"Some people just don't know how to behave"

I was on the train (on my own) to go to the Zimbabwe Arts Festival [Which was by the way, very much inspiring, shocking at times, sad, funny and yeah, I was soo happy to be actually living in Berlin and to be able to just go there and drop by. So I felt really local]

I was reading Denis Goldberg's autobiography [in German or in English] on the train, which was very recently published and since I am at it I might tell you that it is a fantastic book to read a new perspective on the struggle against apartheid and it is very well written and informative. I had been invited to the launch of his book at the South African Embassy and ever since I had gotten my hands on a copy I had been reading it wherever I happened to be.

Anyway, here I was, sitting on the wonderful multicultural U8 which starts deep down in neukoelln, then passes through Kreuzberg (my favourite stop is the notorious Kottbusser Tor) and then takes you out to Mitte and godknowswhere. One stop or so after our departure, a big group of boys with either a Turkish or an Arabian background got on the train. They were really loud, while I was somewhere in the middle of South Africa of the 1960s. One of the boys said, "I'll sit down next to this nice lady" and he did. The rest gathered around us, me reading. Then another one who approached the group challenged to beat up yet another one "right here and now". I looked up. The boys pushed each other around a bit. They were between 12 and maybe 14 and they really needed to prove their coolness. It was a saturday, so the train was not really that full, nobody seemed to be bothered the slightest bit. The boy next to me, shook his head and said, "Some people just don't know how to behave". I chuckled.
Turned out, this group of young apes was on their way to the swimming pool. It was one of the hottest days so far. But they didn't actually know where to go to. I don't think they had ever travelled there before. none of them had a clue, which station to go to. A friendly passenger then helped them and advised them, also making peace among them. It was a funny ride.

I cannot believe that for some people travelling 5 stations by train and leaving their "Kiez", their immediate environment, is often an unbearable challenge. Talk about integration, mixing, equal chances... And these were young boys, there was not a girl among them. I am sure it might be even more diffucult to leave your kiez as a girl. I know through my work at Hueber for German as a second language teachers that there are many illiterate, mature women who have lived in Berlin for several decades and have heard of the subway as a rumor. I find it incredible.

I feel like I sort of missed my point here, there was some good twist I had to that story. But it is late and I forgot. Hope to edit this post tomorrow.