My last week -August 1- Tuesday August 9

Berlin

We arrived in Berlin from Prague. The train ride was fairly long, but it was nice because I got to write in my journal quite a bit. It seems that this trip has been so busy that I have only written in my journal only on train rides. When we arrived in Berlin, the Hauptbahnhaf was very nice and new. It was definitely an upgrade from Prague. I later learned that it had been built in the last five years. Berlin is a major city and needed a nice station to arrive to. We wandered around the station for a little bit and found the tram that we needed to take. Subsequently, we ran into Dr.Wasser and Nils as we headed to the hotel. We arrived at Hotel Alex. I was rooming with the four other guys in the program. Then at four o’clock, we headed out to Alexanderplatz to get a Fat Tire Bike Tour. We all got bikes and headed out. The first place we went to was a statue of Marx and Lenin. Even though communism is not alive, it is still apart of Berlin history. The statue of Marx and Lenin was fairly big. Around the statue were large pillars with other prominent communism leaders of world around it. Mao Zedong and Fidel Castro were among the pictured. It is interesting how we scold them, but at a time East Germany looked to them as role models. Behind the statue was an engraving of people working hard. This was supposed to symbolize capitalism as being hard with the “man” always sticking it to you. Communism was supposed to be an equal society. I laugh at that. Haha. We also saw the West side Berlin Wall. This is where Checkpoint Charlie was. This is where the infamous sign “You are now leaving the American sector” was located. The wall was built in 1961 because of people escaping the East and to “protect the East from Fascism.” I meant that last part as a joke, but the German Democratic Republic told its citizens this. Part of the wall was still standing as a symbol of the past. We briefly visited the Topography of Terror Museum which was across from the Wall. This is where the SS used to have a building. We also visited the New Holocaust Memorial. This memorial is nearly the equivalent of putting a Native American memorial on the Mall. It was controversial in Berlin because of its location. It is in a frequently visited area in the vicinity of the Reichstag and the Bradenburg Gate. There are many memorials in Germany to Jews, and some people felt like it was overkill. The United States would not put a memorial to the Native Americans in the same location. In addition, it is a monument dedicated to the Jews and not necessarily to all the victims of the Holocaust. Originally it was going to be a monument to the Holocaust victims, but each group wanted their own separate monument. The monument is also hard to interpret that it is an actually memorial to the Jews. This is because there is only a small part that has actual text commemorating the monument. Since it is pretty much large blocks that get taller and taller, many children think it is a place to play hide and go seek. Out of respect, our group just walked in and didn’t run around. The interpretation of the monument is also up to the observer. The architect didn’t leave any clues to what the theme of it is. I thought it meant there would always be hope in the most complicated of situations. Before the Holocaust memorial, we visited the spot where Hitler killed himself. Even though there are apartments and a parking lot where his bunker was, it is still meaningful. I found it interesting how he married his long time girlfriend and then celebrated by killing her and himself. Anyways, we also headed over to the Bradenburg Gate. This was a no-mans zone during the Cold War. The wall prohibited anybody from touching it. It is significant because East and West Berliners dreamed of a day when the wall fell down and they would be able to go through the gate. We also went to the spot where Hitler had the burning of the books. It is in Bebelplatz with books from the Institut fur Sexualwissenschaft and Humboldt Univeristy. ­The spot where the books were burned sits an empty library that is underground. After going on the tour, I realized how oppressed the East Germans were. The tensions were high between the two sides. Communism really doesn’t work and leads to dictatorship. Walls are virtually never the answer because it contains people. Just like Hitler was containing his country, in a way, the communists did the same by limiting the amount of people knew about the world. It is brought to my attention how one’s misuse of power can lead to detrimental environments. When Hitler convinces people to burn books that are published by certain people (Jews and other races persecuted) and other political ideas, this is amazing because he didn’t force people to put him into power. The citizens of Germany were convinced he could solve their problems. It is important to recognize acts that we do today don’t parallel his actions or the communists. For example, France passed a law prohibiting full-covering veils. Even though this is a small example, the United States and other countries cannot lead down this path.

After the tour, we went out to eat at a restaurant that had over 100 beers. They unfortunately were not on tap, but were in bottles. On our way home was a little bit more interesting. The restaurant seemed to be in a nice part of town with several other restaurants and bars. However, there were women dressed in provocative clothes. They obviously were hookers. We counted at least nine or ten on our way back to the hotel. I thought these people would only work in the poor parts of town, but apparently prostitution is legal in Germany.

On Tuesday, we went to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. This was my second concentration of the camp, so I was better prepared. The camp was a little out of the city in Sachsenhausen. We walked from the train station about a mile to the camp. This was the same route prisoners took when they were dropped off. We also encountered the Death March on our way over. There was a small sign with the route taken to the North Sea with an upside down orange triangle. This was the symbol used for communism prisoners. Since Sachsenhausen was in the East, the Soviets gave memorials specifically to the communist. As we got closer to camp, we saw some of the houses that the SS Guards lived in. It was weird that people were still living in them. I would find it very creepy if I lived in those houses. We walked into the camp with “ARBEIT MACHT FREI” written on the metal door. This means “Work will set you free.” The camp was used as a trial prisoner. It is the only prison build in a triangular fashion. In theory, two people could run the entire camp at the front. They could see everyone in the camp from the very front. More than 200,000 prisoners were imprisoned here between 1936 and 1945. The first prisoners were meant for political opponents but were later expanded as the National Socialists expanded the groups persecuted. Thousands of people died as a result of starvation, disease, forced labor, and mistreatment. Some prisoners were forced to walk thirty miles a day in a circle across different surfaces to test out military boots. Most of the time, the shoes did not fit nor performed adequately. Other prisoners worked at factories in the town. There were also special prisoner cells which housed Hershel Grynszpan and Georg Elser. These two attached the German embassy in Paris to kill Hitler and was used as an excuse for the National Socialists to pogrom against the Jews. The camp had an elaborate wall which was nearly impassible. If a prisoner were to step on the sand, he would be killed. There was also a monument specifically to the communist prisoners. It was a statue of a Red Army soldier with two strong prisoners. This is a problem because not everyone was communist and the prisoners didn’t look the most fit in camp. The communist regime wanted to portray them as strong survivors that the Nazis couldn’t bring down. The new memorial is one of a soldier holding up a skinny prisoner. It is much more accurate with the situation. We also saw the area where Red Army prisoners of war would be systematically killed. The soldier would walk in a room and receive a basic checkup such as eyes or teeth. He then would move to another room that would measure the soldier. There was a hole in the wall with a gun in it. The soldier would go up against the wall and the person behind the wall would shoot. The Nazis knew soldiers couldn’t handle killing countless of people face to face. This is why the murdered couldn’t see the Red Army soldier. My impression of the camp was the amount of injustice these people faced is inexcusable. The Nazis hatred toward other people and propaganda convinced ordinary soldiers to do the unthinkable. To treat someone as subhuman should never happen. The Communist wanted to bring a memorial to the camp, but did it in the wrong way. It was merely used as a tool against the capitalists.

After Sachsenhausen, we went out to eat currywurst. We then went to the Reichstag where the German Parliament is held. It is a magnificent building that has recently been updated. The burning of the Reichstag on February 27, 1933 was thought be burned by a communist. The Nazis used this propaganda against them. The building suffered further damage in World War II and wasn’t fixed until 1972. During the Cold War, it didn’t have either government from the West or East meet here. It actually bordered the Berlin Wall. The building inside is very modern with a glass dome on top. We walked inside the glass dome and could see the whole city from here. The German Parliament sits according to their left and right tendencies. It is interesting because there are more than two major parties. Parties have to agree with each other in order to pass laws. It is not a winner’s take all system like the United States. If ten percent of the vote is for the SPD, then ten percent of the electorate is SPD. After the Parliament, we were pretty tired so we went to bed.

On Wednesday, we headed over to the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine. We had a welcome by Professor Udo Heinemann. He talked about the history of molecular medicine. It has had an ever growing importance because the ability to research cardiovascular, metabolic, cancer, and nervous system diseases. I enjoyed the portion of the MRI. They are developing new MRI’s that will be able to have more precise images of human tissues. We were able to walk near the MRI and feel the effect of the powerful magnet. This magnetic force acted along the lines of magnetism. It was easy to go around in a semi-circle, but difficult to pull the magnetic back. My belt buckle felt a strong pull while I was a few feet away from the machine. We then ate lunch and headed over to the Science Center of Otto Bock.

This museum was quite interesting especially for biomedical engineers. This company develops the C-Leg with is an advanced prosthetic leg. It is able to adapt to the speed of a patient as well as walk up stairs. This is pretty incredible considering people who receive this implant don’t have a knee. However, when we asked how much it was, the tour guide just said it was very expensive. Dr.Wasser told us it costs around $50,000. There was a wheelchair that we were able to use which could turn on a pin drop. It was able to maneuver fairly quickly. The center was pretty neat since it was very interactive. There was a treadmill where it went to the speed of your right foot. Another interesting thing was the virtual simulator where you walk across a beam. It felt like you were on a high building and could fall any minute. Another neat activity was the electrical hand where it could sense the motion of my forearm. We spent quite a bit of time there and then we left. Since we had free time, we went out to the East Side Gallery. This was the East Berlin Wall. On the East Side, several murals had been painted. This was neat because there was symbolism of the wall. After the East Side Gallery, we went back to our room and ate currywurst. After eating, we all went to an Irish Bar. I had StrongBow Cider which really hit the spot. At around twelve o’clock, we left home and saw more hookers. I was surprised by the amount of men talking to them. As a man, I can see how it is appealing, but on the other hand, it is plain disgusting. Yes, most of them where fairly attractive, but it still was nasty. Anyways, we got home safely and we went to bed.

The next morning we headed out to Dresden. It took around two hours to get to Dresden. From the train station, we walked through a very modern part of the city. It had brand new buildings with shops and restaurants. After walking about a mile, we entered the older part of the city. This is where we met our tour guide. In the center was a statue of Martin Luther. Behind him was a Lutheran Church. This church was unusual however because it was a Protestant Church that was very elaborate. Only Catholic Churches have intricate designs and sculptures on it. The Frauenkirche was built between 1726 and 1743. It was bombed and nearly destroyed in World War II. During the GDR period, it was mainly a monument for anti-war and was never rebuilt. However, it was rebuilt and reopened in 2005. Walking inside was simply amazing. There were no pictures of the Virgin Mary or statues of saints, but instead had gold plated sculptures and a sense of modernism. The bombing of Dresden during WWII was controversial. The bombing occurred late in the war and didn’t have any significant military value. The British bombed during the night and the Americans bombed the following day. The destruction was bad because of the incinerating bombs which led to fire storms. This led to 30,000 deaths and nearly the entire city center of Dresden destroyed. Many Dresdener’s put the number at 300,000, but this number was obviously inflated. The city also had value, but maybe not as much military value.

After the tour, our group visited the Deutsches Hygiene Museum. At first, I thought this was a museum designed to teach people about brushing their teeth and flossing. Luckily I was mistaken and I found out that it was a “museum of man.” To cover the museum, our group split up into groups and split off in threes. My group was Sam and Matt. We covered motion of the human body. Some neat things were the flow output meter. There was also the sex part. This was interesting because it was more graphic than any other American museum would be. This section had condoms, a video of a women giving birth, naked pictures, and a chart of preferred sex positions. This means that the Germans have a more liberal attitude about sex. They don’t advocate the abstinence approach like the United States from what I could tell. They actually say condoms work, unlike the United States high school classes. There was also a room where I could pretend to be old. I had to wear blurred goggles, shoes with straw on the bottom, and these wooden sticks. It actually is pretty hard to walk as an elder. There was another exhibit where it messed with the hot and cold proprioceptors. One band was 15 centigrade and the other was 25 centigrade. It felt very hot to the touch but in actually 25 degrees centigrade is lukewarm. After playing in the museum, we got on the train back to Dresden and went to sleep.

On Thursday, we started the day by visiting the Charite Museum. This museum has primarily collections of Rudolf Virchow from which he lived from 1821 to 1902. This man collected a specimen every day. He had 19000 objects by 1890. In 1893, a museum was opened. The museum has many medical tools, but the real gem of the tour was the organs. He had several organs and babies that had developed improperly. These included a mermaid baby, Cyclops baby, several with two heads, one with a heart outside of its body, a brain three times too big, baby with two vaginas, and several that didn’t look human. I couldn’t believe these were actually babies. I am fortunate that everything turned out alright for me. Another interesting specimen was an enlarged colon. A man in adulthood lost the sensation in his colon. This led to not having feces for nearly three weeks. He could not feel his colon enlarging. He finally died because his diaphragm couldn’t handle the amount of pressure. The colon was on display and was nearly the size of my leg. After touring the museum, we had a medical history lecture in the same room that Virchow gave his lectures. We then went to lunch at the medical school. After eating we went to the TAF Center Charite. I was able to do hands on medical treatments. In the first group, we learned how to listen to the heart values, lungs, and pulse. The reason why doctors move their stethoscope around the chest is to listen to the heart values and make sure they are working properly. Next we learned how to look into somebody’s ear. I had to pull the ear back to straighten the canal out and then look inside the ear. There was a dummy that I use to practice on. There were different pictures I could see to replicate certain infections or diseases of the ear. The next activity we did was stitching a person. We had a model and we learned how to tie the stitch and use the scissors properly. In addition, I was able to cut the stitches off properly as well. Next, I practiced infibulating. This is done when a patient is unconscious and needs air. This usually happens before surgery. First, I gave the dummy air by putting a mask on his face and pumped air into the dummy. I took it off and stuck a long lever down the dummy’s throat until the larynx, and then inserted a plastic tube down the throat down the esophagus. I then took the lever out and pumped the lungs. Supposedly people thought I was good at this, but I figured out it was easier when the dummy’s head was tilted upwards more. It can be difficult to see down the larynx. After practicing at the medical school, we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. At 6:30, we met up to do evaluations for the program and at 8:00 we went out to eat our last meal. We went to a nice Moroccan dinner with wine. It was a fun dinner, but I really couldn’t believe my trip was over.

It seemed so short, yet when I looked back on the first day, it seemed so long ago. The program was well run and I had a blast. I am glad I was able to experience the medical part of Germany. It was interesting to see how much different the European World is and how America can change. Healthcare wise, I feel I will have a different opinion than when I started. My opinion for universal healthcare is changing, but I don’t completely side with the Germans or Europeans. I do feel more obligations for someone to be treated if they have cancer for example, but I also feel people can abuse the system. The rehab clinic in Germany is an interesting idea, but it awfully expensive with a low success rate. This program might work for individual states, but might get too expensive in states such Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi whose health is not the greatest. As a future potential doctor, I want to help as many people as I can but I don’t want to pay half of my earnings to the government. I also will have a different opinion on how medical school is run in the United States. In Germany, a student enters a six year medical school directly from high school. I do not know whether this produces more doctors, but should be an idea to consider. Their pay however is much less than the United States doctors. One thing is for certain is there needs to be more primary care physicians. In Germany, roughly half the doctors are primary care. This tends to drive down healthcare costs because it is more of a preventative measure. In the United States, there are less primary care doctors because there pay is so much lower than the specialized doctors. There are many things to consider and it is interesting to see it from a different perspective.

Even though the program was done, I wasn’t leaving until Tuesday. On Saturday, Drew, Andrew and I went to the Neues Museum. This museum housed thousands of ancient Egyptian artifacts and Roman artifacts. An interesting thing was the bust of Nefertiti. This statue was made approximately between 1370 BC and 1330 BC. This bust is so famous because the artist Thutmose was able to understand her realistic facial proportions. It is a symbol of female beauty in the ancient world. It has actually been copied many times over the centuries and has led to controversies of its authenticity. This bust seemed so different than all the art that we saw in the museum. The colors really brought her to life unlike the other Egyptian art. I am not saying the other art is necessarily bad, but this sculpture really captured the essence of ancient beauty.

After the museum, we headed over to the International Bier Festival. Yes, this was a large festival. It spanned over three subway stops and was over a mile and half long. There were beers from all over the world, but mostly from Europe. We bought several beers including one from Cuba, Czech, and of course Germany. I bought a small souvenir cup. I thought it was interesting that there were no tents specifically for the USA beer. I only saw one stand that sold MGD 64 in bottles along with 50 other beers. I have a feeling the Germans really don’t like American beer. The tents were mostly German, Czech, and Britain beers. There were actually some Japanese and African beers as well. Corona was included as well. We stayed for quite a while but then headed back to the hotel to meet up with Kristen and Bailey. After eating, we actually went back to the festival. It was more or less the same thing, but it was still fun.

On Sunday, we went back to the festival because it was the place of the world’s longest beer garden. This was the reason why the festival was built basically in a long line. It wasn’t nearly as crowded this morning but there were tables lined up in a line between each of the tents. Our beer sponsor, New Castle (English) gave us a glass and a towel that said “Murphy’s.” The glass said “Langster Biergarten Der Welt.” It had the logo of the beer festival on the bottom. We sat down and had our beers while breaking a world record. We stayed at the festival for quite a long time and ended up at the Bavarian end. Here we sat in a tent with our Ma’s. The DJ played popular American and German songs. It was really fun because we wound up standing on the benches and sung. It was really cool because nearly everyone was standing on their seats and singing. In fact, we were seated next to an older a lady and she was having a ball. She actually was dancing with some of the younger men in the crowd! Even though she couldn’t speak English very well to us, we all knew she was having fun. The Bavarian songs were especially fun because we sung even though we had no idea what the words were. They had a good rhythm and it felt like we were in Bavaria again. We left around 7 o’clock that night and hit the hay.

Our last full day in Europe was already here. It was hard to believe, but it was here. I was pretty tired, but still felt like I could be in Europe for another week. I looked back on it because the amount of sightseeing we did was enormous. The culture we learned will always give me a different opinion about the world. On this last day, Andrew and I went to an exhibit called Body Worlds. This exhibit had exhibitions all over the world. Its material covered the anatomy and physiology of a human body. There were human bodies that had been plasticized in order to preserve the muscles on them. This was interesting to see all the delicacies in the human body especially the organs interacting with the muscles. Even though the exhibit was relatively short, it showed me why the human body is so complicated. For example, the heart has electrical pulses in order to beat the heart. If the interventricular septum is damaged, the ventricles won’t contract correctly. This is where a pacemaker comes in handy. The pacemaker will make signals in place of the interventricular septum in order to beat the heart. After the exhibit, we went to Alexanderplatz and walked around. We went into two department stores and found out they are exactly the same as the USA. They pretty much sell the same clothing for guys. We then went back to the hotel and discovered on the internet that the German air traffic controllers were about to be on strike from 6 am to 12 pm the next day. My flight was at 9:30 the next day which meant it could be delayed. This could pose a problem because then I could miss my flight from Newark to Austin. I didn’t stress too much about it because I knew I couldn’t do anything about it. Other people in my group where stressing. In fact, one person actually went to the airport. However, it proved that she really didn’t need to go when she came back in the evening. We took this last evening pretty chill. We had to get up early the next morning to go across the ocean.