The differences between two cities, Berlin and Bilbao!

We are going to talk about the differences between countries, it is well known that a large part of our students are from Germany and arriving here could create a certain culture shock and that is why today we will talk about those little things.

As we can't talk about Germany in general, we will talk about Berlin, the capital, because it is a country that is the same as Spain in that depending on which city you find yourself in, the people and the climate can vary. When talking about a world capital the first notorious difference is the size difference between cities, since Bilbao may be the capital of the Basque Country but not of Spain.

If we start from this point we can understand that Bilbao is a city which is much easier to see without having to take as much public transport, while in Berlin we will need to take trains in order to get to places, although this isn't a problem because there are trains on almost all street corners.

One of the more popular transports in Berlin are bicycles, which have more preference than walking. If you are not careful you can end up run over by one or more of these since they come from all directions and it is very easy that at a junction one could suddenly appear without warning. Undoubtedly, this is a noticeable difference as Bilbao has bicycles but they have to be careful as pedestrians and cars have right of way. Therefore if you are German or from Berlin and you decide to go by bike, you will be the one who has to be careful.

In terms of climate, we find that Berlin or Germany in general is a country with quite a cold climate, but a dry cold which requires a few good jackets, a hat and gloves because it can drop to below zero in winter. However, Bilbao has a very humid climate and therefore you need clothes than can protect you from rain and and the wind that can freeze your bones.

Yes it is true, that Berlin even having such a cold climate has a lot of places to go both shops, bars, stalls, restaurants ... etc., a lot of activities in comfortable and heated places. Although it has to be remembered that Berlin is a capital, while Bilbao on the other hand is a small city that doesn't have many activities or places to go, and it must be said that Bilbao, with it's rainy climate, should have more places to go that are covered and warm.

They say that being part of a society relates slightly to the weather and we have already seen that these two places are quite cold, but in this case it can be said that for the rest of Spain the people of the Basque Country are very cold and not very sociable but for those that come from Berlin we can appear to be too loud and sociable and so that may be the biggest culture shock between the two countries and the two cities.

I hope that this information has been useful and I am sure that our German students have their own opinion and have noticed other differences that have not been written here, but us here at Instituto Hemingway, hope that even with these differences that they have found the good in this city and in our culture.