when i arrived in berlin my sister fetched me from the bus station and we drove home through the night. we passed neukölln, where i used to live. i recognized my old washing salon, my turkish baker, the streets i walked along on a daily basis. at first i felt excited and somewhere deep inside of me something remembered that this is what i once called home. but as time moved along the feeling vanished. berlin seemed strange to me, strangely familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. sitting on the suburban train, looking outside the window, hearing those noises, that are so distinctive of berlin, seemed like an echo from a long lost time and made me feel even more at home at the place i'm in just right now. i knew i was on the right track when i left berlin.