Three days in and the snow has already started.
Berlin in the winter seems a formidable place, but the excitement and vitality coursing through the city is unlikely to diminish, whatever the elements.
ThatâÂÂs what I kept telling myself anyway, before my first trip to a Bundesliga game.
IâÂÂm in Berlin for two months, a Brit out of water, doing work experience at German football magazine 11 Freunde (11 Friends) â a very fun magazine, somewhere between When Saturday Comes and our own dear FourFourTwo.
Its office above a theatre in the former East Berlin is a great vantage point, not only from which to watch the snow tipping down, but also from which to contemplate the idiosyncrasies of German football and the fans who follow it.
I think it would be fair to say that German football is something of an enigma to us Brits.
We suspect that the quality might not actually be that great (Exhibit A: Andriy VoroninâÂÂs 11-goal success last season), but weâÂÂre jealous of the cheap safe standing, the beers and the bratwurst â three reasons to make you forget any technical deficiencies.
The Germans, in turn, cast an admiring gaze our way: English football seems popular here.
I had a meeting recently with a Lieutenant-Colonel from the Bundeswehr (German army), and the first thing he did was slap me on the back and say, âÂÂHallo Herr Chalk, IâÂÂm huge Blades fan!âÂÂ
He was, in fact, the first Sheffield United fan IâÂÂd met.
My colleagues in the office here are also impressed by the creativeness of English chants â especially the one Spurs fans had, willingly offering up their wives to Paul Stalteri.
Whether Borussia Mönchengladbach supporters are as generous to their current right-back, I can only wonder, but shall endeavour to find out.
Meanwhile, if there is anything about German football culture that has you scratching your head, be sure to ask.
IâÂÂm certainly no expert yet, but finding out the answers is bound to be an adventure.
As they say here, Los jetzt! â Bring it on!
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