this here burger lived in germany many months of 2006-2010 because of my parents work, and it was magical. the strassenbahns quite literally ran on time, we could get to someplace fascinating in ten minutes walk from whatever station, cute old couples like our landlords or neighbors would smother me with kinder berraschungs or sneak me klsch when my parents totally werent watching. i even got my first job at some random bookstore by the river. we were on the u-bahn one time during the world cup, the motor broke down, and the driver immediately came back to apologize and explain how the repair crew would be along in 10 minutes, aber ich bringe etwas gutes mit: jetzt steht es eins-null deutschland! i havent been back since a school trip in 2013, and things were already trending down, people being meaner and snippier than id felt before. graffiti was everywhere. im so glad i got to experience it in the before times, but even gladder i never experienced its current state to tarnish those old memories
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