One major issue that I had to overcome in Hamburg was my having no understanding of public transportation. There were many times when I wished that I could be safely in my little ’99 Mazda, knowing exactly where I was going and feeling shielded from the world. At home, I had never taken Septa alone before. I always had to plan my trips and never remembered how to read the train schedule (that’s what friends are for). I come from West Norriton, PA, where public transportation is hard to get to, and routes to any major attraction (the mall, super Wal*Mart) are very complicated and make driving seem much more convenient.

In Hamburg, the subway/train system if more efficient. There are more stops, and trains that run on a loop come every 5 minutes, not every 45-50. On day 2 I had to take the bus and the train alone, and my anxiety about public transportation began to decline. Becoming more comfortable with the train made my time exploring Hamburg enjoyable. Working on my project (tracking down buildings featured in Fatih Akin films) was my favorite part of the trip.

There are also more bus stops in Hamburg, and they are more visible. Often, there is a timer letting pedestrians know how far away the bus is. In Pennsylvania, quite a few bus stops around my neighborhood are marked by a sign just a few inches big that is below some other traffic sign. For years I didn’t even know what those little symbols were for. I wondered why clusters of people sometimes stood on the side of the road under the “Right Lane Ends” sign…

I would prefer to live in Hamburg because the city doesn’t feel so in-your-face, thrown-to-the-wolves, urban. At the same time, there is so much to do and it is much easier to go out and enjoy attractions of urban settings (concerts, galleries). The public transportation system alone makes me want to move there. But the way the train and bus schedules changed at night was a whole different adventure…

–Jocelyn Moye