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Published: November 9th 2009
putzes on potsdam
we stayed toasty just inside my fave schnazzy pizza place. how foolish are we all to wait 2 hours, cozy or not, to see styrofoam dominos fall...? it seemed important...and YES, this bus is totally stuck in the crowd and couldn't move for quite some time.in my trial run (ok, safehaven) in berlin in ’08, I blogged about how we should take a moment to get to know our neighbors, since most of “us” Americans have never lived through community-led espionage.
today, I hark:
hug thy neighbor.
just because you can. because they don’t live on another side of some wall.
traces of which I criss-cross each day on my bike - sometimes intentionally, just because I can. zooming over the off-colored bricks which mark its path across the city, through the woods and everything.
and tonite roaming the streets of tepid berlin (as apparently 1 out of every 8 germans actually wants the wall back up: ,
…well, I also wanted to punch
thy neighbor.
sit down:
but I finally have a criticism of the german volk…
downright pushiness. complete lack of “hoeflichkeit”, or courtesy. I’m told it may be stronger in berlin than elsewhere, but please.
in a jammed street full of bier and coffee-gulping celebrators, I tried to step back to make way for some “elderly” german women. before I had time to do so, I was elbowed several times in the gut. feisty little creatures. 1 of my fave dominos
i only saw maybe 50 or so...had no idea how much fun they'd be... what is remarkable, is this is the same volk who stand patiently waiting for the little green walking man to herald you across an intersection, when not a car nor bike nor other pedestrian is in site.
overall, however, the mood I could say was sublime, more fascination and nostalgie than anything else. as employment creeps up and no one feels they get their fare share, and winter settles over berlin…well, joyous is not the word. in fact, the guitar symphony in mauerpark I saw…was almost creepy. and I heard Enya’s “only time” being resung in potsdamer platz. not exactly jubilee.
_______________________________________________
one of the best moments tonite was when a random Pole asked us to take his picture (which I’ll email it to him since his camera battery was dead). he approached us without saying much, handed us his camera, and pulled out 2 fotos from his inside jacket pocket. of he and his lass in front of the Brandenburger tor who knows how many years ago…
I was emoted several times, however. after jogging through “mauerpark” as of late, I marvel at how i could not have done this when I was 12. mostly cause
the jew view
view of the tor from inside the murdered jews memorial. today is not an official holiday in germany, because it is also kristallnacht (see last blog). somehow, i still think it should all be celebrated, the concept of freedom and a new germany. and a bit of a new world... I was so overweight. but also cause I would have been shot running the path I run now. straight through the “niemandland” - no man’s land. between the walls.
and so first thing today, I mozied through mauerpark, figured something would be going on, as it always is (similar to union square, you new yorkers!)… and I happened upon the 200 guitar ensemble playing…you can see it here: (check out the swings, btw, I love them!)
so I braved freezing rain and dropping temperatures to bum about the city, taking in the people, the crepes with warm apple sauce, and finally bunkering down in my favorite corner pizzeria in potsdamer platz, right in the heart of it all, and right at the beginning of this domino wall we all waited 2 hours for to fall.
I know, that’s nothing compared to 28 years. and people weren’t cozied up in pizzerias.
my good friend from the west still tells me she never thought the wall would fall. they had everything they needed in west berlin: parks, lakes, food, and hunky American soldiers. but boy oh boy, am I glad I got west, and east.
________________________________________________ the "tor"
mobs at the brandenburger gate (which was considered too sacred for Obama to speak at last year, but over which french puppets paraded...). ironically, you couldn't walk through tonite, it was closed off for Angie Merkel & Hilly Clinton. so, my good volk,
more to come - have been caught up in panic of visa issues and job issues and blah blah blah. qvetch qvetch.
I have been assembling a brief list, with photos, of “why I love the germans”…to be blogged soon.
ps and no, I cannot explain or justify why in the world
jon bon jovi was chosen to sing tonite. I mean, couldn’t they have gotten Bruce? or is he only Obama’s mascot now?
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