Berlin, Ick liebe Dir (Flickr: K.a.i.)

Berlin is a marvelous city. The metropolis offers an endless array of cultural events and is admired by many for its international diversity. Every year, Berlin welcomes a large number of tourists from all over the world. And sometimes, they fall head over heels for Berlin, decide to stay and call this their new home. For example, the Turkish. Over the course of time, a large number of Turkish immigrants have settled in Kreuzberg, making this the second largest Turkish city by population after Istanbul. Or look at the Swabians, who’ve “invaded” the oh-so-loved Prenzlauer Berg, making it hard for Berliners to find an apartment there anymore. Nonetheless, most Berliners embrace their new neighbours, and in the future we’ll likely grow closer and all live together as one big family…

One thing newcomers have got to learn about Germany is the importance of regional identities: That’s why I posted on state elections in Germany just last week. Especially for Brits, the sheer variation between different parts of this country is astonishing; Germany is far more American than British inasmuch as the capital city is not the be-all-and-end-all of everything – and every city has its own identity markers of which it is exceptionally proud.

So just as each American city has a nickname (Chi-Town, the Big Apple, etc) and a baseball team, no German city would be complete without a major football team, a regular episode of the long-running who-dunnit legend Tatort, and a trademark item of baked goods. Germany is, after all, well known for its penchant for baking, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Saying hi courtesy of Aidan Jones (Flickr)

We all know that learning another language is hard work. Even after over twelve years getting to grips with German, I still hear myself make the odd mistake – infuriatingly often in the very simple territory that I was supposed to have conquered many years back. Nevertheless, after having lived here for a while, simple things like greetings and pleasantries usually just roll off the tongue without requiring too much effort – “Guten Tag” and “Wie geht es Ihnen?” and so forth.