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