Twenty-first Letter, March 10

Dear Berlin,

You win. I have been completely seduced. Sh*t.

It only took two months of courtship and twenty-one letters for me to fall in love, to get over my commitment issues, and to admit to myself how much I care about you, after the initial four months of tenuous friendship.

Enter the honeymoon phase.

Berlin, I’m already scared to say goodbye to you. This week I registered for another semester as a student here, spent way over my budget on eating and drinking my way through Berlin, with a bit of culture mixed in.

Prenzlauer Berg: The new Zeit für Brot at Eberswalderstraße; and an ex-brewery where I was an extra in a shoot for Kiwi artist Kimbra’s forthcoming music video.

Mitte: Côcô Bahn Mí deli at a Rosenthaler Platz; the Barn (serving delicious Aussie-style flat whites); Do You Read Me?; Woop Woop nitrogen ice cream; and a brand new shiny Jahreskarte for visiting the many Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, starting with a somewhat rushed visit to the Neues Museum.

Kreuzberg: the Turkish market at Maybachufer on Tuesdays, where you can buy three ripe Haas avocados for a euro and fresh gözleme; Brammibal’s Donuts just behind the market (all vegan, super expensive, too hipster, and freakin’ delicioussss); I visited a paperie at Heinrichplatz where I got two new illustration pens and subsequently doodled my week away.

Friedrichshain: Tonkotsu Ramen at Hako Ramen, where HyeWon and I traded beers after one sip; bottomless Gin & Tonics at the Küche à la 혜원.

Steglitz: Zaim Falafel at Walter-Schreiber-Platz is walking distance and always has a line.

Schöneberg: Mi Onda for Italian coffee and Impala Coffee for the weekly fix during lunch hour.

Zehlendorf: a private screening of Ladybird and S01E01 of The Looming Tower.

Being out of a second job hasn’t been so bad. I have more time, and I’ve been cleaning the house quite a bit, though I can’t say I’ve cooked much. With this coming three weeks packed to the brim with the annual Fulbright Berlin Seminar, Sophie’s visit, Spring Break in Istanbul, and Mom and Lindsay’s inaugural Europe trip, I guess something clicked inside of me.

Maybe it’s the shift in the weather, but the last weekend was the coldest we’ve had since my arrival, with lows of -18° C. I think it has more to do with the desire to have ready recommendations for Sophie’s visit. She has never been to Berlin, let alone Germany (although the two are increasingly different things in my mind, approaching mutually exclusive but for bakeries and the occasional need for der-die-das). I realized about two weeks ago that I have very few suggestions of meaningful personal discoveries other than the standard tourist places, and I feel wrong about that.

The long and short of it is that a healthy amount of walking outside in the cold, making the best of frustrating situations, and a few good doses of friendship and laughter have brought the winter blues to a staggering halt, and hopefully for good this time. I am becoming obsessed with you, Berlin, and all of your many possibilities.

Love and kisses,