23-03-23
Dear Diary,
Today was an early morning start, leaving just in the nick of time heading towards the foreign correspondent for the Danish newspaper ‘Dagbladet Information’. We met Mathais at his home, and listened to him share stories about life as a foreign correspondent. It was a very interesting presentation, and I think it was useful to learn about the various ways and tips into getting into the area of work. He recommended learning another language, and told us about his experience working freelance until finding a solid position. His job was interesting, and more select stories rather than breaking news, I liked this. It inspired me to think of the possibility of my future career path being a foreign correspondent for a New Zealand news site, and made me more excited to get into the work force.
After the presentation we all sat at a cafe and shared with Asbjørn our ideas about our coming project. Harper and I floated some possible topics particular to Berlin including street art, extremism, vegetarian food, and Eastern Berlin. We stuck with Eastern Berlin, and had the vision of talking to past residents from East Berlin who had to adjust to Western life after the reunification. We went back to the hotel and began searching for sources, then continuing on back to the memorial site and museum for the wall. From writing emails and contacting possible sources we found individuals interested in being interviewed. These individuals included a man who escaped eastern Germany via a hot air balloon and a previous Stasi prisoner. Both incredibly interesting stories that I am extremely excited to learn more about.
We finished the day with a dinner at the markethalle neun, a large market full of a variety of different foods. I ate a unique African dish made up of three different curries and also had a tiramisu, all washed down by a lovely local beer brewed on-site.
Overall, an enjoyable day, with a fair bit of progress in finding sources for the project. I am very excited about tomorrow and the two tours of the Olympic stadium and of the concentration camp and look forward to learning more about them.