Life in Berlin: Four Month Update
I’m sitting down at the desk in my new flat, the sun beaming through the large balcony doors as the shadows of the changing trees dance across the floor. It’s beginning to get colder now and the days shorter as Autumn finds her way to us in Berlin. One week ago, on a crisp yet sunny Monday morning, I received my visa, granting me three+ years to call this capital city home. I can put some roots down. Four months in and I can finally rest my head.
This is the first time since moving here in June that I’ve felt I can finally come up for air. This past month was definitely the hardest. The stress of finding a new flat, moving out of my old one, and getting everything prepared for my visa appointment left me feeling off-balance and out of sorts. In fact, I’m still recovering. There’s something incredibly vulnerable about the immigration process, as I worked for weeks on end preparing my bank statements, letters of recommendation, portfolio, revenue forecast, and various other paperwork for the German bureaucracy.
From the outside looking in, one might think it’s as simple as filling out an application and hoping Germany approves you for the visa. But I can assure you after running around the city to print over 100 pages and double and triple-checking everything before placing it into the largest binder I could find, it’s much more taxing than one would imagine. Thankfully, all of my hard work paid off and I will treasure every day of the next three years of having that visa attached to my passport. This entire process has made me even more appreciative of what my family and ancestors endured when they immigrated to America.
Recommended Reading: Life in Berlin, First Impressions as an Expat
Aside from the tedious visa process, I have been settling nicely into my new flat. When I first moved to Berlin, I rented a short-term apartment for three months, uncertain how the visa process was going to turn out. I loved the area I lived in and, ideally, wanted to stay nearby. Finding a furnished, pet-friendly flat in such short notice was nearly impossible. But I didn’t lose hope. I kept searching and found what seemed to be an even more ideal flat for me and Stella just an 8-minute walk down the street. Everything worked out seamlessly and just a couple weeks later, we were able to move in and make it home.
Having a furnished home has been nice as I’ve been able to just pack up my suitcases and with the help of a dear friend, move from one flat to another. However, I do miss “my home.” I miss my blankets and string lights. I miss seeing my favorite artwork hung on the walls and drinking coffee out of my favorite mug. The little comforts of home I knew I’d miss. In the end, though, they are only things and I wouldn’t ever let “things” keep me from the life I want most. It’s a small, first-world sacrifice to give up pieces of my home for a life abroad and I am immensely grateful to be able to do so. Also, I’ve received quite a few questions regarding how I went about finding an apartment in Berlin so I’ll be working on a post detailing that soon.
Overall, I’m happy here in Berlin. There have been challenges, of course, days when I’ve felt alone, or when the cultural differences really got to me. In fact, I had a rather upsetting exchange with an older German man when I was quite lost and trying to find the right building to register my apartment (a simple but necessary task you must complete every time you move). I won’t go into detail but I remember before I moved here that other expats said to be prepared for days when people in Germany would be so downright rude to your face that you’d cry. And, well, I left that building shaken up and on the verge of tears. Somedays, life in Berlin feels anything but warm and welcoming. You simply have to find ways to make it comfy and you’ll be okay. Here are a few things I do to help me stay grounded.
I’ve found the weather here soothes me and nurtures my soul in a way the weather in San Diego never did. Having a proper Autumn breathes life into my bones and that clean, crisp air on my face is refreshing beyond words. I love going for walks here in Berlin. I’ve never walked so much in my life and with each walk, I discover something new; whether it’s something about the city or about myself. I’ve even put together a list of some of my favorite, most-picturesque places to go for a walk in Berlin.
That said, I don’t really find myself missing the States. I haven’t missed life in San Diego since I moved away in April but there are parts of D.C. that pull at my heart when I go through old photos. Yet my life here in Europe is exactly what I had hoped for. It’s a welcomed change. A different pace of life. Certainly a higher quality of life
There are so many pleasant differences here in Berlin as opposed to life in the U.S. The positives certainly outweigh the negatives and I’ll be sure to discuss them in greater detail in a future blog post.
Here are some of the main events that have happened over the past 4 months:
- Found a new flat I LOVE!
- Got my visa/resident permit to stay in Germany!
- Saw my favorite musician perform at the Tempodrom. If you haven’t heard Ólafur Arnalds yet, check out my Classical Concentration Playlist on Spotify. You will fall in love with his music.
- Adventured to the Baltic Sea
- Experienced the Long Night of Museums
- Visited Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
- Tried (and loved) currywurst, had lots of falafel (I prefer this over döner kebabs), gone out for “
kaffee und kuchen” (afternoon coffee & cake), and had my fair share of Italian pizza. - Thanked my lucky stars for all the detours in life that led me to Berlin.
I feel like things are changing within me. I’ve chosen this life abroad for the experiences I will encounter; the good and the bad. And I’m here, showing up fully, staring my future in the eyes. Though the flat hunting and visa preparation took away from city exploration and a trip to Copenhagen I had been hoping for in September, now that that’s behind me, I’ve been able to focus on planning the perfect Autumn trip to Scotland! I’m looking forward to my first trip out of Germany since I moved here and to continue learning and expanding.
I’ll finish this by saying that moving abroad alone certainly isn’t easy, and I never expected it to be. Even after six cross country moves within the U.S., just four months of living in Europe has pushed me even harder. There’s a big learning curve with life on a different continent. You have to learn everything all over again, almost as though you are a child. Some days you feel defeated and some days you feel incredibly empowered. I’m in the process now of sifting through a lot of those emotions and honoring the commitments I’ve made to myself to travel and see Europe. To learn and grow. To live.
Stay tuned to see how my journey unfolds and if you’d like to follow along day-to-day, you can find me on Instagram @ChelseaDinen
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