Day 18 (24 June): The Cold War to Modern Berlin
I spent the morning today, checking out more Cold War sites (Checkpoint Charlie Museum and the Topography of Terror museum) and the farther Eastern parts of the city. In the afternoon I saw a lot of modern Berlin: the large Turkish neighborhoods and markets and redeveloping parts of the East. Along the way I stopped by the Modern Art Museum and took in a lot of the really cool modern architecture the city has.
Economic observations:
1) Turks. Berlin has the third largest population of Turks of any city in the world following Istanbul and Ankara. The Turkish population in Berlin is much like the Latin American population in California (or many parts of the US.): a) it is the fastest growing segment, b) Turkish words are becoming integrated into everyday Berliner German much like Spanish words have in California English, c) the dinner kebob (which apparently was invented in Berlin not in Turkey) is the cheap, fast food alternative, much like the burrito is in California.
2) You can´t export haircuts. (OK, so if you went to UCSD with me, I stole that one from Prof. Hanson, but its true and why pricing parity cannot hold.) I figured I´d be safter getting my haircut in Berlin than other places I´ve been but didn´t speak the language. I actually got a pretty good haircut today on the fringes of East Berlin for only 5 euro (or 6 USD) which was a steal. Even more surprising was how well it turned out given the woman who cut my hair barely spoke English and my German haircut vocabulary was limited to 'shorter', 'yes', and 'no'.
3) Tipping as a measure of service. When Julian and I went to dinner this evening, we got really bad service. Julian said don´t tip them and we didn´t. Tip in Germanormallyramlly only 10% as it is. Apparently, not tipping in Germany for bad service is common. It makes more sense than what we do in the US, since it properly aligns the incentives of waiters.
4) Public transportation again. The subway trains in Berlin have buttons on the doors that you have to press if you want the doors to open. This seems to make a lot of sense and keep trains on schedule, since if no one wants to get off or on, the trains don´t have to wait long.
Economic observations:
1) Turks. Berlin has the third largest population of Turks of any city in the world following Istanbul and Ankara. The Turkish population in Berlin is much like the Latin American population in California (or many parts of the US.): a) it is the fastest growing segment, b) Turkish words are becoming integrated into everyday Berliner German much like Spanish words have in California English, c) the dinner kebob (which apparently was invented in Berlin not in Turkey) is the cheap, fast food alternative, much like the burrito is in California.
2) You can´t export haircuts. (OK, so if you went to UCSD with me, I stole that one from Prof. Hanson, but its true and why pricing parity cannot hold.) I figured I´d be safter getting my haircut in Berlin than other places I´ve been but didn´t speak the language. I actually got a pretty good haircut today on the fringes of East Berlin for only 5 euro (or 6 USD) which was a steal. Even more surprising was how well it turned out given the woman who cut my hair barely spoke English and my German haircut vocabulary was limited to 'shorter', 'yes', and 'no'.
3) Tipping as a measure of service. When Julian and I went to dinner this evening, we got really bad service. Julian said don´t tip them and we didn´t. Tip in Germanormallyramlly only 10% as it is. Apparently, not tipping in Germany for bad service is common. It makes more sense than what we do in the US, since it properly aligns the incentives of waiters.
4) Public transportation again. The subway trains in Berlin have buttons on the doors that you have to press if you want the doors to open. This seems to make a lot of sense and keep trains on schedule, since if no one wants to get off or on, the trains don´t have to wait long.
posted by Traveling Brian at 1:35 PM
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