Yesterday, I rediscovered Berlin’s hippest district: Kreuzberg. Initially, this post was solely dedicated to interesting bookstores in Kreuzberg, but on my expedition through the streets, I came across a lot more than just bestsellers and second-hand books.

Let me begin with a brief recapitulatation of Kreuzberg’s history. Kreuzberg, which means “cross-mountain“, is divided into two area codes. During the time of the Berlin Wall, three quarters of the southeastern part, also known as SO36, were closed off from the rest of Berlin. In this rather isolated area, the people living here cultivated their own culture. The majority of the people were foreigners, embracing the new symbiosis of Turkish, Persian, African and German culture. Today, more than 180 nationalities live in Kreuzberg, which makes this district a rare melting pot. On my search for interesting bookstores, I discovered a retro garage, a Persian candy factory and, of course, books en masse.

Sometimes, you could get the impression that Germany is just one big, sloppy mess. Well, that’s what you might think if don’t know much German. Even if you’re just past beginner stage, though, you could start to wonder if Germany is as modern and secular as it first appears: every city seems to have a huge “mass” that it’s very proud of. Yes, that’s right: no German city, even in the generally protestant North, is complete without its Messe.

Yesterday was the kick-off of the world’s largest public filmfestival: The Berlinale. And it is a special occasion, the celebration of the filmfestival’s sixtieth birthday. Happy Birthday Berlinale! The opening ceremony showed the world-premiere of the chinese film “Tuan Yuan“ (“Together Apart“) by Wang Quan’an, who already won the much sought after Golden Bear in ’07. Like in the past years, a number of 400 films will be shown. Of these, twenty films are competing for the Golden and Silver Bears. Like every year, there is a judging panel that awards the best production towards the end of the filmfestival.

So if its the same procedure as every year, you might ask yourself what makes the Berlinale so special?

There’s a school of thought that says the best way to get good at a language is to concentrate on the words that can’t be translated. In so doing, you really get into the mindset of the speakers of that language - and so can speak like them, too.

So when learning German, you should definitely take some time to look at the word Bildung. Don’t worry: it’s not completely and utterly untranslatable like Fahrvergnügenserfassungsbogen (lit. “driving enjoyment questionnaire form”); no, Bildung can in fact frequently be translated with one word – education. This is especially the case in politically charged slogans such as “Bildung ist der Gesellschaft höchstes Gut”, or “Society’s most important asset is education”.

I am now writing my thesis, and what better way to proceed than taking a break in between? It was a coincidence that we traveled from the capital of then West Germany (Bonn) to Berlin which is now the capital of unified Germany. My first time in Berlin last March was marked by helping out a friend move in, and of course, taking the touristy route. This time, I spent the first day touring the city with my Ozzie. The days after were dedicated to discovering more of the city and its history.