Arthur F. Burns Fellowship 2019 Final Report

Laurel Wamsley U.S. employer: NPR German host: The Local

Work placement

The Local Germany is an English-language German news site based in Berlin. Many of its readers are people from abroad who have settled in Germany. It uses a freemium membership model, with some number of stories free to read and others behind a paywall. It is part of a larger network of English-language news sites in different countries of Europe.

The Local’s newsroom is a small office in Prenzlauer Berg. Most days, the office was just one editor and one reporter in addition to myself, and sometimes an intern. The site also publishes many pieces written by freelancers.

The best part of working at The Local was the flexibility to write about topics in German life that interested me. I showed up the first week with a list of story ideas, and the editor was keen for me to write most of them. Because I didn’t speak any German before the fellowship, I figured The Local would be a good choice for me because I could be useful there, since they publish in English. This worked out as planned, and I did feel useful and valued.

One of my goals of the fellowship was to do types of stories I don’t get to do in my regular job as a breaking news reporter at NPR. I definitely was able to do that at The Local. I wrote features, travel pieces, an author interview, and personal essays, in addition to news. I really enjoyed the chance to write in all these modes, and the freedom to pursue stories on a wide range of topics.

The current editor at The Local is a Burns alumna herself, and she was extremely helpful, kind, and accommodating. We worked together to settle on a schedule in which I could balance writing for The Local, working on story ideas for NPR, and traveling to other parts of Germany. In one case, I was able to turn a trip to Dresden into a travel piece for The Local, which was great.

For me, there were two downsides of working at The Local. One is that it’s very small. I’m used to working in a bustling newsroom in DC, and I missed that feeling. The other is that there weren’t any Germans working there, and I do feel like I missed out in learning what a German newsroom felt like, as well as the chance to get to know German coworkers.

I met up with a few Burns alumni while I was in Germany, and they were lovely, fascinating people. It was great to compare notes on our experiences in both Germany and the U.S. Now that I am back home at NPR, I’ve already found that the fellowship has helped me in my reporting. Last week there was a shooting outside a synagogue near Halle, Germany. My knowledge of German — its geography, history, language, and news sources — aided in my quickly writing a story about the attack.

Language classes

I loved the two weeks of German language classes. I wish my U.S. work schedule had allowed me take a German class before arriving in the country, and I also regret that I did not keep taking classes after the two-week session at GLS ended. I hope to take more German classes now that I’m back home.

Housing

I spent a whole lot of time on the housing search. I had friends put out a message on various expat listserves, and I posted messages on different Facebook groups. I looked at Airbnbs and Craigslist.

For me, the key was the website WG-Gesucht, and learning how to use it. This website is the primary venue for finding shared apartments/roommates in Germany. At the very bottom of the home page, you can toggle the language to English. Once you do that, it becomes more evident how the site works. I posted my own free ad, as a person looking for a two-month sublet, and soon had lots of people contacting me to offer a room to rent. I also scanned through listings in the neighborhoods I was looking at (Kreuzberg, Prenzlauer Berg, and Friedrichshain).

All that work paid off, and I found a great place on the site: a room in a three-bedroom apartment in Kreuzberg, where the other two flatmates were both German journalists, for 700 euros a month.

For future fellows, I strongly recommend using WG-Gesucht. I wanted to have roommates, and was very glad I did. I recommend both posting an ad and looking at rooms available. It can be really tough to get a sense of what neighborhoods you want to live in before you get to Berlin. I think Kreuzberg, Prenzlauer Berg, Mitte, and Friedrichshain are the best bets for most Burns Fellows, given their centrality and concentrations of restaurants, shops, etc.

I also recommend buying a bike. I bought a used bike for 120 euros at a used bike market in Kreuzberg that happens the first Saturday each month. It had a great selection of used bikes. By owning a bike, I saved money not taking the U-Bahn everywhere, and had more freedom to explore the city. I brought my own helmet, lock, and lights from home. I wished I had brought my pannier from home as well.

In terms of my own place in D.C., I rented it out on Craigslist. I had thought it likely that I might rent my room to a German Burns Fellow, but none were assigned to D.C. General reflections

I had a wonderful experience on the fellowship, from the orientation to the end. I am very grateful to have had this opportunity.

I loved learning German, living in Berlin, traveling to other places in the country, and simply having the experience of living in Europe as an adult. I found that I was constantly learning and reflecting on differences between U.S. and German society and politics, in ways that I think will shape my life and work for years to come. I’m also so glad to have met and befriended the German Fellows, and I hope that our paths will cross again soon.

Some things I would do if I could do it all again: Read more books about German and European history before I went, such as Postwar by Tony Judt and In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. Once arriving in Germany, I would recommend joining some sort of club or classes to meet more people. I would keep taking German classes.

I was really glad to I met up with Americans I knew who had moved to Berlin. They often pointed out differences about German life that served to inspire my reporting or at least aid my understanding.

Published articles so far:

How to ride a rental bike from Berlin to Copenhagen - and leave it there

Authorities search for missing cobra near Bochum

Bundesliga: Your complete guide to becoming a football fan in Germany

Germany's (dis)connectivity: Can the broadband Internet gap be bridged?

Five ways Germany makes you greener (without even noticing)

Weekend Wanderlust: Tracing a city's revival in Dresden

'I took a deep breath': An American's first dip into German nudity