We'll start with the ww2 stuff. I have a new found respect for germany in that it's museums and memorials not only remember ww2 and the holocaust, but admit responsibility. These cites are not just tourist attractions but carefully placed archives that remind the people what happened and how they vow "never again." For instance, the holocaust memorial is called The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe( no way for anyone to make excuses or denials with that title) and it is perposefully placed in the middle of the main area near the Brandenberg Gate and government offices as if to say, "hey people/ goverment, never again!."
That night, as steve and greg have said in their blogs, was very special due to a chance encounter with our new german friend, Yergen.
Sometimes when you least expect it, the stars align to give you an experience you can really only have when traveling. It began with a period of indecisiveness in deciding where to go for dinner. Close and cheap or subway and unknown prices as our hunger grew, that was the question. And again when we got to the restaurant there were no tables so we could have sat with a few guys at one table but took our chances and waited at the bar. A few minutes later the hostess was about to seat a couple who arrived after us but we respectively reminded her we were here first. "the table also has a man at it, if you dont want it i am giving it to the couple", she says in her german accent. Hunger had taken over so we all agreed. We sat for a while not knowing what to eat from this strange menu so when the man put his magazine away steve asked for his opinion, which ended up being the spark of it all(thanks steve).
Two hours later we had discussed politics, his love for jfk and why bush and america's actions after 9/11 with iraq lessened his respect for america. Then he really started dropping knowledge bombs. He started talking about conflicts between countries and even people and how everyone thinks their right because there is no black and white, no absolute truths, only different shades of grey. That flowed into how because of technology, so much information is being sent out that you need to take a step back to form an opinion. More was said but you get the idea. Now a lot of it we all pretty much knew already but it was the way he was speaking, the examples he was using and the fact that he was a 60 yr old german man and his perspective was one we have never heard of before. And of course you've heard the finale, he picked up our check and simultainiously as he stood up and we respectively prostested his actions he says, "it's alright, i will eat a little less tomorrow." And after we accept and shake hands he leans in slighty and says,"if you take one thing from this dinner it should be this. There are Germans today who are different from the ones your grandfathers fought against." Boom, the final knowledge bomb. All this while in the background, and i swear im not making this up was U2- Still havent found what im looking for, haha.
As the guys both said, we were left shocked and amazed. My final note on the dinner was that we talked about sport for a little and found out he's a big hockey fan, of course he is!
The rest of our time in Berlin was amazing. A very interesting experience at Cedar for passover where i sat across from a professor teaching abroad from what school, the University of Delaware of course, who interstingly enough gave steve and i reassuring thoughts on the schools we are going to next year. She said it was good for me to go somewhere new and especially for my degree, dc is will be great. And similarly to steve how Corvallis is a wonderful/beautiful area to live in if you like the outdoors(in case you havent figured out yet, steve is the bear and outdoors is kinda his thing).
On the train to Berlin i got very excited reading about what we'd be doing and now having left, it not only met my expectations but far exceeded them.
A quick note on the present. We are in Prague now and it is great. A beautiful city of mixed styles of arhitecture and buildings that date back centuries because it was one city not destroyed by the world wars. Steve and i spent his bday walking around and spending the afternoon in the park where steve took his hacky sack abilities to a new level. At night greg met up with us after his side trip to visit family and we went bowling.
Right now we are spending some time planning the rest of our trip which is so weird. 3 weeks in we finally have the dates marked till the end. We all agreed this was the way to do it. We learned so much on how to travel that booking the whole trip would have hindered us more than helped. What a trip!
More details on Prague coming soon...
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