Wander With Lindsey

Continuing from my previous post about the changes in temperature and weather here in Berlin, I’ve found that I have been able to adjust to European living more than I had thought I would be able to. One of the first things that our program director had told us when we were moving into our apartments was the importance of fresh air and opening the windows at least once a day. In Europe, they call it “burping” a room, and its usually done every morning for a few minutes, regardless is if it very cold outside.

I had wondered why it was so heavily emphasized to open all your windows once a day to get fresh air. In the US, windows are typically only opened when the weather is nice because most housing and buildings have central air systems or ventilation systems. But for the buildings that don’t, such as dorm rooms, I don’t remember ever hearing the importance of clearing out the stuffy air in the room when first arriving at college.

But after about 2 days of being here, I had found myself opening all the windows in my apartment because after a while, you start to feel the difference in how the air feels. When they are all closed for a few hours, it begins to feel stuffy, and opening a few windows clears out all that air. I have found that the time of day that I usually do this is in the afternoon, after I get home from classes or errands, and then typically leave the windows cracked open overnight. I’ve found that I not only sleep better when the windows are open, but I also feel much more relaxed and can be more productive.

This habit is something that I hope to bring back to the US with me, not relying on central air to bring fresh air into a space, but allowing fresh air from outside to clear out a space and refresh a room. I am grateful to have the opportunity to study in a European city such as Berlin because I can completely immerse myself in a new culture with different practices of life, something that I wouldn’t be able to experience if I vacationed here for a week and stayed in a hotel. Since most hotels and hostels around Europe have central air and air conditioning systems, which do not allow people who are visiting to experience what I have about the benefits of fresh air. I feel that part of it is feeling comfortable in a hotel, which I understand, but in a way, I’ve been enjoying open windows more than air conditioning.

Experiencing this different way of living has been something that I am confident has changed my life, through small things such as open windows and fresh air.