New year's in Berlin was amazing. Starting 2 days before Sylvester (German way to say New Year's) fireworks are sold to the public and are going off non-stop. I remember after flying in from Paris, I wanted to take a nap to recover from three weeks of traveling, but the constant fireworks, which sounded like a war zone, kept me from doing so. Paz, a German friend Phillip, and I made a great New Year's dinner. Then I headed to Teufelsberg (Devil's Mountain) with another German friend, Stephan, to see the firework show. Teufelsberg is the highest hill in Berlin and one is granted with a great view of the city at the top.
By the time we got there, it was not midnight yet but everyone was lighting fireworks off the hill. Colors flashed here and there and pieces of debris were falling on me and fireworks were being shot right next to my ear. But my adrenaline level kept me from caring about how dangerous this actually was. Once midnight came, I looked out into the city. There was not a spot in Berlin that was not covered with color. The whole city was on fire with celebration, and I was there watching it all.
 |
| Right next to a firework! |
After staring at the city in awe for several minutes, Stephan and I decided to check out more of Teufelsberg. On top of the hill there is an old tower with a huge dome on top. The U.S. National Security Agency built one of its largest listening stations on top of the hill in the 1950's, rumored to be part of the global intelligence gathering network. "The Hill", as it was known colloquially by the many American soldiers who worked there around the clock and who commuted there from their quarters in the American Sector, was located in the British Sector. Prior to establishing the first permanent buildings there in the very late 1950s, Mobile Allied listening units had driven to various other locales throughout West Berlin hoping to gain the best vantage point for listening to Soviet, East German, and other Warsaw Pact nations military traffic.
Now it is an abandoned place with tons of old debris: couches, shopping carts, appliances, anything that Berliners bring. People hang out there all the time even though it is technically not allowed. Rumor has it that sometimes exclusive Berliners will throw raves and huge parties in the tower. Stephan and I could see the tower from the part of the hill we were on. But in between us and the tower was thick vegetation as tall as I was. I was determined to see the tower since I had actually known about it for awhile. When we were in Brussels, our couch surfer had told us about the place but I had never gotten a chance to go because of the rainy weather. Now that I was in Berlin for one last time, I was determined to see it! We pushed our way through tall grass, bushes, thorns, mud, and steep terrain to get to the tower. My shoes were completely destroyed, there were weeds in my hair, and thorns in my pants. Stephan, who is kinda a pretty boy, did surprisingly well through the excursion. Let me remind you that it was completely dark so any new bush and thorn was a surprise.
We get to the tower, which thankfully was surrounded by paved roads, and at the entrance there are several fences but each had holes in them. We climb through and are greeted my several drunken Germans, one in particular rolling down the hill in a shopping cart. There are several buildings surrounding the watch tower, I assume they were used for storage. The place was completely graffitied but I could not see the details in the dark. If I haven't mentioned this already, Berlin is a huge artistic, hipster city where graffiti is a place of artwork and not just claiming your gang's territory like I see in Oakland.. We get to the tower and there are several stories of stairs that lead to the dome on top. But at each level there was a place to step out and look at the view. The building was made out of some kind of sheet metal. Strips were coming off and they would thrash around in the wind, creating loud, dramatic, thundering bangs. By now the city was covered in smoke. We had to be extremely careful because there was no rail between the platform and the edge, where a several hundred foot drop awaited, and of course the higher you go the more windy it is. We climb all the stairs to the dome and go inside. Its closed off except for a small opening someone had ripped open to look out of. The acoustics inside the dome were absolutely fascinating. Anywhere you stood your voice echoed and lagged several seconds after speaking. Standing in the middle was the most intriguing. You could only hear yourself speaking, but also your heart beating, your blood pulsing, and your eyes blinking. Because you were in the center, your noises were exemplified but no one else could hear them unless they were standing next to you. After playing around in there for a bit and admiring the murals, a German couple stood in the middle and started humming. It sounded like a weird seance so we decided to leave.
After another hour of trucking down the hill and walking to the train, I remembered I still had to go to my host brother's New Year's party. We arrive at 2:30 am, right when shit had gone down. Apparently over 100 people had showed up to his small flat, someone had just broken a window and the police were called.
 |
| Police entering the flat, in helmets and gear. Serious business. |
Most of the people were gone by then, and thankfully no one was hurt. But I see a friend that I had met through my host brother, and we hang out with the few people who were still around. We socialize and speak German/English. My host brother was not to be seen and I found out later that he had left when the police had come to avoid the drama. Around 4 am I decided I was pretty hungry, so Stephan and I head over to Moustafa's for some döner. Great thing about weekends in Berlin, the food joints are open all night!
That was my New Year's in Berlin. The rest of the week I browsed museums I had wanted to go to all semester, hung out with German friends and the new student my host mother was hosting. A few days later I actually went back to Tuefelsberg because I wanted to see it during the day. The hill was also much easier to navigate and ironically there was a trail not far from the mountain of brush we had crawled through on New Year's Eve...figures.
 |
| Looking up the tower |
 |
| My favorite painting, on the roof of a nearby building |
 |
| Teufelsberg art |
One of my final nights in Berlin was
probably my craziest and was a great way to end my whole study abroad experience. Paz and I had our hearts set on trying to go the infamous Berghain, rated one of the best clubs in the world. Unfortunately it is really exclusive and the tattooed bouncers pick whoever they feel deserves to go in. Paz and I had tried to go before, and were denied. It was a goal of mine to step inside before I left Berlin, but that goal wast immediately crushed when I heard they were not open that night. But that didn't stop me from having a night out. Instead Stephan, Laura, Paz, Phillip, and I all go to the Pub. This bar has tables lined up with their own tap at each one. You can also request songs right from your table. We have a good amount to drink then head over to another hole-in-the-wall club that was supposed to be similar to Berghain. I see all the people in line dressed like hipsters but I had drank to much to be subconscious about the way I was dressed. Plus, I had less than 48 hours left in Europe. Fuck it.
 |
| At da club |
 |
| Pouring myself one from the tap |
I didn't realize how much I had drank until almost immediately getting in the club I lost my scarf, bracelet, and ten Euros. But we hit the dance floor and stayed there for hours bobbin to the electronic beats. Laura, Stephan, and I stayed until 8 am and watched the sunrise. I got home in time to see my host mother leave for work. "Ahh living like a true Berliner now!", was all she said. I slept from 9-11 that morning and spent the rest of the day packing. It was all surreal..my time here was coming to an end. That night I go out for a final drink with Stephan and I actually ended up staying out until 3 am..and was up at 5 to leave for the airport. After 2 great nights out, I slept like a baby for the total 13 hour travel time.
I have had small cases of "reverse" culture shock, but was also really appreciative for the things I had missed such as free public restrooms and tap water. I still keep in contact with my host mother and some friends in Berlin. Starting the semester at Berkeley was tough and it was hard to get used to the copious amounts of reading and problem sets. I reminisce on my time abroad often and am grateful to have kept this blog to revisit my adventures.
No comments:
Post a Comment