Berlin & Schwerin: Death Confronted!

My new students. German kids from a school we went to today. Wow kids are the same all around the world. Inquisitive, curious and full of spunk.

Student I sat next to in class, Erick. He was the class clown. At the end of class I had to tap him on the knee and motioned for him to pay attention. Still correcting kids half way around the world. He immediatedly turned around and payed attention.

Police officer on duty for the student protest. Our driver was so bad he even had to laugh. Wow almost didnt make it home alive. Certainly an experience we will never forget.

Student protester. Berlin was filled with student activists.

The man, our tour leader, who almost got us killed. I respect the fact that he was able to laugh about it. He is a great tour leader by the way.

Thats how I roll. I barely fit in the Trabi.

The girls I walked around Berlin with after the Trabi ride. We had a great time walking around the city. We need the exercise after all the food we have been treated to. Amazing, as I mentioned we are being treated like princes and princesses.

Hello all, I am now in Schwerin. We spent our last day in Berlin yesterday. We were given some free time yesterday to explore so that was enjoyable.

Ok well I will begin. Yesterday morning we met with a woman from the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development. Our discussion centered around the decision by the government to reconstruct the Berlin palace which was destructed in the 1950s due to war damage. There has been a lot of debate and discussion in regards to the reconstruction and location. Building will be begin next year and will take around four years. There will be a lot of building in general in the near future. Some agree, some disagree with the plans to expand.

Later we were given time to explore, as I mentioned, on our own. We had a reservation to go on a Trabi tour. For those who dont know the Trabi was an East German car that was symbolic of the inefficient economy of east Germany. Even though it was one of the stronger Soviet Bloc economies. This car had a waiting list of over ten years. Pathetic considering it is not all that nice or nor does it run that well. Once you got this crappy car you had been waiting for it more than likely was not the one you ordered. Different color, that sort of thing.

There was eight of us in two cars. We were allowed to drive while being given a tour by two tour guides in the car ahead. As most of you know I do not drive a stick so I was the copilot. Well it was entertaining, embarrassing, hilarious, and death defying all at the same time. Our driver, Henry the group leader, never figured out how to switch gears. We were either in first or third the whole time. The shifting is done by a hand lever. Talk about awkward and confusing. There were several times where we navigated through the busy streets avoiding people, bikes, mopeds, cars and large buses. What an interesting experience.

After our very entertaining and dangerous experience we went to a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch, excellent by the way. First time trying this type of food. There have been several of these new eating experiences for me. Later we walked around Berlin saw some beautiful churches, shops and sights. We went back to the Brandenburg gate and saw students was once again protesting in mass numbers.

We then headed back to the hotel and reorganized for our train ride to Schwerin. Schwerin is located in the north in Mecklenburg state. It is exactly what I picture when I think of German towns. Very quaint. I am about to go explore so I will share later. I am about to go to a castle located on a little island, very excited.

Last night we got to our hotel and got ready for dinner. Dinners have been amazing here, they last like two hours though. By the way Schwerin used to be a part of East Germany. We will be heading to the west soon. This morning we went to a middle school and observed how their day is. We were able to sit in on a class for fifty minutes. I sat down next to this little sixth grader that was absolutely adorable. I think he was trying to show off for me however. We were communicating as best as we could without distracting him or getting him in trouble. He seemed like the class clown. I think a lot of the same practices I saw the teacher using I use as well. It was such an awesome day. As you all know I LOVE kids and being around kids. After observing class we were able to go outside and see this exhibit on the GDR or the former communist party of East Germany. This bus goes around to various areas and explains the GDR to students who have no recollection of it. Several of us were saying that it is not a good sign that this needs to be done as far as the fact that many east Germans long for the days of socialism. Interesting indeed. Well before I went to the bus I walked around the schoolyard and met some new friends. They were interested to know about me and I in them. One particular boy remembered my name and wanted to know so much. At the end of our visit it was so cute he said bye Tim. My friends have several pictures of this that I will get later.

I am gonna go. Have to explore Schwerin. I will be taking pictures of the city and will share in the future. The following are pictures of Berlin and our school experience.