Some observations from my first 5 days in
Hamburg:
1. Sprechen Sie Deutsche? Before I got here, I was given the general
impression that it is breezy to get by in Germany knowing just English because
the Germans speak excellent English. This may not be entirely true because from
time to time you will be faced with situations where you encounter a person who
does not speak English, and this may pose challenges. At a grocery store in a
train station, I ended up buying sparkling water instead of still water because
I didn’t understand the German word for gas, when the shopkeeper told me I was
buying “wasser mit gasse”. While this may seem like a first world problem
(particularly because this particular misunderstanding would never arise in the
third world), it may – for example - become challenging to go grocery shopping
without the aide of Google Translate.
2. Cash
is king. If you don’t have cash or a
German-issued card, be prepared to face problems.
3. Doors
on the metro trains do not open automatically – you must press a button! At
times, I found myself waiting for the button to open as a train halted at a
station – usually intercepted by some kindly German person who sensed my
ignorance and pressed the button for me.
4. It
does not appear at any point that you need to show a valid ticket to use the
metro/underground. The risk of being checked and fined for travelling
ticketless exists, however. Buses are different because you need to show your
ticket to the driver immediately upon entry.
5. Sunday
is rest day. Everything can be expected to be shut, and you may be hard pressed
to find food. The exception to this is an infrequent phenomenon known as
Verkaufstsonntag, when shops remain open to do business. I was lucky that my first
Sunday in the city was a Verkaufstsonntag.
6. With
a sizeable Turkish population in the city, doner kebabs exist alongside German sausages
and schnitzel.
7. Many
cycles, and cyclists of all ages and with and without helmets, are to be found
in Hamburg. The city does its part by providing special lights at certain
traffic signals for cyclists, along with those for pedestrians.
8. There
is a heartening abundance of coffee. If you are lucky you may find it priced at
one Euro or less. But there are also fancier places where you will find it
priced at 10 Euros or more (a case in point is the Kopi Luwak at Spiecherstadt
Kafferosterei, near the Miniatur Wunderland museum).
9. Rain.
So much rain. I remind myself everyday to buy an umbrella, but forget and
remember only when I get drenched.
10. You
get what you pay for. Beer mugs often come with a marking of 300ml/500ml/1
litre. Wine glasses often come with a marking of 100ml. This is to ensure some
degree of standardization, and so that you are not being cheated of the quantity
you are paying for.
11. There
is often fun graffiti to be found on random walls in the city. So far, my
favourites have been “Fck G20” and “Pussy Funk”. Also, a dustbin with “Godot
kommt nicht” (Godot is not coming) painted over.
12. There
are some city buses where you must pay a surcharge. These premium buses cost
more, without any ostensible difference in quality or comfort (but perhaps they
have fewer stops).
13. Unlike
in many cities, not all the entrances to an underground station lead to all the
platforms of the station. You must be conscious of the direction in which your
train is going, to be able to access the correct platform – or you could end up
at the wrong platform without any way to get to the correct platform without
exiting the station and finding your way back into the right platform.
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