Berlin

Overall, Berlin was my favorite of the 4 cities. Someone described it as a nice blend between the people of LA but the urban planning and transit of New York. Although I havent spent a ton of time in NY, I like the idea of Berlin being a mix of two of “the best” US cities. Everyone kept telling me I would love Berlin. I was skeptical whenever I would hear that but everyone ended up being right. I think the location of our hotel helped a lot. But the water was my favorite. Curving through the city adding character and life. I loved our time on Jimmy because of that. The city’s beautiful architecture paired with such interesting diverse people with different stories on how they ended up in Berlin along with the city’s incredible political and historical implications made it perfect in my eyes. Although I spent a lot of it sick, I wouldn’t have wanted to be sick anywhere else. The accessibility of medicine and doctors visits were some of the cheapest I had ever experienced. I even got to witness all the pharmacies going on strike and marching through Potsdamer Platz. I had never seen anything like that before. I thought it was awesome and spoke to the activism of Germans and also specifically Berliners. The culture of Berlin was also amazing to me. The balance between business and fun, the sun setting at 10pm and everyone always out on the town is something I want in the city I live in. Our trip here has got me thinking a lot about doing a masters in Berlin. The only thing I didn’t like about Berlin was the clubbing. It felt really intense and like a production — quite different from LA. You have to dress a certain way, act a certain way and pay high fees to get into Berlin. Not to mention the long lines. Many places in LA dont have lines, you can where whatever and its free. I also thought it quite interesting that they take it so seriously they even cover your cameras with stickers and have a strict no pictures rule. How did the clubbing cultures end up so different? What about German culture and history lends itself to this? Why is techno music so popular in Berlin? Are people innately attuned to like certain music or is it all social conditioning? Is it nature or nature? What about people from LA? If I had listening to techno music growing up would I like it now? So many things to think about especially when comparing and contrasting LA and Berlin but overall I really loved Berlin and want to come back!