Hannover - Portland GAPP Exchange 2013: Holocaust Memorial, Brandenburger Tor, and Museums

Left: Brynnen and Ryan exploring the Holocaust Memorial

Middle: Group Photo in front of the Brandenburger Tor

Right: Sophie standing front of the Reichstag

Like Saturday, we got up and ate our hostel breakfast and made it out the hostel door by 10am. Many of the students learned that I was serious about them having their emergency contact numbers (with mine, Tod's, and the hostel's phone number) and a miniature map. That was their ticket to leave the hostel for the day. We did our classic count-off, "Eins" "Eins" "Zwei" "Zwei" and so on. We traveled on the U2 to Potsdamer Platz and walked over to the Holocaust Memorial.
When we arrived at the memorial, we allowed the students to experience the installation for 45 minutes. The experience was memorable and indescribable to many. We all had different experiences of eerie, confusion, and impact. It was heavy and powerful. Students appreciated the installation, while also critically thinking about the meanings imprinted on the minds of the survivors, victims, and perpetrators of the Holocaust. This experience certainly held for powerful discussions about culture and genocide.
From there, we walked two blocks over to the Brandenburger Tor. There was much construction being dismantled from the previous CSD weekend. On the east side of the Brandenburger Tor, there was a pedestrian zone where many people were walking around taking pictures and posing with the many street performers. There were many different street performers ranging from a bear (the city mascot), an "American" and "Russian soldier befriending each other, "DDR officers" stamping passports with "DDR", and a man making enormous bubbles. One could donate to his little cup and he would help others make enormous bubbles. Lily and Cassandra made bubbles for all to watch, which was very mesmorizing. Even Sam couldn't help himself to chase after them to pop them.
After spending enough time at the Brandenburger Tor, we walked four blocks over to the Reichstag and took pictures. We only spent about 20 minutes taking photos and it was time for lunch.
We started walking back towards Potsdamer Platz to grab some food and realized that our appointment for the Pergamon Museum was sooner than we had planned. We turned back around and hopped on a bus (about 10 stops) towards the Museumsinsel. We arrived to the museum and many of the students were famished and had forgot to grab a snack. We made the decision to enter the museum and our budget allowed us to rent the headphones to walk around the museum. Some students chose to come into the museum for a while and then grab some food outside of the museum (which was a little tricky to find because of the surrounding construction). All students did have the opportunity to view the wonders of the Pergamon Altar and see many of the other exhibits throughout the museum (about 90 minutes). There was an incredible exhibit about the discovery of Uruk (one of the world's first metropolis'). At the end of our time, we met up to move over to two blocks to the Neues Museum.
The Neues Museum was just as beautiful and had an incredible exhibit of Neferiti. We got to see the real bust (3,300 years old)! We chose not to obtain the headsets and spend about 45 minutes viewing the thousands of years of history. It was also not only the exhibits, the museum itself was incredible. It felt like we were walking inside a building. As we were nearing the end of our day at the museums, we were beginning to feel silly. We all met in the courtyard outside the museum and students were released for their free time at 4pm. The weather was warm and students had already made plans to go on their small adventures. I made my way back to the hostel to go meet up with a former employer, for whom I nannied from 1999-2001. I even got to see the 14-year-old kid that I used to take care of as a 3-year-old. It was beautiful.
At the end of the night, all of the students made it back to the hostel and lights out happened at 11:30. This exchange trip continues to get better everyday. It is obvious that all students are getting along with each other and many have found life-long bonds.