By Joanna Harris (Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany).
The time has finally arrived for me to move to Berlin. When I applied to go on exchange over a year ago it almost seemed like it would never really happen… But now it feels like time has flown by!
So here I am. As I sit in the airport writing this I have such a strange mixture of feelings… a fuzzy flutter of excitement mixed with a small (but definitely noticeable) twinge of nerves. Firstly though, the excitement: I am so looking forward to being in Berlin again – I visited for a few days last year and loved it, despite the slightly chilly -15 degree temperatures. I had only paid to bring hand luggage, and found myself wearing every item of clothing I had packed, constantly, for the four days I was there. I’m so excited now to see Berlin in the sunshine, it all its graffitied glory!
Now the nerves: as I said, there is only a twinge. This twinge is almost countered by my excitement. Not quite though… What has been crossing my mind occasionally is: ‘you have a house and friends in Manchester. Why are you choosing to move to a place where you have no friends, and nowhere to live?’ This has worried me occasionally, but I also find it quite exciting. It’s a bit like a challenge. I know (or at least, very much hope…) it won’t be like that for long!
My mum sent me a text earlier which said: ‘Have an amazing time. I hope you won’t be lonely’. This, coupled with a card I received from a friend which concluded with: ‘I hope you make some friends’, has made me consider that perhaps I am giving off some sort of vibe indicating that I will struggle to meet people. I hope this is not the case (!).
I am waiting now to get on the plane and I wish I could cancel out all the travelling and just be there in Berlin. I hate the waiting around! I just want to get there and explore. I have booked to stay in a hostel, provisionally for 10 days, whilst I look for a room I can sub-let for a few months. I have heard this can be quite tricky in the lively areas of Berlin where I (and apparently many others, unsurprisingly…) want to live. But I am going to stay optimistic. My thinking so far has been along these lines: I’m definitely not going to live nowhere…
So in conclusion, I am: 1) Getting very impatient waiting for my flight; 2) A tiny bit nervous about my living situation; 3) Mainly just really excited to start getting to know Berlin in the summer! I have heard on the grapevine that a beach bar is created by the river throughout the summer months, and this sounds juuust lovely to me…
Bis bald! (See you soon!)
x
Ps. For anyone wondering about the title, ‘Auf Wiedersehen Pet’ was a TV programme about Geordies living in Germany. As I am leaving my home in Newcastle to move to Berlin, this seemed quite fitting…
