5-16-18
This morning kicked off the first official day of the classroom sessions for our course instruction. Everyone from the course got themselves ready to head out on the first-morning commute to the classroom. With the direction of Dawn, our course advisor, we all made it to the classroom alive despite a group having some trouble all fitting on the subway car. The class was given a tour around the Citi Lab classroom and began our session on the course overview and design thinking with a small mind mapping exercise. The main event of the day started in the afternoon when we broke into groups and went out on a location scavenger hunt around Berlin. Feeling a bit skeptical about how well the events of the day would unfold we went on our way in groups. Using the subway system to get around Berlin, called the U-Bahn in Germany, proved to be much easier once we planned our routes and thought through what directions we needed to go. The process of using this mode of transportation is relatively similar to how it works in America besides the station names being in German.
This morning kicked off the first official day of the classroom sessions for our course instruction. Everyone from the course got themselves ready to head out on the first-morning commute to the classroom. With the direction of Dawn, our course advisor, we all made it to the classroom alive despite a group having some trouble all fitting on the subway car. The class was given a tour around the Citi Lab classroom and began our session on the course overview and design thinking with a small mind mapping exercise. The main event of the day started in the afternoon when we broke into groups and went out on a location scavenger hunt around Berlin. Feeling a bit skeptical about how well the events of the day would unfold we went on our way in groups. Using the subway system to get around Berlin, called the U-Bahn in Germany, proved to be much easier once we planned our routes and thought through what directions we needed to go. The process of using this mode of transportation is relatively similar to how it works in America besides the station names being in German.
The rest of the day was just our individual groups exploring different sections of Berlin. Some of the places our group visited that stood out to me were the old Flak Towers within Volkspark Humboldthain which is now a gorgeous park. These were built by the Germans during WWII to emplace anti-aircraft guns atop.
(photo of our group overlooking Berlin seen from a flak tower location)
We also visited the Holocaust Memorial and the Berlin Wall location. Visiting these very historically relevant locations was almost strange. You talk about these things back home in the United States, but I believe you can never truly appreciate them or fully understand what they mean until you are actually on the ground with them.
(a section in the Holocaust Memorial)
Overall, the experiences today came at me very fast moving from place to place, but they came with many different sights and experiences. It was an excellent way to kick off our time here in Germany.
(canopy over a large plaza near the Sony Center)
-Ethan Bell
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