Riding the Bus

My first day here in the city this time around went something like this...
Realizing that Verizon Wireless has no decent international service I needed to get a pre-paid telephone. Realizing that my laptop was on its last leg of battery I needed to get a European outlet converter. So in  the morning I was given a key to my friends apartment where I am staying and a map of Berlin. I was on my way to a mall in Potsdamer Platz. So I walked up the street to the bus stop and as I sat down on the bench I realized that I had never taken public transportation. Alone. In my life.

Ok.
So the M48 pulls up (I think thats the one I needed) I gave the bus driver my 2 and 10... she was smiling. A nice start. I took my seat across from an unfriendly older looking man who made brief eye contact then looked away. I stayed on the bus for a few stops and started to look at my map to figure out where I was supposed to get off. I soon exited and started to walk a little further up the street. Realizing that I was not there yet I asked a man if he spoke english. "A little," was his and seems to be the common reply. "2 more stops."
Ok.
So I walk and get back on the bus. Same bus driver. Nice.
I do my bit of shopping. Even harder to shop for electronics than usual without the use of language. But I get what I need and walk across the street to the other side to wait for my bus. I get out my 2 and 10 for the return as the M48 pulls up again. The door opens and I am greeted by the same smiling bus driver. She waved me on without paying. It wasnt until later when I realized how slim the odds were of being picked up by the same bus driver 3 times that I understood the message. Berlin will take care of me.