Even the door handles and locks are different. Food labels are in German, and most people speak English, Thankfully. The S-Bahn train does not have clearly labeled destinations because many trains leave from one place to many other places, and frankly, I’m confused. There are three sections of the city to ride the S-Bahn on, A,B and C. It is almost easy to buy freedom of exploration, except for the chipped card difference between Europe and America, but even that is an easy obstacle. There is a large dance community of everything such as yoga, burning man, concerts, tantra, and people drink beer in the street! The people in the streets are diverse, everything from punk, to classy. There are people out all hours of the evening, being loud and having a lot of fun it seems. The buses are constant and the S-Bahn takes you far and fast. The train station guards on duty don’t check for passes often, but when they do, and you don’t have one it costs 40 euro instead of 3.  All of the buildings are tall, and built efficiently for space.

My host grew up in England, one room mate is from Australia, and the other from Vienna. Two are subletting and the one who’s room I’m in is leaving for a week for a Tantra workshop. This to me says a lot about the transient nature of Berlin. It is the epicenter of change it seems. Most people speak German to each other, but nearly everyone who I speak in English to has responded in English. I am feeling disappointed that Americans aren’t required from a young age to be multi linguistic. I feel as though my education is lacking. I am more inspired to learn another language than I ever have been, as I see the importance of information exchange.

Berlin was divided by the East and West with barbed wire on August 13th 1961, and the Berlin wall (to the west) or the “antifascist protective rampart”, or “border” (To the East) was built a few days later. The East claimed they were protecting their people from the “fruits of capitalism” (Ladd p. 19). When the wall was built everything surrounding the wall became gray and desolate, the life was sucked out of the 100 miles it stretched. Guards were placed intentionally. The transit system had to be abandoned, and gas and water mains were also disrupted. West Berlin supported new age rock artists, and youth on the East, listening through the wall would be pushed away by guards on duty. The separation that the wall created seemed like a mindless political decision when East Germany sealed off West Germany lines and the West did not intervene, The East then “surrendered its claims to West Berlin” (Ladd p. 21) The Eastside Gallery of the Berlin Wall is the longest standing open air gallery. It is a gallery because the art stretches for miles. What is left of the wall is continuing to collect graffiti, and new history is writing over the past. Berlin is known for its constant destruction and rebuilding. “Many of the buildings that survived the war did not survive the peace” (Ladd p. 37) Berlin wants to move on with the future, not be held down by the past.

Exploring Berlin I realize that there are few historical buildings left. There are some main historical pieces such as the train station, and some harmless, abandoned buildings that I have no clue about what there use was. It is clear that most of the housing developments are new. When I first arrived to Berlin, I rode the S-Bahn to the complex I am staying in, on Warschauer Strasse. All of the streets have German names and are pronounced different than how they look. The city stays up late. I hear people partying outside until I go to bed at 3am. I am near the center of Berlin, everything that i want to access is available a walk or a bus away. One thing I noticed to be different is there is a median sidewalk between the two sidewalks next to buildings. The is where the bus and above ground train picks people up. This is also a good way to get out of the way of construction. I hear construction happening now. This is a city of constant movement, as well as tourists. I blend in, so long as I don’t speak. And when I do, people kindly speak English.

The next few days I will be exploring musical venues, art galleries and more architecture. I want to see if there is a clear difference between East and West Berlin. Each morning I wake up with new curiosities, on average at 8am no matter how late I stay up because I don’t want to miss out on what I can find here!