I’ll tell a bit about myself. My biggest hobbies are juggling, acro yoga (it’s like acrobatics but a bit mixed with yoga) and being active in general. This first one helped me get a room here, while I was on a holiday in the UK last summer. I hang a sign at the European juggling convention in Newark at a bulletin board and that helped me to find a room. I was really lucky with this.

There were some cultural differences I had to get used to. A big difference is that paying by card is almost nowhere possible in (small) shops, bars and restaurants. So I have to make sure always have cash. Doing groceries on Sunday is not possible because everything will be closed. I also noticed that a lot of people drink on the way back from work in subways or even in the morning, because drinking in public is allowed.

Another big thing is the chaos in traffic. It keeps surprising me that it works and that it doesn’t go wrong more often. It is a bit scary to bike here, but I’m more used to it now. Germans are less tall than Dutch people, so I’m quite tall here. I notice this especially in crowded trams or subways because then I can look over everyone, which is funny.

Living in Germany is cheaper than in the Netherlands but there is a lot of poverty visible. Berlin is one of the poorest regions in Germany. You can see this in the number of homeless people and people collecting bottles and cans. Nearly everything has deposit and if you simply put empty drinks on the side of the street, someone will pick it up.

There is a lot to do in Berlin, especially in summer. It’s fine for me to be here in winter so I can work without distraction. Berlin is a green city with a lot of parks where people usually chill, do acro yoga, drink some beers and even bbq. It is also a city where you can party really well, but I don’t do it often since my priorities are somewhere else. Berlin history is really interesting, especially the Berlin wall, and definitely worth it to dive into.

Berlin is extremely popular and it is increasingly difficult to find an (affordable) place to live that is not far out of the city. I live in the north of Lichtenberg what used to be a part of the DDR. If I want to go somewhere for training this will take me more than twenty minutes easily and going to uni takes an hour. But this is hard to avoid in a big city.

Studying abroad is in my opinion better than doing a master thesis abroad. I work a lot at home so it can be difficult to meet people. The most people I know are from acro yoga. Going to demonstrations was also a nice way to explore Berlin and meet likeminded people.

I have some tips for those who want to go to Berlin: start searching on time for a place to live. A good website for this is www.wg-gesucht.de and try to use your social networks. The university has a campus with rooms, but those were long gone before I found out they existed. Keep in mind while searching that a good public transport connection is priceless.