One Week

So it has been one week since I took off from Los Angeles to Berlin and it has been so awesome. I forgot to mention yesterday that I had gone to the concentration camp of Sachsenhausen, just north of Berin in Orianenburg. I had only been to one concentration camp before, Dachau - in southern Germany, and it is definitely an experience. This camp was a little different in that it had been occupied by the Soviets for a few years after the fall of Hitler and there had been quite a few renovations and a good amount of buildings no longer standing. It was also a little eerie in that when we went, there was a relatively small amount of visitors to the site and the weather was cold and breezy. At times, it just seemed a little bit creepy there but it's something I recommend that everyone does in their lifetime.


Today, I was lucky enough to have my program plan a walking tour of historical aspects of Berlin. We walked for about 3 and 1/2 hours all over Berlin and saw nearly all of Berlin's main sights. Now I have a better idea of what I would like to spend more time visiting and it was nice to get a better overview of Berlin's history.


Although I did freak out a little bit today when I was on my way to my tour. I had to catch a train connection at Potsdamer Platz and I noticed at that station that there were no trains going in the direction of Brandenburger Tor (the Brandenburg Gate). I knew it was actually pretty close and I knew which direction it was in, so I decided to walk on over. As I was going on the escalator up, I noticed that there were two polizei (German police) standing at the top of the stairs, staring me down. They also happened to be in full riot gear. They preceded to ask me where I was going and what I was doing. After explaining I was on the way to my tour, they told me to go to the top of the stairs and fill out a form. When I got to street level, I was met by 2 dozen other polizei, also in full riot gear. They went through the same set of questions and luckily,  decided to escort me out of the barricade. I didn't find out until later that they were just on scene to watch over a protest, but it was a little scary!


Tomorrow I have my first day of class, but I actually get to do an interview to help determine which section I am going to be in for my German language course. I just want to be able to complete the 201 level that will fulfill my requirements for German language back at Chapman. I think that being in Germany one week has already greatly improved my German, but wish me luck!


I'm going to upload all my pictures I have taken so far (hopefully) tomorrow, so I'll try and post those on here soon.