The Ghost of Berlin
“The concrete barrier in Berlin stood as a signifier in many discourses: psychopathology, families’ grief, political ideology, urban identity, and modern art” – Brian Ladd (29)
This quote by Brian Ladd in his book “The Ghosts of Berlin” completely encompassed the main point of the first chapter. Before reading, I didn’t fully comprehend the significance of the wall on Berlin family dynamics and cultural suffering. The only previous exposure I’ve had with Germany is through my family. In my application essay I talked about a story my grandmother told me while I was growing up. She was about seven or eight, her father (my great grandfather) was a diplomat stationed in Germany. Her family took a train trip from West Berlin to East Berlin, which was under Communist control at that time. They went through “ Checkpoint Charlie.” My grandmother has told me that during the trip she was quite frightened, because they were instructed that while in East Germany, no one on the train was allowed to raise the window blind to look out, as the Communists might shoot you. My grandmother vividly remembered peeking through the blinds as a scared child and seeing a bleak and desolate world outside the safety of the train. I realized, while this story is important to me because it’s part of my grandmother’s identity, I still have so much to learn about Germany and it’s national heritage.
In the middle of reading, I experienced a really cool realization: I’m actually going to be in Berlin. . It seems silly, but I never actually pictured myself physically in Berlin before reading this chapter. I can now see myself standing beside the crumbled ruins of the wall and picturing what my grandmother must have seen and felt. I can’t wait to be immersed in Berlin life and learn as much as possible.
One of the things that stood out to me was the art on the wall. I thought the quotes and images, while somewhat vandalism, were fascinating. My favorite quote was “What are you staring at? Never seen a wall before?” While it’s not the most elegant quote, it made me smile and then think about all the consequences and impacts the wall had on Berlin. The Berlin Wall was anything but just a regular wall. I could see myself incorporating art and culture into my research project. I’m curious to know how did art change over the course of World War 2? What did art look like before and after the insertion of the Wall? What kind of impact did the wall have on Berlin identity and education?
Introducing Globalization
I was pleasantly surprised when I first started reading the Matthew Spark chapter. When I saw the words “introducing Globalization” I was expecting a dry piece on German expansion and economics, but this is not the case with Sparks. From the very beginning, it was engaging, accessible and sometimes funny, which I really appreciate. It provided a very easy introduction to globalization, which was helpful because this is a topic I know little about.
The chapter really opened my eyes to “globalization” being a buzzword that politicians use with great frequency. Once you hear something so often, it often loses its true meaning of value and turns into a slang.
My favorite part was 1.2.1 the interdependencies of commodities. “From cars, coffee and computers to wheat water and Windows software, practically everything that is bought and sold today represents the coming together of global economic ties” (12-13). I previously have never though of this before and it was really interesting to read how everything has an effect even if it’s not obviously present. I’m intrigued to learn more about this topic and to see how globalization plays a roll in German life while abroad.
“The concrete barrier in Berlin stood as a signifier in many discourses: psychopathology, families’ grief, political ideology, urban identity, and modern art” – Brian Ladd (29)
This quote by Brian Ladd in his book “The Ghosts of Berlin” completely encompassed the main point of the first chapter. Before reading, I didn’t fully comprehend the significance of the wall on Berlin family dynamics and cultural suffering. The only previous exposure I’ve had with Germany is through my family. In my application essay I talked about a story my grandmother told me while I was growing up. She was about seven or eight, her father (my great grandfather) was a diplomat stationed in Germany. Her family took a train trip from West Berlin to East Berlin, which was under Communist control at that time. They went through “ Checkpoint Charlie.” My grandmother has told me that during the trip she was quite frightened, because they were instructed that while in East Germany, no one on the train was allowed to raise the window blind to look out, as the Communists might shoot you. My grandmother vividly remembered peeking through the blinds as a scared child and seeing a bleak and desolate world outside the safety of the train. I realized, while this story is important to me because it’s part of my grandmother’s identity, I still have so much to learn about Germany and it’s national heritage.
In the middle of reading, I experienced a really cool realization: I’m actually going to be in Berlin. . It seems silly, but I never actually pictured myself physically in Berlin before reading this chapter. I can now see myself standing beside the crumbled ruins of the wall and picturing what my grandmother must have seen and felt. I can’t wait to be immersed in Berlin life and learn as much as possible.
One of the things that stood out to me was the art on the wall. I thought the quotes and images, while somewhat vandalism, were fascinating. My favorite quote was “What are you staring at? Never seen a wall before?” While it’s not the most elegant quote, it made me smile and then think about all the consequences and impacts the wall had on Berlin. The Berlin Wall was anything but just a regular wall. I could see myself incorporating art and culture into my research project. I’m curious to know how did art change over the course of World War 2? What did art look like before and after the insertion of the Wall? What kind of impact did the wall have on Berlin identity and education?
Introducing Globalization
I was pleasantly surprised when I first started reading the Matthew Spark chapter. When I saw the words “introducing Globalization” I was expecting a dry piece on German expansion and economics, but this is not the case with Sparks. From the very beginning, it was engaging, accessible and sometimes funny, which I really appreciate. It provided a very easy introduction to globalization, which was helpful because this is a topic I know little about.
The chapter really opened my eyes to “globalization” being a buzzword that politicians use with great frequency. Once you hear something so often, it often loses its true meaning of value and turns into a slang.
My favorite part was 1.2.1 the interdependencies of commodities. “From cars, coffee and computers to wheat water and Windows software, practically everything that is bought and sold today represents the coming together of global economic ties” (12-13). I previously have never though of this before and it was really interesting to read how everything has an effect even if it’s not obviously present. I’m intrigued to learn more about this topic and to see how globalization plays a roll in German life while abroad.