Before we get there, though, some updates. I've been super busy, as usual! It's the time of year when I'm trying to compile internship applications but also trying to get some projects for my university courses out of the way. About that - my German has officially progressed to the point where I am contributing to class in front of other German political science students! Very exciting.
Just today, in fact, I completed a group project in a public policy analysis course in which I had to moderate a half-hour discussion with 8 other students. The subject? Germany's Altersvermögensergänzungsgesetz. In other words, reforms of Germany's pension system. Yes, even just the name was complicated. But I managed! Just 3 months ago, there was no way I could have imagined that I would ever be able to lead a discussion in German about Germany's complex retirement system.
I also took a trip to Prague last weekend, so now this blog is officially behind the times again. Time to start catching up!
Friday, November 7 marked the beginning of Berlin's Mauerfall (fall of the wall) celebrations and was the first night that the big art project commemorating the wall went up. The art project was.... the Lightgrenze! That means "Border of Light," essentially. A "symbolic frontier of lights," the Lichtgrenze consisted of thousands of illuminated balloons that lined much of the Berlin Wall's former path through the central parts of the city. The moment I heard about the art project, I knew it would make for some great pictures. So Friday I soldiered out into the cold, headed straight for the epicenter of it all, and started shooting.
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| The balloons remind of us of the magnitude and location of the Berlin Wall. Way in the background on the left, illuminated in purple light, is the Brandenburg Gate |
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| The wall went right through the Bundestag's back doorstep |
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| The concerts at Brandenburg Gate started Friday and continued until Sunday night |
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| The Brandenburg Gate without hordes of tourists blocking it |
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| Another look at the balloons as they pass by the Bundestag, home of the German parliament |
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| Outside the Bundestag, I saw a small crowd gathering around a man giving an interview to some news cameras. I recognized him as Klaus Wowereit, Mayor of Berlin! Neat! After his interview, he was nice enough to get pictures with some of us in the small crowd that had gathered. Now if only that could happen with Chancellor Angela Merkel... |
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| The balloons right outside the Bundestag |
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| Back side of the Bundestag |
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| Right by the Bundestag, the wall started to run along the Spree River |
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| The TV tower visible deep in former East German territory |
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| The Bundestag and its famous modern dome |
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| People stroll along the opposite bank of the Spree. You can still see the reflections of the balloons in the windows |
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| In this picture, you can finally see where the wall stopped running along the Spree and cut back into the city |
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