Impressions of Berlin from my short visit at the Free University and while touring around the city center on Sunday afternoon with my friend Wolfgang: The city looks very modern, having been mostly reconstructed after the intense bombings by the Allies in WWII. There are still some structures and buildings that survived the war and were reconstructed, but not too many. (See photo of me at the Bandenburg Gate.) Memories of the divided city and the Wall still seem fresh in the minds of Berliners, more than 20 years after the wall went down. We visited the Checkpoint Charlie wall museum and were amazed by the stories and photos of many people's desparate and often ingenious escapes from the East. The city seemed incredibly civilized to me, and signs of affluence were notable. (Nice houses, nice German cars, nice restaurants, nicely dressed people, well-maintained parks, etc.) I walked by one kindergarten (preschool) in an affluent neighborhood and was impressed by the amount of space and equipment devoted to outdoor play. Glimpses of the rooms within showed brightly lit and decorated spaces for children to play. My colleagues told me most German parents do NOT want their children learning academic things before primary school. Kindergarten is a time for freedom and play. My Dutch friend Ruben and I were impressed by the spaciouness of the houses and apartments we saw. (Also the high prices of those for sale!!) Of course there must be neighborhoods in Berlin where poor or working people live more modestly-- but we did not see them. I had some nice meals, featuring traditional German foods, very grainy breads, and varieties of meats and wursts-- but though they were tasty, I will not adopt that diet on a daily basis! I hope to return to Berlin in the spring, when it's more comfortable to tour around. (It was cold there!) When I arrived in Amsterdam on the train at about 11 PM, I had the sense of "coming home." Surprising, since I have only been here one week so far.
