How to eat for free in Berlin?

Image taken from rlv.de

This is in relation to the previous blogpost, how to avoid food wastage and eat for free.

This same organisation Foodsharing.com just recently started a new initiative called http://www.lebensmittelretten.de/  which makes sure that bakeries and shops in Berlin do not throw away the food they cannot sell tomorrow, but give it for free to those in need. And you do not have be an alcoholic or homeless, anyone can sign up and pick up, sometimes, kilograms of free food.

My flatmates discovered this system about a month ago, ever since we have been having tons of free sandwiches,  sweet pastry, bio salad, broccoli, avocado etc. If the bakery tells you we close at 6pm please come 5min. before, you cannot be late! Once you’re late they will sign you off.

You cannot die from hunger in Berlin

© picture alliance­: dpa

Because Germans have a program called Food Sharing.

We all happen to buy sometimes too much, or the wrong item, or we simply go for a holiday and need to empty the fridge. Or maybe you had a birthday party with lots of cakes and salads and now you don’t know how to finish them all. There are many reasons why we throw away food.

Foodsharing.de found the way to save the products we cannot or don’t want to consume anymore.

Berlin, are you hungry?

Image taken from: http://wienerschmankerl.files.wordpress.com

Berlin! It’s time to eat!

Tomorrow, May the 11th Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg areas will have a special night called 1. Lange Nacht der Kulinarik. High-quality and mostly owner-operated culinary establishments will open their doors late, from 6 pm to midnight. Special prices, a tea seminar, a wheel of fortune, live acts and even more! See the whole list HERE

Some places will have a dress code, in which case you get treated for free!

Partners’ list: clicky

Get you programme and discover new places: clicky

Remember, Berlin in spring is not only about Spargel!

Image taken from: http://www.barewalls.com/

Berlin survival kit

Slutwalk Berlin 2011. Image by: Gregor Fischer

In the last few days there was a lot of attention in Berlin media to Robert Coleman article published by The New York Times. He has shared his Australian band’s summer experience in Berlin. The band came here for recording an album, and got sucked in by parties and never-ending adventures. Read full story HERE

My comment to this is that it really depends on what money you come here with. If you have a stable income somewhere else, then you certainly do not worry about the rent, when the things will be done and  how many times a week you go out. Berlin seems cheap and cheerful.

I came to Berlin with almost no money, and had to look for a job the very first day. Most of my friends are artists, and seem to be quite productive, having exhibition openings, performances, and other cultural events organised. With very little money I get paid, Berlin makes me work twice harder.

When it comes to earning bread-money with music, you start working your ass off. I’ve heard before that music bands don’t last long in Berlin. Maybe it’s too much of a classical sex, drugs, rock’n’roll scenario? You feel extremely cool and free, get too loose and lose control? Let’s face the fact, once you run out of money and can’t pay the rent – you ask yourself a question: to be or not to be? Yes, to be a Berliner doesn’t mean you can be a doughnut. 

You need to learn how to survive in Berlin, just like you had to in NY in 80s (yeah, i got stuck there a little). Once you get it, you’re in! Peaches made her career living in Berlin, and now she seems to be more active than ever: releasing a film, singing in an opera, recording a video in support for Pussy Riot and hell knows what else.

But here is Berlin survival kit for you

Berlin is the city for  commoners. Even if you’re a hyp you’re down-to-earth. Even without a language you can survive in Berlin. Berlin is a poor city, but it compensates.

Vegetable battle between Berlin-Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain 2011. Image by: Gregor Fischer

FOOD & SPACE

Those two come first. There are still a few “house projects”, as they call them now, where you can live for about 150€ (more or less) per month, including the food, which you get for free( a) there is a deal with markets which once a week deliver expired food to your house  b) you do dumpster diving). You can also be a guest at one of their cooking evenings where a plate of vegetarian food costs 2€!

However, if you are lucky with a small room in Neukoelln, then the Turkish market on Tuesdays and Fridays on MayBachufer str. is the best place to go, fruits and vegetables which don’t look fresh anymore are given away for free. Just ask. And the 5kg of potatoes cost only 0,80 cents! BOLU – seems to be one of the cheapest Turkish stores, where watermelon comes to 0,39cents per kilo (wait for summer), a bunch of spinach 0,35 cents, pack of tomatoes 0,60 or less!

There is a group of nice pople, who once a month in Kreuzberg cook a huge dinner for anyone. It is usually on donation principle. I am not sure they have the name. But they organise it on Falckensteinstr.

Brotfabrik is the place to dig some yummy pastry out! Dive hard!

Last summer we got for free: ice cream (promotion on the streets), Wulle beer (Give Box), sandwiches (at open mic night). Never had any of those items for free before, at least not in this way anyway. My friend also got for free Berliner Kindl (promotion) and a pack of Lucky Strike (promotion). Of course, clothing comes for free too, mostly in Give Boxes. Fleamarket (Mauer Park on Sundays) is a good spot for hunting cheap stuff.

And it is true that beer in Berlin is cheaper than water. Today I have purchased a bottle of beer for 10 cents, and the water costs 15!!!

One of my favorite night places is Madame Claude (Check their events here), you pay for the entrance whatever you can between 1 and 6 euros, and Berliner costs €2,30!!!

GERMAN CLASSES

YES, there are FREE German classes on Kopernickerstr. 10a, sponsored by EU. The organisation that runs them is called Arbeit Sofort. It does not matter how old you are, and where you come from. The only rule is: you have to work somewhere. They ask you to do an internship, but going through several courses I have realised that most of the people do normal jobs. There is a contract between your employer and the school, but there is nothing more involved. No complications whatsoever. And no, they do not have a homepage. Just pay them a visit between 9 and 12 in the morning.

There are also free German classes on Oranienstr, in Kreuzberg. Check their homepage for more infi: http://www.kub-berlin.org/index.php/en

Public art project in Berlin, Rozenthaler Platz, 2010. Image taken from: http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/unsuspecting-cars-paint

OTHER ITEMS

Moved in to an empty apartment? No problem, just go outside and walk down the streets. You can get a nice collection of different chairs, vintage lamps, radios, sofas and other pretty items people leave on the streets for others. There is always eBay kleinanzeigen, ToyTownGermany forum, Expats Facebook page, Craigslist and other online heavens.

Berlin does not get rid of old things, they get reused from generation to generation. Berliners still run very old bikes and use 70s prams, this you WILL NOT see in Riga for example.

EVENTS

When summer hits the town, Berliners party outside. Day and night. If you’re completely broke – collect bottles! Go to exhibition openings, and get free alcohol! House parties is the honest way to go. A bottle of wine costs 1,69! Absolutely drinkable.

Flyer distribution, review writing, photography for blogs are the best alternatives to get to events for free.  You enjoy the show and you enjoy sharing it. And there is always someone basking in Kreuzberg. Music is really not a problem.

TRANSPORT

Image taken by: Alexander Rentsch

Why paying?  U-bahn controllers often wear a uniform  and they are easy to spot, when the s-bahn workers dress casual. If they catch a fake address abroad also works. Or grab a bicycle, and ride wherever you want; the cheapest one would cost you 30 euros and last at least a year. Just give it some love.

JOBS

The most painful question, I guess. Most people work in shops, cafes, and bars when their German is not that good. And yes, many of them get paid under the table, that’s why the unemployment percentage in Berlin is really high. There are also plenty International companies running their business in Berlin (Berlin is the city of tech startups). I cannot give you a list, because there is no such, and it would be crazy long anyway.  But you can check: http://berlinstartupjobs.com/

Here is a list of websites, which I found useful:

http://www.thelocal.de/

http://www.jobisjob.de/

http://venturevillage.eu/jobs/

http://marsjobs.net// (jobs at startups)

http://itsinberlin.com/jobs-in-berlin-startups/ (jobs at startups)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/279887/1000jobs.html (jobs at startups)

http://www.designmadeingermany.de/jobs/ 

http://www.gruenderluft.de/

http://jobs.meinestadt.de/berlin/

http://somewhere.com/ (create your work portfolio and let the employers find you)

http://www.creative-city-berlin.de/en/

http://www.dasauge.de/

http://www.creativeset.net/

http://www.designerdock.de/

http://www.12designer.com/en/about.html

http://www.xing.com

http://www.gruenderszene.de/

http://www.berliner-jobmarkt.de/Search

http://www.kreativjob.com/

http://www.jobsinberlin.eu/

http://www.crew-united.com/

http://artconnectberlin.com

and Craigslist, of course, but it is more of a trashcan really.

WOLOHO mailing list has been quite helpful too.

I should mention that lovely companies like: Spotify, SoundCloud, Ableton and many others have an office in Berlin too.

A VERY USEFUL LINK: “How to find a job in Berlin” @ uberlin.co.uk

And let’s not talk about Hartz 4.

Gekeimte Bohnen: Green in Berlin, greasy in London, drunk in Copenhagen, hungry in Riga

image taken from: http://benefitofplants.blogspot.com/2011/04/benefits-of-bean-sprouts-prevent-cancer.html

Berliners (and other Germans) like germinated bean sprouts. They like it green and fresh in general. In stead of greasy MCdonalds, you see a child sucking a cucumber, and it makes you smile.

And it seems to be a tradition here, when coming to a dinner party (which of course in the end turns into a regular Friday night house party) you see guests bringing their own cooked meal. And it’s fear, yummy and simply friendly. So this would be healthy salads, nice fresh breads, fish, fruits, cheese, vegetables (even fresh carrots!) and most likely olives. People even travel with soup on the metro! Living in Denmark|Copenhagen i saw(maybe you saw differently) an opposite picture. The host cooks nothing, even if he she is a birthday child, the guests bring nothing, but the booze for themselves. This territory feels rather sharp, once taking somebody’s beer from a refrigerator makes you feel like a thief. Danes are territory oriented, it is very hard to step in to their private spaces, especially if you’re a foreigner. Danes won’t share their food and drinks with anyone. And this is normal, this does not make them greedy, this is a part of Scandinavian mentality.

Back to germinated bean sprouts:

Prevent Cancer
Nevertheless, benefits bean sprouts is not only contributing fertility,it also evident in research contains a substance that can crippling source of cancer, colon, pancreatic and leukemia.

According to research conducted,bean sprouts whether from type green beans, alfalfa and others contains many element beneficial phytochemicals.One is kanavanin that is a kind of amino acid. Kanavanin, alleged be able cripple source of cancer leukemia, colon and pancreas.

Good For Women
In addition, bean sprouts also have natural estrogen that function like estrogen synthesis.

Estrogen in bean sprouts can increase bone density and structure, and prevent bone loss (osteoporosis).Intake bean sprouts regularly by women can help them avoid from breast cancer,menstrual disorders, pre-menopausal symptoms, and disorders due to menopause.

With the English it is a different picture: they have no problem with sharing. But at home you will see a take away pizza, at work – this a home made sandwich carefully wrapped in plastic. This picture does not change from day to day. I could count on fingers those who eat a banana or apple during the lunch. They are too bread oriented, in a bad way.

zurück bleiben bitte

The first thing you see in Berlin is: TV tower

The first thing you learn in Berlin is: zurück bleiben bitte

The first thing you pay attention to is: street art

The first thing you drink is: coffee (by statistics coffee among Germans is actually more popular than beer!)

The first thing you think of is: the Wall

The 1st thing you understand when you go out is: that people are friendly and open here,they speak England – it’s a good start

The important thing you learn within a day is: that there is great food variety and the prices vary between €1,80 and €15 per portion!

The first thing you realise that Berlin is: the city of Dogs. Don’t you sometimes wanna be a dog in Berlin?

The first thing you get surprised about is: German bureaucracy. The more paper the better!

There is another thing you should know: there are no squats left in Berlin, it’s all about Space Projects. You still can meet true punks as if 80s never ended!