“Oh no, not this again” — something like that is probably going through a lot of our heads once the end of October brings the clock change, wet weather, and storms. It gets dark fast and hard now, everything's mostly grey, and once the autumn colors have blown off the trees, there's often not much point lifting your head to look around anymore: just concrete everywhere.
But instead of turning to the usual dreary screens of every shape and size (doomscrolling, TV, gaming, streaming, streaming, streaming), autumn and the coming winter actually offer plenty of chances to turn toward things in your own neighborhood and beyond, the kind of things a big, culturally significant city like Berlin has to offer. So instead of just wrapping yourself up like a mummy and grimly trying to hibernate through it, we could stab that seasonal depression in the back with a bit of appetite for something new, a mercy kill of sorts!
So, then, have you ever been to Köpi? They've got a screen-printing workshop that runs on donations! Freshen up a few of your clothes, show off a glowing logo on that winter coat that otherwise usually just does its job and nothing more!
Once it gets cold, the independent sauna projects, now fairly numerous, are worth recommending, they invite both the chronically cold and the properly frozen to a shared sweat session.
Like every season, winter needs good food too! The projects called KüFa (kitchen for everyone) are spread across the whole city, running almost every day of the week! Cheap, tasty food, often made from rescued ingredients, served by kind people with a heart under their shirt. Also helps with loneliness!
How about chess with strangers? The Stranger Chess project invites you to various spots around the city to shake off a bit of your everyday routine over a game of chess with whoever shows up.
On the Berlin Remap map you'll find seasonally fitting offers, where you can either put material from home to good use, take it apart, build on it, improve it, or learn a whole range of new techniques for repairing all kinds of things.
So what are you waiting for, turn off the screen and get your shoes on, even that supposedly grey world out there is waiting for you.
Courier El Niño #02 belongs to CROW Courier, which replaces delivery vans with cargo bikes. The car-free Berlin courier service also fosters a cooperative way of working. Info at crowberlin.de