By Ruben McCarthy
A visit to a Danish foreign correspondent living in Berlin started off the day. He lives in an apartment block with a lot of character and there was quite an interesting story about how the current owner inherited the building but their identity still remains unknown to the tenants and besides collecting rent –they have neglected the upkeep, leaving the hallways in a state of disrepair.
In terms of journalistic news values – he gave very good advice about his life and work experience and dug into the reality of what it’s like being a foreign correspondent. Two main factors were strong language skills from countries of interest and the willingness to work hard without much pay for a while.
After this meeting we headed to a cafe nearby to pitch our ideas for the Berlin assignment and to do some more research with Elise before venturing out. The current main plan is to do a photo report on analogue film about the different faces of Landwehr canal, as well as the problem of pollution and wastage that surrounds it. So we headed out to talk to people and were able to get a couple interviews and pictures.
For dinner a group of us went to Markthalle Neun, an indoor food market with all kinds of cuisines to pick from. I had a Moroccan lemon chicken dish which was really good. There was quite a bustling atmosphere, with a feeling of many different cultures merging in one place.
