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Berlin

Having made the decision that he would like to continue his music education at a German speaking University it was apparent to Greg that he would need to considerably improve his existing German language skills. As living in a country is always one of the best ways to learn a new language, or to quickly enhance existing skills, he decided to relocate to Berlin. He had visited the city in January of 2017 and gone to some of the more common tourist destinations. He had found that he liked the ambiance of Berlin, the food, the culture, the shops and the nightlife.

Accommodation is always one of the big things that anyone moving to somewhere new has to sort. Compared to other European capital cities Berlin still has areas of the city where rental prices are not totally prohibitive. In part this is a consequence of the Berlin’s turbulent, troubled twentieth century history. Immediately after World War Two the city was divided into sectors and then in 1961 was effectively cut in two when the Berlin wall was placed around the Western sector of the city by the Communist East German authorities. Berlin was to remain a city of two halves until political changes in nearby Eastern bloc countries meant that the checkpoints along the Berlin wall were opened in 1989 with parts of it being demolished by enthusiastic crowds; the following year Germany was reunified. Berlin has now been one city again for longer than it was divided but work still continues to ‘join the seams’ as whilst deserted U-Bahn stations could be speedily reinstated other work has taken considerably longer. Even now there is a marked difference in the architectural styles of the former East and West Berlin; areas that were part of the old East of the city can be cheaper for rents.  

A flat share or “Wohnungsgemeinschaft” is a very popular option for those looking for accommodation, especially when being careful with costs. Sub-letting is not uncommon in Germany and often when a room becomes available for rent it will be the existing tenants who get to decide whom they will be sharing with. Competition for a flat share can be intense and for some there will be lots of looking before finding somewhere. At the beginning of October 2017 Greg undertook an exploratory visit to Berlin to begin to sort the things that anyone needs to get done when relocating and to his surprise got an offer of a flat share within two days. So, rather than coming back to the UK for a couple of months after his initial week, which had been his original intention, Greg returned for just a few days and then moved to the city mid Octobber 2017. It became apparent quite quickly to Greg though that he would actually prefer to have his own place, he had of course had two years of house sharing prior to his move to Germany. He began then the  even harder task of looking for somewhere that he would be able to afford living on his own. By very good fortune he found out about a flat that was suitable and within his budget and so from November had his own place. Although inot large he had his own kitchen and bathroom and  a small balcony just big enough for a little table and chairs. It was situated in an older building with beautiful ornate plaster work and chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings. The street that it was situated on was normally quiet but close enough to busy thoroughfares that have lots of places to eat  which meant that the basic cooking facilities were not too much of a problem. Sorting out issues like electric fuse problems stretched Greg’s improving German language skills considerably but that was of course the point of him moving there. (The image below is of Greg rehearsing with the theatre group he joined).

Accommodation is always one of the big things that anyone moving to somewhere new has to sort. Compared to other European capital cities Berlin still has areas of the city where rental prices are not totally prohibitive. In part this is a consequence of Berlin’s turbulent, troubled twentieth century history. Immediately after World War Two the city was divided into sectors and then in 1961 was effectively cut in two when the Berlin wall was placed around the Western sector of the city by the Communist East German authorities. Berlin was to remain a city of two halves until political changes in nearby Eastern bloc countries meant that the checkpoints along the Berlin wall were opened in 1989 with parts of it being demolished by enthusiastic crowds; the following year Germany was reunified. Berlin has now been one city again for longer than it was divided but work still continues to ‘join the seams’ . Whilst deserted U-Bahn stations could be speedily reinstated other work has taken considerably longer, even now there is a marked difference in the architectural styles of the former East and West Berlin; areas that were part of the old East of the city can be cheaper for rents.  

A flat share or “Wohnungsgemeinschaft” is a very popular option for those looking for accommodation, especially when being careful with costs. Sub-letting is not uncommon in Germany and often when a room becomes available for rent it will be the existing tenants who get to decide whom they will be sharing with. Competition for a flat share can be intense and for some there will be lots of looking before finding somewhere. At the beginning of October 2017 Greg undertook an exploratory visit to Berlin to begin to sort the things that anyone needs to get done when relocating and to his surprise got an offer of a flat share within two days. So, rather than coming back to the UK for a couple of months after his initial week, which had been his original intention, Greg returned for just a few days and has been living in Berlin since mid October last year.  It became apparent quite quickly to Greg though that he would actually rather have his own place, he had of course had two years of house sharing prior to his move to Germany. He began then the even harder task of looking for somewhere that he would be able to afford living on his own. By good fortune he found out about a flat that was suitable and within his budget and so from November has had his own place. Although not large he now has his own kitchen and bathroom and a small balcony just big enough for a little table and chairs. It is situated in an older building with beautiful ornate plaster work and chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings. The street that it is situated on is normally quiet but close to busy thoroughfares that have lots of places to eat  which meant that the basic cooking facilities of the flat were not too much of a problem. Sorting out issues like electric fuse problems stretched Greg’s improving German language skills considerably but that was of course the point of him moving there

.  

Greg joined a theatre group and choir to begin to build up a social circle, by Christmas he found himself in a production with the theatre group that was largely made up of other newcomers to the city acting in German for an audience of native speakers, which was slightly anxiety elevating but very enjoyable. Also somewhat anxiety raising, but very exciting, was an opportunity to perform at the Konzerthaus at Stadtmitte, duetting with a new singing friend at a concert for the staff who work there; a knowledgeable audience well used to hearing top class voices.  The choir group he joined had a full Christmas performance schedule and Greg very quickly had to learn their Christmas concert programme performed without scores for an audience of some four hundred in one of Berlin’s beautiful churches. A somewhat slimmed down version of the concert was then performed a further three times in various care settings dotted around the city. Many of the Christmas traditions that we in the UK consider our own were in fact ‘imported’ from Germany being introduced to this country by Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert. Greg decided to stay in Berlin over the festive period and loved visiting the brightly decorated shops and bustling Christmas markets. One thing that he did miss that first Christmas was a seasonal Turkey dinner. He did in fact find a restaurant who advertised that they cooked a Christmas roast dinner and Greg went there with a friend over the Christmas period but, nice as the meal was, it was not what you could get very easily from any restaurant serving a Christmas menu in the UK.

Greg lived in Berlin for two years, and was very settled with a wide circle of friends and eventually a much bigger flat. He saw the city gripped in the coldest of winters and baked in the hottest of summers. He coped with trips to the optician and doctors and found that he could understand what was being asked of him and make himself understood. He discovered that he had reasonably ‘green fingers’; he got a range of pot plants that he put onto his balcony to brighten it up and got them to flourish and bloom earning him a compliment on how nice he had it looking from one of his neighbours across the street. He established a pattern of activities for himself that took up his days. As well as speaking German when carrying out day to day tasks he  spent some time each day reading and writing and studying the language and worked through steadily advancing on-line courses. The German government also runs language courses at various levels and Greg enrolled on one earning himself an Internediate Certificate of Proficiency, just one level below that which he would have needed to apply for a German University course and had intended to continue studying for the higher levels. He joined a gym that he attended regularly and made a group of gym buddies. He acquired a bicycle which is made it faster to get around although he also become very adept at using the city buses and U-bahn underground. He worked in various employment settings to fund his life in Berlin including shop work and domestic and commercial cleaning. He did some ‘Komparse’ work - small bit parts in film and television. (This is something that he has done in the UK also and if you want to see more details of what he has previously done read the Television Appearances page.) In his second year in Berlin he was fortunate to get work at a school in Berlin - teaching Yoga to some of the very young pupils. The school taught all the children, even the youngest, in German and English and so his native user English status was a definite asset.

One area where Greg had perhaps been less fortunate in Berlin was in settling with a vocal coach.  In the UK he had worked with a raft of talented vocal teachers. He did consider making regular trips back to London when he first moved Berlin to continue to take vocal lessons but even with frequent and reasonably priced air fares this proved not to be a viable option. Greg has worked with several vocal teachers whilst in Berlin and took Master classes to continue to hone his vocal skills but he never settled with one long term coach as he had done in the UK. One of those Greg worked with iwas the respected conductor, coach and repetiteur Tim Ribchester. The contacts that Greg built up by exploring the tuition opportunities on offer in Berlin  also gave him the chance to sing for Dale Fundling, an American who had made his home in Berlin. A chamber musician and accompanist Fundling found that his greatest passion was assisting singers and has spent more than twenty years working at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Fundling’s students have performed on many leading opera stages including the world famous New York Metropolitan Opera, London’s Covent Garden and Milan’s La Scala. Greg was thrilled to be offered the opportunity of becoming a student of Fundling and was even more delighted and grateful that his studies were supported by the R E C Music Foundation that assists an international and diverse range of music projects as well as individual performers’ studies. Not long after their collaboration had commenced however Dale took the decision to move away from Germany.

Greg’s life in Berlin was, on a whole, a positive one; he was far from being the only newcomer to the city of course. Prior to the second world war and its aftermath people had been drawn to the city by its glamour and liberalism and this has also proved to be the case since its reunification. The European refugee crisis saw Germany take a larger number of those dispersed  by conflict that any other European nation, something not all German’s approve of and there has been a rise in the popularity of right wing political parties. Whilst asylum seekers have been on the whole settled in areas with lower population density these are also often areas with fewer jobs, often those there are are what are called mini jobs, part time work. Some then have drifted towards Berlin, where homeless numbers have risen sharply in recent years. In the first twelve months that Greg  lived in Berlin he had two times when he had to offer help to a victim of street crime and, with a friend who worked at a restaurant, gave out left over food at the end of a day; he spent part of his first Christmas volunteering for a scheme that offered hot meals to the homeless.

Like most big cities Berlin has its darker side and can be a harsh place for the unwary; within days of his first arriving there Greg was targeted by pickpockets and had his wallet stolen however he also had an occasion when he lost his wallet whilst travelling on the U-Bahn amd was delighted to find that it had been handed in with all of its contents still in place to the lost property office. Greg found Berlin to be a place of shadow and light but overall he is enjoyed his life there very much.

In the summer of 2019 Greg returned to the UK for a visit and decided to combine it with a Summer School at the Wave International Academy of Voice - a decision that changed his direction once more as, although he loved his life in Berlin, his attendance at the Summer School culminated with him being offered the opportunity to study for his MA in Advanced Vocal Studies at the Academy; an opportunity that just could not be missed. So, for the next two years at least, he is once again living in the UK.

Enjoying some Spring sunshine on the balcony of his flat whilst doing his daily German language study.

Rehearsing with the theatre group.

Although the vast majority of the wall has been demolished there are reminders of it’s former existence throughout the city.