Postcard...

first moment at wall

loud people around

photo snaps being taken

cold wind blowing

warm sun all around

cars driving by and horns honking

I am now standing on something that change the course of history for one nation and the worlds around it. My foot is placed on the lives of people who were oppressed for about appeared to be democracy. I am standing on cement that was ripped my the hands of the desperate praying in their minds, in their eyes and with each hit that freedom would ring, that their lives and the lives of the other side would survive. This is my moment, I am now a part of this wall because this wall just took apart of me.

Immigration

Today we saw a wide array of images at the immigration offices but the specific image that I would like to capitalize on is the image I saw in the New York City students’ art. I noticed when looking at the long winding trail lots of maps and postcards. The maps had marks on them and the postcards had addresses and notes to loved ones. This image made me feel a bit sad at first. What was going through the minds of the hundreds of people that sit in these seats for hours, waiting for their turn for maybe a second chance at life, or maybe for a chance to explore a new world for their own, what was on their minds when they saw these saw images that I see now? The art itself is kind of like the long and winding road that took these people on a journey to where they sit now and stare…waiting. This reminds of me of my mothers struggle to become a US citizen and the hardships she endured, the lines she waited in, the customs she was forced to learn and adapt.

On the wall to the side of the large art piece I have been describing was a framed photo of all the flags from the different countries that immigrates has come from into Berlin, Germany. While the American flag wasn’t present I was still jolted to life seeing all of these different countries, thinking of the reasons that some of these people might have fled. Persecution? Freedom? Justice? Opportunity? Family? The reasons are endless and it would be impossible to put all of people’s different struggles into a box. But just seeing this illustration of different worlds, cultures and beliefs all represented together, coming through this same room with millions of excuses to why is incredible. I find it truly fascinating and oddly uniting. One office that provides the same chance to these unique situations, it is something uncommon in the world today.

Postcards

quiet still air

silenced feet walking around me

a distant voice speaking of the German past

warm

physically tired

mind anxious

When I think about the communist German museum, this photo is the one that stays with me the most. Isn't freedom the most valuable right we can be given? I'm walking now and staring at the photos that are covering the minimalist walls. I already know about the dangers of communism and the human pain it causes, I am even more grateful for the incredible country that we live in that grants us these rights without question. The furniture here is mute, the colors are silent, maybe this is how the people felt? What do you do when you know that what is happening is wrong but you still need to comply because you must survive, you must try and succeed. The life behind these Berlin walls seemed impossible to survive.

mumbled voices

darkened hallway with dim lighting

footsteps all around

a business to move forward, right, left or out

the voice of the tour guide explaining the names

a dry smell in the air of...almost paint

This was a shocking image. Not only was this art piece intriguing to look at but what I found to be truly remarkable was the recognition of every Parliment official and even those who were harmed by the Nazi regime. I love that they paid attention to these details and that everyone was included without exclusion (except for the years under east German control because there was no Parliment.) Each darkened name, each darkened box is illuminated by this single bulb that brings with such a clarity. It appears that have no end, I think that may be the intention though, to show that true government, honest and pure government always continues and will never end.

Peers taking photos

making jokes about getting our licenses

warm hot wind blowing all around

aching feet

chipped paint

fenced in, unable to touch

This piece of art is so fun to look at, it brings back so many good and bad moments in life. I made and heard comments about people and the accidents that they got into as a young adults and I heard the comments on the choice of a light blue background. Yet what I found to be powerful about the art was the idea of breaking through the wall and entering not only a new area of town, or even a new state but what essentially was a new world to those from east to west or west to east. What a sad but incredibly historic time to be in Germany and what a wonderful way to depict this struggle.

very quiet

light steps of walking people

the sound of pages turning in notebooks

scribbling pens

a light and gentle breeze

the smell of fresh air

a bright sun shining on everything and everyone

In my daily journal I discuss the importance of this image and of what this memorial means to me so I won't go on very long in this postcard entry. Besides its beauty (lush trees, mowed lawns, cemented statures, the symmetry...) and the very real emotions that it made me feel, this memorial says a great deal about the respect that must be paid to the dead regardless if their life was lost or taken for a bad cause. Life is life in the end and not one persons life is worth more then another's.

Disbelief

I don’t even know how much I can actually write about today, it was the mot shocking, interesting, disheartening and sad experience to date. I know about the holocaust have read and researched it before and having always had a very distinct interest in it I thought that the camp experience would be hard but I never could have guessed how hard. The tour guide was wonderful for but the information that we freely gave broke my heart each time. I couldn’t stop crying when I saw the signs near the small bathrooms that were supposed to support up to 400 people. I don’t understand the capabilities of man until I saw what happened at station Z, or anywhere on that camp for that matter. You never really realize the amount of manipulation and evil that man can possess. When he mentioned the neo-Nazi attacks that have happened more recently it fears me even more to think that this hate is still alive today. What would it take to change these people’s minds? What could make them hate another race so much? How do we stop such destructive hatred in this world and is that really ever possible?

Underneath Berlin

Today was by far the longest day of all. The bunkers were an amazing sight to see and were in amazing condition for how long ago everything occurred. The story that shocked me the most was when our tour guide explained the positives and negatives to bathroom stalls. I can’t imagine what these poor women went through. The short moments when they finally were able to get privacy, to have a moment of peace was then perverted by the soviet guards. The pain and fear that they lived in scares me to my bones and remind me of the blessings I have in America, a free country.

The Jewish Berlin past and present museum was another museum that I wish I could have had a bit more time in. It would have been incredible to experience it in its entirety, winding through the misshapen rooms, the odd lighting and modern movement was thrilling. The architecture of the building was something that I had never experienced before. Similarly the garden of exile reminded me of the feelings I had when venturing into the holocaust memorial in the center of Berlin. The lost, lonely and slightly depressing emotions that run through you when you seem to be struggling to leave but desperate to stay amongst those you know, it was quite an experience.

Never to be Forgotten

We were very fortunate today to get to visit some incredible sights in Berlin, but I would like to focus this entry on the memorial of the holocaust in the center of the city. What an incredible sight to see, what an incredible feeling and the location emphasize this even more. Such a grand memorial to take up such a large amount of space in a city as large and populated as Berlin was truly amazing to see. Although there was a debate about whether or the not memorial was positive or negative I am happy that they made the correct choice to build it. Something that is as beautiful and unique as it is cannot be ignored, and not being ignored means being recognized. I think that the memorial is a consistent reminder of the travesties that occurred but also of the progression of a nation that while having made a terrible mistake is moving forward without forgetting.

No More Walls, No More Wars, One United World

The walking of the wall and the Soviet Union memorial are almost impossible to describe. Starting our day walking to wall was like walking through the minds of other people. We started with a mock enthusiasm as being foreigners at such a monumental place. But as we continued our walk my mind was completely consumed in what I was seeing. I was no longer aware of my classmates or the other people on the streets or even the bike lane near by. The art owned my mind for those moments that I walked along history. Each piece had such a profound meaning and such an individual perspective on not all the problems of the time but on the world as a whole. I saw quotes such as my title as well as “don’t hate things, change them,” all with obvious connections to the communism that separated an entire city. Beyond the art I thought often about the general idea of a wall being built to separate right and wrong, communist VS free but also people from people. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like if that were to happen in Seattle, what would I do? What would my family and friends do? And how incredibly did the people of Berlin survive through this diversity?

The Soviet Union memorial was different for me then for most people I am guessing. I found it beautiful, which was simply a fact of the eyes, but I also found it very sad. The death of lives is always sad, sad for those men that died for what they “thought” to be right. But should I mourn the lives of communist? Of people who tortured and judged other unfairly? I might be ignorant to the entire concept but I found myself untouched my emotions other then how unfair it all seemed. Why does America not have such a grand memorial for our freedom fighting soldiers?

Today was emotional…