Getting familiar with the city, the people.

I have now been in Berlin for almost a week.  The city is certainly beautiful, fun, and interesting.  I have been impressed with it, but despite its differences I have not experienced any "culture shock", since it seems that despite the alternative flow of society, everything that goes on here has its natural order and reasons for being there and taking place.  I would best describe the city as an odd mix between Moscow and San Francisco.  It reminds me of Moscow for its city structure.  It has alot of "urban" looking buildings, with various "cultural" places spread throughout the city, and some of the major ones clustered towards the middle.  Yet Berlin also has certain San Franciso features, in particular its "liberal" feel.  Art is very big in Berlin and one is often confronted with various unique structures and street graffite, that makes any walk down the gray urban streets a much more joyous experience.

One thing that has suprised me thus far, is the level of civil order within such a major metropolitan city.  Walking down the streets, one will rarely find a piece of trash (except for the occasional cigarette butt), and the police (polizei) can rarely be seen on the streets, since there is a very little need of them.  Even at night I've always felt very safe, any concern arising solely from my previous experiences in other big cities.  The German "order" is a common stereotype that I had always heard of, and probably like most, I had imagined that it meant that there's alot of laws, everyone is very uptight in upkeeping these laws, and there is police everywhere checking your every move to ensure that you are following these laws.  Although there are surely plenty of rules, the order seems to come from the within the people more than it does from any external source.  The people here simply seem to have a better common sense of not doing things that would ruin the very society they live in, nor do they seem eager to bend the rules for their personal gain when they are met with the opportunity.  It is a much more community-based society.

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