Welcome to My Berlin Study Away Blog
The End
I have learned a lot on my study away. I have studied, I have soaked in as much information as Sara and all of our tour guides gave to me. I also learned to let go a little. I learned that the walls I build up could maybe use a little less boarder control. I…
Day 16
The process of bringing two pieces of anything together is difficult on paper and in reality. If you think of a puzzle, the pieces fit together, and they were originally made as one, but then they were cut and separated. Even when you find its place and put it back together again there is still…
Day 14
The Eastern German aesthetic has some key defining features. The cityscape is filled with large high-rise towers that are designed as apartments, there are buidings that have modern design and are embellished with art that coveys their new motivating message, and there are buildings that were thriving during the GDR, and that fell when the…
Day 13: Security
Today we were able to take a glimpse into the security of the Soviet Union. We entered the former Stasi Jail, and looked at all the tactics they used to manipulate and control their prisoners and their people. The GDR was meant to be a democracy, the German Democratic Republic, however the name is misleading…
Day 13: Aesthetic
West Germany’s defining features are exactly what you would expect them to be. The West was ocupied by the US and therefore the Western side of Berlin looks very similar to a city like NYC. For a lot of Germany I have felt like I was in a foreign country. I have gotten used to…
Day 12
East and Western Berlin seem to shape memory in similar ways in my opinion. Both sides tore down buildings that represented things that they deemed unworthy of being remembered, and both sides erected memorials for the victims. That, is what I feel is the key similarities that the East and West have, however, there are…
Day 11: A Lil Snooze & Two Lil Tattoos
Last night was wild! But we won talk too much about that. All I can say is that good friends go out with you and great friends get you home safe. If you’ve read all my blogs so far you probably remember that I was very skeptical of making friends and having fun on this…
Day 10
The most important part of the concentration camp to me was the drawings. The tour guild stated in the main office of tower 8 was that there are three types of accounts that they have from the camp. The first, is the video that was taken. It is the only video recording they have from…
Day 9: Forgive and Forget…
Can we forgive Germany for its past and still remember all that has happened? There are things we choose to remember in life. Usually memories that are fond, like the first time you were successful at riding a bike, or your wedding day. However we also have a tendency to remember the bad and the…
Day 8: Run, Run As Fast As You Can! I Will Catch You I’m The Olympian Man
Today we went to the Olympic Stadium in Berlin! We learned about the history of the structure as well as the history of the prejudice that was associated with it. The building was used for the Germany hosted Olympics that took place in 1936. The building was a very quick build that was made to…
Day 7: Stumbling Upon the Fallen
Germany’s history with the Jewish community has been of terror and devastation. Many people lost their lives through the anti-Semitic views that took over the nation. The ones that suffered and lost their lives were not erased from the world. Even though they may have been physically taken away, the memory of them is something…
Day 6: Short and Sweet, Because My Day Definitely Wasn’t
Today we saw a lot of things, lots of places, and learned about lots of people. As we journeyed through the streets of Berlin, venturing through the eastern suburbs in search of a mystery gate, and on the cobblestone paths through the mix and matched buildings that seemingly all featured a different style, we saw…
Day 5: Ice Ice Baby(lon)
Well day five is really like day four and then a nap and then day continued. With a free day in place there is a clear way to spend the night before… and I’m a sure you can guess what we did. A bar of course, but not just any bar, an ice bar! Lots…
Day 4: Charlottenburg
Top left corner: Charlottenburg Palace Front, January 11, 2020 Bottom left corner: Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jacques-Louis David, Picture taken in the Charlottenburg Palace, January 11, 2020 Top center: Tomb cover, sculpture of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Wife of Fredrick William III, Picture taken in the Charlottenburg Palace, January 11, 2020 Bottom center and top…
Day 3: Home sick… or should I say hotel sick
I wasn’t able to participate in class today. It was a big day and I am devastated that I had to stay behind. This morning I woke up with all the same symptoms and there was no way I was going to be able to participate in all the events going on today. So, I…
Day 2: aka day 1 continued…
Drained and getting more and more sick by the second. I was barely able to eat the food on the airplane, but I pushed through. After we made it to the hotel things started going down hill and fast. I was only able to eat a piece of bread at breakfast and then took a…
Day 1: Travel Day
Today was a very long day. I started feeling ill the day before we departed. Sore throat a little bit of a cough and a turning in my stomach that I racked up to being nerves. The first plane we took from Norfolk to Newark was rough. The wind, I suppose, made take off so…
A little about me…
In order for you to get a feel for the blog that will result from this study away, I think you have to know a little about me and my journey up until this point. I am 19 years old and I have traveled a lot in my life. My dad was in the navy,…
My First Blog Post
Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken. — Oscar Wilde. This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
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Alyssa D’Emanuele 