The fall air brought forth a busy and enjoyable week including a new addition to the blog: Logan’s View. For his birthday his godparents gifted him a digital camera in order to see our adventures from his perspective. From time to time we’ll post some of his photos at the end of the blog. It might end up being fun to track our accounts with what he’s snapped along the way.

The week was as usual with one exception, Reunification Day. On Wednesday Germany celebrated the unification of East and West. On October 3rd, 1990 two societies came together for the first time in nearly 30 years. In the grand scheme of history 30 years isn’t much but in this case it was enough to separate a society culturally for decades to come. No where in the country is this more felt than in Berlin and the city does a wonderful job of observing this pivotal point in recent history.

Every year the city hosts a festival to commemorate the the reunification at maybe the most recognisable place, Brandenburg Gate. Throughout 1989 there were rumours the wall would eventually come down but by November of ‘89 the rumours gave way to reality. Thousands flocked to the wall to meet in “no man’s land” on the other side. Less then one year later the two sides would figure out a path forward. Today this same area is full of bustling commerce and tourism. Where the wall once stood is a simple cobble stone path which stretches across the city to always remember. The gate and street leading to the Victory Column are often used for community celebrations. Wednesday was no exception. This year the gate itself was decorated with an art installation and dual concerts at its base in the evening. The victory mile was lined with information tents and all types of carnival style vendors.

One of the most interesting aspects was an art installation that explored the perspective of young Eastern Germans and how they saw the West. When the wall fell many laws were enacted to help build up and reintegrate the citizens of the East. One of these policies was that each citizen of the East received 100 Marks as a welcome gift. The art installation focussed on 28 different accounts of how they spent their money. The shocking part wasn’t what they spent their money on but rather how far removed they were from the West and capitalism. The stories that were recounted all had a similar tone of happiness and disbelief. They were all proud and happy to be included in the Western world and all of its outstanding advancements of the time. The scars of communism had run deep by 1989.

As we walked down the street taking in all of the different exhibits it was plainly obvious many people who were here 28 years ago were back to take it all in. Something that Germany does really well is an acceptance of the past in order to have an inclusive future. You see this kind of remembrance daily in Berlin. It’s not controversial and it’s not meant to glorify or demean. It would be really easy to simply forget or to not go out of the way to remember but they don’t believe that will accomplish anything. By no means are all the scars healed or problems solved. However, this kind of remembrance gives a since of empathy, for all sides, which helps drive progress and keep tribalistic tendencies at bay.

Thursday brought another celebration, International Day at Logan’s school. There are roughly 2 dozen different nationalities represented at the Kita. Once a year they invite each nationality to host a booth and showcase various aspects of their home country. With us joining there are only 4 American families but we knew we needed have strong representation - after all, what’s more American then going overboard. We teamed up to havebaked goods, a popsicle stick craft project, and American themed photo booth. We mush have done something right because our booth was featured in the latest newsletter - America, Fuck Yeah!.

Saturday was a fun new first as well. Art and culture have always been a huge part of the scene in Berlin. As such, a team of digital artists and engineers got together to put on a city wide art display. Most of the major monuments were decorated in elaborate light shows that each told a separate story and were conceived but different local artists. We took advantage of the warm evening air and rode our bikes around from one to the other.

The entire week seemed to be tracking to a theme of inclusion. Reunification Day demonstrated how two totally different societies can find common ground to form a better version all within a generation. International day showcased just how easy it is to see the world from a different perspective no mater how foreign it may seem. And, the Festival of Lights showed what can come from remembering and teaching those lessons forward. At least that’s how we saw it - after all the slogan on the balloon Logan was given on Wednesday was also the slogan of the political party 28 years ago, “Only With You.”.

- Logan’s View -

Until Next Time,

The McNeills