Wow, what can I say! The city of Berlin blew me away! With its rich culture, history and unbelievable city structure I learned something new everyday and got to see some really beautiful sites.
            The first day in Berlin was extremely informational and I really enjoyed the tour around the city.  It was very interesting to hear that our tour guide was from America (went to Swarthmore College, which is not far from Muhlenberg) and has been living in Berlin with her husband and child.  While she gave us a tour around the city of Berlin, I took note of the places and buildings that stood out to me. 

Since I am apart of the Jewish religion, I have been constantly learning about Hitler’s upbringing and demise and of course,the holocaust. The Nazi Air Force building and Hitler’s bunker were two sites that I have learned a tremendous amount about in the past.  It was extremely eye opening to be standing on top of Hitler’s bunker, where he ended his life and also to be standing in front of the air force headquarters.
In addition to visiting the bunker and the air force headquarters, the Holocaust memorial and the Brandenburg Gate were also among my favorite sites we stopped at.  The holocaust memorial was unlike any memorial I have ever seen as the stones allowed me to create my own meaning of it.  As I was walking through the memorial and the stones towered over me, I was able to think freely, which I believe the creator of the memorial intended for the observer to do. After observing the memorial we walked over to the Brandenburg Gate, which was one of my highlights of the trip.  Once we got to the square I recognized the site instantly as it was where Hitler held rallies during his regime and it was breath taking to be standing where it all took place. 

While touring and getting a glimpse of its rich history, I was able to pin point differences in culture, lifestyles, and values between people in Berlin, Maastricht and America.  In Berlin, I noticed that language barrier was a bit different than in the Netherlands.  In Maastricht, most people, are capable of holding a conversation in English. Usually, they will first talk in Dutch and will switch over to English once I tell them that I only speak English.  But, after conversing with people in Berlin, I noticed that there were less people who were capable of speaking English than in Maastricht.  When I talked to people in Berlin, they started to converse in there native language but when I said, “I speak English” about half of the people I talked with shook their heads and said “No English.” Analyzing these differences within these countries and their language barriers made me think as to why this was and if there are other countries that have the same barriers similar to Germany or the Netherlands.

Many of the conversations I had with German natives were in the subway stations as I was trying to find my way around the terminal, which I got a hang of soon enough. While conversing, I couldn't help but to notice the beauty and simplicity of the transportation systems in Berlin. I did not know what to expect out of the transportation systems, since back in America I perceive things to be similar to ours, which is extremely dirty and filled with garbage. But once I was able to see it for my self in Berlin, I was incredibly impressed! I admired the cleanliness of the subway and train systems, and it was amazing to see trams and trains running through and around the city non-stop.

  Once I observed the cleanliness of the subway and train stations, I began to notice the cleanliness of the streets in the city as well.  While touring I noticed the lack of garbage cans on the streets which came as a surprise to me.  In America, especially in the big cities like New York, there are trash cans on almost every street corner but yet, there is litter all over the streets and sidewalks. I began to think and wondered why is it so much different in America if we have trashcans, yet our environment is still unsanitary.  Is it because of the lifestyle we live? Is it because we produce mass amounts of foods and drinks? Is it because America is a faster paced environment that people just don’t care to do the simple things? How can we change this? Perhaps one day America's culture can conform to European norms.