DAY 3 – Berlin Wall

May 14, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
berlinwall

Some visiters tracing their hands on the East side of the Berlin Wall. The dates on the hand prints were mostly 2012 and 2013.

 

Today was another chalk-full day. I woke up to my roommate, Carson, complaining about serious pain in her foot.

Despite the end result, which is possibly a torn ligament and doctors’ orders to stick with the crutches for a few days, she has a great attitude about it. I wish I were more like that! She even met some interesting people at the hospital. All my prayers go out to her for the rest of the trip.

A group of us then went to see the remnants of the Berlin Wall.

On our way there in the train, we were above ground and were able to see parts of the former east side of Berlin. It had a very European feel to it and it felt much more cultured and unique than the area we were staying in the west side. I couldn’t help but notice all of the beautiful cobblestone streets.

Once again, there were people from all over the world taking photos of the artwork. The west side had the typical graffiti, but the former east side had beautiful murals stretching as far as the eye could see.

Not to be cheesy, but some of the murals “spoke” to me. Some of them I did not understand at all, and some of them were just plain frightening. But I can tell that a lot of emotion went into the creation of each and every unique one.

Deutsche Welle was our next media stop. Fabian von der Mark was such a nice and eager host. Some highlights from his lecture about the public broadcasting station were that it looks to be the voice of the German people, but yet not its public relations department. It also caters to many different languages, which presents challenges for advertising and general organization.

He also took us up to the top of the building to see the view. And what a view it was. It was so beautiful. It seemed as though we could see for miles. What is interesting about the Berlin landscape is that there are not clusters of skyscrapers but huge old buildings are speckled throughout the city and stick out among the rest.

We then separated again and some of us went shopping near the hotel. For these past few days I noticed that Germans probably look at Americans so strangely because of our dramatic expressions. Now that we are all closer friends than we were before, we laugh easier and talk more. In the metro stations I notice that other groups of young people are not like us at all. Americans stand out because of our flamboyancy.

Tomorrow is another long day. Time to get some sleep!

Filed Under: Blogs, Marina Weis · Tagged: ,

Adventures at Freie Universitat and throughout Berlin! 5.13.13

May 14, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Orangensaft!

My favorite word in German happens to mean orange juice! For the first two days everything I saw plainly read “orange juice” in English I was very disappointed because I wanted the chance to order orange juice using the German term or at least see it written in juice bottles. Then all of a sudden in the midst of a lecture I look at the center of the table, where there were refreshments for us and there it was Orangensaft! As soon as there was a break in the lecture I stopped pured myself a glass, took pictures of the glass bottle of and drank the orange juice!

Speaking of glass bottles they seemed to be used for the majority of drinks here in Germany. Glass bottles, silverware, trees, bikes and mass public transportation all make up the green city of Berlin. I have noticed that this city is very environmentally friendly with recycling cans all over the place along with reusable containers and utensils more widely used than the disposable plastic ones used commonly in the United States.

Also on our journey today I have realized that when it is said “Americans are much louder than Germans” they are not exaggerating as I sit on the U-Bahn and we are all chatting and laughing most people are sitting quietly or conversing softly. In both our actions and in our countries I am noticing many differences, that I am sure to write about everyday in these blogs.

Today we experienced many learning opportunities, from the planned lecture to the U-Bahn explorations. We learned about media in Germany and how the locals get around Berlin. From broadcasting regulation to book sales we learned that Germans are more traditional in their media than Americans are. They have a much higher newspaper subscription rate than us but a much lower Internet usage rate. These numbers and information is all very interesting and somewhat hard to understand. It is hard to imagine Americans reading newspapers and books rather than being attached to the smart phones and laptops. During out trip to Free University where we listened to this lecture you could see that the students in their cafeteria do not have their cell phones out while chatting with their friends and eating their lunches. Our group was more likely to have their phones in their hands and we aren’t even able to use the internet while here unless connected to the Wifi.

On a less scholarly but still educational note we spent a large portion of time learning how to use the bauhn or what we would call a subway system. Though somewhat confusing this is a very efficient way to get around. Many people seem to use this form of transportation during their everyday life. Compared to Pittsburgh Berlin’s public transportation is more timely and accessible.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Filed Under: Blogs, Johnie Freiwald ·

DAY 2 – Media overview

May 14, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

 

marinaandcarson

Carson and I at the Brandenburg Gates (notice the German boys watching us in the background!)

DAY 2

These past two days have been completely packed full of things to do. There is so much to conquer in so little time.

On Monday we had a wonderful introduction into German media and academics from Dr. Elfriede Fursich at Freie University.

She explained to us the status of all the mediums of media and its relationship to the United States. Radio is keeping steady as well as TV because it is a passive medium. Some fun facts were that Germans use subscriptions more and about only 72% of Germans use the Internet. Also, local bookstores are very big here.

It was extremely interesting to see all of the students at the University because of what they were wearing and how they acted.

We all noticed that they do not use their phones half as much as us as Americans. Aimee noted in her short lecture that it is still not known why exactly. An assumption might be because of all the social pressure Americans feel to use them. Our tour guide said that it could be because Germans like don’t feel the need for it because they are environmentally oriented people and after working at the office they want to socialize in person and stay away from technology. All is very enlightening.

For dinner, a group of us decided to “wing it,” and we found a very cute place on a corner tucked away under a small awning. The tables were very skinny and the room was slightly cramped. The waiter also did not speak English – but the food was fantastic. The best schnitzel I have ever had. And it was for a good price, too. Andrea’s rudimentary German language skills got us through the dinner.

My feet were tired and it was starting to get cold, but we passed through the Brandenburg Gates on our way to a festival. It was such a cool scene: people from all around the world gathered in this center to take photos of the gates and socialize while some rode group bicycles tied together.

We were taking photos when Andrea decided to ask someone our age for their hat so she could take a picture with it. Soon all of their group plus our group joined into the picture. It was such an awesome surprise. But then something slightly creepy happened: two young German boys (around 16) asked to take their photo with me. Can they really spot Americans from that far away? Anyway, put that cigarette down, son!

We spent a few hours trying to figure out the bus system in order to get to a festival, and in doing so I feel as though many of us bonded…even though we never made it to the festival (it was too late by then).

We also tried out a very cool German techno club that was once a warehouse. We found that Germans have a very different style of dancing. We also found that Andrea is pretty fluent in German as it turns out because she carried on a conversation with the taxi driver about American politics!

A lot of unexpected things happened on Monday, but it made it so much better – it is just part of the adventure.

 

Filed Under: Blogs, Marina Weis · Tagged: ,

An interesting Tuesday

May 14, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Today certainly didn’t start out as planned.  Carson Allwes, one of our students fell last night, and Lorena Bianchi (our tour manager) and I took her to Charite Hospital. It took about three hours to find out she has a ruptured ligament in her right foot. With crutches and an air cast, we were on our way to our visit to Deutsche Welle, Germany’s international broadcaster.

An aside: Thank goodness for Point Park’s international travel insurance. The triage clerk wanted 300 euros from us before Carson could be treated. HTH Worldwide cleared that up quickly with a fax. And who would we meet and talk to in the tiny waiting room but a guy originally from Scotland and a teacher with an English accent who teaches in a private school here and wants to come to the USA for a creative writing fellowship in Nevada. The guy was a hoot, no matter his aching back, telling us Berlin is really an ugly city (we let him go on ….). She told us how the Germans disdain anything that’s not science or technology driven; her students don’t start writing essays until ninth grade. And she claimed they don’t want to remember their horrible past in World War II and the Holocaust. But we admired her: She had been hit by a tram (injured the same foot as Carson, but still went to school first and stayed there until the pain became too intense. Her students’ work is important at this time of year, and she wanted to be there for them.

On to Deutsche Welle and the enthusiastic Fabian von der Mark, head of office managing director multimedia global. DW just marked its 60th year in operation. It’s job: as a public broadcaster,  disseminate news of the country around the world and foster the German language.

(We tell students all the time that the European media aren’t used to visits and tours like ours. They are flattered! And we always learn so much more about international journalism with these visits. We can study and research all we want back home … seeing and witnessing it first hand is something else entirely.)

The station and its six channels of operations (German precision here, that’s for sure) were intriguing, and the students’ blogs can explain more. What I loved was his obvious yet quiet and professional dedication to DW’s mission. This 24/7 operation doesn’t focus on breaking news but instead provides documentaries and magazine shows (which I love) on many topics to many countries. Fabian also displayed a passion for his country’s beautiful language and long history of great philosophy and literature.  It’s something I haven’t given much thought to, I must admit.  I loved it.

He was also very open about why DW came into being after Germany was such a pariah to the rest of the world after its awful destruction of Europe, the Jews and other groups. “Rightfully so,” he told us, down to being banned from soccer’s 1950 World Cup.

Having seen most of the Topographie of Terror  yesterday, (and so sad that with all that occurred today I didn’t get back there today to finish it …. maybe Thursday if I get a chance) Germany deserved that sentence. And maybe even more. The stories of the men and women killed or who committed suicide in 1933 in Hitler’s run-up to his awful reign …. just horrible. And the photos of Germans going along with the public shaming and humiliation, book burnings, and violent beatings and torture until death are particularly abhorrent.

But you must give the Germans credit for offering this display and information center to its citizens and visitors at no charge. It’s backdrop of most of what remains of the Berlin Wall reminds us of the communists’ ugly chapter in history here. But you sure can convince people — as Hitler and his leaders and the Soviets tried to mimic — to follow you with jobs, food, shelter, money and security. Both came into power during times of tremendous despair and poverty. And people can be fooled.

Fabian took us to the rooftop of DW as we ended our visit, and the students took and posed for photographs with the expanse of Berlin as the background. Beautiful Berlin, I’d say, despite what the Scotsman turned German resident (he followed a woman here, he told us ….) claimed today.

Fabian pointed out to me that where the Berlin Wall once stood the Germans have turned those areas into parks, beautiful squares and more. It’s hard to see where it was, all 92 miles of it, he told me, because it wound its way through at weird angles and paths through the city and then the Soviets added on death traps and secondary walls from the original. The curved two paths of cobblestones around here marks it forever. And I think it’s marked and will be remembered forever with journalists and other people like Fabian, as it should be.

Filed Under: Blogs, Helen Fallon ·

Definitely not a case of the Mondays

May 14, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

In my lifetime, I have never needed sleep so much. Having cleared my system of cramped airplane seats, flight delays and travelling, I felt ready to greet the day and see some more of Berlin

In other great news, our suitcases arrived today! Ironically though, I ended up wearing something that I had in my carry on but I was, nonetheless, excited. After getting ready, having breakfast, and exploring the most delicious coffee machine that might be my favorite part of the trip so far, we headed off by metro to Freie University to meet with Dr. Elfriede Furich to take a tour of the university and learn a little more about the German media landscape

My main takeaways from what Dr. Furich had to say about German media were eye opening. Their abundant consumption of radio and lack of consumption of Internet (at least compared to the US) was of particular interest to me considering I, and I would wager, most other Americans, actually never listen to the radio and consume the most media through the Internet. Another striking difference between our two nations’ media landscapes was that Germans still love their books. Not just reading, but physical books. Bookstores, although in slight decline, are still thriving in this German environment full of people who still value face-to-face communication. It seems they also value traditional forms of media like books, newspapers and radio much more than we instant-gratification-seeking-Americans do.

After that visit, a few of us took a trip to the Check Point Charlie Museum. This very detailed museum presented the horrors of the East quite poignantly, with many real historical artifacts and tons of information I was unaware of. It is definitely a must see for my fellow friends interested at all in Cold War history. Then it was off to the Brandenburg Gate, a little touristy but very impressive to see, followed by a couple of us that hadn’t eaten heading back to the Sony Center for dinner.

That’s all for now! I’ll be back with more of what tomorrow has to bring.

Tschuess!

Michelle

Filed Under: Blogs, Michelle Graessle ·

Day 3 – CM

May 14, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

5-14-13

We spent a lot of time on the subway today.  A little bit of a pain, but well worth the reward of what we saw.

We woke up early to go see the East Side Gallery, a section of the Berlin Wall left standing that artists painted over.  It seems they are somewhat frequently updated, some pieces were dated as recent as 2009.  There may have been newer paintings, but unfortunately we did not have time to view the entire wall.

 

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The above image is one of my favorites from the trip thus far.

 

 

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After a quick lunch and little bit of tricky navigating, we found our way back to the hotel in time to go to our media visit of the day, the Deutsche Welle, an international multimedia news organization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We toured DW’s headquarters, including the broadcast sets and control rooms.

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Although I don’t know much about broadcasting, I thoroughly enjoyed touring DW.  I’ve never seen how broadcast journalism actually works before.

I will try to rest tonight…Tomorrow, we visit the media outlet that I will be covering, the Deutsche Presse Agentur.

Filed Under: Blogs, Connor Mulvaney ·

Alexa’s Blog – Day 3

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The following events transpired on 5/14/13.

Before our official visits even started for day 3, the students took matters into their own hands. We had free time until 1:00 pm, when we had to meet up for our visit to Deutsche Welle. But first, we took the train to East Berlin and checked out the East Side Gallery, which is a memorial to the Berlin Wall as well as a showcase to the beautiful artwork painted on the remnants of the Wall from renowned 1990s artists. Each and every piece was so unique and beautiful.

Yesterday and today, we spent copious amounts of time riding the train and just as it was starting to get easier to navigate, we were thrown through a loop and I was confused all over again. Thankfully we have some solid navigators in our little group and we arrived back at the hotel just in time to leave for Deutsche Welle. Which, of course, involved more time spent on the train. We ended but being a bit late for our meeting at Deutsche Welle due to a wrong turn and a lot of walking. My feet hurt just thinking about it.

At Deutsche Welle, we had a fantastic lecture from Fabian van der Mark, the Head of office managing director multimedia global (whew!) followed by a tour of Deutsche Welle’s inner workings. We were able to see the news rooms, control rooms, and even hang out in their studio before a broadcast. And – best of all – we went onto the rooftop and were able to catch a glimpse of the beautiful view of Berlin that these lucky journalists get to see every day.

Following the Deutsche Welle meeting, we had a short group meeting and scattered to find food (“scattered” being a word used lightly – seven of eleven of us decided on Italian next to the hotel) and took a stroll through Arkaden, a shopping center in Potsdamer Platz. And finally, our long day ends early. I can’t wait to get some rest. I feel like I’ve never been as tired as I was today. Here’s to looking forward to a very busy tomorrow.

 

 

Filed Under: Alexa Blanchard, Blogs · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Alexa’s Blog – Day 2

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The following events transpired on 5/13/13.

What a day! We got our first taste of public transportation by way of the U-bahn to our first big media visit of the trip – a lecture at Freie Universitat by Dr. Elfriede Fursich. She supplied us with a ton of great information comparing German and American media. I was most surprised that Germans rely heavily on the radio and it has been the staple in the media landscape for decades. Still going strong, it contrasts immensely from the United States’ addiction to the Internet and social media. It’s a lot to think about, and definitely got me into the mindset of thinking about why their culture is the way it is.

Freie Universitat is a lovely campus. On our walk to the main building, we passed clusters of housing that were absolutely stunning – traditional architecture, beautiful pastel colors and stucco texture, balconies and flowers – I was ready to move in right then! Dr. Fursich told us that the housing around campus used to be a predominantly Jewish neighborhood.

Our afternoon visit was followed by free time for the rest of the night. I ended up walking through Berlin to exchange my US dollars with our guide, Lorena, along with Aimee, Katie, Connor and Michelle. It was like having our own private tour. It seems like Lorena knows just about everything and she was telling us all about the American sector that we were staying in and currently walking through. There was a piece of the Berlin Wall outside of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and a sign that alerted travelers that they were entering or leaving the American sector. You could certainly tell – there was a McDonald’s and a Dunkin Donuts not far from the sign.

Katie, Connor, Michelle and I stopped in at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and were blown away at the history. There were endless rooms full of stories, clothes, and artifacts from the escapees and other important figures from the Cold War and the dark days of the Berlin Wall. The most chilling room of all was filled with terrible stories of abducted and missing children.

After leaving Checkpoint Charlie, we met up with the rest of our group and continued exploring until it was time to leave for the club. I had never been to any kind of nightclub before so I was expecting the stereotypical techno music, strobe lights and fog machine. That’s exactly what we got at Tresor. We had a blast! And it’s great that Germans can’t dance because it made me feel better about how ridiculous I looked. What a great night – and looking forward to day 3!

-AB

Filed Under: Alexa Blanchard, Blogs · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Day 2 The first full day in Berlin

May 14, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Day Two:

I must have gotten the best sleep ever. After 48 hours of traveling, the greatest gift anyone could have given me was a bed. The morning started well. Breakfast was down in the lobby with an assortment of food such as eggs, fruits, rolls, yogurt and different meats. It was very delicious.

The plan of the day was to venture to Freie University for two lectures with Dr. Elfriede Fursich. The two presentations she had set up for us were “Current German Media Landscape” and “Influence of the media on the German People during WWII and the fall of the Berlin Wall.”

Taking Berlin's metro system

Taking Berlin’s metro system

Dr. Fursich met us at the hotel with our tour guide, Loraine, who gave us a lesson on German public transportation. In Berlin, there is the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn, they are part of a metro system. It was fairly easy to understand after learning what to look for. The first time on the S-Bahn and U-Bahn was fun. The doors to the bus aren’t automatic and you have to push a button for the door to open. Plus it is very clean and well organized, which is vastly different from Philadelphia.

When we arrive to Freie University, the town was different from the city. The town was more of what I was expecting Berlin to look like. The place was very calm and peaceful with nice homes and apartments tucked in between different bushes and plants. In a word it was beautiful.

Dr. Fursich led the way to the university. She first took us to the cafeteria for lunch. It was like be at an orientation for college, which is basically fish-out-of-water syndrome. Being in the cafeteria was different not only was this the cafeteria filled with a bunch of hungry students, but all of the menus were in German and no one really spoke English. Despite feeling out of place, I managed to find a sandwich and small salad.

After lunch, we were given a tour of the university. The building by itself was mind-blowing. The architecture of the building was incredible. The library is called Phiologische Bilothek. The building’s shape reminded me of a Beehive. It was unique and inside was amazing. My only regret is that I wished they allowed pictures of this unusual building.

The lectures given were very informative and provided information that didn’t even occur to me such as the different theories the German media follows under. Another was what happened to the media after the reunification of Germany. It was such a pleasure to get first hand information.

After Dr. Fursich’s lectures we were given free time. This time was when I learned how to master the art of Berlin’s metro system. I guided our group across Berlin. I really just wanted to know how to use the metro system in case I got separated, but it worked out for our group. The group I was with went to a little pub for dinner called Stadtklause and we order schnitzel and potatoes. This place did not have anyone who spoke English but with the help of Andrea we were able to order. The food was filling and enjoyable.

We then went to Alexanderplatz and Potsdamer Platz through the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn. We really wanted to go to this festival in Hermannplatz, but we couldn’t find it. By this time we decided to check out the nightlife of Berlin by going to one of the clubs Lorena suggested. We chose Tresor.

We planned on taking the U-Bahn there, but it was closed. We had to get two taxis to get there but it was worth it. I have to say I did have “me moment” where I tripped over the curb going to the cab, it was slightly embarrassing, but I trip all the time.

Tresor was a disco club. It was truly the opposite of what I though German Nightlife was like. It was really easy to just join in and have fun.

I can’t wait for tomorrow!

Carson

Filed Under: Blogs, Carson Allwes ·

Day 2 – CM

May 14, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

5-12-13

I slept like a rock last night.  After a long day like that I needed to, and today I felt like my batteries recharged enough to get me through the trip.  Today was less hectic than yesterday, but nonetheless busy.

The group took the subway to Frei University to take a tour of a German university campus and receive a lecture on German media.  It was interesting to see how similar it is to American media, and the subtle differences.  For instance, the acceptance of certain obscenities in media is similar, but towards different things such as violence in America, or sexual content in Germany.

After the lecture the group was free to wander.  A few of us, including myself, visited the Checkpoint Charlie museum.  Very informative, but there are a LOT of things to read.  Bring your glasses if you plan to visit.


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Later, we met with the others and went to the Brandenburg Gate for some sight seeing.  It was quite a monument!

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A few from the previous small group broke off again to eat because we hadn’t yet.  We eventually chose an Australian place (because we hear Germans don’t like to eat German food and we want the full German experience. That evidently includes not eating German food).  The food was good but the service stunk.

More to come tomorrow!

Filed Under: Blogs, Connor Mulvaney ·
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