Living in Berlin Lesson #471

Germans react poorly to the salutation ‘hey punk’.

Ticking Away the Moments That Make Up a Dull Day

Over the last few days I’ve been snacking on this New Yorker article about the different ways the brain perceives time. Einstein said, ‘An hour sitting with a pretty girl on a park bench passes like a minute, but a minute sitting on a hot stove seems like an hour’, and it turns out there’s a whole field of academic research built around testing this out.

Moving around a lot has demonstrated to me that this principle works for periods of time as well as for individual experiences. The first three weeks you live in a new country feels like a year.

After landing yesterday and unpacking, basically the only thing I did was get groceries, which was a bloodbath. Everything’s in a new language (how do you say ‘chicken stock’ in German?!), all the locations are switched around and, compared to Denmark, a proper supermarket feels like an orgy of choice.

Not recognizing the brands and not being able to read the labels means having no information upon which to choose a product. I picked out a brand of coffee by recognizing the word ‘Ethiopia’ on the label. I picked out a yogurt by comparing the smiles of stock-photo families on the packaging.

I think novelty makes your brain perceive time differently. Places seem farther away the first time you visit them. Even a weekend-length vacation makes home feel remarkably foreign. The hour and a half I spent getting three meals’ worth of groceries felt like a daytrip.

I have to admit to sort of liking this period of slow motion. Moving to a new country turns routine experiences into minor triumphs. Yes, I got the right kind of detergent! I figured out how to do my taxes! I asked for directions in a foreign language!

I’m spending most of this week attempting further logistical victories. A friend of mine from Copenhagen is visiting next month, and I’m sure the first thing I’ll say to him when he arrives is ‘I haven’t seen you in ages.’

Going Once, Going Twice

I got a job in Berlin

And i'll be moving there in six weeks

This'll be the fourth time I've moved to a new country by myself

Every time I do this, I overpack

I bring T-shirts I never wear, pillows I replace, mementos of events I firmly remember

On the last three moves, part of the preparation was thinking of all the things I wanted to change about myself in my new country

That'll be different this time, I would think, jotting down habits

It's tempting to think of a relocation as a reboot.

Or a facelift.

But really it's just a costume change.

You're the same lumpy you, just with a new social security number.

So this time I'm focusing on the stuff I want to do, not be:

Run, not walk.

Laugh, not think.

Show, not tell.

Make, not spectate.

Ultimately, your bad habits are the only thing you really take with you. And I'm not leaving a single one of mine behind.