3 weeks since I landed in Berlin, here are some observations about Berlin and Germany I have made:

German pillows are square shaped. To the average (read: normal) person, this is unbeliably confusing, silly and uncomfortable. To Germans, however, this is a good thing. Square-shaped things have some kind of hypnotizing appeal to Germans. They even have (tasty) chocolate Ritter Sport, which is sold with the catchy slogan "Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut." ("Squareish, Practical, Good") That these three things are the ultimate selling points for chocolate is strange, but the order that they are ranked is just sheer... well, German!

Berlin doesn't seem to have as many "poo-tray" toilets as I expected, which is good news.

There is quite an abundance of fit men. On a walk from the U-Bahn station to my apartment (2 mins) I saw 5 fit guys. Perhaps it's just because I'm rather partial to foreigners (i.e. everyone not English or American), or the fact that the area I live, Neukölln, is rather Turkish. Still, it is nice to catch the train and nearly always have some eye candy to occupy my gaze. The level of fit men appears to lower when getting closer to the city centre, or - annoyingly - when entering gay clubs!

Socks and sandals are not as common as I expected. At the minute my count stands at 3 (well I saw one guy twice, he looked like Hurley from Lost and both times was dressed entirely in red, including his socks - which clashed nicely with his brown sandals.)

All gays seem to have facial hair. It is less comedy than straight Germans' facial hair, but still strange to see.

I have only seen one mullet. The guy sporting it didn't appear to be German, however. This confused me a lot.

Berlin is infinitely nicer in the sun. Shame that has probably gone for the year now. I need warmer clothes.

Takeaways are Turkish, tasty and cheap. Love them.

Living at the end of a long U-Bahn line is unbelievably handy. German trains are frequent.

German night buses are rather useful and simple to understand. But why allow that to get in the way of staying out til the trains start running again at 5:30 am?

Going out in Berlin before midnight is uncommon. And maybe even frowned upon.

Getting in from a night out before 5:30am is uncommon. And maybe even frowned upon.

Drinking on the streets is allowed. And encouraged. Grabbing a beer on the way to the train station is good, especially when you have at hand a lesbian who can open bottles with her lighter. Mixing your own vodka red bulls at a train station in glasses you stole from a pub, then drinking them through McDonald's straws is allowed too, though may mean you get some strange looks.

CurryWurst is niiiiice.

Berlin is fab.