I recently visited Checkpoint Charlie again, one of the border crossings between East and West Berlin, and spent some time in an Asisi panorama tower (with a 180 degree, 10 meter high panorama view of the Berlin with a wall, with changing sounds and lighting to create the feeling of being "present"). Hence an image in return from this city that has such a fascinating history.
A young child is lifted up onto the Wall to celebrate the city's reunification in 1989
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What are the ups and downs of bringing up kids in Berlin? And I specifically mean Berlin as a city with it's history and present considered.
ReplyDeleteI'm not usually a fan of condensing into "Best of / Worst of" lists, but this question requires such an approach, unless you want to read a novel.
ReplyDelete5 Best of Berlin for Bringing up Kids
1) Relatively cheap - Due to relatively cheap living costs, there's income left over to "enjoy life" - and as parents know, going to the pool or zoo with 5 people, or going to a restaurant or visiting a museum, or the movies, is not cheap fun! I find it important for kids to experience little treats that go beyond free parks or self-made pizza - and for parents!
2) Cosmopolitan - Berlin is relatively international. Not like London or New York, but it's as good as it gets for Germany. I find it important for my kids to experience heterogeneity and be open to different cultures.
3) Green - Berlin is surrounded by lakes and forests. There are many big parks in the city.
4) Berlin is in Europe - We're close to places where we grew up, where our families - grandparents, cousins, etc. live, and our kids can see their families frequently.
5) Cool - Berlin is just funky. It's relaxed, artsy, and probably a fun (and possibly wild) place to be a teenager. At least the kids won't complain about living in the middle of nowhere when they get older.
5 Worst of Berlin for Bringing Up Kids
1) It's dirty. There's glass, dog poo and graffiti everywhere. There are lots of cars, so the air isn't great either. You can't let a toddler walk two steps without watching out.
2) It's Germany. They don't speak my mother tongue (Finnish) nor my strongest language (English) here, and my kids are growing up with German as their dominant language - and I wonder whether they will raise any possible own children in this language, and I will feel strange then?
3) It's a big city. The kids cannot go out to play on their own, they face big city dangers (strangers, traffic, etc.), and there may be a lot of wild things going on that are risky for young people once they hit the teens. It's a harsh city in that sense, I think (but do not know, as I did not grow up here myself and don't have the knowledge).
4) It's far away - Although we're relatively close to our grandparents and families, it still requires us to travel by train or plane, and family cannot simply pop by to support us in times of need or on a regular basis, and cannot drop by when it simply feels like a fun idea.
5) (I admit, I'm having more problems coming up with Cons than Pros). So to emphasize that, I'll leave out the last Con, and just state that I wouldn't want to bring up my kids anywhere else right now.