All roads lead to Berlin

I tried to leave. I really did. But it seems there is a maximum amount of time my mind, body and soul can endure before I find myself back in the home of currywurst and electrohouse.

My first introduction to Berlin, and really to the German language, was my Erasmus year at Humboldt University. In the context of the usual quarter-life what-on-earth-am-I-qualified-for crisis, I was delighted to find a skill that could be honed by, nay necessitated, the drinking of (German) beer with friends. After a year of frolicking around the world’s hippest capital at the expense of the European Union (RIP UK Erasmus Programme), I had caught the language bug – and was a total convert to cheap beer and chicken döners. After my graduation from London I was on the first plane back to Berlin and gracing the city with my ‘adorable’ British accent, awkward attempts at colloquialisms and mind-blowing karaoke skills.

A ramble across Europe – and back again

It took a year of umming and aahing, a stint in a German call centre and a brief, nightmarish jaunt into the world of film production to confirm that the translation field was where I wanted to be. With many sad partings I headed back to London to tackle a translation Masters, thinking that would be the end of my love affair with Germany’s capital, if not with its language. Little did I know that fate and a little company called Supertext were lurking just around the corner…

Swapping Shoreditch for Schöneberg

All my wayward attempts to broaden my jet-setting net were thwarted. After initially applying for a job with Supertext in Zurich, I ended up with a job in… the Berlin office! So I found myself packing up my bags for the third time round, squeezing myself into a luridly uncomfortable Ryanair seat and exchanging my East London shoebox for a palatial West Berlin Altbau. Suffice it to say, I have no complaints at all that I ended up back here – just the first of many situations that prove to me that the people at the Supertext head office know what they are doing. Finding myself once again in my soulmate city, with a superfriendly team and a job I actually enjoy is good luck I never dreamed of. And don’t worry Berlin, I take the hint – I’m not going anywhere this time.

Cover picture: Photo via Supertext



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