The adventure continued this week as we were all over Berlin. 

The week started off on Monday with a visit to a Kindergarten for Logan. It’s worth noting that the Berlin school system, while very good, is about as competitive as the LA or NY school systems. There are wait lists, aggressive parents and apparently a secret bribery system that we are only just figuring out. We are on a waitlist with 15 different schools and got to tour one of them this week. The school was great. They are fully German speaking and have a massive outdoor space for the kids. We should find out soon but if Logan gets in then it won’t be until the August session.

Tuesday brought Internet to our lives. In any other world this wouldn’t be something that would make this list of achievements for the week but the struggle with Telekom is real - it’s been the main reason for late postings on the blog. We have heard horrible stories of people waiting 6 months for internet - wasting several vacation days waiting and having the technician miss the appointment. In February Doreen scheduled the internet to come on the 16th. Since then they have missed 7 appointments. With each appointment they missed, Doreen would receive a text message telling her to call them to reschedule and use the code word “Trumpet.” You have no idea how frustrating it has been to sit around for hours on end only to receive a text message telling you, a grown adult, to call another grown adult and announce yourself with the word “Trumpet.”

Doreen has been great at forcing them to get their act together. She managed to get us a temporary hotspot and continue to load it with data. However, as the internet is our main source of entertainment, communication tool and general resource for work we have been blazing through the data (20GB per day) only to have to call and load more. At one point Telekom suggested that we go to the local T-Mobile store to have them load more. After a 20 min walk to the nearest store Chad found out this wasn’t even possible. After some serious digging Doreen got a hold of the head of technicians for Berlin. He apologised and sent a technician on Tuesday. Our neighbour physically grabbed the technician and insisted he install his internet as well.

Chad was all over the city this week taking meetings with various groups that are interested in working with him. The meetings have really helped him get to know the other business sectors in Berlin. About three weeks ago Chad decided that he would train Maya to be an off-leash dog in Berlin. There are many off leash dogs in the city and it’s impressive how well they listen and follow. So far Maya has done well. It’s been three weeks she’s been on a leash with the exception of moving into our new flat. She walks all around the Kiez without a leash, sits at intersections and listens very well both day and night. There’s still room for improvement but it’s keeping her young as she learns something new. Georgia isn’t off leash material in the city but the practice with Maya has really affected Georgia in a positive way. She listens more and every once in a while makes you wonder if she could be an off leash dog as she is always by your side. Until we see at least one of the thousands of pugs in the city off leash we’ll stick to the current plan.

On Saturday Chad and Logan continued their tradition of breakfast. On Logan’s request they went to Zeit Fuer Brot, which is now just next door to our flat. This is a very popular bakery and often the line is out the door. Logan waits patiently in line deciding what he’d like (he always goes with Streusel). This time there wen’t any open seats so Chad made room on the bench next to where you can watch the bakers in action.

After, we headed to The Mall of Berlin to check it out and pick up a few miscellaneous decorations for the flat. On the train, Doreen helped Chad with his German pronunciations while Logan was once again fascinated with the U-Bahn. At Mohrenstrasse, where we got off the train, Chad noticed a statue that looked familiar. It was of Leopold Von Dessau - the Grandfieldmarschall of the Prussian Army in the early to mid 1700s. A few weeks ago Chad was reading Maurice De Saxe “Reveries of the Art of War” where Leopold is a noted figure. Leopold is a really interesting character in German history. He was a Prince, named himself successor to Fredrick the 1st, leader of the Prussian Army and is known for founding modern military drill principles. In 1745, at the age of 70, he led his most successful military campaign to retake Berlin in the winter from the Prussians disastrous overthrow earlier that summer under the command of Fredrick the Great (hence why he thought he could name himself king). Berlin is arguably the capitol of Germany and not a city in France because of Leopold.

The mall was an extraordinary monument to capitalism. Up until 100 years ago there was nothing on Leipziger Straße except for quiet residences. In 1896 Georg Wertheim  finished construction on the The Wertheim Department Store and this district of Mitte quickly became the centre of fashion, lifestyle, music, and art. The building had glass ceilings, 83 elevators and goods and services the world over.

Georg was a pioneer in the modern department store. He completed his first ‘little’ department store in 1876 in the Baltic coastal town of Stralsund about 2.5 hours North of Berlin. The Wertheim Department Store generated so much traffic in the area that Leipziger Straße was the first to have traffic lights in Europe. In the 1930s the company was subject to Nazi Aryanization policies. Jewish employees were often escorted out of their positions in the store and sent to collection checkpoints. The Wertheim family tried to remain in control of the company; even going so far as to to divorce and put all shares in Georg’s wife, Urslua’s hands so that the company had pure “Aryan Ownership.” This didn’t work in the end and the Wertheim family was forced to sell all shares to “Truly Aryan” individuals for pennies on the value.

The building was badly damaged in WWII and fell into no-mans land when the wall came up deciding the city. Eventually it was torn down and in early 2009 construction on the new building began. The new building is an homage to the original design Georg constructed and all throughout the building are pictures of the original during its heyday.

On Sunday we took it pretty easy. We headed back to Potsdamer Platz for lunch and to go to a museum that we saw last week during Alex’s visit. On Alex’s recommendation we tried an Italian restaurant, Vapiano, that has a unique method of ordering and preparing the food. You walk in, receive an RFID card, and then go to your various station to decide what you’d like. All pasta and pizza dough are made fresh in the restaurant. If you want a hand made pasta dish you simply go to the pasta station, place your RFID card on the reader and then wait as they make your dish in front of you. The food was good and Logan thought it was extra cool to have an Easter Bunny themed pizza.

From there we went to the Ottobock museum. Ottobock is a group specialising in the science and design of prosthetic devices. They sponsor many special olympic athletes and work closely with military veterans to provide them with needed mobility services. Through their work with athletes and veterans they have revolutionised the prosthetic industry. It was really incredible to see all the advancements they have made and how influenced they are by other non-human creatures they are in their research.

In the afternoon Doreen and Logan did their first Easter egg colouring together. Easter is a huge holiday here and Logan is acutely aware that it means activities, chocolate and gifts. The easter bunny is treated like a Spring Santa Claus.

We’ve been reflecting lately on how much change we have had so far in 2018. Just two months ago we were living in California packing up our lives to do something that still seems crazy. As we are getting more and more settled it’s starting to set in a bit more. We aren’t who we were just 8 weeks ago. This experience is changing us - sometimes at a breakneck speed. Just listening to Logan on the train today, he’s speaking almost +60% in German and I can understand almost all of it. 

We’re happy for the opportunity and excited for what the next chapter will bring.

Until Next Week…