Ich liebe es. For the most part.
This is going to be a really long post, in which I will be complaining a lot in places, but I have had to bottle it all up for a little over three months now, so sorry in advance.
We have been in Berlin since February, and you would think I'd have posted an entry sometime before now. But i've been busy because this is Berlin and I can pretty much go anywhere I want in the city, kid in tow, on foot or by public transportation. The polizei are not pajalsta-stick waving bribe collectors. If your German isn't perfect (like mine), people will often switch to English which can be a good thing or a bad thing. You can find almost anything on the local economy, albeit you may have to hunt for it or pay more for it than you normally would. There are a lot of things to see here, and if you have a lot of time on your hands (and money) you can see it all. So basically, day to day living here on the whole is like Shangri-La compared to our last posting.
Sure there are some things that take getting used to here, but for the most part they are pretty mild. I like shopping at the Aldi and Lidl nearby because they are usually cheaper that the full-sized grocery stores close to us. But they are kind of like a combination of old-school WinnDixie, 7-Eleven, and Trader Joe's (Aldi especially since they bought Trader Joe's and are selling Trader Joe's products). That's the best explanation I can give for either store- they usually have not-so-great lighting, barebones, dingy displays and shelves, white walls, and everyone there is pretty much shopping at the store to stretch their food budget as far as possible. These stores are often really crowded, even during times when you'd expect no one to be there. Also, they are set up so as to make it very difficult to leave if you haven't found anything to buy. Kind of like this:
In comparison, if you go to one of the bigger grocers it is usually easier to leave without buying stuff. But then again, everything is lit nicely, the place is made to look appealing with nice shelving, displays, color on the walls, etc. so you generally do end up leaving with something anyways. We went to a really big Edeka-Reichert grocer this weekend and for once I did not feel like I was a poor hobo at risk of being trapped in the grocer for not buying stuff. Sad but true. Also, no matter what grocer you go to you get used to bringing your own bags, bringing change for a cart (if you need one) and packing your groceries as fast as possible because otherwise you are holding up the line.
Most stores are closed on Sundays. The only things open usually are restaurants, cafes or bars. So, if you need to buy something that you are about to run out of, best purchase it before Sunday. There are a few places that stay open every Sunday (and they have a few designated 'shopping Sundays', but in general you need to be prepared lest you wind up without something you really need.
If you live in the city, and not in the suburbs, you will encounter tourists. Waves and waves of tourists. For the most part, you can find a way to avoid walking in the most heavily trafficked areas. But they're there all the time. Walking in the bike lane, or into your stroller. Peeing out in the open. Driving donuts in their rental car on the grass in the park in front of your apartment. Often drunk outside in the street at 2am carrying on loud conversation when you are trying to sleep and you have the windows open because you have no a.c. and you are trying to keep the house cool because Berlin gets freakishly warm during the summer.
That is by far not a comprehensive list, but's things like that which (while slightly annoying) make for pretty funny stories on their own. And at the end of the day, you can pretty much forget them and appreciate that you are living in a pretty swell European city. The people here in Berlin are cordial and nice. Outside of Berlin, in the smaller cities and towns they are in general very nice and welcoming. We loved our vacation touring part of the Castle and Romantic roads in southern Germany, too. So much that we will likely try to take another excursion down there again before this tour is up.
There is, however, one thing here that I hate. It is the level of health care that I have received as a private patient. I have no idea what health care is like as a German citizen, or as a resident of Germany who qualifies for it, but I can honestly say that my experiences here so far have been pretty shitty. Everyone told us when we got here, "Oh the German medical system is great, you'll have no problems!"
But every time I go to a doctor here, I think of this:
My OBGYN, who I am sure is a delightful person outside of the office, completely ignored everything I told her about my medical history at our first meeting. Basically, after I explained to her my medical history she looked at me, looked at Mike, then said (and I am not exaggerating),
"Can I say this? You are fat. You need sports. Everything is holistic and interconnected!"*
And then she proceeded to go on at length about how we needed to start doing sports, and that our daughter was going to become obese because we are fat. I admit, I am not at the weight I probably should be, but before getting pregnant I had actually lost weight from walking pretty much everywhere and anywhere. So much so I was able to go down two dress sizes. I cannot tell you how hard it was to just sit in the chair and let her go on and on without reaching over and smacking her, because that's what I wanted to do. I am equally surprised that Mike's response was as subdued as it was- basically he said no, he wasn't going to do sports. I can tell you that any idea that maybe I would stay in Germany to have this baby (even though I told her right off the bat I would be delivering in Florida and that I would only be going to her for prenatal care until then) went out the window on that day.
Out of the stack of medical paperwork I brought with me, she only copied one document (a test confirming I am not genetically predisposed towards developing blood clots), then ordered the same exact blood test be completed again at a local hematologist. After the results came back (suprise, still not predisposed), that's when she told me "Oh, by the way- even though you were told by your doctor that you would need to take blood thinners during pregnancy, because of this test result it is not necessary to prescribed them."
So for the next two weeks until my next appointment with her, we actually considered sending me with Olivia back home for the rest of the pregnancy. I called my doctor back home to confirm that yes, I would need to go on Lovenox asap and take baby aspirin every day during this pregnancy. We contacted med and told them about our situation to which med basically said, "No, we're not going to counter what the German doctor said unless your doctors send us their recommendations, and even then maybe not." We considered going on separate maintenance allowance. Curtailing. Then, on the day of our meeting with her, I just told Mike that if she wasn't going to write the prescription I would just fly back to Florida- get my doctor there to prescribe Lovenox, buy it, then fly back and be done with it. I don't know whether someone at med called her office and spoke with her, or if it was our mood, but when we told her we would like her to go ahead and prescribe the drug (branded as Clexane here) she did not put up a fight. That was also, coincidentally, the same visit where she suddenly acknowledged that I might need to see a cardiologist while I was here, too.
Since that visit I have been pretty much from one doctor's office to the next. Sometimes I can make the appointment by myself over the phone in English, other times I can't and I have to have someone from MED call for me because my German is nowhere near where it needs to be to have medical conversations over the phone or in person. Everyone I encounter seems to think I have no clue about what medical procedure I am there for, which is kind of scary because these are the doctor's offices that are recommended by the embassy (and presumably have regular dealings with Americans). Either the former is a lie or most of my fellow Americans really don't bother to read up before heading to the doctor. I don't know, but I would like to think others in my situation don't just show up at the doctor's office uninformed, but I could be wrong. I am just over the medical system here at this point. I'm happy that Mike, Olivia and I will be together for the holidays,but I will be very happy to deliver this baby in Florida when the time comes. Until then, I will just have to be patient, enjoy the holidays, and wait.
*She has mentioned sports and holistic health at every visit. Every visit!
We have been in Berlin since February, and you would think I'd have posted an entry sometime before now. But i've been busy because this is Berlin and I can pretty much go anywhere I want in the city, kid in tow, on foot or by public transportation. The polizei are not pajalsta-stick waving bribe collectors. If your German isn't perfect (like mine), people will often switch to English which can be a good thing or a bad thing. You can find almost anything on the local economy, albeit you may have to hunt for it or pay more for it than you normally would. There are a lot of things to see here, and if you have a lot of time on your hands (and money) you can see it all. So basically, day to day living here on the whole is like Shangri-La compared to our last posting.
Sure there are some things that take getting used to here, but for the most part they are pretty mild. I like shopping at the Aldi and Lidl nearby because they are usually cheaper that the full-sized grocery stores close to us. But they are kind of like a combination of old-school WinnDixie, 7-Eleven, and Trader Joe's (Aldi especially since they bought Trader Joe's and are selling Trader Joe's products). That's the best explanation I can give for either store- they usually have not-so-great lighting, barebones, dingy displays and shelves, white walls, and everyone there is pretty much shopping at the store to stretch their food budget as far as possible. These stores are often really crowded, even during times when you'd expect no one to be there. Also, they are set up so as to make it very difficult to leave if you haven't found anything to buy. Kind of like this:
In comparison, if you go to one of the bigger grocers it is usually easier to leave without buying stuff. But then again, everything is lit nicely, the place is made to look appealing with nice shelving, displays, color on the walls, etc. so you generally do end up leaving with something anyways. We went to a really big Edeka-Reichert grocer this weekend and for once I did not feel like I was a poor hobo at risk of being trapped in the grocer for not buying stuff. Sad but true. Also, no matter what grocer you go to you get used to bringing your own bags, bringing change for a cart (if you need one) and packing your groceries as fast as possible because otherwise you are holding up the line.
Most stores are closed on Sundays. The only things open usually are restaurants, cafes or bars. So, if you need to buy something that you are about to run out of, best purchase it before Sunday. There are a few places that stay open every Sunday (and they have a few designated 'shopping Sundays', but in general you need to be prepared lest you wind up without something you really need.
If you live in the city, and not in the suburbs, you will encounter tourists. Waves and waves of tourists. For the most part, you can find a way to avoid walking in the most heavily trafficked areas. But they're there all the time. Walking in the bike lane, or into your stroller. Peeing out in the open. Driving donuts in their rental car on the grass in the park in front of your apartment. Often drunk outside in the street at 2am carrying on loud conversation when you are trying to sleep and you have the windows open because you have no a.c. and you are trying to keep the house cool because Berlin gets freakishly warm during the summer.
That is by far not a comprehensive list, but's things like that which (while slightly annoying) make for pretty funny stories on their own. And at the end of the day, you can pretty much forget them and appreciate that you are living in a pretty swell European city. The people here in Berlin are cordial and nice. Outside of Berlin, in the smaller cities and towns they are in general very nice and welcoming. We loved our vacation touring part of the Castle and Romantic roads in southern Germany, too. So much that we will likely try to take another excursion down there again before this tour is up.
There is, however, one thing here that I hate. It is the level of health care that I have received as a private patient. I have no idea what health care is like as a German citizen, or as a resident of Germany who qualifies for it, but I can honestly say that my experiences here so far have been pretty shitty. Everyone told us when we got here, "Oh the German medical system is great, you'll have no problems!"
But every time I go to a doctor here, I think of this:
My OBGYN, who I am sure is a delightful person outside of the office, completely ignored everything I told her about my medical history at our first meeting. Basically, after I explained to her my medical history she looked at me, looked at Mike, then said (and I am not exaggerating),
"Can I say this? You are fat. You need sports. Everything is holistic and interconnected!"*
And then she proceeded to go on at length about how we needed to start doing sports, and that our daughter was going to become obese because we are fat. I admit, I am not at the weight I probably should be, but before getting pregnant I had actually lost weight from walking pretty much everywhere and anywhere. So much so I was able to go down two dress sizes. I cannot tell you how hard it was to just sit in the chair and let her go on and on without reaching over and smacking her, because that's what I wanted to do. I am equally surprised that Mike's response was as subdued as it was- basically he said no, he wasn't going to do sports. I can tell you that any idea that maybe I would stay in Germany to have this baby (even though I told her right off the bat I would be delivering in Florida and that I would only be going to her for prenatal care until then) went out the window on that day.
Out of the stack of medical paperwork I brought with me, she only copied one document (a test confirming I am not genetically predisposed towards developing blood clots), then ordered the same exact blood test be completed again at a local hematologist. After the results came back (suprise, still not predisposed), that's when she told me "Oh, by the way- even though you were told by your doctor that you would need to take blood thinners during pregnancy, because of this test result it is not necessary to prescribed them."
So for the next two weeks until my next appointment with her, we actually considered sending me with Olivia back home for the rest of the pregnancy. I called my doctor back home to confirm that yes, I would need to go on Lovenox asap and take baby aspirin every day during this pregnancy. We contacted med and told them about our situation to which med basically said, "No, we're not going to counter what the German doctor said unless your doctors send us their recommendations, and even then maybe not." We considered going on separate maintenance allowance. Curtailing. Then, on the day of our meeting with her, I just told Mike that if she wasn't going to write the prescription I would just fly back to Florida- get my doctor there to prescribe Lovenox, buy it, then fly back and be done with it. I don't know whether someone at med called her office and spoke with her, or if it was our mood, but when we told her we would like her to go ahead and prescribe the drug (branded as Clexane here) she did not put up a fight. That was also, coincidentally, the same visit where she suddenly acknowledged that I might need to see a cardiologist while I was here, too.
Since that visit I have been pretty much from one doctor's office to the next. Sometimes I can make the appointment by myself over the phone in English, other times I can't and I have to have someone from MED call for me because my German is nowhere near where it needs to be to have medical conversations over the phone or in person. Everyone I encounter seems to think I have no clue about what medical procedure I am there for, which is kind of scary because these are the doctor's offices that are recommended by the embassy (and presumably have regular dealings with Americans). Either the former is a lie or most of my fellow Americans really don't bother to read up before heading to the doctor. I don't know, but I would like to think others in my situation don't just show up at the doctor's office uninformed, but I could be wrong. I am just over the medical system here at this point. I'm happy that Mike, Olivia and I will be together for the holidays,but I will be very happy to deliver this baby in Florida when the time comes. Until then, I will just have to be patient, enjoy the holidays, and wait.
*She has mentioned sports and holistic health at every visit. Every visit!
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