Topics to research in Berlin

The media has certainly affected all of our lives at some point or the other. Each day we are bombarded with all sorts of information from newspapers, television, radios, magazines, books, and the Internet. I am sure all of us have noticed that a lot of times we are given contradictory information. I know that I have had many instances where a lot of the things I have learned or observed throughout my life do not match up with what I read or see on TV. The role of the media is indeed a significant one. It has a huge impact in our lives. For Berlin, I am very much interested in analyzing the media’s influence on both East and West Berliners. How was the wall depicted in newspaper and on T.V for the German people? How much control does the government have over the information released. If there was propaganda, how was it used? Did the average family listen to the radio and keep up with the news? How did the journalists depict the wall in? What kind of euphemisms was used? If this were the alter, the objects I would put in this alter would be a pen, paper, dictionary, camera, photos, telephone, remote control, television set.
Another topic I was interested in for Berlin is learning more about immigrants such as the large Turkish community that resides in Germany. After the chaos of World War II, were there a lot of people from other minority groups living in Berlin? I would like to learn about their experiences. I know that we talk about Berliners and we separate those living in the east and those in the west. I keep hearing about vast differences between the two groups but I am curious about what defines a “Berliner”. Is someone born and raised in the city of Berlin and whose ancestors was German? Were there Asians, Middle Eastern, Americans, and other ethnicities that also spent their whole lives in Germany and witnessed the putting up and taking down of the Berlin Wall? Does their experience differ from those who are German? Besides the Wall, what other hardships did they go through and what helped them survive it all? I would put in this alter a pair of old shoes, clothing, books, family photos, letters, passports, birth certificates, and family tree.

The end of History

When I saw the title, The end of history, the first thought that came to my mind was “Is this possible”? Of course I have encountered the phrase, “History never repeats itself” many times, but I have never thought about history being nonexistent at some point. The end is such a permanent thing that it’s hard for me to believe that it could happen to history. Then again, I had no idea what Fukuyama was referring to with this title until I started reading his essay. That is when I realized that indeed there could be an end to history. Fukuyama was using history in terms of ideologies of the past that is slowly disappearing in our society today. The essay discussed Marx and Hegel’s theories on communism. I sensed that Fukuyama was promoting democracy and hinted that authoritarian and dictatorship states will not last long. However, I do not necessarily agree that democracy will win out and there will be an ultimate end to these other ideologies. I believe that some governmental systems cannot be altered because they are so deeply ingrained in a nation’s culture. For example, although the people in Great Britain share similar freedoms and quality of living as Americans, their government is set up differently. They still have their traditional monarchy system with the royal family still holding power of the country. This set up is most likely not going to change in time in the near future. Likewise, although the fall of the Berlin wall represented the fall of communism, it only did so for the Soviet Union. Communism is still very dominant in China and Vietnam. Perhaps the philosophies of Marx and Hegel have somewhat “ended” because communism today is not exactly like the communism several decades ago. It is like what Shawn had described about the statue of Mao Zedong in China. There were advertisements postings all around his statue. Of course this was not the communistic China that Mao had pictured. Certainly, governments and ideologies will evolve to ensure survival, but to have an end them seems to unrealistic.

The Devil's Highway

It was one of those summer days where I just wanted to dip my feet in the cold water and to feel the warm breeze on my skin. Instead, I got freezing cold air-conditioner and a fan. I was stuck in the mall working all day. It could literally see the sunrays seeping through ceiling window but it didn’t feel like summer because I stuck in a cold room. Those were the days I read the Devil’s Highway. To be completely honest, it was very hard for me to get into the book at first. I was really bored at work and I all I really wanted was to read something that was fast pace and full of dialogue, not descriptive and political. However, I made it past the first few chapters with all the descriptions of the dessert and the border patrols. I was very intrigued with the book when Urrea started diving into the men’s stories. I felt like I could really empathize with these men. I understood their motivation for embarking on such a dangerous trip. Urrea’s depiction of the Mexican families and their struggles reminded me of the life I had before I came to America. When I was eight years old, my family and I left our homeland, Vietnam. I was forced to abandon more than just my favorite belongings, but my entire childhood. I found myself waving goodbye to communism, oppression, poverty, fear, and corporal punishment to discover democracy, freedom, capitalism, wealth and opportunity. My whole life I heard my parents, relatives, neighbors, and friends, talk about the “free world” like it was heaven. Food tasted better there, material goods are limitless, cities are beautifully lit up at night, and everyone is living the “good life”. Thus, it wasn’t hard for me to imagine the drive and willpower of the twenty-six Mexican men who tried to cross the Mexican/American border. Like them, my parents had wanted to give my brother and I a better life, a future. Indeed, we wanted to be able to have the financial stability that would allow us to help out the rest of our family who was still living in Vietnam. I realized after reading this book that poverty is a powerful motivator and that survival instinct is beyond my imagination.

Border in Seattle

“It is very unfortunate that the Ave offers absolutely zero options for eating delicious Chinese food”, a statement that prompted my friends and I to head for Chinatown. Although hunger forced us out into the cold, rainy weather, and be cramped in a crowded bus for 20 minutes, our innate desire indeed exceeds any body mechanism. It’s interesting that not even the unappetizing food served at eleven 01 could compel us to overcome over laziness and travel more than a few miles for food. Going to Chinatown is worth our time and effort because one of word, RICE! People might ask, “Wouldn’t you get sick of it after eating it for every meal?” My answer, rice, like water, can be bland and flavorless, but it never gets old. It is important to us because it is a part of our culture and tradition.

In a sense, the Chinatown “wall” separates the Asian Americans way of life from the rest of Seattleites. It represents a way of preserving a culture. When you enter the big red giant gate with dragon designs on the sides, you will notice a change in the atmosphere. There are no longer big department stores and tall glass buildings, but rather little shops and open markets. The difference is very unique. Chinatown serves as a place for Asian Americans to escape to get authentic foods, to shop for obscure groceries, and ultimately to celebrate their identity. As Ladd would agree, “All cities’ buildings display their cultural traditions”. However, the Chinatown gate is different from the Berlin wall in many ways. Its purpose is not to block out people from outside of its borders, but rather maintain its culture by inviting people in to celebrate its presence.

This dividing line between Chinatown and the areas around it can be seen as permeable. It is not selective to who can enter and who cannot. The Chinatown gate is very noticeable and can be considered the “wall”. The set up of this wall is very unique. Its large structure and distinct designs offers a way for people to tell that there is a border and that they are definitely not just in a regular part of Seattle anymore. However, it is not a thick giant block of cement that prevents people from seeing the happenings on the other side. The Chinatown gate is welcoming and transparent.

I believe that this division in our city is very much a beneficial one. It provides many people a sense of their identity and it offers a way for “outsiders” to explore and learn about different ethnicities’ way of life. Walls do not have to be a way of forcing things to remain inside and blocking what’s outside; it can be a positive attribute to a city. Borders such as the one in Chinatown can offer unity rather than division. This might seem contradictory since many of us are used to thinking of borders as separating two places. However, borders do not define itself, the people around the border formulate its symbolism.

Response to The Ghost of Berlin

In high school I learned a lot about Germany through studying the two major World Wars in my history classes. Of course these courses exhausted the topic of the Holocaust and Hitler. However, we only spent a limited amount of time on the Berlin Wall. I remember reading about the Berlin Airlift and it’s successful legacy on defeating the Soviet’s malicious plans of taking over the entire city of Berlin. Indeed the Berlin Wall was discussed when the Cold War manifested itself in our textbooks. I have always found that the “Iron Curtain” dubbed by Churchill Winston was a creative way to describe the wall. These two words are short and simple, yet their implications are in fact truly profound.

Even with this prior knowledge of the turmoil that powerfully hit Germany like a violent tornado and incurring permanent damage, I was still taken aback by the first few sentences in the introduction to the Ghost of Berlin by Brian Ladd. “Berlin is a haunted city” ultimately explains the title of this book. I thought that was a really interesting way to present the history of Berlin. However, the part that really caught my eye was Ladd’s depiction of tourists and Berliners hacking at the wall. He said, “The cold night air during that winter of 1989-90 was filled with the sound of pik-pik-pik.” This was a powerful description of the importance of the wall as a symbol. It is obvious that people all around the world wanted to have a piece of this wall to forever celebrate its significance. The wall represented a time of trepidation and dread. Many people spent their lives in fear of the spread of communism and the threat of a nuclear war. I can understand and empathize with the need to own a piece of the wall, but this desire is truly detrimental to the preservation of this historical symbol. Ladd stated, “The Wall, symbol of the epic confrontation between capitalism and communism, became a capitalist commodity”. This idea presented in this sentence is sad to me. How could such an important part of history be capitalized on? I was a bit stunned that people would enable the exploitation of the wall.

Perhaps I am overly zealous about preservation of historical buildings, but I believe that it is very important to keep history alive both physically and mentally as much as possible. I am excited to be witnessing the wall first hand and learning about its history right where it was form.

My own Wall

Today was the first meeting for our Berlin group. We all participated in an icebreaker that involved a mock speed dating exercise. The set up was very similar to planets orbiting the sun. Half of the group remained seated in a circle while the other half rotated around to meet a new person with each turn. We were to discuss with each other the “personal walls” in our lives.

The “wall” that I discussed during this activity is one between a small conservative town and a large liberal city. I spent most of my life living in small communities. The first eight years of my life was spent living in Vietnam. My family and I resided in a small town outside the city of Saigon. Then, we immigrated to the United States and I grew up in Longview, Washington. These two small towns have their similarities and differences. They are alike due to their limited access to entertainment and lack of diversity. However, the atmosphere of the community in Vietnam was different than the one in Longview in the sense that there is more privacy and reserve in Longview. For instance, in Vietnam, houses are literally cemented together and you would expect to see everybody’s door completely opened wide in the morning and kept that way throughout the day. The doors are essentially large glass windows. Ultimately, you would be able to see everything that goes on in your neighbors house and likewise, they will see yours. This would never exist in Longview. Most people’s doors are small wooden ones that are kept closed and locked. Thus, when I moved to a big city such as Seattle and began my life at the University of Washington, I could definitely see an obvious wall forming between large city and small town lifestyle. In a thriving metropolis, everything is available if you just take one step outside. There is so much diversity in the people and the activities to enjoy.