly the width of the length of a bed.  It was like living in a hallway. This made it terrible for hanging out; the arrangement of people and furniture made you kind of feel as if you were on the subway.

After living in this apartment for 6 months I was perusing Craigslist and came across a studio for rent that was 800 square feet and going for just over 300 euro – right on the border of Kreuzberg and Neukolln.  It was an exceptional place if you did not mind the lack of kitchen or shower (I didn’t so much).  The lesson to be learned is that Berlin (and perhaps this is true everywhere) really is a city of compromise when it comes to apartments (or maybe it is yet another of the “cheap, good, fast: pick two” paradigm).

Presently my apartment is basically the same shape as the first apartment I lived in – a long narrow corridor.  This time, however, it is also located directly above the stage where live bands play four times per week in the bar below.  In addition, my flatmate, who I like, is a packrat and the apartment is full of crap.  I hate that.  The upside is that the location is impeccable.  I am in the middle of Mitte at Rosenthaler Platz, right at the bottom of Kastanienallee.  My future room, which I am moving to at the end of the month (this one for 310 euro), is in an apartment with 4 other people closer to my age and with a gigantic 550 square foot room.

Final verdict: Berlin is still a cheap place to live and if you have the luxury of arriving first and taking a month to find a place you will most likely end up with something pretty stellar.

Washing Machines (memory = small with lots of buttons, reality = small and extremely slow with lots of buttons)

I don’t know if this is another one of those silly German power saving ideas, but when I went to do my laundry yesterday I had two loads and I was able to watch an entire mountain stage of the Tour de France from start to finish (about 180km, at an average of 34km/hr) before my clothes were finished.  As for the buttons and dials, I still have no clue.  I mean, basically we are dealing with a spinning metal cylinder that water can go in and out of.  How many variations can one really achieve with these elements?

Artists (memory = slightly annoying, reality = even more annoying)

This isn’t totally fair, since it is also one of the reasons that I like Berlin.  But give me a fucking break.  I am tired of the kids who have just graduated from university and go around telling everyone they’re a poet.  I like to play basketball in my free time but I don’t introduce myself as a basketball player.  Because it doesn’t make any sense.  So if you like to write poetry, terrific, but don’t call yourself a poet.  And the second part of the annoyance factor is when the other people around eat it up and encourage them.  Which they tend to. So there is this delusional world of people here who go around calling themselves artists and who generally spend all their time drinking and talking about their artistry.  

So there we have it.  First impressions of Berlin.