For my second day in Berlin, though my
first full day, my Aunt and I planned to do a little shopping to get some of
the things I would be needing for my stay. I woke up at about 10am and was
brought fresh croissants and bread from the bakery! Yumm. My Aunt lives above a
bakery so this is on the menu every day!
After breakfast I met the cleaner (I’ll
admit I can’t for the life of me remember her name). She was German but I
didn’t take the chance to practice my skills. The idea of trying out my GCSE
German in front of my Aunt is petrifying. So instead I let my Aunt translate.
I’ll get the courage to speak German sometime… honest!
We then took the underground, or U-Bahn,
for the first time. My Aunt bought me a weeks and a months travel pass for all
transport in the city, something I would really advise to anyone coming here
for a week or more to get.
We went to a street (I’ll update the name
later when I remember!) and first headed to a media shop for a phone sim card. We
were in there at least an hour! My Aunt knows little tech and I know little
German so we were both pretty clueless. The advisor tried to explain the sim
deal and eventually we were just like yeah we’ll take it, thinking we
understood. We bought the card (for 5 euros, which was strange as the card was
for 15), made sure it fit, then left.
We went to a crafts store and bought sketch
books and other arty things (I’m going to try draw while I’m here, so expect
some sketches!)
We also went to a British shop, I can’t
remember the name of it, again, I’ll find out. The shop had a pretty good
collection of British sweets and chocolate, though was severely lacking in
drinks! My Aunt said sometimes the shop goes weeks with very little stock, so I
would say it could be quite unreliable, but I’m sure when homesick, people can
find a little home comfort there. We bought Double Deckers, McVities Digestives
and a magazine called “The Ex-Berliner” something else that is worth a look. In
the back it has pages telling you what there is to do in different areas of
Berlin. Admittedly it’s mostly restraunts and cafes but that’s still useful.
Finally we went to a supermarket and bought
an absolute ton of junk food. Being in a new place with new people who you know
nothing about is a stressful situation so naturally junk food is a must!
When we were finished we went home and
tried to sort my sim card out. Obviously not knowing enough German, I couldn’t
help. I turned it on and for some reason it was telling me I had no credit. None
of us understood, me, my Aunt, my Aunt’s cleaner. In the end we had to go back
to the shop. It turned out he hadn’t explained it very well, but I did have
texts and calls to other people in Germany, and although I can’t text or call
the UK, that’s fine. I have the internet for that.
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