SAM
Welcome to my travels...
From my photojournalism experience in Berlin to my first personally-planned travels to Prague and Amsterdam, this blog will be a small but meaningful piece of the puzzle.  Tag along for the highlights.
MAY 12, 2018
Today is the first full day here and we’ve already seen and done so much. The people on this trip are all very ambitious and interested in exploring as much as possible while we’re here which truly keeps me on my toes.
Yesterday, we got in pretty early and staying awake all day after flights was definitely a challenge. After only getting about an hour and a half of sleep on Wednesday leading up to the trip and then not being able to sleep the next night because of our overnight flight, I needed quite a bit of rest. Luckily we were able to get to sleep at 9:45pm and I got about 10 hours of sleep last night afterwards.
We utilized our time today to the fullest potential as we left the hotel at 10:30am for a bike tour that lasted about 5-6 hours travelling all over Berlin. I’m so glad we did it and we covered a ton of ground especially with us not being here for long in the grand scheme of things and this distance would not be manageable on foot. We were able to recognize tons of striking differences between East and West Berlin architecture/culture, popular street art and graffiti locations, the entrances to some of the night clubs, a famous part of the wall that still stands today covered in artwork, a couple stores in the shopping center, etc. It’s difficult to remember every little thing, but I love the general atmosphere/overall ways that this city operates.
Some of the interesting observations about Berlin include how different the lifestyle seems to be from an American perspective, the weather is so much cooler with less humidity, and that the food is so much cheaper at many restaurants. The lifestyle that I have observed so far is quite different from my own and others because there are a ton of public transportation options and people seem to spend a lot more quality time with another out and about.
To wrap up the day and the nighttime routine, one great thing, our sheets our incredibly soft and cozy. In addition, we have two amazing windows that are easy to open that let in a strong breeze and the chirping of birds when we choose to appreciate their song. Living with three other girls is much easier than I would have anticipated and we manage to get along nicely. Not wearing much makeup continues to be a blessing! J Overall, I cannot wait to see what else is in store for us these upcoming weeks. Using a nice camera is a privilege in itself and I love this process of and exposure to photojournalism.
MAY 13TH 2018
Walking into Mauer Park for the first time this Sunday evening was one of the most unique experiences I’ll ever have. Who knew that a music festival could be free?? All jokes aside, every Sunday at Mauer Park, the city of Berlin opens up for the biggest flea market that they have here, incredible karyoke, dancing, and picnics galore. Walking into this atmosphere made me think immediately of a music festival, which if you know me, it was like walking into exactly where I always want to be. A key difference; I wasn’t down $400 stepping foot into the grass here. It is important to recognize the rest of Mauer Park’s unique traits as well.Â
In plenty of environments, Karyoke might commonly be laughed off the stage. In Mauer Park, the people look forward to the magic of karyoke and support each other on stage like I’ve never seen before. At about 3-4pm each Sunday, the festivities set in with a stage and a large crowd rapidly forms. As we were walking through the flea market area, the cheering distracted us so much that we had to go see what all of the excitement was about. We shortly realized the magic of karyoke here in the park and a classmate of mine was even brave enough to hop on the stage for a talent of her own. While someone jumps up to sing a song, the stage is open to everyone for whoever has the courage to dance to the music out in the open. While we were over by the stage, a man selected She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5 as his song and the stage was empty of dancers with such a slow, calm choice of music. Just when it was least expected, Imani got up there and shared some of her dancing talent with the whole audience. I got tons of amazing photos of her and the moment was easily one to remember. I felt so proud of her and the bravery she mustered up to dance all alone and so beautifully. She does help with dance lessons at home, but getting out in front of a crowd like that is never easy.
In addition to the karyoke and the flea market here, the gentle, relaxed vibe that Mauer Park promotes is unique alone. We were able to listen to a couple artists with their singular instruments as we walked through the sea of people all over the grass and scattered across one huge hill in this secluded location. Everyone seemed to be smiling, laughing, and basking in the beautiful weather and it was such a nice experience in every way. From the streets, I would have never expected such a scene.
After my first full day here in Berlin, I have an entirely new perspective of the way this city works and how unique everyone seems to be here. One of the most difficult changes to make for me personally is navigating through the public transportation options. It would be one thing if everything were only written in German, but the fun part is making my way around town without Google Maps by my side. Even though it has been intimidating at times, I am learning to enjoy the challenge and feel how rewarding it is to accomplish something new like this.
While transportation has had its ups and downs, the way that the people of Berlin seem to spend so much quality time with one another is enough to make me reconsider my flight home. All around the city I consistently spot parents and their children, friends out for a walk or a meal with one another for hours, and barely anyone glued to their phones. Spending time with loved ones is something that I cherish so heavily and it’s such a breath of fresh air to experience a society that values this just as much or even more than I do.
Another one of my favorite parts of Berlin so far is the intriguing architecture that can be seen everywhere. With such a big city, there seems to be a constant stream of breathtaking buildings scattered around. The difference in East and West architecture additionally captivates me with such striking variations. A great way to learn more about this differentiation can be found at https://theforeignarchitect.com/east-west-berlin/ where this is the website focus for the initial portion. It continues past the variations and dives deep into the details behind Berlin architecture as a whole. Finally, I enjoy seeing the trend of apartment style homes which seem to be the overwhelming majority regarding living conditions. After further investigation, I have learned that this is indeed the norm.
May 16th 2018
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This morning was nothing shy of an adventure. Just when I thought my spirits were crushed when I asked Xavier to be my subject after our walking tour, he referred me to one of the most interesting people I have met so far in Berlin. He provided me with information for a great tour guide, Jake, who guides alternative donation-based art and music walking tours around Berlin and I hesitantly took him up on the advice.
This morning a group of students and I ambitiously showed up in Alexander Platz for the tour and all of us were pleasantly surprised.
From this tour, we had the privilege of learning all about some of Berlin’s most alternative art and music attractions with tons of information about the graffiti especially. Not to mention, I walked out of the tour with my subject after about three different rejections for various understandable reasons. My favorite part about this tour was definitely getting to see some of the most hidden art treasures of Berlin that I will remember forever. To take a similar tour, the times and details are available on the website:
http://alternativeberlin.com/tours/free-tour/
MAY 17TH 2018
As I mentioned previously, yesterday we had the luck and incredible privilege of going on a captivating walking tour with a man who lived through a lot of Berlin’s history back in the 80s and the 90s as an artist and a musician. Without further information, it may be obvious that he is the perfect fit for a position like this and explained to me how being a tour guide is a ‘gig of a lifetime’ for him. He worked within the ruins of Berlin way before the city grew to become as beautiful and attractive as it is today. He shared tons of alternative art secrets with us and brought us to some of his favorite places to spend time throughout his daily life.Â
Once Jake dropped us off at the end of the tour, we were able to explore a bunch since he ended the tour in a part of the city that we hadn’t been in yet. After we went back to see a little more of the art that he shared with us, we made our way back to the hotel just in time to quickly meet in the lobby for another experience of a lifetime. We were able to venture off to meet Christoph Niemann at his art studio here in Berlin. Christoph Niemann is a full-time illustrator, graphic designer, and author and regularly designs covers for the New Yorker magazine and has done two separate stories for National Geographic. For each experience, National Geographic allowed him to pick exactly where he wanted to visit in the world without any boundaries. He has published several books and has shelves full of work that we got to see in his studio. He spoke with us about his experience as an illustrator, the creative process, and the things he enjoys most about his job.
After this meeting, Logan Victoria and I made our own dinners from one of the nearby grocery stores around the block from our hotel. This wasn’t the simplest experience I’ve had in a grocery store, especially with every explanation and detail written in German per usual, but it was a very nice way to switch things up and try something new. It was also a great challenge to learn a little more of the language.
To make everything even better about yesterday in general, the weather was incredible even though we were expecting buckets of rain.
