Weil Wir Dich Lieben

Berlin has a very sophisticated public transportation system. There are subways (U-Bahn), trains (S-Bahn), trams, and buses, all of which are run by the same organization: BVG, whose adorable slogan is “Weil wir dich lieben” or “Because we love you”. BVG has a useful app that helps you figure out how to get where you need to go using their transportation, and it’s available in English! It also updates with schedule changes and delays faster than Google Maps directions, which is what I use most of the time in the USA.
BVG divides the Berlin region into three zones. Zone A is central Berlin and includes many museums and historical buildings, as well as Fernsehturm Berlin, a television tower which is the highest point in Germany! Zone A is enclosed by a S-Bahn line called Ring that serves as the boundary between Zones A and B. Spreepolis, my apartment building, is in Zone B. The Schöneweide S-Bahn station is a short walk away, so central Berlin isn’t hard to get to. Zones A and B are covered on the monthly pass that all students in my dialogue received, but to get to Zone C you have to buy an extension pass. Zone C is the farthest from central Berlin and includes the Berlin-Schönefeld Airport and the city of Potsdam, which we visited on Friday.
So far, my experience with transportation has been good. Everything has been clean, and the app is working well. Our studio is about 45 minutes away by train, not to mention going to other parts of Berlin to explore.
An interesting thing about the transportation system is that unlike Boston’s T and New York’s subway, you don’t have to do anything with your pass before getting into the station. The organization relies on the honor code, with occasional workers who I’ve heard check passes on trains at random, but I’ve yet to see any. That said, if you’re caught without a validated pass, you’ll be fined €60. Don’t try to game the system, just buy a ticket.