I AM HOME AT LAST AND ITS NICE TO BE HOME.
MY BERLIN ADVENTURE HAS ENDED. I WAS THERE FOR AN eLEARNING CONFERENCE AND MANAGED TO SPENT A FEW HOURS SEEING BERLIN.
THIS IS A THREE PART POST, THIS ONE DEALS IN LESSONS LEARNT IN SEEING THIS CITY.
WHAT AN EXPERIENCE IT WAS, TO SEE AN HISTORIC CITY AND TO BE PART OF AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE. TRULY AN EYE OPENING EVENT. FAR AS WWII WAS CONCERNED, BERLIN WAS WHERE IT ALL ENDED. ACCORDING TO ITS STORY A HUGE SURFACE OF THE CITY WAS DEMOLISHED.
THEN AFTER THE WAR, IT SUFFERED ANOTHER INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT, THE BERLIN WALL WAS BUILT, A WALL THAT DIVIDED THE CITY INTO TWO SEPARATE COUNTRIES. DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE WHAT LIFE MUST HAVE BEEN AT THAT POINT IN TIME, FAMILIES WERE INSTANTLY BEING SEPARATED BY A WALL FROM 1961 - 1989. BELOW ARE THREE PIXS OF THE WALL, THE FIRST ONE SHOWS THE WALL IN ITS EARLY YEARS AND THE SECOND IMAGE, THE WALL OR WHAT IS LEFT OF IT TODAY. THE THIRD PIX IS WHAT IS LEFT OF THE FAMOUS CHECKPOINT BETWEEN WEST AND EAST GERMANY.
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| CHECKPOINT CHARLIE, A SENTRY POST THAT HAS BECOME A TOURIST ATTRACTION TODAY. |
WHAT WAS MOST INTERESTING TO ME WAS THE THOUGHT OF THE REUNIFICATION PROCESS. HOW CHALLENGING IT MUST HAVE BEEN TO REBUILD AND STITCH TOGETHER THE TWO TORN APART CITIES. THIS REALLY REQUIRES A SPIRIT OF WORKING TOGETHER, UNDERSTANDING, TOLERANCE AND PATIENCE.
I THINK WE CAN RELATE TO THIS IN A SMALL, MICRO WAY, HERE WE'RE PART OF AN ORGANIZATION WHICH IS TRYING TO ASSEMBLE AND UNITE ALL 33 POLYTECHNICS UNDER A COMMON UNDERSTANDING AND TO PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK TOGETHER FOR THE SAKE OF THE COMMON GOOD. WHEREAS, THEN IN BERLIN THIS CHALLENGE WAS BUILT ON A LARGER SCALE - HERE A NATION THAT WAS DEVASTATED BY WAR AND A CITY TORN APART BY A PHYSICAL AND POLITICAL WALL WAS TRYING TO REUNIFY.
AND THEY MADE IT!
FOR I THINK, DEEP WITHIN THEM THE GERMANS HAVE ONE VERY IMPORTANT PSYCHOLOGICAL ELEMENT - A SPIRIT THAT REFUSES TO GIVE UP. KUDOS BERLIN AND I SINCERELY HOPE THAT WE WILL NEVER SEE OTHER WALLS BEING BUILT THAT WOULD SEPARATE HUMANITY ANYWHERE AGAIN.
I THINK WE CAN RELATE TO THIS IN A SMALL, MICRO WAY, HERE WE'RE PART OF AN ORGANIZATION WHICH IS TRYING TO ASSEMBLE AND UNITE ALL 33 POLYTECHNICS UNDER A COMMON UNDERSTANDING AND TO PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK TOGETHER FOR THE SAKE OF THE COMMON GOOD. WHEREAS, THEN IN BERLIN THIS CHALLENGE WAS BUILT ON A LARGER SCALE - HERE A NATION THAT WAS DEVASTATED BY WAR AND A CITY TORN APART BY A PHYSICAL AND POLITICAL WALL WAS TRYING TO REUNIFY.
AND THEY MADE IT!
FOR I THINK, DEEP WITHIN THEM THE GERMANS HAVE ONE VERY IMPORTANT PSYCHOLOGICAL ELEMENT - A SPIRIT THAT REFUSES TO GIVE UP. KUDOS BERLIN AND I SINCERELY HOPE THAT WE WILL NEVER SEE OTHER WALLS BEING BUILT THAT WOULD SEPARATE HUMANITY ANYWHERE AGAIN.
GLÜCKWUNSCH BERLIN!
Dr.N
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