It’s been great sharing my experiences in Berlin with all of you. Now that I am just over four months into my journey, I’m starting to really feel like a ‘local’ in my new city. I know there’s still a lot I will need to figure out and learn in the months ahead, but I feel like I’ve reached a point where Berlin is starting to feel like home.
It’s been really interesting to adapt to a new culture and language. Since arriving here, I have found myself constantly making comparisons between how things are done in Germany and how we do them in the States. I think this is ultimately one of the most important parts of immersing oneself in other cultures; it shows you that there are a myriad of ways to do almost everything, and it opens your mind to alternate possibilities. I realized that even though I prefer the way Germany does certain things (i.e. public transportation, safety in cities, tax included in the price of things), there are other things that I think the U.S. does better (i.e. free tap water at restaurants, theme parks, stores being open on Sundays, being mostly cash-free). This realization dismantles the ‘grass is greener on the other side’ mentality, as any place will always have its pros and cons. In fact, I think I’ve learned a lot about the U.S. by going outside of it.
