And you may find yourself in another part of the World

I had a lot of fun on friday night. The graceful meeting exceeded my expectations in Krumme Lanke, but it was in truth only the beginning of my weekend. I am not sure If I mentioned my immersion with the group of German fellows who I happened to meet up with upon my return.

After sitting down for a drink in the Berliner-style Oktoberfest while seated around Potsdamer Platz, I waited for a few of the other students to give a call back. I had been waiting to meet for the debate, and head off for a tavern in a seperate part of the city which might be open late into the night (due to the time change, this would be necessary). It was at this point that a local spotted me, and hopped over the rail in my direction. At first I was apprehensive, but I simply stood, and kept my guard.

"Wie schmeckt das Bier?" he asked. How does the beer taste? I shrugged, "So-so." He looked closer at the bottle, and laughed. "Naja, das ist Franzozisch" (No wonder, it's French). I shrugged a sigh of relief, and laughed myself. I offered him a try, and he didn't think it to taste very well, either. At this point he asked me my name, trying out his English. I responded, in German.

Up until this point, I have been enjoying myself very much in the big city at the heart of Europe. However, I have felt a bit insulated from cultural immersion out on the town. I must admit my grammar and vocabulary still needs some improvement, and so I am not yet an active participant in fluent German conversations. But this was my chance to dive right in and see what a couple years of classes and a summer at the Goethe Institute in Boston had prepared me for. I knew that I was able to step away from the interaction and join with my fellow student friends at any point, regardless of when they gave a call. I knew also that taking chances while venturing off into mysterious locations with strangers, as well as you think you know your location, is always taking a risk. I know that this does not provide a good example of said precaution. If I have said it before, forgive me for repeating myself; Berlin is a city where you do not want to get lost, because it can cost a great amount to get yourself back on the right track. In hindsight, I am glad that things went as well as they did that evening.

The attitude on the downtown streets of Berlin is surprisingly lively. But I believe that because everyone tends to keep to their own space, moral and ethical obstacles can be avoided. I would not say that the expression allowed to Germans in media or on the streets in accordance with the law is less restrictive and thus more dangerous in comparison with America, but I would argue that it may be a bit more liberal. There is noticeably more nudity here, but also a smaller percentage of the population carries firearms. So there are some cultural differences which are no longer as noticeable to me as when I first arrived.

You know, I have already spoken about this topic in general, but not to a specific point. Homeless beggars and gypsies are a common sight on the streets of Berlin. I have thus far walked past a number of talented accordion and keyboard players whose object was to entertain the passers by. In Hamburg, I saw a very talented chalk artist drawing out on the sidewalk, and made a small donation. These efforts, I believe, have taken devotion and practice. But when I see a 25-year old lady with dyed hair and a puppy sit down at an intersection in a U-Bahn station, at a first glance it appears that she is attempting to catch suckers with holes in their pockets. Individuals such as this do not make passers by feel positive as they offer a token of appreciation, but play off the human sense of pity. By contrast, the most difficult cold shoulder I have ever had to deliver was to a gypsy Indian woman near the Brandenburg Gate. She caught me off guard and asked, "Speak English?" I nodded, hoping to help her. But she handed me an index card which read that she and her daughter were refugees from Burma. A little girl hung by her side, and I nearly broke down with remorse. After reading the card I took a deep breath, looked up and handed it back to her. "Please," She insisted. I felt filled with shame having to walk away.

I had to remember, early in our tour, the advice we had been given. For many tourists in the area, it was so easy to be taken advantage of by gypsies, that the cash in our pocket would seemingly disappear by the next day. Later, a friend told me that all people in need have a similar craving for money. A person in Philadelphia once asked her for some spare change after she had spent her last dollar on a sandwich; she offered the food in its stead, but it was thrown back into her face.

I do not feel like generalizing by offering a guess at the percentage, because I know that different countries have different welfare systems. It would be unfair of me to be so biased by saying that hard work pays off, because education matters too. Whether the poor may be out of work, out of a job, with illness, or suffering from an addiction, I believe individual situations vary with the political and economic climate around the world. As part of a later edit, I felt a bit stronger when the same lady approached a crowd of tourists the following weekend -- on the day of reunification -- and I didn't feel good about telling her no, but there are other things she could be doing to help herself, rather than living in that position.

We students should especially be careful with our loose change. It is ever more important right now, with the exchange rate as it stands. What I mean to say is that our education should take priority over feeding the cyclical habits of the homeless or the workless. I have mentioned before that the state subsidizes shelter for the registered citizens. I should worry about keeping myself healthy; that is a big enough challenge, with a large city like Berlin being the first metropolis inhabit for more than a week or so. I don't want my immune system to struggle in adapting to this new environment. Well, I suppose a cold may be expectable for a few days, but nothing out of the ordinary.

It was a breath of fresh air, to really be able to reach into my memory and extract some German vocabulary (and grammar) which I was then able to piece together into full sentences. I felt pretty bad for sleeping late again on sunday morning, mainly because it was such a nice day, and the Berlin marathon was run on the street that went right beside my apartment building. I'm sure I'll be able to wake earlier on future weekend mornings to enjoy the day.

Sunday night a couple of my fellow IES students and I returned to Potsdamer Platz to see a movie, subtitled in English. The Baader-Meinhof Complex tells the story of the RAF (Red Army Faction) in Germany during the late 1960s and early 1970s, but it didn't seem like much but a potent, explosive mess, void of a cohesive plot. Of course it was history, a story with which most if not all Germans living in the area are familiar as part of their background. It seems very interesting, all the learning I am tying in from outside of the classroom and connecting into the studies from inside our courses as well.

Anyways...

Following the movie we had a short talk with a couple of students from the German area studies program (the alternative IES or International Institution for the Education for Students, located in the same building). It was fun to be sitting in Potsdamer Platz, a colorful architectural masterpiece.

This afternoon, I booked my travel plans for a November circuit around central Europe. I have to say I'm pretty excited. More news to come.

Bis nachher [biss knock-hair]
(Until later)


"Most of us are just about as happy as we make up our minds to be."
William Adams

Krumme Lanke

This has been a great week. I have really enjoyed the weather outside, as it has been bright but brisk. Emails from home tell me of a light chill that came through the air on the 21st, which I think was the official beginning of autumn. I have been seeing some leaves turning yellow around here, but plain and simple, it just doesn't feel the same as New England. That's not a bad thing at all, but it leads me to a point about our Northern German latitude. I hadn't taken the time before to ponder about how much further south the continent of North America is than Europe. Apparently, we'll be having evenings in December when the sun will set around 3.30pm and it will be dark by 4. Note to self: buy more wool sweaters! When it gets as cold as can be expected with that little sunlight, I would be looking forward to a location for skiing or winter hiking. I brought my boots, so why not? Well, as the land in the vicinity of Berlin is so incredibly flat, I might want to take advantage and savor a trip out of the city, provided I have that chance to travel independently. I do know of one hill over on the Western side of town, not far from where I live, called 'Teufelsberg,' or devil's mountain. Following the second world war, during which much of the city had been destroyed by bombs from the allies, much of the rubble was collected and transported into a heap, which resulted in an enormous amount of waste. Now, it is positioned near the Southwest region of the city, and if it snows, it can become slick enough for a ride down on a sled. Sounds like fun!

But I want to enjoy the sun and herbst (autumn) 2008 as it passes. The other night, fireworks were going off just around Alexanderplatz, surrounding the TV-tower. I wasn't close enough to get a good photo, but as the tower is quite massive and in the central, downtown portion of the city, the bright lights achieved their goal of gaining everyone's attention. I think it was their task to mark the beginning of Oktoberfest, an expensive tourist trap, located down in the Southern portion of Germany (Munich). Hopefully I will be able to visit the town at an opportunity that might be less crowded for passers by. November looks good to me. But we here in Berlin have our own Oktoberfest, as well. Each individual town has its own brauerei (brewery) and so this helps to define cultural boundaries, as well.

To continue, we were walking in range of the cracks from the fireworks while searching out a burrito restaurant. This location is one of the few burrito stops in the city, fighting against the grain of Turkish dominance on nearly every street-corner. This is by no means a negative aspect of the city, but I wonder if a greater diversity of cuisine might enthrall more visiters. Who am I kidding, I love food. I'm surprised I'm not eating right now.

On friday evening I was invited to attend dinner with a family that was indirectly introduced to me while I was still in America, preparing to leave. After taking the U-Bahn down to Krumme Lanke, located very much to the Southwest extreme of the city before suburbia is approached, I eventually found myself in a wonderful, pristine looking neughborhood and standing nearby a home enclosed by a security fence. All homes in this neighborhood -- as a matter of fact, in all of Berlin -- are especially concerned with security. I suppose such a pattern can be expected of any urban environment.

Inside, I found waiting for me the stepmother of a friend who had given me some additional foresight from back home. Also, a musician from Romania was very much engaged in conversation, following the arrival of another young lady who works at a Krankenhaus (hospital). As we were fully engaged in German speech rhythms with which I had been brushing up in class, only at a moderate speed of practice, I remained quiet for the majority of the evening. I could understand the better amount of what transpired, such as a discussion about a demonstration by thousands of medical practitioners in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Thursday, demanding more sufficient support from the German government.


I mentioned that I had traveled to Tempelhof in an attempt to see the classical performance earlier in the week, but was unsuccessful due to a lack of tickets. The mother mentioned that later in the semester, I would be invited to a separate performance put on by the Romanian lady, which I am very much looking forward to. We enjoyed a delicious dinner of green beans, potatoes and steak from a slow-cooker.

On the way back into the city, I made a call to another student and asked where we would be watching the debate. I didn't know at this point whether or not it would take place, but it was still early. When our group met up, we checked out an American-style tavern, which was playing music and suiting its guests. It was able to play the program, but would not accept American customers who wanted to disrupt the facade of popular culture, turn down the music, turn on the TV and become involved with politics.

By the wee hours of the morning, we resolved to set up camp in an apartment where a couple other students were staying. I was happy to embody the ideals of my generation, now that my role-playing identity has come around to the fore. I am not proud about the research I have done in my life thus far in politics or social history. However I do know there is no better time than a voting year to begin thinking on your feet and taking action.

To conclude, I want to thank everybody for your replies and feedback. It has given me a great incentive to continue writing this blog on a regular basis. Be well!


"Daring ideas are like Chessmen moved forward; they may be beaten, but they may start a winning game."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Night-life

Here were my plans: meet up with a fellow student Stephen at IES in Mitte, and take the U-Bahn to Tempelhof, where we might see a nice excerpt of European symphony. Stephen was pretty excited, having studied musicians -- he claimed that one of the world's most renowned violinists would be performing in the show that night. The five of us waited in line at the entrance to the airport, which no longer carried the majority of incoming flights, or perhaps any at all. It was a darn shame, though, that we hadn't arrived 10 minutes earlier, because the box office sold out just before us. I apologize that I don't have any good photos to present, but I'm sure that as you all can understand, the sensation of hearing a symphony cannot be translated through words. I was not lucky enough to enjoy said experience, but I'm not going to let it get me down. I know a similar symphony will be performing in the Berliner Philharmoniker (a location built for a symphony, rather than a hanger for airplanes), so I will see if I can't make it there instead later in the semester.

Deciding to make the best of the evening in spite of our poor luck, we walked on out of the aging historical landmark, known best as the location where food and necessities were imported to West Berlin during the airlift, and hummed to ourselves, making our own music. Someone had the great idea to go and enjoy some ice cream ("Eis") in a nearby neighborhood, so we all travelled together. Berlin may be large, but the U-Bahn system can certainly assist with transportation.

Apparently, chili-chocolate is a popular flavor here in Berlin. I don't know why for certain, but I suspect it may have something to do with the two enlightening aphrodesiacs mixed together... Anywho, following our departure from the ice cream parlor, we heard of a concert in a park that was just finishing up, down the street. After splitting up, a couple of us walked through the thinning crowd, realizing that as 10pm had just rolled past, loud noises were discouraged throughout the major city.

Another fellow student, Ned, has been following the underground musical scene here in Berlin very closely. It was with him that I made a visit to two different clubs last week, named Berghain and Club 25. Berghain was once a power plant located in East Berlin, and the building in which the performances are held appears stark and imposing. It is located in the middle of nowhere. Bar 25, on the other hand, can be found on the Spree River. A number of these different clubs are meant for summer usage only, so I am looking forward to scanning through the internet for further information about these clubs.


"Something that has so much power must have life. Instruments have life."
Laurie Anderson

If at first you don't succeed

You know the rest of that statement. I've had a little bit of trouble making my way around the big city over the past few days. Some of my clumsiness I suppose comes from a lack of foresight, and I suppose the rest comes from the way business here is run on a 24-hour, 6-day per week enterprise. On sundays, you may see a car headed down a busy street, but picture if you will, everyone in the city sleeping from saturday evening through monday morning. I think it's pretty crazy, but I suppose each country has their own customs. I know that some churches open up their doors in other parts of town, and I've been giving some consideration to making a visit to one of those. But late nights have really been catching up with me, and I have been finding it difficult to wake before noon or so.

Anyways, in terms of other fumbles I've made along the way, last night on the U-Bahn home I dozed off and ended up at the end of the line. I had just been patting myself on the back earlier that evening for holding off from taxis ever since I needed a ride from the airport. Unfortunately, as I shook myself awake a few kilometers west of my intentional destination, I looked at the clock. It was 3:15am, early Sunday morning. The stores were closing, and electricity was powering down all over the city. Luckily, I managed to hail a graveyard-shift cab and explain my address to the driver. The fee wasn't as exorbitant as I had expected.

Another thing that disappoints me here is the prevalence of American fast-food chains, like Burger King, McDonalds and even Wendy's. It makes it all the more difficult to live up to my initial goal of avoiding meals at said locations and really finding a taste of authentic German cuisine.

Actually, I did enjoy some of this much-proclaimed food while on a bike tour through Potsdam on Friday. I think it may be in the undiscovered locations, outside of popular tourist attractions, where the pristine German culture remains. That gives me all the more incentive to think outside the box and begin some traveling, even if it's only as far as a suburb like Potsdam.

On another note, if you ever travel to someplace outside the States, take very good care of your passport. I am very fortunate in that I live so close to the American Embassy which, provided I have any trouble with security, will hopefully be open to assistance. Your passport, however, is more important to you than your credit card, your driver's license and your cell phone combined. Even here, in an industrialized nation, you can't be careful enough.

On a closing note, I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a bad idea to take a break from alcohol for a little while. This would be primarily so that I could save for future travels. I suspect I might also be able to wake at an earlier hour and achieve more here in Berlin while the temperature remains above 10 degrees Celsius (about 50 degrees Fahrenheit). On the other hand, becoming a 'crafty consumer' is another piece of the complex problem that a student tourist growing up in a foreign land should try and figure out. Take time for your school, for your friends, keep in touch with your family, and be sure to take care of your self.

I'll be sure to report back with more photos next time, as I have heard a few requests for those.

Until then, tchuss! (bye)
[pronounced: ch-OOO-ss]


"It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe."
Muhammad Ali

Courses: Week 1

On any monday through thursday, my travel-size alarm clock has been ringing at 7am. While my classes don't begin until 8:30, you might wonder why I would bother getting up at this time. Well, I often like to check my emails -- of course, as I am 6 hours ahead of Eastern standard time here in Berlin, there may have been a few messages I missed out on from the evening before. I hate being ignorant to any sort of information that might help me later.

By 7:50 or so I make my way down the short stretch of Bismarckstrasse in Charlottenburg to the U-Bahn (or subway) stop. I'm guessing from the two times I've ridden by auto in and out of Mitte that it's a relatively similar distance to connecting our home in Westwood to Foxboro Stadium, in terms of distance. However, if I can time it right, I get the switch-off from U-Bahn to S-Bahn, arriving at Friedrichstrasse and walk the rest of the way to the IES center in under half an hour.

I am incredibly impressed with the student to teacher ratio that our program offers. My own small German class has a 3 to 1, and that allows for far more vocal participation. It's a much better practice, but I don't think it goes over the top, because our exercises are not overwhelming. They provide us with practice in grammatical performance and vocabulary building. I have always enjoyed these benefits, but I haven't been able to speak with my professors directly about them in such depth.

To go on with other classes, I enjoyed one engineering/ architecture based course which had a look through powerpoint slides at the historical developments of the metropolitan areas around Berlin, as well as St. Petersburg. With this same class, we had a brief walk around the downtown area of Mitte on Wednesday and had a look at structures and observed the course they had taken as they changed through history. Friedrich Schinkel was an important name to remember of the Prussian era, as he designed the Neue Wache, as well as the Bauhaus. Both of these structures were adapted following their completion due to the political climate here in Berlin.

One other course, called "Soccer, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll" (no joke) focuses in on the happenings of pop-culture around the Berlin underground musical scene. I was handed a paper during my second class which listed off some of the top clubs in the area. Needless to say, I was a little surprised. But I suppose, a lively social life is easy enough to come by for any local Berliner who is around my age.

My late class on tuesdays and thursdays is a sociological course which analyzes the impact of the recycled city on the masses from a comparative perspective, offering views from St. Petersburg and Paris, as well as American cities.

My last course focuses on the question of Identity in contemporary Europe. This course takes more of an anthropological perspective of European cities as they developed, spreading the influences freedom, economy and art throughout their societies. It was with this class that I took a field trip this past friday, biking my way around Potsdam. We did not visit any of the castles or palaces as we viewed earlier in the month, but instead the Dutch and Bohemian communities as well as relics from the past.

If I might pause for a moment, that syllabus-style entry was no more fun to write up than it was to read. I have a few assignments this weekend, for example, implications of Rammstein lyrics on America, and for German, describing the lifestyle of a policeman using prepositions and conjunctions. And now for something completely different...

It's very interesting, the manner in which Germans help each other. They are somewhat passive-aggressive, but when a gleam of light shines upon unification for the nation in free competition, the citizens bond together and cheer. For example, a couple of years ago during the 2006 World Cup, I was told that the Fernsehturm (or TV-Tower) in Alexanderplatz was decorated to look like a soccer-ball. They are not very welcoming at a first glance, which may have earned them the stigma of a cold-shouldered nation. However in reality, as I have said before, all that a person really has to do is ask for assistance, and they will be likely to receive it.

Speaking German doesn't necessarily matter here, either. You may not be able to understand their side conversations as you walk past them, but the younger generations can likely interpret what you would ask of them in English. You may think I have a biased perspective, being a white male. I honestly can't tell you, but what I can say is that the German sense of prejudice at the moment doesn't seem to be as harsh as I have seen in other places, like slums of major cities in America. There are no such locations here, and the unemployed are assisted by the state. It was very interesting, a topic we came upon in my sociology class, which was called the 'filter-effect.' The less wealthy inhabitants of the city move into the buildings which are older and need less maintenance, while the wealthier citizens move to better homes further outside the downtown area, and so forth.

Naturally, each small neighborhood has everything a person would need, including a convenience store, a bakery, and retail markets of all types. Migration within the city does not occur as it might be expected in America, because many people live around the usage of bicycles. I might note that the city was built to move people great distances with rails, rather than roads; thus, the ownership of a car is very clearly a luxury.

I think my courses might facilitate my efforts to dig up the real source of what makes the society here so different from America, and what makes the mind of an individual retain its uniquity. It's not a terrific thing that I'm doing here, viewing an alternative culture a few hundred years in the past. But what I think is remarkable is the fact that I might be able to trace back my own roots, and dig up the dirt and dust of my own origin.

On that note, I made a visit to the Franzozischer Dom as we walked around on Wednesday. This structure was built to commemorate the French Huguenots, or Protestants who migrated to Prussia and were welcomed by King Friedrich Wilhelm. My last name, Marquart, is a German name, but within that category, Marquardt is a huguenot name. I think I am getting closer to realizing where exactly I stand in the face of history.

Either way I think about it, I need to stop paying so much attention to what time it is, I need to enjoy myself in the here and now, and savor the present for all that it is worth. After all, I don't know if I'll be able to come back to Europe again in this lifetime, so every opportunity I see should be a new passage for me.


"Clocks slay time... time is dead so long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does it come to life."
William Faulkner

Pop-Culture

One exemplary reason of why I miss being home is because I miss family, most especially new family. My cousin Molly, who lives in Belmont Massachusetts, was pregnant with twin girls up until a few days ago. When they were born, I was emailed soon afterwards. I rejoiced from afar, knowing I would return around the holidays to find two infant little girls living in the region.

It's interesting how time can do that to you; when you're not paying attention, a year can pass, and your hair has gone all salt-and-peppery. Maybe your younger sister just graduated from college -- when you remember attending and watching as she wore her dress robes and collected her high school degree. So many distractions keep our minds hidden from what's really important. And I think that before I go on with this entry, I'll list off what I miss most in the United States, which I have only occasionally given a glance of a thought towards, now I am distracted by the majesty of Germany.

First of all, I miss peanut butter. That's right, they don't make peanut butter over here in Europe like we know it in America. Sure, they have candy bars -- no need to send any uber-expensive care packages full of snickers, Mom. I'm all set. But it's different here, the nutritional system. I'm not saying it's bad, not by a long shot. Just different. It might take me a little while to figure out this complex. I was raised to savor meaty sandwiches for lunch, and an oven-baked dinner. Potatoes are quite common here, and I love those, but I'll have to avoid the expensive restaurants and head over to LIDL or Kaiser's, the supermarkets, for my day-to-day necessities. I actually just stopped by LIDL tonight, although all I could think of were American style meals. Meats, cheeses, and plenty of orangensaft with apples by the side. Let's not forget the pasta. That will definitely help me keep the extra euros in my pocket for later on.

Another thing I miss is my home shower. I don't know if this might be the case all over Europe, or just in Germany, but the nozzle releases out of a spigot that the person in the shower must hold by hand. Without getting into too many details, I'll also include the fact that my guest-mother anticipated that I might not be accustomed with this fashion of bathing, and so went searching for a shower curtain... no luck. They call it "walrus-ing" around the bathroom, what I do during my shower. I always make sure to clean up the water that has bounced off and splattered everywhere else. It's really no problem, it just takes more time.

The last thing I miss is the warm, welcoming scent of a New England autumn. I almost forget I'm in Berlin sometimes when I think about the falling maple leaves, turning from green to red and gold before fading with the brown dirt and dust of the path beneath my feet. I would always walk along the grass or between the trees to reach my destination back home, but here in Berlin, almost everything is covered in stone or concrete. It's a little bit of a bummer, but I'll get over it.

On friday I made my way around Wilmersdorfer Platz, a nice shopping center right around the corner, and I purchased some bread and orange juice, as well as a new water bottle. My host mother Sabine showed me a local fish market known as Rogacki which also serves as a restaurant. It is well-known around Berlin, but unfortunately it had just recently closed. I will have to make plans to try it out some time soon.

So we went to Hamburg on saturday. It is truly a beautiful city, located in a very well-to-do area towards the east, by the mouth of the Elbe River. The inhabitants had worked to rebuild much of the architecture which had been damaged during the second world war. One friend from home who has helped me with contacts around the Berlin area hails from Hamburg. After our morning tour, we took a walk through an art museum featuring works by American Mark Rothko. Immediately afterwards, we took a walk over to a nearby dock and boarded a tourist ship, which made its way out through a couple of locks and canals into the commercial harbor of Hamburg. I did not know this fact previous to the tour, but Germany has the world's largest GNP. I was able to observe a large number of frigates and tankers making their way into and out of the bay.

After lunch I counted the cash in my pocket. I had only spent about forty euro, and only on food, because the rest of the trip was taken care of later. Could I really be that frivolous? I had already learned by saturday that Berlin was probably the best place in Europe for the euro. But with the state of the American dollar, including the Lehman bankruptcy, I feel exceptionally glad that I don't have to worry more about finances than I already do.

After an incredibly fast (90 minute) return trip to Berlin, I decided to head over with a friend who lived near Checkpoint Charlie. He showed me points he recognized from his studies during a previous semester; the marks where the Berlin wall began and ended, now marked by stones on a busy blacktop street. Near his apartment were a few of the brass-colored marks dug into the earth, engraved with the names of jews who had died during the holocaust. Hard as I try during my studies here, I don't expect I will ever come to understand the genocidal masque of the swastika. I only try because by now, it has become a part of German culture. So fresh in the past, with so many deaths... but everything here in Berlin, both good and evil, has its own memorial, without exception.

I tried not to think too hard about it. We walked on towards a nearby bar, called Bierhimmel (beer-heaven). Inside, we both ordered Hefe-weizens and listened to the speakers play oldies from a vinyl, spinning directly behind the tap. I had to take a deep breath and remember how full this city was with landmarks that still exist from hundreds of years ago. They all matter to me, not only because I'll be studying here for the rest of the semester, but because I'm growing here, and this experience is becoming a part of me.

To continue, today was my first day of classes. We discussed a good deal of history, architecture, and music of contemporary pop-culture. I'll include more details as they come, but to offer a brief look at where I'm headed, the two cities of St. Petersburg and Berlin were both analyzed in one class, in addition to their style of architecture in relation to the ruler or social system in command. I will find some pictures to post, and that will certainly help all readers keep up.


"I see the path of progress has never taken a straight line, but has always taken a zigzag course amid the conflicting forces of right and wrong, truth and error, justice and injustice, cruelty and mercy."
Kelly Miller

The City of Many Nations

I finally managed to get myself a handy. I know that might sound a little bit dirty, but the word 'handy' is actually just euro-slang for cell phone. So there's one obstacle overcome. I am living in the western part of an 892 square kilometer city (~344 square miles, while Chicago is ~237 square miles).

I'm typing on an interesting german-style keyboard right now, with a euro-symbol, and umlauts provided. I'm doing my best to avoid typos, but this entry might take a few sessions to correct.

I've noticed an interesting issue with German society with a surprisingly large unemployment rate. A few of my peers here have spoken about the prospect of picking up jobs during their stay, but I expect that might be a little bit of a stretch on my time. I would like to spend most of my free moments exploring the neighborhoods and creating memories. Anyways, the economy here is also quite interesting. The government redistributes wealth to the unemployed so that they can be provided with food and compensation -- and I believe for shelter, as well. The unemployed can still be found begging for money in the subway (U-Bahn) stations. Here I find a moral dilemma. If the economy cannot provide an adequate enough amount of careers to provide for the citizens already living here, it is a great issue of concern to promote Germany and especially Berlin as a multinational city. It is still a first-world nation, and everyone here does well enough to get by, but I wonder if they are just barely holding on. I suppose things are organized much differently here. For example, when I made a visit to the Reichstag building where the German government (Bundestag) meets, I learned that 5 political parties competed for attention and prosperity. This would be compared to the bipartisan manner in which the United States is organised, and I have found this often polarizes individuals with their ideals.

Another problem that has made it's way to the forefront of my mind is acquisition of more cash. The street adresses here in Berlin are not arranged similar to the fashion we are familiar with in America, so I am having trouble making my way to a Deutsche Bank. There is very little order to the numerals, due to the fact that throughout history, larger buildings were constructed without regard for the smaller cafes that were later set up on corners. I'm not exactly certain how it works, but it's all the more encouragement to get myself a compass, because I know North is always true.

It's all part of my curiosity with the navigational systems here in the city of many nations. This morning our small German course was led to explore and determine the location of the Berlin Wall on a map of the city. It wasn't marked on the map we were using, nor had it been labeled on any of the streets that we could remember. For the few weeks unto this point, I had believed that we were studying in the former western Berlin, but I was proven wrong by our teacher, who remembered the original locations. He went on to say that he had been shocked a couple of years ago upon teaching a class of children who had no vivid memory of the wall coming down. But then of course only native Germans who would have been about 5 years old or so at the time would have the capacity to retain such recollections. I was about 4, and I lived in America. Our teacher also claimed that it was an effort of most teachers in Berlin to do away with what he called "Ostalgie," or any remaining loyalty to the former socialist policies of eastern Berlin. This would promote, I believe, a more unified youth who saw themselves as Berliners, regardless of who their parents were or where they came from.

Yesterday, in a tour of the German History Museum we took a brief look at the constitution of the nation, which was written in 1871. One of the lines translates to, "every person is born with freedom." You may say that these ideals, pure though they may be, were lost by the Third Reich, which denied opposing perspectives as it became a single-party totalitarian government. As I watched history unfold at the museum, I observed the foundation of Prussia and a fall into an economic depression. I was able to marvel at how time is able to blur certain facts into historical wonder and ideological theory. It is impossible to predict what the future holds, when a few lines of script are taken down onto a document. With unanimity, almost any document could be called official, and after time it might become holy. Everyone stands and salutes in its presence, as a custom.

You might find it hard to understand what I'm describing here. As countries age, It is better that they act like an individual might. Friendly with neighboring nations, exchanging goods in return for other necessities, and always taking care to be certain you are healthy.

What makes the reputation of a country positive? Could it be modesty to others? Or efficiency? Or is openness the best answer to the patriotic conundrum? The Ideal nation is a difficult thing to discuss, a utopia. I'm not certain it will ever exist, because I don't think we as humans with our silly morals and ethics will ever be able to avoid our desire for the exotic. But that doesn't mean we can't live in peace and cooperation.

On saturday we head off for Hamburg, the main port city in northwestern Germany. This will give me another city by which I might judge Germany, and hopefully, see some saltwater.


"To me, it seems a dreadful indignity to have a soul controlled by geography."
George Santayana