In Deutsch gibt es Verben mit festen Präpositionen. Die Bedeutung von Verben kommt auf der Präpositionen mit Verben an. Es ist nicht leicht für Ausländer, Verben mit festen Präpositionen zu begreifen exakt. Obwohl Grammtik nicht besonders nicht schwer ist, ist es nicht leicht zu merken. Mein Lehrer hat Kursteilnehmer für Kursteilnehmer Blätter gegeben, die Verben mit festen Präpositionen geschrieben werdet: die Position des Verben im Satz, Präpositionen mit Verben, usw. Es ist leichter zu verstehen nachdem ich Blätter sehe. Ich glaube, es dauert zwar lang Zeit, um Verben mit festen Präpositionen sich zu merken. Aber ich habe nicht mehr Angst vor der Präpositionen.

Flea markets in Berlin are a cultural phenomenon. Every week you can find a huge range of markets and flea markets (Flohmärkte) scattered around the city. Many of these flea markets provide entertainment and shopping opportunities on Sundays, when the rest of the city is closed.

At each of these flea markets one can find an often mind-boggling range of product, from high quality, original clothes and designs jewellery, to useless and obscure junk. You can buy raw materials; thread, beads, wood, tools, or you could pick up some old furniture, well used relics, and kitsch antiques. Often the stall holders at the Flea markets are regulars; they trade at the same market in (sometimes) the same space. However there is always a rotation of new stalls, often held by people who are selling a range of old clothes of original artwork.

The largest Flea Market in Berlin as at Mauerpark, on the edge of Prenzlauerberg. The park itself sits on what was once a part of the no-man’s land within the Berlin wall, hence the name (die Mauer means the wall) and right next to the Max-Schmeling-Halle and Freidrich-Ludwig-Jahn Sportpark. Every Sunday the market begins sometime around nine O’clock in the morning and continues until around six in the evening, depending on the weather. The Flea Market itself is very extensive, it contains two large garden bars, and numerous food and drink stalls in addition to the hundreds of stalls trading in a huge range of items, some useful, like bicycles and bike parts, and some useless.

Many of the items at Mauerpark are not as cheap as you might hope at a Flea Market, however there are definitely good deals to be had, especially if you arrive early in the morning before others have taken advantage of them, or late in the day when stallholders attempt to move their remaining products. The market is always busy, rain, shine or snow, and in the summer months it can often be a challenge to navigate. Visitors to the market are often tourists, and English is spoken widely, but it is not wholly aimed at the tourist market and locals certainly do frequent.

Aside from the Flea Market itself, the remainder of Maurpark is always packed full of a huge range of people relaxing, grilling, playing sports and music, busking, drinking and smoking. About halfway along the park, set into the large earth bank which leads up to the wall of the sportpark, below the giant swing sets, is an auditorium-like area of tiered concrete steps circling a circular stage, the Bearpit. This stage is the home of the famous Bearpit Karaoke im Maeurpark.

Established in 2009 by an Irishman called Joe with a portable Karaoke setup, the Karaoke has become an institution. Written about in various media outlets, including the Lonely Planet guide, it regularly draws crowds of thousands of people to watch the talent and the spectacles. Recently, as a result of gentrification of the Kiez, complaints of noise pollution have warranted a permit for the performances, meaning that the Karaoke is now a sporadic occurrence (check out the Facebook page if you want to check when it will be on).

Far from the only Flea Market in Berlin, Mauerpark is in good company with similar events taking place at Boxenhager Platz, in Schönebad, Hallesches tour and in Friedrichshain at RAW-tempel, and more. SO36, the infamous punk venue in X-berg (Kreuzberg) occasionally holds a Night Flea Market (Nachtflohmarkt) on Wednesday evenings. Although a lot smaller this is definitely worth a visit, if only to enjoy the company of the eclectic vendors and regulars!

A night out in Berlin will never disappoint. Around every corner there always waits something amazing and friendly.

Last night I went to a Drum and Bass gig with a co-worker to commemorate his last day at work (he plans to move on from Berlin, I think he’ll be back) in Friedrichshain. I know, in Berlin you listen to Techno, but Drum and Bass and Dubstep make up the soundtrack to my University years so I never turn down an invitation to reminisce.

The gig was amazing, well worth being a couple of hours late to work the next day. The headliners were a duo by the name of The Bulldogs. Based in Berlin they utilised a couple of turntables, live drums, and balaclavas. The venue was Cassiopeia, a club and bar in RAW Tempel on Revaler Straße (U Warschauerstraße), where you can find good music, fun people, a skate ramp in the large garden bar, and extensive climbing walls.

RAW Temple is an amazing location, typical of Berlin. It was once a railway depot and construction area (RAW stands for Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk), the „Königlich Preußischen Hauptwerkstatt“, hence, it is large.  Established in 1867, it was decommissioned in the early 1990s and since 1999 over 6000 m² has been utilised in various ways by the community group RAW-tempel eV.

Nowadays you can find a number of bars, clubs and cafes in the space with a flea market operating every Sunday. During the day the entire area is a gallery of great graffiti and by night a lively and relaxed space where you can dance to any music you want and drink cheaply in good company all night, and morning, long. Highlights are the infamous Suicide Circus, for solid techno, and Cassiopeia for DnB, Dubstep, and live music.