On Turkish Ground

Yesterday, I went on an excursion with my class to someplace I had been looking forward to since I found out we were going. We spent our afternoon at the Berlin Türk Sehitlik Camii Mosque. I had never stepped foot into a mosque before. Honestly, I’ve never stepped foot into a synagogue, either. Anyways, dressed according to their dress code of pants and a conservative shirt, and socks packed in my bag to wear in the mosque, I was excited. When we got there, mid-day prayer had just ended and so we waited outside the gate until the HUGE crowd of primarily men flowed out. Also, accompanied out were two caskets, without any kind of special procession. We finally entered, and while our professor was checking in and finding our tour guide a few of us had to go to the bathroom.

I know what you’re thinking, TMI, but you’ll understand in a moment why I’m mentioning this. The women’s bathroom was on the side of the building in the back. We had to take our shoes off to even go up the stairs to get to the bathroom, where we found flip flops to wear while in there. Which, by the way, we tried asking the woman in the bathroom if they were for everyone to use, but barely could communicate an answer with her (later I learned is because their primary language is Turkish – awesome). Next to the bathroom was a room for women - none of them were talking, though, which I also found interesting because if there’s one thing that may be irregular in this situation, it’s not that there’s a room specifically for women, but that they weren’t talking with each other. Now, I’ve taken a class on women in Islam, because it fascinates me... I don’t think Muslim women are oppressed because they are Muslim, I believe they are oppressed because of the cultures that Muslim women typically live in. Our tour guide, who we had a great conversation with, assured us that the reason women and men do not pray together in the Mosque was because of the idea of distraction, not oppression. Women can choose to pray on the same floor as the men, they just have to be behind them all. Their prayer involves bending and kneeling and Muslims understand the “nature” of men and feel that men would be more concerned with the female bending down in front of them than on the prayer they were to be saying. It is also worth noting that what women choose to wear or not on their heads and bodies is their choice. Their teachings are clear that BOTH men and women need to be modest in their dress, that nothing is to be too form fitting for either sex, so as to take away from distractions. Our tour guide also assured us that in his thoughts, if a woman can be confident, with self-respect and restraint in tight jeans and shirts, then let her dress that way. But, the Muslim girls I have talked to believe that if a girl wears tight clothing, but a Hijaab (the head covering), they shouldn’t bother with even that. All interesting.

So, our tour began outside the actual mosque, but within the compound and we were told we were officially on Turkish ground. That Germany had given this space to Turkey, so that one of their dignitaries could be buried within the gates. As you can imagine, then, we were standing among a cemetery, as well. He explained that the graves are to face Mecca… something I had already figured to be true. We entered the beautiful five-year-old Mosque, taking our shoes off again, into an open carpeted room. We learned that the different colors and designs were chosen to represent the world: blue ceilings – the sky, a chandelier in the middle – the sun, gray pillars – the earth, green carpet – the grass. It has a lectern just like what we would see at a church or cathedral and a main alter where the person who leads the prayer stands. Calligraphy was the decoration all throughout, unlike our usual stain glass windows depicting saints or Jesus. Muslims do not believe depicting something so unfathomable, that God or Mohammed are too holy and too great to be able to be brought into human form through pictures in windows.

We sat in a circle for about an hour, there, in the middle of Mosque, where the people pray and talked about Islam. Our introduction began with being asked what does Islam mean. And learned that Islam means peace, and Muslim means people of the peace. Peace between mankind, peace between man and god and peace between man and our world. Therefore, as Muslims, they are embarrassed that something like people flying airplanes into buildings has become their image within the media. We reviewed the 5 Pillars of Islam and passed around a Koran. We asked any question we wanted to, and our guide was willing to answer anything and everything. We cross-referenced stories from the Bible, Torah and Koran, and learned that Muslims accept all the prophets that I, as a Christian, do, including Jesus, as prophets of the word of God. The obvious difference is that they do not believe Jesus as a savior, and talk of Mohammed as the last great prophet. He showed us how they pray and recited some verses out of the Koran. The teachings in their service are in Turkish, but anything out of the Koran and the prayers are always in Arabic. Our guide told us he was taking a class on Fridays to learn the translation of the Koran, so that he knew what the teachings were. And this is my greatest problem is Islam.

Unlike in Sunday School, where young children are encouraged to read the Bible out loud and take one home to read more about the stories we learn, many Muslims do not know the stories in the Koran because they can’t read them. Many only know the teachings by what their told by the Imam (leader). The Koran cannot be found written in any other language than Arabic. How can you understand and profess teaching you yourself do not even know? This is how the extremists are bred, I think, because they only hear bits and pieces of stories and teachings, and never the WHOLE story, unless they take the time to go to class. Their mosques aren’t like our churches where you have a “family” and go to classes and studies, and fellowship together. You go, you pray, you leave. And even then, men are only required to come and pray on Fridays one time. They even have an electronic board that tells you what times the five prayers are to take place - one was a little past midnight, another ridiculously early in the morning, that it was basically nighttime still and then others throughout the day. Regardless, their faith and relationship with God is completely internal. There is no one following up on their understanding of the teachings and what the faith truly stands for. So, when the Koran says that if someone tries to hurt you, you’re allowed to fight back, but only at the force that someone is forcing upon you, it can be misinterpreted for so many things. Define attack. Does it have to be physical? Or is it Spiritual? Emotional? This is where things get messy.

Being devout is very hard for Muslims. They are constantly targets because of the media and the image few have made for many. The population of Muslims in Berlin is around 300,000 and most of them are peace-loving people who want to work hard and provide for their family. Many came to West Berlin during the Cold War as Gastarbeiter (guest workers) and never left. Berlin has the second highest city population of Turks in world after Istanbul - beating all other Turkish cities. Some Germans, typically of the working class low-income ilk, have a great problem with them because they are "taking up the jobs and cheap housing." That's before the issues some have with their faith. I was already familiar with many aspects of Islam from my once-upon-a time Ohio State days, but this was a fantastic experience. When we first walked in, I had never felt more out of place in my entire life. But, the people there were so welcoming, and were eager to educate us on their lifestyles with the mission to break the barriers the media and extremists build. And I hope this helps anyone who’s read this. Do we have to agree with other people’s beliefs? Of course not. But my little trip to Turkey one Friday afternoon in Berlin really taught me a lot more than I could have asked for. I couldn’t imagine having to be eager about teaching others about my religion, not to try and spread the word I believe in, but with the hope that people know not to fear me for my faith.

Where the Lights Go Out at 12

Up until this weekend, I hadn’t spent more than a day away from Berlin. I traveled to Dresden, which was a 2 ½ hour bus ride south of Berlin. It’s considered the Florence of the North here in Europe, but having never gone to Florence, I didn’t really grasp what all that that meant. It is also the capital of the German state of Saxony. I was meeting with a German friend who I met a few years ago on a mission trip with my church youth group. He was doing his civil service alternatively in America (at age 18 every German male is required to do about a year of military or civil service).  Part of Freddy’s was coordinating the groups that would come in and out of a farm that housed homeless people in Maryland, like our youth group. I was excited to get out of Berlin for a little bit, as well as seeing Freddy, and just spending some time with actual German people who were my age. Anyways, as we were driving into Dresden I woke up just in time to see the city across the river. I was impressed.  I had read about Dresden but really hadn’t looked at any pictures of the city to know what to expect… but even then, I’m sure pictures just cannot do this place justice. 

When I arrived in the city, Freddy was there waiting for me (thank goodness) and we went straight to his brother’s apartment right in the middle of the Altstadt (old city). The location was AWESOME, and his brother was gracious enough to allow us to stay there while he was away visiting friends in Frankfurt. I was given approximately 10 minutes to drop my stuff and change for a big street party that was being held in the Neustadt (new city). And when I say big street party, I mean there are really not words to justify the size of this, truly. We met up with some of his friends for this party both on Friday and Saturday night. There were police officers at each entrance checking to make sure no one was bringing in glass bottles, which were apparently banned, because they can be dangerous? I found this to be the case also when I went to the Fanmeile (fan mile) for the World Cup at the Olympic Stadium; an interesting safety precaution that I appreciate from the Germans. The party was CRAZY, each block had to have had at least one or two DJs playing their German techno dance music ridiculously loud, stages with live bands playing, and all the restaurants were open and serving to the party-goers. Interestingly enough, this was not just attended by young Germans wanting to get drunk and dance to weird music, but there were also middle aged people along with families with young children. Never EVER do I think we would find that in the US. The first night we just walked around, meeting up with different people, etc. and the second night we spent a good amount of time at a Disko (our equivalent to a club). Freddy’s friend was connected to the bouncer and we got in without any problems. This was actually my first adventure into a Disko since I got to Germany this time around. We had fun dancing to, what I feel, was a surprising mixture of music. Germans like old American songs and weird techno beats. They’ll dance to anything without any inhibitions. It’s great.

Saturday was spent walking around Dresden. There were honestly so many buildings of interest that (dare I say) kind of ran together. There were churches and palaces and gardens and bridges over the river, fountains galore, an opera house or two, and did I mention, churches? (Naturally, Matthew, I didn’t leave one without pictures of the organ.) Of course, there was the usual weekend tourist crowd; surprisingly a mix of old Italians, students from Poland and middle-aged Germans. With the tourist crowds come the typical tour guides dressed up in garb and the crazy street performers, including a man who was singing soprano solos, in full voice. Fun. The Zwinger is listed in my Lonely Planet Guide to Germany as the number 4 site to visit– a party palace for the royals of Saxony. It just has gardens and terraces and fountains on every side. We also were able to walk up on the roof where there were many balconies to overlook the city. Fighting the lines to get up in some of the towers of the churches, however, was just not something I was really wanting to do...

So, we admired what we could including the Frauenkirche, which was absolutely 100% destroyed in World War II. This is a little bit of a sensitive subject in Dresden, though. The complete annihilation of Dresden happened two days after the end of the war. Why would the United States clean out a whole city for no reason? The argument is that the Western Allies were afraid the Nazis would run to Dresden (which, as I mentioned isn’t far from Berlin) to rally once more.  After the bombing, all that was left were the women and children of the city cleaning up the rubble from all of the buildings, because the men were either off in the war, dead, or prisoners of war. This is the first city I’ve really been to, I think in all of Europe, that was truly still feeling the hurt of the Allied Powers from WWII. It was a bit humbling, whether or not I wanted to really admit it at the time. But as Freddy and I were talking about it, I couldn’t really think of a good answer as to why we would have really bombed the city full of innocent people and gorgeous buildings. Dresden’s all better now – it’s all rebuilt and beautiful. I guess it’s just the nature of war. But don’t I look special when 70 years later people are still asking why, and I didn’t even know our military carried out such an attack.

After walking around the Altstadt and enjoying a nice long meal where we just talked and people watched, we made our way over to the Neustadt. There wasn’t too much there to see, but there was a gorgeous gold statue called the Goldener Reiter (Golden Rider) of Augustus the Strong. Dresden is very into remembering all of its kings in the feudal days. There’s a mosaic on the side of a building in the Altstadt that is called the Fürstenzug, displaying all the kings of Saxony lasting about 800 years. Little reminders like that allow us to understand German history, because it really didn’t have it’s own history as a whole Germany at all. It was broken into different feudal states including that of Saxony.

Sunday we ventured to Freiberg, not to be confused with Freiburg which is located in Bavaria. This is where Freddy attends school, and is very much a small college town – something I can relate to. I appreciated it for every little thing it was. It has the VERY old theater, solid university, and a VERY unique and large collection of minerals and stones. Random, I know, but Freiberg University actually has the top ranking geology program in Germany. Who knew? So, I got to see where Freddy lives... a great space for seven college aged guys, and got to see a smaller university with housing on campus, and a university with a clear outline of campus - much different than what we have here in Berlin. We toured this mineral/gem stone collection which is located in a castle not far from campus, though, nothing was really far from each other. Another big part of this town is its history in mining - another thing I can relate to. Apparently men did not go around saying „Guten Tag“, or „Hallo“ when greeting each other, but „Glück auf!“ Meaning “Good Luck!”, because it was so dangerous to be going down into the mines. Some buildings in Freiberg were completely run down… no one has cared for them for years. Which is typical in East Germany. So many people are moving out and into the West, that it’s becoming a problem for the East. So many people were trained in one specific job usually within a certain industry, and when reunification happened many of these factories were shut down because they were producing more than anyone on their side of the world needed. Therefore a lot of the Easterners have moved to the West to possibly find a job. The government also spent a good chunk of money in the Eastern part of Germany and more specifically Berlin, building all these new places for people to live, only for them to become empty and run down.

Our last night in Dresden was really kind of special. We walked around taking pictures of Dresden at dusk and then Freddy and I met with a couple more of his friends he hadn’t seen in a few years and we sat by the river, drank wine, and talked. The city was gorgeous at night. It was cold, but the water was clear and the reflection of the lights from all the buildings in the Altstadt just shimmering on the surface was breathtaking. What a gem. How had I not been here before now? How had I missed such a great place in Germany? Freddy told me he fell in love with Dresden all over again this past weekend and I certainly fell in love for the first time.

The lights went out at midnight in the Altstadt, but the chimes kept ringing through the next hour that we sat there. Perhaps a good lesson that the lights may go out, but time doesn’t stop. Wars may destroy cities, or even countries, but the people are still living there, so start cleaning up, learn from what happened, and enjoy what you can become. Dresden, despite it’s past, is a city that Germany should be proud of; it’s beautiful, clean, livable, and even though you walk there among some extremely old buildings, you can’t help but feel young.

Mit dem Herz in der Hand und der Leidenschaft im Bein

FIFA World Cup 2010. We all know about it, even though we all may not watch it. But here, in Germany, to not even watch Germany's games, is unheard of. This is my second time in Germany for the World Cup, and last time it was even more exciting because Germany was hosting it. This year, Germany's team is not the strongest of those entering the arena, but their 4-0 trampling of Australia last night was definitely nothing to sneeze at. The first night of the World Cup I found myself watching Uruguay vs. France (0-0) at Golgatha Biergarten. It was PACKED - about what I expected for a Friday night on top of being an opening night for this event. We showed up just in time for the beginning, so we couldn't all sit together. Eventually I found seats for myself and 4 others, sitting with two ladies a little older than us, originally from Ukraine and Russia. We had some interesting conversations with them, and ultimately I couldn't have asked for a better night. Saturday I wasn't really looking to be outside at all since it was raining on and off and I knew Sunday would be crazy. A new friend and myself walked down the street to a small cafe, usually only open for breakfast and lunch, to watch the US-UK (1-1) game on a HUGE screen with one other man. It was perfect. 

Watching the German game at Olympic Stadium deserves its own paragraph. We got there finding it to be fairly empty, though it got pretty full just in time for the game. It was just what I was wanting to be a part of, and exactly what I expected. We went through some security and found ourselves on Fan Mile which was located in the big area leading up to the actual Olympic Stadium from the 1936 Summer Olympics held by the Nazis. There were three jumbo-trons, vendors on both sides selling beer, crepes, traditional German food, fruit drinks, merchandise, and so on and so forth. There were high tech station like things from Sony, Hyundai and Coke, the major sponsors of the World Cup, where you could play video games and get a free can of coke. We finally settled in what we learned to be the standing room only, rowdy, student like section right up in front of the main stage. There, for the two hours of pre-game, a big radio personality hosted a show with various bands/artists (really, nobodies) and FIFA Live tournaments on PS3. People were crazy with their chants, songs, mosh pits, horns, and just about everything you can think of. But I did seem to find myself standing next to a German guy who had been to Philadelphia working for an American company. Crazy. They were expecting about 200,000 people there. I'm not sure that that actually was the case, but there were definitely thousands there. 

There was no doubt that nationalism was running high. Everyone runs around with flags draped across their bodies and painted on their faces. They attach little flags to their cars and chant and blow horns throughout the streets and subway. According to a video we recently watched in class, however, this is about the only time German nationalism is really showcased. The Nazis promoted the flying flags, no matter if it was at school, home, work, etc. In fact, the Nazi era was when the most German flags ever existed. But now, unless you're around for the World Cup, the only time you'll really see one is at big important building, typically of the government persuasion. Why though? The German question of identity is a HUGE one among scholars. We are just now meeting the generations of Germans who have never been divided into the East and the West. Some Germans don't know what holidays flags should be displayed for or even know the words to their national anthem; I'm not even really positive which verse they sing! The idea of "Deutschland, Deutschland, über alles" (Germany, Germany, over all people) scares the Germans more than any other nation. It's important to remember that people are still healing from the divided Germany, particularly in Berlin. That, the only area in which they want to be the Weltmeister, or Master of the World, is in soccer. In fact, anyone who suggests any other kind of "imperialistic" ideas is looked at as crazy, including the recently former President of the Federal Republic of Deutschland Horst Köhler who stepped down because of his controversial remarks about the War in Afghanistan.

The way I see it is, the World Cup, not the flag or national anthem, has been the unifying figure for this city and this country. It is the one thing, no matter how long they've lived in Germany and what they've seen, that every citizen can identify with. Having the World Cup in Germany in 2006 was probably one of the best things that ever happened to this country in contemporary history. Watching the World Cup among Germans rooting for their team is a unique experience. There is really nothing like it in the United Sates. Our entire country rooting for one single team by the thousands in outdoor plazas and parks, along with the typical bars and restaurants - it doesn't happen. My favorite World Cup song is by Sportfreunde Stiller called '54, '74, '90' 2010. It's based on the World Cups Germany has won, and how they will get it this time around...  It talks about the history of Germany and everyone knows it and sings it. They'll be the World Master with their hearts in their hands and their passion in their legs. Click this link to the watch and listen to the music video.

What We Become

On Friday, our field trip for our class took us to two places. One: to the Soviet Memorial for the Soviet Soldiers who died while conquering Berlin during World War II, and the other was the Allied Forces Museum, both of which I (thankfully) had never been to. The Allied Forces Museum was particularly enjoyable for me because it was made out of the movie theater of the Outpost for the American families stationed in Berlin for decades. It is located right across the street from the compound where, again, the American families lived, offices were located, and really just the main hub for anything good and American from the 1940s on. It's where our consulate today is now located. As I walked through the museum, looking at all the uniforms and memorabilia, etc., the United States military ID started to weigh a little more heavy in my bookbag. Who am I to talk about service? Sacrifice? When really, while looking at what all our troops have done for other countries, and continue to do today, I know I will never be HALF the hero that most become. And that's okay with me. Berlin has survived as a city because of our military; our military, being a hot topic among the students I'm living with. 

I may have mentioned before that we are not just Americans here, we also consist of Canadians, Europeans, and South Americans. This is Freie Universität Berlin International Summer (and Winter) University. Everyone, of course, has their opinions about things like the War in Iraq or Afghanistan, the oil spill and different ways to acquire energy, genocide in Africa and so on and so forth. And naturally, most people, especially in this age group, will sway toward the left side on these topics. Not ironically, the students in Berlin during the Cold War Era attended this same university, coming to Berlin to dodge the draft and protest global issues (sometimes very violently) like the Vietnam War. But we have learned from the same university that Berlin survived because of the Americans, because of their investment in protecting people around the world from tyrants and oppressive governments. Berlin survived to later become the hub of a United Germany because of our outreach economically and through use of the military for decades, including but not limited to something as great as the Berlin Airlift. Now, I'm not saying that Germany should feel they owe us. That it was JUST the United States that came in on a white and shining horse to save the people of Germany and allow them the luxury of becoming a very stable and comfortable nation to live in. But, I AM saying that we, as global players, have to feel invested in other countries, to intervene when needed, because in the end, it will usually be for the better. Just look at Berlin to see the proof. 

"Berlin ist eine Stadt, verdammt dazu, ewig zu werden, niemals zu sein" -Karl Scheffler

Loosely translated: Berlin is a city, condemned to always becoming and never to be.

Marathon

The first full day, last Sunday, that I was here I had two missions. 1. To go to orientation. 2. To find a girl who goes to Pitt, Brooke. Brooke and I had made plans to get together before we went to the school and then go to orientation together. Unfamiliar with the transportation system, I had directions to and from both of our locations from the school, so my master plan was to go to the university and then back track to Brooke's. Once I had arrived at the university, while waiting for the bus, I realized that a "Velothon" (bike race) was going on and therefore my bus was not coming. In fact, as I began to walk the route of the bus I wanted to take, I came to realize that the race route was EXACTLY my bus route. I found my way to Brooke's, eventually, after walking an hour a half. Finally I got to spend some time with Brooke and made my way with the group back to the university in time for orientation. Everyone was nervous and eager, but it was interesting to see the group there all together. 

I feel like after a whole week, giving a play by play might get a little long so I'll try to talk about the important things!

I've spent a good amount of time in the city. Primarily on Unter den Linden, which is the main drag in Berlin. This is where you find the Brandenburger Tor, the German History Museum, Opera House, where the palace once stood, the Berliner Dom, etc. I've also spent some time on the Kurfürstendamm which is the main commercial center of Berlin. Both areas I've been to already twice before in my life. Every time I'm here, things are different because Berlin is an ever changing city. I also appreciate them for different reasons and different points in my life. 

My class is interesting... it's been a bit boring at times this week because my professor (who, of course, is right) believes we cannot understand this city or country without understanding its past. So, we've been covering a lot of modern German history which I'm pretty familiar with. We spend the morning twice a week going over our readings and having lecture, which also usually involves some sort of movie. After our second and longer break, we go out into the city for an excursion. Tuesday we spent the afternoon in the German Historical Museum, and Friday we took a walking tour of the city. Thankfully the weather has been getting nicer and warmer so that it's a pleasure to be outside for these mini trips. 

As a group we've now taken a River Spree cruise which was chilly, but fun. And today, we went through the Reichstag, which was definitely enjoyable. I've also enjoyed watching a free opera outside the State Opera house yesterday, Eugen Onegin, and then a tour of the opera house today where I got to walk on stage. Any of these outings have typically included spending time with students from my program, grabbing something to eat, or what not. One day, a guy from Notre Dame (it's painful, I know) and I sat at a cafe speaking only German for about an hour and a half. I'm thankful for the students who push me to do that, because we all live together and all use English as the common language around the dorm. I've also befriended a Russian with whom the common language is German, therefore I'm getting better at having deeper conversations in German. 

Honestly, nothing terribly exciting has happened. Just getting into a groove. I'm so tired, all the time, but I do feel my language skills are picking up. Sometimes when I'm calling home, it's hard to not say certain words in German rather than English. The focal point of this week, for me at least, is building relationships with the people I'm living and going to class with. They teach us in Air Force leadership training that there are 4 steps to group formation: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing (Storming and Norming can be switched). Anyways, I feel as if personalities are starting to rub people the wrong way and competition is high. 

But, as I was walking along this huge bike race a week ago, I was thinking about why on earth people would want to do this; I watched the super fit hard core bikers at the head, and the stragglers at the end. Everyone has the exact same goal: to finish. Some people wanted to win, to be the best, and for some people, it was a self accomplishment of being able to simply make it across the line. I feel like we, as students, are here for the same reason. Everyone has a different idea of what their experience in Berlin should be like, they all want something different out of it. I'm not sure what exactly my goals are for this trip, but I'm sure I'll find out soon. In the meantime, I'm trying not to let those who have goals I know I don't share bother me, or change my experience. 

Having a week to just be here, was probably exactly what I needed. I've started to really understand the layout of the city, and have solidified what I've already understood relating between the history of the city and the buildings I see. Everyone's friendly throughout the city, most of them trying to speak English as it is a VERY international scene. I also really enjoyed speaking to a security guard outside the US Embassy who has been working there since 1986, but is from Indiana. Truly, he has seen it all. Now all we see are green spaces where No Man's Land is and buildings that actually survived the war with bullet holes patched up. I'm determined to figure out this city and my class, I know, will help me do so. 

Anyways, there's still so much to see and do. I'll try to be more diligent in my blogging, especially when I make specific or special excursions. I'll try to post pictures soon, too!