Berlin: One year on

On 24^th October last year, after eight years in the prison education job that I’d loved, I handed in my ID, belt, key and radio pouches and walked out through the gate for the last time, aware that I was cutting myself adrift from what had become a massive part of my life.

I was about to move to Berlin for what, at the time, was to be a one-year stay.  When, earlier in the year, Alan had suggested that we sell the flat in Chodowieckistrasse as there seemed little chance of us ever being able to occupy it, and use the proceeds to finance a year in the city, I initially thought it was a crazy idea.  However, the more I considered it, the more I realised that making one of those potentially reckless, no going back decisions was probably exactly what we needed.

We’d had four particularly stressful years when it seemed like we were clobbered by a new misfortune almost daily.  I’d had a scary medical condition which I recovered from physically, but took a long time to come to terms with psychologically.  Alan had bouts of depression which were aggravated by redundancy and a succession of bereavements, the final blow being the loss of his mum in July 2012 after a long and terrible battle with breast cancer.  We ended up in a rut, lacking the energy or motivation to do much more than sit watching repeats of 'Come Dine with Me'.

So coming to Berlin did have an element of ‘running away’ about it, but it has also been our salvation. 

I recall the strange mixture of excitement and fear at setting out on this new escapade.  During the first few weeks, I spent much of my time just wandering around the neighbourhood, taking it all in, trying to get a feel for the way life is lived here and to investigate things that it didn’t seem so important to know when we only came as visitors. 

 

One of my first photos - from the balcony of our flat in Prenzlauer Allee

 

It was a novelty having no job to have to get up for but it also felt strange having no structure to our days.  Despite suddenly having all of that time on our hands though, one thing we never were was bored.  There was simply too much to experience.

I couldn’t have predicted how the year would pan out.  It’s certainly not been without its problems, yet it has been the most enriching, mind-broadening, mad, and brilliant year of my life.

If we’d stuck to our original plans, we would be returning to England this weekend.  As it is, we’re going to be here now at least until the summer.  We might return skint but we’ll have had one hell of an adventure.