Our trip is complete

Wow, what a great trip this was to Germany with the Goethe-Institut! I can't believe the great time that we had, and also the huge amount of information that we all learned. The time spent with these great colleagues from all over the country was perhaps even the best part of the trip. I will certainly miss being around the great people I met during our time in Germany together, and I will miss being in that great country. Hopefully somehow we will see each other again in the future.

To any newcomers to this blog: Please start reading at the bottom so you can go in chronological order. This blog was created to be daily communication with my students, family, colleagues, and friends, but now that my trip is over, it will remain up, unchanged, so that any interested parties can read it. Email me directly at mheiden@sbcglobal.net or mheiden@hse.k12.in.us with any questions or comments. Thank you.

A very full plane

We checked in at the airport today early and then walked around a bit before we reached our gate and found out that our plane was very overbooked. Sometimes airlines book more seats on a plane than are actually available, and this had happened on our flight. So, we thought that at least one of our group might not be able to get on the flight. But, then as we got ready to board the plane we found out that we might be able to volunteer to skip this flight and just fly home the next day. We would have all received about $1000 each along with a hotel and food allowance. So, several of us volunteered since $1000 sounded pretty good, but then they actually did have room for all of us, so we all got on the plane anyway. The flight was over an hour late leaving, but only arrived in Washington DC about 30 minutes late. Several of our group had very tight connections, so I hope they made it home OK. I am staying in the area for a while, so I just collected my belongings and headed out of the airport. You can see our 747 that we flew home on below.

Leaving Germany

Today we are up and ready to go to the airport for our flight from Frankfurt to Washington DC Dulles on Lufthansa flight 418. I am packed and ready to go, and I think all of my group mates are under the 50 pound requirement for checked luggage! We will take off at about 1:15 PM and get into Washington DC at about 3:40 PM. So, students, use your math ability to figure out how long the flight would be since Germany is 6 hours ahead of Washington DC local time. Who will post the correct answer first?

Heidelberg Castle

This afternoon we set out for Heidelberg on a private bus. It was a little more than an hour drive from Frankfurt, but it was nice to relax and talk to everyone. We were heading to visit the Heidelberg Castle, which is an amazing old castle that is partly intact overlooking the city. It was a lot of fun touring the castle, and then we had some time to do some shopping in the very busy streets of Heidelberg. This place is a tourist magnet! Below you can see a view of the city from the castle.

After this we had a tour of a local brewery, and even got to go behind the scenes to see how they accomplish their brewing. Germany is certainly known for its beer, and we got to hear all about how it is made. After our tour we had a very nice dinner and relaxed on our final night in Germany (for most of us). Several of our members are staying for some extra time in Germany or elsewhere in Europe, but the majority are heading out tomorrow. It was a great last night together as a group. In the photos below from our final dinner you can see a common theme from our dinners together--great conversation and excellent meals!

Frankfurt City Center

After a night of sleeping in wonderful air conditioning I awoke and headed out with the group to visit the Saint Nicolai Church in the old city center of Frankfurt. This is an old protestant (Lutheran) church that is actually led by a pastor from the United States. He moved to Germany with his wife, who is German, and has led this church for 20 years. He gave us some information about the history of the church, but also of the relationship between Germany and churches (for instance, churches are sometimes owned by the state, receive funding from the state, and German citizens pay church taxes for the church they belong to—there is not an actual separation of church and state in Germany). We got to hear some wonderful pipe organ music played by a Goethe-Institut official, as well as a tour of the upper walkway of the church. The picture below is from the top of the church looking out over the old square towards the modern Frankfurt area.

After this tour we walked around the old town and toured the Goethe House as well. Then, we had some time for lunch on our own. Well, Bill, Duncan, Lyndal, and I had a craving for doner kabobs, so we walked all over the place trying to find a Turkish restaurant. We finally got directions from a Turkish man and ended up eating our food right by our hotel. So, instead of walking all the way back to the rendezvous point, we walked to the hotel and called our guides. So, now we are back at the hotel waiting to head out to a castle this afternoon. It's been a nice final day in Germany so far.

The Frankfurt Opera

We began our afternoon with a behind the scenes tour of the opera house with an official of the Frankfurt Opera, had a sit down discussion with the assistant director of the show, and even got to go back stage. It was a really interesting time as we learned about the Frankfurt Opera, and also got to see the stage being set up for the show. We had a nice dinner nearby, and then it was time for the show. Now, I knew we were in trouble when I heard that it was in Italian, but I knew we were really in trouble when I heard it was German-only subtitles. Also, one thing to learn about Germany is that they don’t air condition buildings like we do in the states. Often you see skyscrapers with their windows open. Now, this is great for saving energy, but not so good in an opera house with 1000 people and NO ventilation. So, it was hot, stuffy, and entirely in a language we didn’t understand—for three and a half hours! It was certainly nice and beautiful, but I would have been happy with 20 minutes or so of the performance. Still, it was a nice cultural evening even though I really didn’t understand a thing that happened during the opera except for what I gleaned from a summary of the story. As a side note, I am now on my third hotel room here in Frankfurt. The first two didn’t have air conditioning at all, so they have finally found me a room with AC, and I am very grateful! I guess the theme of the last few hours has been me seeking air conditioning.

Deutsche Bank

Today was our visit to Deutsche Bank to hear about their history, their current status, and to hear about Europe and its future as a union. Deutsche Bank is one of the largest banks in the world, and has really become an international bank, as compared to just a Germany bank. Deutsche Bank is also a major sponsor of this wonderful program that I have been on for these two weeks. After our talks by very well prepared presenters, we had a quick lunch before a tour of some of Deutsche Bank’s extensive art collection. Their art collection is situated throughout their buildings to brighten up the work environment. They are in a temporary building right now while their main towers are being remodeled. Still, this building is quite nice. Some of the art was quite impressive, but some was a little puzzling as well. I overheard one group member saying, “Germans are certainly financial geniuses, but they don’t know anything about art!” He was of course kidding as there was lots of beautiful art, but one piece that puzzled us is shown below:

This is simply a glossier place on the wall in the lobby, but it is considered a real piece of art and was made by a famous artist. Needless to say, we all don’t think it was worth any more than the paint that was used to paint it! But, to be fair, they had a lot of really beautiful modern art that really did make this building a very nice and pleasant place to work. Below you can see part of the group on their art tour around the building (notice the colorful piece of art to the right of the picture--this was hanging the lobby).

After our art tour we came back to the hotel to have a break before we head to the opera this evening. We are going to attend Don Giovanni by Mozart at the Frankfurt Opera. This opera is known to be very modern in its interpretations of operas, so it should be interesting. I just hope they have English subtitles or it will be a very long three hours! (Of course, it may be a very long three hours regardless!) Still, this is a cultural event that would be hard to attend if it wasn’t booked for us. One last picture from our day so far is below. It is part of the Frankfurt skyline. Frankfurt is the banking capital of Germany, and is home to its most international airport.

Germany Wins!

We of course went to eat at a restaurant that would show us the big game tonight. Germany played Turkey in the semifinal of the Euro Cup. This is a BIG deal here. Everyone in Germany watched this game, and everyone is very fired up. Germany did win 3-2 in a very exciting game, and then everyone here took to the streets to celebrate. It was getting quite rowdy in parts of Frankfurt as we headed back to our hotel. Most of the celebrators were just having clean fun though—lots of honking and cheering. I think the final game versus either Russia or Spain will be on the day I return from Germany (or perhaps the day after), so I will miss experiencing the final here in Germany. It would have been quite a scene if Germany won. You can see Tracy from our group below with two new friends watching the game.

On to Frankfurt

After our visit to the school we had a couple of hours to eat lunch (and of course ice cream) and shop before gathering our luggage and heading to the Hannover train station. We did have to say goodbye to our guide Garrit who has been with us since the beginning of the trip. He was a great guide so it will be sad to see him go. We also said goodbye to Nicola who was with us during our time in Hannover and did such a great job guiding us as well. Now we will have two new guides in Frankfurt. We boarded a train to Frankfurt, and a couple of hours later we were here in Frankfurt to check into our new hotel. You can see part of our group pulling their luggage on the way to the train station in Hannover.

An elementary school visit

Today we all checked out of our rooms and then stored our luggage for the day while we visited an elementary school called Fridtjof Nansen Schule. This was quite a school to visit because they are known as a very successful school, even though they have lots of different nationalities present in their school. Also, this school has new ergonomic furniture and some very innovative physical activity centers throughout the school. The school is trying many innovative ideas like having kids be very active through the school day. For instance, if a child needs to move during a math lesson, he/she could grab a timer and go and exercise in the hallway for 3 minutes. I visited a second grade classroom and found it to be very similar to an American second grade class, except that they were working on the multiplication and division facts for 7. That is perhaps a little more advanced than most of our second grade curriculum.

A Volkswagen Day

It was a Volkswagen day today. We boarded a train to Wolfsburg early and then had (too much!) time to walk around the city before our guided tour of the main Volkswagen plant. We had an excellent guided tour of the factory while riding in a customized Volkswagen Golf with several customized trailers. We rode in this nice comfortable vehicle while our guide drove us and talked to us about the automobile making process. It was a great tour, however we couldn’t photograph anything, so no pictures of the new Volkswagens rolling off of the assembly line. I do have a picture of the factory below though. This plant is the largest sized automobile plant in the world.

We then had lunch in the city and after that we went to Autostadt (Automobile City) which is right next to the automobile factory. This huge complex is Volkswagen’s delivery point for their cars (you can pick up your customized car here to much fanfare), a car history museum, a driving and education training ground for kids and adults, and a showroom for Volkswagen brands like Lamborghini and Bentley among several others. You can see a Lamborghini Diablo GT below that is #1 of only 80 produced.

Also, here are the two large storage columns that have the cars ready for pickup by its owner. They are constantly loading these up and unloading them automatically using robotics.
After our car day we were able to move up our departure time on the train back to Hannover so we can have an early dinner and then pack-up to leave for our next stop after a day of visiting an elementary school tomorrow. We head to Frankfurt tomorrow evening.

A new hotel room

I have been having a heck of a time connecting to the internet during my stay here in Hannover. My room's internet system didn't work, and then the wireless didn't work for me either. So, I finally switched rooms and now I have a REALLY beautiful room. And, I am back online!

This morning we are up early and ready to take a train to Wolfsburg to visit the Volkswagen Automobile Factory.

Unloading a gift!

Today was back to business for us as we got an early start and went out to visit a high school here in Hannover. We visited a gymnasium high school, which is the highest of the three levels of high schools here in Germany. These students have tested into these schools, and most will go onto college. It was certainly quite a bit nicer than the school we visited in Berlin. I did get to give away one of my presents that I brought on the trip for our speakers, so I am very excited not to carry it anymore. It was a picture book of Indianapolis, and you can see me giving it to the headmaster of the school below.

After that we went to more of a middle school and had lunch before a short tour. Lunch was catered in because in Germany they often do not have cafeterias in their schools.

Then came a short train ride to a nearby city called Hildesheim. We visited an office for ongoing teacher professional development and heard about their programs. Then we toured this quaint little city and saw its amazingly old timber buildings like the one below.

After that we headed back here in Hannover and then had dinner at a Spanish restaurant. We all shared lots of tapas before retiring for the evening. Tomorrow will be an early morning before we head to visit a Volkswagen plant.

A day of walking around Hannover

Today was a lazy Sunday afternoon with a late start out of the hotel after breakfast, and just a day of wandering around Hannover. We started at the rathaus (city hall), which was a magnificent building. One of the most interesting parts of this building was that inside it had models of Hannover from various years like the 1600s, 1930s, 1946, and present day. The 1946 model was particularly interesting to see because you could see how the city was bombed nearly to oblivion during WWII. It was bombed because it was making rail cars for the war, and because it was on a major rail line. You can see one view of that model below:

And a picture of the city hall from the front as well for you…

We continued to go around the city looking at the sights and sounds of the town. One really fun aspect of the city is its old world charm as seen in the picture below. Remember, all of this has been rebuilt since 1945.

Then we headed to a beautiful gardens for the afternoon and for lunch. For dinner we had Bavarian German food for dinner…very heavy meat and potatoes food that really put us all in the mood for sleeping after a full day of walking and relaxing on a Sunday.

In Hannover

I checked into my room, and I got lucky and got the best one. I have a balcony on the top floor as you can see below. I have had good luck with hotel rooms on this tour.

After checking in we went to dinner, and to watch the big soccer game tonight between Russia and Denmark. After dinner we walked around the town a bit to see part of a music festival that is happening now. Now, I am just getting ready for bed as I hear cars driving up and down the street honking like mad because Russia won the game tonight.

Berlin Departure

After an brief internet café visit, we met back at the hotel, retrieved our luggage, and headed via bus to the train station to go to Hannover. We said goodbye to our great tour guide Evelyn, who will continue her work on her Ph.D. after she recovers from her time with us! Then, we lugged our baggage to the train station, boarded a fast train that drove at a top speed of 228 KPH, and arrived in Hannover an hour and a half later. We then rode taxis to our hotel. You can see us below in the Berlin train station that is one of the busiest in Europe.

One last afternoon in Berlin

After our Trabant adventure Tracey and I headed towards Brandenburg Gate to find where Hitler’s bunker was located. This was the place that he hid during the end of WWII, and the place where he killed himself and had himself burned so he wouldn’t end up like Mussolini. We did find it, though perhaps fittingly it is simply a sign now. The bunker was blown up and filled in by the Russians (Soviets) and now has apartment buildings on top of it.

We got another look at Brandenburg Gate, and also at the new American Embassy that is just being finished now. It is located just beside Brandenburg Gate, and will be officially opened on this July 4th. President Bush will attend its official opening ceremony.

After a lot of walking around the city and stopping in various gift shops and other little stores, we did come to the Germany Historical Museum. This is a huge museum that you could spend all day inside, but we spent about 1.5 hours seeing the highlights. I enjoyed especially seeing the medieval armor as you can see below.

Driving a Trabant

Well, today was the big day! I have been looking forward to perhaps finding a way to experience a Trabant while I am in Germany, and the Trabi Safari was my chance. We had breakfast this morning and then checked out of our hotel, then Tracy (a teacher from Missouri) and I set out to drive a Trabant. I really wanted to do this tour, but unfortunately I can’t drive a manual transmission car. So, Tracy volunteered to go along with me and drive. Evelyn, our trusty tour guide, booked the event and Tracy and I rode the U2 (very appropriate) underground metro to the location of the Trabi Safari company. They have a huge parking lot full of these East German cars that have become a symbol of socialism and the East. These cars are very ugly, made of plastic, and very slow with a tiny two-stroke engine. Yet, to me, they are beautiful in a very kitschy way. Anyway, Tracy and I showed up, paid our money and then got instructions on how to drive the car. Tracy is a driving pro, so she had no trouble. Here is the company that sells the tour:

These cars are quite small and very quirky looking as you can see below.

We took off with a lead car leading the way, and us following with three more cars behind us. The tour was in English, with the tour guide in the lead car explaining all about the city as we drove by many important landmarks. It was quite an adventure with Tracy constantly shifting the car and both of us laughing almost constantly at absurdity of the time we were having. To add to our fun was that everyone one that we passed on the street started laughing at the cars, and even trying to get their cameras out quickly to take our pictures! We are now in quite a few tourists' scrap books.

We drove by all the important city landmarks and heard a lot of information. But, overall, it was the car that made it fun.

After a nice hour drive we pulled back into the parking lot and I got my chance at the wheel. I immediately stalled the car since I had no idea what to do, but on my second try to get it into gear I did manage to drive it around the parking lot in first gear before having Tracy park it in reverse.

It was a great time, and a real highlight of my trip. Below you can see part of the excellent lineup of Trabis that this company has, including some customized ones (I like the classic ones myself).

Leaving Berlin

We leave for Hannover today in the late afternoon via train, but first we have several hours of free time, and I am going to be on a Trabant tour of Berlin, among other things. So, google Trabant to find out a little bit about this car that has been a favorite of mine for a while. I will probably post next from Hannover late tonight.

A Revue Show

We went out for Thai food this evening for dinner, I had duck with sweet and sour sauce and fruit and vegetables. It was very good. After dinner we had the chance to see the Glanzlichter der Revue. This was a revue show that featured everything from trapeze artists to dancers and even chorus lines. It was quite a show that has been a Berlin tradition for years and years. Then, it was back to the room to see the end of the Croatia and Turkey soccer match. Turkey won in a shoot-out, so that means they are playing Germany on Monday night. This will be a huge game, but it will be even bigger because Germany has tons of Turkish immigrants. So, everyone will be excited for that game.

Museums

After lunch we had some free time to explore what we wanted to see, and I chose to go with several others to see the Pergamonmuseum and the Altes Museum. The Pergamonmuseum is famous for its display of the Pergamon Altar from 170 BC (see it below). It is quite a spectacular collection of ancient works, though the display of the Market Gate of Miletus was closed for construction work.

The Altes Museum (Old Museum) is famous because it houses the Nefertiti. This famous work is in just about every world history textbook ever created. This piece is over 2000 years old, and is still in great shape. It was great to see this artwork, along with many other great works.

Finally, one more thing we saw today, and had seen several times before, was the Victory Column. This great column and gold statue was created in 1873 after several victories in wars against France, Denmark, and Austria.

German Public TV and Radio, and a Market

Today began with a later start (10:15 AM!) and then a trip to Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, the Berlin/Brandenburg public radio and TV station. It was really an amazing visit, with our guides talking about the differences between American and German public radio, showing us some radio and TV studios, and even a practice session of a philharmonic orchestra. Germany finances its public radio and TV by having its citizens pay a certain monthly free if they have a TV and/or radio. I think it was about 18 euros per month (27 dollars) to have a radio and TV. In this way everyone pays for the public TV and radio. There are also commercial (private) TV and radio stations as well that have more viewers. The public radio and TV system was set up by the Americans after WWII to provide the citizens with a way to spread information, not propaganda. It is independent from the government, so it can say what it wishes to say. Also, this radio building itself has a very unique history dating before WWI, and then continuing with the Soviets taking the building and holding it even after the allies held West Berlin. The Nazis used the building for propaganda during their rule. Below you can see their philharmonic orchestra practicing in the large recital/recording studio that this building houses.

After this morning meeting we went to a Turkish Market for lunch and shopping. I had another Doner Kabob, which I have decided I really like, and then we waded through the dense market where everything imaginable is for sale. Take a look at the market below, and at the Turkish bread stand in the picture.

Germany Wins!

After our birthday party for Sarah, we had a break and then went out to a traditional German restaurant for a meal, and then to watch the BIG soccer match between Germany and Portugal. Soccer is everything here, and the Euro Cup is almost as big as the World Cup, so the fans of the German National Team are everywhere. One interesting note is that normally you don’t see German flags flying, in fact that was considered a bad thing to do an most likely meant you were a very radical person or a Neo Nazi. However, since the World Cup last year, people are beginning to fly the German flag a lot during these important soccer matches. Well, Germany won 3-2 and the hundreds in the garden that we watched it in went nuts! There were 5 TVs all around the outdoor place and everyone had a great time.

A Birthday Celebration

After a quick lunch of bratwurst and coke, we continued on to Freie Universitat Berlin (Berlin University) to hear about German higher education. Enough said….
However, things got much more fun because it was Sarah’s birthday today, so we had to celebrate. We tricked her to come up to the top of the hotel and presented her with a John F. Kennedy doughnut. When Kennedy said his famous line, “I am a Berliner!” he actually really said “I am a doughnut.” He misused the word and so the Germans knew what he meant, but it was still funny. Still we all shared doughnuts in honor of her birthday today. You can see Sarah receiving her gifted from (l to r) Gerrit, Linda, and Evelyn, and then Sarah. (Gerrit and Evelyn are our Berlin guides during our time here—Linda is our program leader from Ohio.)

Prussian Palaces

Today began with a drive outside of town to Potsdam. There we got to see several palaces and gardens from the Prussian kings. We visited the Sanssouci Palace (the first picture), the New Palace at Sanssouci (the second picture), and several other important landmarks. It was a very beautiful grounds much like Versailles outside of Paris. We got to tour the New Palace and saw some very stunning rooms.

Next we went to the house of the Wannsee Conference. The Wannsee Conference was a Nazi gathering that decided the “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Problem.” The house is now a memorial and historical site about the Nazis and their persecution of Jewish people in the 1930s and 1940s. It was really sad to see some of the things that these people believed and carried out. There were some very crazy ideas that this whole group of people bought into and worked for….it makes you wonder how people could do such a thing. The house is pictured below:

More Berlin Wall

We next visited a famous Berlin porcelain factory called KPM WELT. Though it was interesting, I will be honest that it wasn’t all that excited to me since I can’t imagine why someone would spend thousands of dollars on pottery. Next though we went to see the Berlin Wall memorial where there is still part of the wall standing. It was very interesting to see what the wall complex looked like, because it wasn’t just a wall. There was a west wall and an east wall, with a kill zone in between and towers and barbed wire and guards all along it. In the photo below you can see a little better what it did look like when it was operational. Remember, this cut the city in two.

Now, I am back at the hotel after a very long and tiring day. We are heading out in a bit for Turkish food. Berlin has a huge Turkish population (their biggest migrant population), so having Turkish food here is necessary. I won’t update again tonight unless something goes wild with my meal!

More walking around Berlin

After our school visit we went to see a little more of Berlin, focusing on this very nice new area called Potsdamer Platz. We saw some very neat buildings, and again we saw where the wall ran right through the city. In the photo below you can see the pavers that show where the wall used to run through Berlin.

Also, we visited the new Sony Center as well. This is a very modern set of buildings that are all connected and share a huge courtyard in the middle. They even moved a historical building over and then built this modern building hanging over the old building. They used part of the building to then be part of this new building. It was very impressive. You can see a view of the courtyard below:

For lunch we went to this really pretty park by one of the zoos. I had a traditional Bavarian German lunch of some type of sausage (I can’t remember the name, but it is veal) with mustard, potato salad, and part of a pretzel. I did have a Coke though, so it wasn’t an entirely German meal, but then again, Coke is pretty much universal now. By the way, you peel the sausage casing off of the sausage before you eat it.

We next went to a famous church that was heavily damaged during WWII. It was built in the late 1800s for the Prussian King. However it was damaged so much during the bombing in the 1940s that most of it was destroyed. However, they kept this part of it, and then built a modern church right beside it. You can see the modern church steeple to the left of the old church below in the picture.

Berliner Rathaus and a Hauptschule

We started today off by heading to the Berlin City Hall (the Berliner Rathaus) to meet with the spokesman for the mayor’s office. Berlin actually has something like 12 city area mayors, and then one mayor that oversees them all. We heard about modern Berlin, and a little bit about the history as well. For instance, Berlin has lots of doubles or triples of things because the city was divided in half. So, there are 2-3 zoos, 2 operas, etc. Each time one side of the wall built something, the other side did as well. When the wall came down Berlin was stuck with two of everything. Also, Berlin is in massive debt, in part because of the double buildings, but also because there is a civil servant law that says that you cannot fire a civil servant. So, if you work for the city (this includes teachers) then you can’t be fired. So, they are stuck with a bunch of extra employees that they don’t need, but still have to pay.
Anyway, after that meeting we went to a meeting at the Heinrich-Heine-Real bzw. Rutli-Hauptschule (a high school). This is a middle level secondary school, so the best kids don’t attend this one. There is a lot of trouble in Germany right now because they “track” kids out of either grade 4 or 6 to a path. If you are the top 1/3, then you go to the gymnasium level (pre-college), but if you aren’t doing well, then you go to one of two other lower levels. This basically dooms these other kids to not having a good job. Of course, most of the kids in these two lower levels are poor or minority students (Germany has a lot of Turkish people and these people aren’t integrated very well into the society). So, we heard about a new project at this school that is designed to help these kids succeed better. Below I have posted a picture of informational posters that were made about the USA.

Tripping Stones around Berlin

After our Checkpoint Charley visit we drove to the Goethe-Institut Berlin to hear a speaker on Germany today. It was a very good talk about Germany and the problems that they face today. Amazingly they really face most of the same problems we do, ranging from education reform to immigration to government pensions. After our talk we went on a walking tour of some classic Berlin courtyards. We saw some of them that were restored and remodeled, and some that were much like they were when it was East Germany. East Germany was a very run down and shabby city during the Soviet rule. We also saw some “Tripping Stones” that are all over Berlin. These little markers show where Holocaust victims lived when they were kidnapped by the Nazis and then eventually killed. Each little marker shows a name, when they were born, when they were deported, and what camp they went to where they were killed. The three plaques below show three different Germans that were taken from this building and killed at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. As you walk around Berlin you see these things everywhere. They are by no means done with them because there are probably more millions more to still lay down, unfortunately.

We did then walk to a very nice traditional German restaurant for a very nice dinner. I had a traditional plate of duck that was very good. Now, it’s back to the room for rest to prepare for another full day in Berlin tomorrow.

Checkpoint Charley

After lunch we headed to Checkpoint Charley. Checkpoint Charley was an allied (USA, Britain, and France) checkpoint for entrance into and out of East Germany (controlled by the USSR). Though it was completely destroyed when the wall came down, they have reconstructed it and built a museum where it used to be. It was a good place to visit to begin to understand some of the history of the wall. Many people were smuggled across this checkpoint with the help of army personnel, citizens, and diplomats. Google Checkpoint Charley to read much more about this important history landmark. You can see two views of Checkpoint Charley below:

Also, you can see where the Berlin Wall used to be here by Checkpoint Charley (indicated by the brick pavers and the plaque).

Finally, you can see me posing by a segment of the wall near the museum at Checkpoint Charley. The wall wasn’t that tall, but the armed guards that would shoot on sight was a major deterrent to anyone trying to sneak across.

Vocational and Volunteering Centers (and a Gyro)

This morning we were up again and headed out to a vocational training center for youth that didn’t do well in the public schools. Many of these youth are from minority backgrounds and maybe didn’t even know German very well when they dropped out of school. It was an inspiring place to visit because this place trained the students in everything from TV and video production to hairdressing to being a chef or server. After this visit we stopped by a volunteer coordinating office. This office is one of the major organizations that tries to increase volunteerism in the country by training volunteer organizations to do a better job. The really fun part of the day started when we stopped by a really nice residential part of the former west Berlin. We stopped for lunch and also some shopping up and down some very pretty and very European streets. You can see me with my gyro sandwich below.

A Jammed Elevator

Next we headed to the Internationaler Club for lunch with a top German official in the Culture and Communication office. This club was “Member’s Only” and we had to trade our passports for an ID badge. We even got to ride this old elevator to the top floor. This elevator though was a bit different because it was like a belt system in that you jumped on without it stopping. It was an open front elevator that never stopped, you just jumped in. I guess these were popular in the past in Germany. So, Sarah (a teacher from California) and I timed our jumps and hopped in. Everything was fine until a person from our group (I will not name names!) hit the stop button at the entrance out of confusion. So, a buzzer went off and the elevator stopped midfloor. We were stuck! We could see the floor above us, and the floor below us, but we didn’t know if we should jump or not, for fear the it might start up right as we were jumping. Finally, after about 15 minutes and much debate I jumped down and then Sarah did as well. Well, it was quite a story to be told later by all involved. The Germans were just as stunned I think by the stopped elevator, and some even thought the smoke alarm was going off! Nothing like some American tourists to mess up an afternoon! You can see me below by the elevator right where I jumped down.

After a very ritzy lunch we headed out to the concentration camp that was situated just outside of Berlin. We rode 30 minutes to get to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp and amazingly enough it would have been closed on this day, except that they kept it open for us. So, we watched a video about the camp and then toured it at our leisure with the audio tours. This camp was one of the first concentration camps, and was the headquarters for all of the other camps. It was used for Jews, Russian POWs, and any other group that the Nazis hated or feared. Hundreds of thousands were brought here, and thousands and thousands died here from murder or starvation or just the rough treatment. It was a grim reminder of the past history of the 1930s and 1940s. I have a picture below showing the main gate from the inside of the compound.

After the visit to the concentration camp we drove back to the hotel and changed for a pizza dinner and to watch the big soccer match between Germany and Austria. The European Cup is going on right now and all of Europe is following it with great interest. Since Germany played tonight in a very big game for them, we had to be a part of it. So we watched the game and saw Germany win 1-0. Then, several of us stayed out later looking for partying Germans (and didn’t find any) and just got back to the hotel.

The Bundesrat

This morning we started out at 8:30 AM after a nice breakfast in our hotel. The sleep was very much needed, but I slept through the night and now am very much over any jetlag. We headed out to the Bundesrat today. The Bundesrat is the other house of the German legislative branch. We visited the Bundestag yesterday if you remember. We had a very nice guided tour of this building and then even had a chance to stand at the podium where the leaders stand. I am trying to look like a German leader in the picture below:
Then, we posed for a group picture as well:
After this morning tour we had a sit down with an expert official with the Bundesrat. We had a nice question and answer session before moving onto our next location: The Federal Foreign Service. The German Federal Foreign Service is much like the State Department here in the USA. They are in charge of diplomatic relations, foreign traveler services, and relations with other E.U. countries. We had Weerd Borner speak to us about his office, and about the relationships that Germany has with other countries around the world.

Around Berlin on No Sleep!

We met and headed out on foot to explore Berlin with our guides. Our hotel is located so nicely that we could walk to all kinds of important places very easily. It was also good to walk because going to bed is what most of us want to do! We saw lots of important city landmarks like the Neptune Fountain and the last communist statue left in Berlin--In the photo below I am sitting with Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, two developers/leaders of socialism/communism.

We visited the oldest protestant (Lutheran) church in Berlin as well, and that is shown below. Notice the bicycle event that is streaming by…we weren’t sure what it was about.

We walked to the famous Brandenburg Gate that used to separate East and West Germany. This area was the site of the famous President Reagan speech, “Tear down this wall!” (In this picture we were actually on the East German side of the gate—Reagan spoke from the other side.) We also had lunch at a very nice restaurant right beside the gate.

We then headed to the memorial for the Jewish Holocaust victims, and we crossed what used to be the site of the Berlin Wall. It is now mostly a paved brick line that still runs through the city (see below). After WWII, Berlin was separated with the West side of the city being free, and the right side of the city being communist. This tragedy continued on until the wall finally came down in 1989, and the country was unified in 1990. It’s hard to believe that this was once the dividing line for the cold war. Berlin has come a very long way in just 18 years.

Next we came to the Reichstag (pictured below). This is one of the main government buildings in Germany, hosting its Bundestag. The Bundestag is like the legislative branch of our federal government. We got to tour the inside of the building, including the amazing room in which the Bundestag meets (2nd picture below), and the glass dome on top that both serves as a beautiful top, but also as a light and ventilation source for the building. Students: try Googling "Reichstag" to read about a very long and rich history of the several buildings that have been called the Reichstag in Germany. This was an amazing building to visit.

A rain storm broke out just as we were leaving the Reichstag, so we were lucky we weren’t going to do any more walking. We ran to our bus and had a slightseeing trip around Berlin on the bus, including several sites that I hope to visit on my own later on. We even saw some still-standing sections of the Berlin Wall. So, now at the end of my 29 hour day, I am going to go to bed early here to get over any jetlag that I might be having right now.

In Berlin

After what seemed like a long 7.5 hours because of the cramped legroom (I wasn’t able to secure my usual exit row seat) we did land in Munich about an hour late. However, we still had an hour to clear passport control, security, and get to our gate for our flight to Berlin. We easily made it and had a quick one hour flight to Berlin. Our two German guides Evelyn and Gerrit met us at our gate and loaded us onto a bus for our hotel. We checked into our very nice hotel right in the center of Berlin, and had an hour to get situated before heading out at 10:30 AM. At this point we have been up for about 22 hours. You can see my nice hotel room on the 23rd floor below, and my great view of Berlin, including the (formerly) East German TV Tower.

Cruising over the Atlantic Ocean

Well, our flight pushed back from the gate nearly on time, but then a storm blew into Washington DC and that kept us sitting on the plane for about an hour or so before we did finally get a clear window to take off. Then, it was time to settle in and watch some movies and eat dinner.

Ready to Fly

This morning my group got checked-out of our Washington DC hotel and then had a couple of hours of German language instruction at the Goethe-Institut, along with some final instructions before we fly this afternoon. This is certainly a well planned program by a very well run institution. Then we took a private bus to the airport, had lunch, and now we are waiting to depart on our 8.5 hour flight to Munich, Germany. We then have a two hour layover in Munich before a short flight to Berlin. We will arrive early on Sunday morning ready to begin our sightseeing. Below you can see our group loading up outside of the Goethe-Institut (the building with the green banners across the street) to head to the airport, and you can see a picture of the Airbus 330 airplane that we will ride over the Atlantic.

A City Walk and Program Orientation

I did go for a quick jaunt around the Washington DC by foot before my orientation this afternoon. I just headed towards the center of town and kept running into important landmarks all over the place. I saw Ford’s Theatre (where Lincoln was shot), the FBI Building, the IRS, DOJ, EPA, National Archives, the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and a few others as well. I didn’t make it to the mall or the White House because I ran out of time and needed to find my way back to the Goethe-Institut. It was certainly hot and sticky, but it was still fun to walk around. Once I made it back we had several hours of programming to get us ready for our two week trip. We got to know each other, met our coordinators, learned about Germany, and got some instructions about the trip. We then had a nice Mediterranean-style dinner. We also received our flight information for tomorrow. We fly from Washington Dulles to Munich and then onto Berlin. We leave at 3:20 PM tomorrow on Lufthansa and get into Berlin at about 8:35 AM (2:35 AM on Sunday local time). So, it will be a very long day since we will fly all night and still have a full day of sightseeing ahead of us tomorrow. We have some more orientation tomorrow in the morning, and then our flight, so I should be getting to bed. It may be more than a day before I post again because of the flight and time difference. The pictures below are of Ford’s Theatre, The Capitol, and of Stephan teaching us about the German educational system at the Goethe-Institut.

In Washington DC

I did make it to Washington DC this morning. My flight was quick at just over an hour from Indianapolis to Ronald Reagan National Airport. It was neat flying in because I saw the Pentagon, Jefferson Memorial, and Washington Monument (It has been more than 17 years since I have visited this city.). This airport is certainly close to the city because you really swoop around the Pentagon before then landing at the airport which is right next door. I took the DC Metro into the city and followed my directions and map to my hotel. When I popped out of the metro exit, I was greeted with a familiar sight from my travels last year—Chinatown!

So, now I am just getting set here in my hotel before heading back out to the Goethe-Institut. It is only a few blocks away, so it should be a quick walk. I do know that I will walk right past the National Public Radio building on my way, so that might be nice to see. We will have a few hours of orientation, and then dinner before heading back to the hotel. It will be fun I think to meet my fellow travelers since I will be spending quite a bit of time with them over the next two weeks. I will post again this evening after my activities for the day are finished. Enjoy a picture of my first glimpse of Washington DC from the ground!

School is out

It seems crazy, but another school year has ended. This was the end of my seventh year of teaching, but summer still seems strange when it does finally arrive.
I am busy with errands and preparations to leave on Friday for Washington DC, and then on to Germany on Sunday. There never seems like there is enough time, but I am sure I will be ready.

Just eight days of school left. . .

Students,

There are only eight days of school left for you, and nine for me. What are you most looking forward to over the next two weeks of school, and this summer?

I'm going to Germany!

I just received a letter today from The Goethe-Institut in Washington DC awarding me a trip to Germany this summer in June. Needless to say I am very excited about this opportunity to visit a country that I have only barely seen before. It should be a great two weeks this summer to study and tour Germany!