Reflections on Two Cities

People born in a big city take things for granted, or just simply don’t think about them. Necessities are easy to find, and food is easy to buy. Walking in one direction quickly gets you somewhere. Running gets you there faster. You have options, and nothing short of endless possibilities. The cultural and personal juxtapositions in a big city can’t be compared. People will flock to a certain place for many reasons. One could be to find something new, or to take advantage of those opportunities that only a city can offer. The downside of these cities is being easily overtaken by the mass of people surrounding you all the time.

New York City is like this, hence it’s often correct reputation for being a place filled with rude and inconsiderate people. As representative of a true New Yorker, I can badmouth my city, but if you weren’t born and raised there and I hear you talking like that, we’ll have words. Battling through the subway station at 42nd Times Square at rush hour takes a thicker sort of skin. If you don’t have that shield, it can throw you off balance. My rule in my home city is: if I’m already in a bad mood, just stay in your neighborhood. The buzzing tourists alone, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to stare at buildings higher than they’ve ever seen, will be enough to wish you’d stayed at home.

Berlin isn’t like this. Having only lived in one large city for all my life, I assumed every hub of the world was the same, particularly in terms of the rules and regulations you have to abide by to stay sane. My first trip to Berlin took me by surprise, and mostly because of how much calm and quiet you can find here without even trying. Walking in one direction still gets you somewhere, but walking in another can bring you to a wooded area where the few sounds there are the swishing of cars, far in the distance, singing birds, and wind through the leaves. Central Park and Riverside Park in New York City are artificial and tiresome compared to the actual nature you find here in one of the greenest cities in the world. It seems that with the wide berth of Berlin, the city spread out over so many districts, and with the countless trees, there is more room to breathe. No one is stuck in tiny, expensive boxes masquerading as living space, forty floors above street level.

The transportation system that connects the span of Berlin is something worth marveling over. One of the shocks I received, visiting New York City, was the smells and sounds of the subway. Getting back to my parents’ apartment from the airport, being jetlagged and exhausted after a total of twelve hours travel time, should have been comfortable and unobtrusive. The station had no electronic timetable counting down the minutes until the next train arrived, leaving you to wait and wonder. Passing trains made loud, metal screeching sounds, and our train that arrived was covered with visible grime, inside and out, with uncomfortable plastic seats and dim lighting. I wish I could say this train was an exception, but the majority of the trains in NYC are like this one. The newer ones are only different because of their sharper design and brighter lighting. Otherwise, the rocky, loud and haltingly uncomfortable rides from one station to the next are comparably appalling. The intense, acrid stench of human body odor and old urine penetrates the stale air of subway platforms in NYC. There is no draft from above, no moving air at all, and no sign of Schokocroissants or bread rolls permeating the air with their appetizing scent. Only a newsstand here and there, selling wrapped candy and nuts, sugary drinks, newspapers and dirty magazines. Some 1970s aspects of New York will never change, while Berlin makes a regular morning commute that much more bearable and even comfortable.

Disgruntled businesspeople, traveling tourists, high school kids en route and anyone else fills each square of New York City each day. It comes down to having to not be surprised when a bus driver decides to respond rudely and condescendingly when you ask about the very confusing and highly useless new paper bus ticketing system. It doesn’t matter that you haven’t been in the country for six months. You should know this beforehand, so you don’t run the risk of forcing a poor driver into being extremely unpleasant. That driver has also been facing these swarms of people all day, much like yourself. Except you’ve most likely been attempting to walk up the sidewalk in somewhat of a straight line, rather than sitting in a comfortable seat, driving through the city in a preexistent route. Though truly, it is a feat in itself when, by the third day of visiting where you grew up, a public service representative’s nasty remarks inspire you to turn around and go straight back to Berlin.

I am an admittedly worse person when I am in New York City. The city, and everyone in it, eats at me and by the end of the day, I am irritable and my posture is worse than before. My family, mom, dad, sister and uncle, are a saving grace for me in that city. My only wish is that we could all be in the same country, at the same time… but… Berlin is good for me. I breathe easy here. I eat healthier and make healthier choices for my body and my mind. I walk and travel even more than I did in NYC, and I didn’t think that was possible.

No one can replace my parents and sister, but I also gained not one but two wonderful surrogate families here. Now if I could only get my transporter working…