Maddy's adventures in Berlin

I must admit, German uni is not half as rewarding or as fun as uni in England. 

The social life is pretty crap for starters. Uni here does not seem to be about making new friends and having fun whilst studying. There are no societies or clubs. I could join the uni sit in, or perhaps join the uni gym but it’s not quite the same as the Cheesegrater or having your uni coffee shops run by fellow students. There is less of a community spirit; there is not as much comradery and more every man for himself. I was warned before going to UCL that it would be hard to find friends and I would feel lonely in a big city, and I think that’s true about Berlin. 

The attitude towards studying is different in German unis; you don’t have to go if you want a job later in life so it’s optional. Also it’s free, so anyone can go if their grades are good enough. Meanwhile in England, any Tom, Dick, and Harry are going to university to study Tourism Management and Criminology at Liverpool John Moores. Only the people who can be arsed and are smart enough in Germany are at uni, and that means the competition is strong. 

Uni here is so much more independent and I’m still working out if that is a good thing or not. You organise your own timetable. If it doesn’t work then it’s your problem. You register for lectures and seminars a week before term time starts, and the first week is met with a mad scrabble for seats in lecture halls. You sign your module sheets off yourself, so technically you could just not go to lectures and say you have, which isn’t particularly conductive of learning, or it’s just overly trusting of 20something year olds who have better things to do on a weekend apart from read 20 pages of secondary literature. 

I have one more term to go after this, and I think I will take what I’ve learnt from the first and put it to good use. Also end of term exam next week, WHOOOO!

As of late, I’ve noticed that I’ve been getting in a cooking rut. I make yummy food, but it’s always the same things. Pasta sauces, omelettes, maybe couscous and vegetables etc. I tend to do these things because I don’t need to buy specific ingredients for each dish and I can go to the supermarket and do a similar shop every week or every other week. By doing this, it keeps the price down and cooking is hassle free. I don’t want to buy too much otherwise a lot of my ingredients will spoil before I can cook them.

But now, I am getting a bit bored. I am good at cooking and I enjoy cooking, but I want to be more adventurous. I want to be able to explore different types of foods and have fun doing it; I also want it to be affordable. I thought I would compile a little list of recipes and ideas to use in the coming weeks and hopefully it will push me further than the usual meals I have. 

1) Chicken and chorizo jambalaya - this sounds good, I always seem to have an issue with cooking rice, but seeing as it cooks in the sauce itself, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. You could also do the dish without the chicken if you wanted to bump the price down; the chorizo is what is really going to bring the most flavour,not the chicken. 

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1167651/chicken-and-chorizo-jambalaya

2) Spiced carrot and lentil soup - since moving to Berlin, I’ve noticed that cans of soup are twice the size, are really boring flavours and aren’t that cheap. There’s nothing better than a bowl of homemade soup, and the kick of the spice will really help on a cold winter’s evening. The beauty of soup is it can be made in bulk and reheated later! 

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2089/spiced-carrot-and-lentil-soup

3) Falafel (burgers) - Falafel is a big deal in Berlin and you can get it most places in the city. It’s a much healthier and cheaper option too, but sadly I’ve never really got into it. I reckon this will be a really cheap and easy dish to make, and quite versatile. 

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5605/falafel-burgers

4) Mushroom and spinach lasagne - I love pasta, and I love veggie dishes. Plus it will provide lots of yummy leftovers! 

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1570636/quick-mushroom-and-spinach-lasagne

5) Chicken and sweet potato curry - I tried making curry once, it didn’t go so well. I think this one will be an easy and entry level curry to try, and I can always bump up the spice if I want some more heat. 

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-sweet-potato-curry

I will be trying these recipes, or at least some of them in the coming weeks. Hopefully they go well! 

As anyone who is aware of the clubbing scene in Berlin, I knew of Berghain’s notoriety. Famous for being highly exclusive and hosting the best 24/7 parties with the best DJs, I myself wanted a slice of the action. Over the past few months that I have lived in the city, I have tried 3 times, unsuccessfully, but as they say, 4th time is a charm. 

I won’t explain all of the details of the club and what it’s like inside, because that spoils the allure and everything the club stands for. The reason why they allow no photography and only want certain people in the club is because they want to create a comfortable and dynamic environment for party goers. They don’t want gawpers or tourists. They want their clubbers to feel at ease to do whatever they please, and they don’t want a smartphone shoved in people’s faces. Of course, there is an element of arrogance and I’m sure the bouncers are on a power trip when they are able to turn so many people away, but I understand what they are trying to achieve.

Admittedly I have read many forums and posts similar to these detailing every aspect of the club, mainly focusing on the door policy and what to expect inside so when I finally found my place on the dark dance floors I was a little underwhelmed with the experience. I had built up this image in my head and was having a hard time matching it to the reality. With the banging techno and the topless sweaty men dancing in a factory setting, it reminded me of the Simpsons episode when Homer takes Bart to a gay club by mistake. 

I would love to go again to consolidate my opinion of Berghain, and of course to party, but I am very glad I can put my mind to rest over what it is truly like and stop worrying if I am worthy or ‘cool.’

I can offer a few tips if you wanted to go yourself. Here are my top three.

1) If you don’t get in, try again. Standing in the queue in the first place will maybe point you in the right direction to understand this scene. The first time and any time I queued I enjoyed people watching and looking at what people wore and how they carried themselves. If you don’t get in in the first place, then don’t worry, you can always try again. I think by the time I was successful, they might have recognised my face perhaps, or I had learnt from my previous mistakes. Also, you have to understand that they want to create an atmosphere in the club, and if they have too many of the same type of person then they won’t let anymore in.

2) Take an interest in the music that is playing and learn a bit about their residence DJs as well as the history of the club. If you don’t even like the music in the first place, why are you even going? I assure you, if you don’t like techno or dance music, then you are wasting your time. The club doesn’t like posers. When I went, I went because some of my favourite DJs were playing and I was just lucky to get in to see them.

Here’s the Berghain program - http://berghain.de/events/

Since I have moved to Berlin, I have eaten a disgusting amount of kebabs. In the last week I ate a total of 4 kebabs (!). But I don’t feel too bad; Berlin is the place to go for amazing kebabs thanks to its huge Turkish population, which for the large part has settled in and around Kreuzberg. The area is often referred to mini Istanbul, and the name is fitting as there are obvious Turkish influences. 

Supposedly one of the best kebabs in Berlin is Mustafas Gemüsekebap in Mehringdamm in south Kreuzberg (or Mehringdürüm - ha ha). Situated right outside Mehringdamm’s U Bahn on the U6 line, Mustafas is super easy to get to. 

 Alas, the food is not so easy to get to; Mustafas is so popular that there is a constant queue and I myself had to wait for an hour. 

The wait was totally worth it though. This kebab is loaded with a mix of roasted vegetables, freshly prepared salad, and a choice of sauce. Meat eaters can also enjoy chicken in their kebab. All of this sounds pretty bog standard right? What really distances Mustafas from any other kebab is their attention to detail. Every so often, you see them pouring a special sauce over their meat and vegetables, and the kebab also contains fried potato. My favourite detail is the crumbled feta and a drizzle of lemon juice to finish. This kebab won’t set you back too much because their chicken with veggie doner  only costs 2,90 euro. 

Mustafas can often be viewed as a tourist trap, and I guess it is to a certain extent. With its #26 ranking of the best restaurants in Berlin, Mustafas must attract hordes of new Berliners and visitors like myself. It won’t be a regular haunt for me because of the queues, but I will definitely be bringing my friends and family when they come to stay. 

Mustafas has a great and quite cute website and even their own advert! 

I’m yet to post on my blog and I’ve been really shit at getting round to it. I’ve had loads of ideas though! I will post all the yummy food and great places I’ve visited so I don’t forget any of it.

One thing that I’ve been struggling with for the past few days is a knock to my confidence and how I view myself. 

All of this started after I tried to go to Berghain over the weekend. I waited in total, over two visits, 6 hours in the queue to be given the wave away. 6 hours is a long time to ponder. All the while you are offered the opportunity to people watch some of the ‘coolest’ and most alternative people you’ve ever seen. I guess when you’re in the queue for Berghain, you start to think as bouncer yourself. Will they get in, won’t they? Are people wearing the right shoes, have they done their make up right? When it comes down to it, you basically need to portray an essence, an atmosphere, a feeling, and I definitely don’t have that (yet..). You have so much time to look around that you can look at every little detail of someone’s outfit, and then you realise the people around you are doing the same with you. 

I’m not saying I want to change myself just so that I get into Berghain. That would be idiotic, although I would love to be selected rather than shooed away. What I want is to reinvent myself, and take these people in the queue as inspiration. I want to exude the same amount of self-confidence and assurance. 

The second event of the weekend was a friend of a friend looking me up and down and telling me ‘he was concerned about me’ and my appearance and whether I would get into the club we were going to that evening. I didn’t. I guess that just confirmed everything. He was a dick anyway, but he was right to a certain extent. 

For a long time now I have been wanting to appear a little older, more mature, more refined. Although I am currently 20, I still think I could pass for a 16 year old at times. I think I am quite lazy when dressing myself, and tend to stick to the same thing over and over, and then get bored, buy something new and then wear that to death. I need to get into the pattern of buying new clothes and trying new things regularly.