Bikes n things

Sunday, July 22, 2018
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Yesterday was a big milestone for my transportation-loving self - and I'm really embarrassed it took this long - I rode my first city bike. Yes wow how much more American could I be, making a big deal about riding a bike on city streets, but this was a battle I had been fighting for a long time. I'm not, how you say, "active" and there always seemed to be a way around riding a bike. However I found myself quite bored yesterday and decided to download a bike rental app and I took the tram (lol) down to Alexanderplatz and picked up one of these iconic orange tourist bikes. Not only am I unathletic, but I'm also uncoordinated. They say you never forget how to ride a bike, but I think I would like to argue that. After trying a couple of times to start (in the most populous part of the city- super cool), I finally swerved off. I was never really a fan of gears, but I get it now. Holy cow this thing was on the lowest gear known to man, so I tried changing it (spoiler: this bike has no gear change) and ended up just ringing the bell multiple times like a maniac. Oh well. I'll stay on the low gear. 
I came to this part of the city because I knew it would have good bike infrastructure, which would be necessary because I knew my mind would go blank after hopping on. I was right. There's so many freaking people to look at and look out for and judge you - yes I'm super self-conscious doing any exercise-related activity. I definitely earned the  "most scared-looking person on a bike" award. BUT I was doing it. I want to do something new/scary every weekend, not that it's something I'll keep track of, but I gotta do this while I'm young. 
It was probably the world's least exciting bike ride ever, but I didn't fall, only tripped up a couple of times, and stopped for only 5 minutes (lol). I parked the thing and rode the tram back :)
*I live on a hill so I literally would have died if I rode it back... my goal is to ride to work one day (downhill)
I came home super proud and stupidly exhausted, so I went to the Bio grocery store near my house. Also something new. And EXPENSIVE. Woah. This is where France and Germany differ. Aghhhh. I didn't have any plans for the night, so I bought myself various cheeses (surprise) and some wine and bread. Mary's perfect night. After being carded (ugh) I came home and was about to sit down and eat when Emmi and her friend Leo (nickname, girl) walked in. I offered the wine and cheese to them, but they had just eaten and were about to go to a wine bar. Of course I joined. BUT they wanted to take their bikes, and I don't have one. So, Leo let me sit on the back of her bike which was also super new to me - sitting sideways on the rack of a bike through city streets. I thought I was done with bike hurdles for the day, but apparently not. I felt bad because wow Leo had to pedal hard to carry the both of us, but she was a champ. Apparently they do this all the time in childhood - Europeans. After getting over being scared and envisioning us crashing 12 times, it was kinda fun. Definitely less of a workout than if I had been doing the biking myself haha. 
We had tried to go to this bar before, but this time we arrived before closing lol. You pay 2eur for a glass, then taste/pour whichever wine you'd like - however many times ;) In the end, you put money into a jar based on how satisfied you were. This place is amazing. I paid 10eur for four glasses of wine. Yum. Drunk. They were headed out for more, but I was super tired from the day and wanted to go to French Mass the next day so I went home. Not so shockingly, I woke up with a bad headache the next morning, but at least I woke up before Mass. It takes an hour to get to church, but I really wanted to go- I hadn't been to this one before. I was late, of course, but I really enjoyed the Mass. It was mostly people that were from la Francophonie as a whole versus just l'Hexagone, which I was kind of surprised about with France being so close and Berlin being such a hub. It seemed like most of them had lived in France for at least a period of time - there's a certain French uptightness that's tough to shake. It was really great being back at French Mass, but I was really struggling. The headache and the dizziness combined with the cute kids did not make for the most focus-encouraging environment. I hate it when French comes slow. And it's not like I can actually speak German either. I'm half-assing both languages, which is frustrating but I knew it would happen. It takes everything in me not to hate myself for letting go of French, and I have to consciously let go of French. I still think it, and I'm realizing it's really hard to change the language your brain thinks in. I don't know how I did it with French, but I know it happened early - after about 2 years. I guess that's way more time than I'll have to learn German, but it helped me so much. Time to start thinking in German...

Photos & Videos

Comments

2025-02-10

Comment code: Ask author if the code is blank