Berlin...wow. I can’t believe this place. Enormous, modern, crowded, graffitti’d up and down, unique, eclectic...and I’ve only been here 4 hours. We’re all staying with friends of Ipek, the site coordinator for Berlin (who totally embodies the city’s spirit- second generation Turk, fabulous/feminist/lesbian, and renowned DJ), in Kreutzberg, an immigrant-turned-yuppie neighborhood on the very easternmost edge of West Berlin. Ozga, my host, says for a long time most West Berliners were scared to come here, too dangerous, too many immigrants, too close to the wall. But all that’s changing.
Ozga is fantastic, she’s originally from Istanbul, studied fashion in Vienna, had a Ph.d in drama, and now works in arts education. She’s incredibly sweet and easygoing, I can tell we’re going to get along really well. We had few beers together at the Turkish restaurant where we all met our hosts for dinner, talked about life, transience, the funny way that our post-modern human condition shows up in our tendency to pick up and move anywhere, in our hesitancy to commit to relationships, really fascinating stuff. This place couldn’t be more of a contrast to my homestay in Krakow- I have an enormous room with floor-to-ceiling windows, hardwood floors, wireless internet and a queen-sized bed with a temperputic mattress. The difference in average income in the two cities is obvious, and I’m sure other differences, positive, negative, and neutral, will reveal themselves as I better get to know Berlin. I couldn’t be more excited.
