The Key to Local Living
The best way to meet locals is to go to the locally owned restaurants and bars. It is tempting to go to places like Starbucks and other chains, but the other tourists will be attracted here too and you will not get to mingle with people who live here. The real Berliners seem to prefer the quirky restaurants down the block or the packed bar next door. It is easiest to strike up conversations later in the day when everyone goes out after work to relax with their friends. I have gotten the best suggestions of things to do and places to see from people sitting at the restaurant bars next to me. The other students and young professionals in the city are excited to meet people like us from the states so it is easier to get to know them than older people who have lived in the city their whole lives. In the summer there is always a huge influx of students studying abroad so shop owners and families tend to be more wary of us than the younger groups of people living here.
The place where most of my money goes is definitely towards food, but I have gotten a few little things here and there throughout the city. On the weekends there is a huge flea market in a large field called Mauerpark. The second day that we were here, we all ventured out here in the only swelteringly hot day to brave the crowds and soak in the scene. At one of the stands at the park, a local artist was selling tote bags, teeshirts, and prints of their sketches and typography. I bought a really fun bag with a sketched bear that has “Bearlin” scrawled along the bottom of the bag. Even though the bag was only five euros, it is definitely my favorite thing that I have purchased here and it is really fun that I got to talk to the artist about her work too.
Using euros was extremely disorienting at first because all of the bills are different sizes and colors, plus there are one and two euro coins. After the first week or so I was a little more comfortable with the currency, but usually have to look at the cash register screen to see the actual amount because my german number vocabulary is still lacking. Most stores and restaurants do not take credit or debit cards so it has been very different budgeting here than it is back at home. Having a certain amount of physical cash each week definitely helps with sticking to a budget because you know that once you are out of money, you are really out. A trip to the ATM is a trek and you get charged foreign transaction fees which you want to avoid as much as possible. With a debit or credit card, you do not actually feel your money slipping away as fast until you go to check your account statement. When I go home I definitely will switch to this way of managing money.
