After leaving my parents after a great weekend in Berlin, I was ready to get start with our class tour trip. In the morning we met up with every one and Asbjorn lead us on a great tour of the city. Berlin has been a bucket list place to visit for me for years so for me when I walk through Berlin it is like stepping into all the books I’ve ever read.
As I stroll through the streets I can’t help but imagine what Berlin would have been like when it was in Prussia, the Weimar Republic, the Golden 20s, WWI, WWII, the 1970s, the 1990s and beyond. Starting the trip off in an area of town I had yet to visit and a place that really intertwined old and new was a great way to start the day. After visiting the church tower that withstood WWII and the site of the 2016 Christmas market terrorist attacks we wandered through the streets talking about the history of Berlin and pointing out important monuments and fun facts as we went.
For me, this was not only my favourite part of my day but one of the most important parts journalistically. I feel as though learning the city, is the way to learn about the people and culture in the modern day. In the case of Berlin like many other major European cities, learning about the city means learning about the history.
After the walking tour, we headed out to find lunch. We put in the directions for the next desitination on our intinary, a photo workshop, and headed to an Indian street food stand near my. After picking up freshly prepared food we headed to the university just to find out from a call with Asbjorn and a confused looking printing press maker that we in fact were at the wrong university.
After running to make the bus while spilling mattar paneer all over we finally made it to our Derivé photo workshop. The workshop was great. I ended up meeting some of the Norwegian students and together we learned how to open our eyes in a new place and really look around. For me, this was one of the most important things I learned. Journalistically to represent a city accurately you have to get to know it and seeing really is better than just saying it.
