Hallo! The time during this trip has definitely flown by! I can
hardly believe that the trip is already over halfway done. Anyway, after an
exciting New Year’s Eve, we all got to sleep in to recover from the activities
of the day before. The day was fairly low-key as most places were closed for
New Year’s Day. For breakfast/lunch, we had hard-boiled eggs, cheeses, cold
meat cuts, mozzarella and tomatoes, bread and butter, waffles, milk, coffee,
juices, fruit, salads, and other such assorted goodies.We started with a tour
of Berlin with a Welsh guide named Sean (Shaun?). On this tour, I got to see
the Altes Museum, the Berliner Dome, the Neue Wache, a French and German
Cathedral, and some buildings of the Humboldt University. It was great to
finally see some the buildings of the great German architect, Schinkel, after
studying them in my architecture history class. After more walking, we saw
Checkpoint Charlie, parts of the Berlin Wall, the ground above Hitler’s bunker,
the Jewish Holocaust Memorial, and Brandenburg Gate. I was completely amazed by
all the history that I was walking past. It still astounds me that to this day
that the course of German social life has been completely altered because of
the country’s appalling involvement in WWII. After the tour, Suzanne and Dr.
Wasser took us to the Kartoffelkeller, a restaurant completely embroiled in
potato dishes. It was expensive and we ordered over 300 euros of food and drink
as a group, but it was pretty good. After dinner, I headed to the Berliner Dome
to listen to a chamber orchestra and choir. I bought my ticket and waited
outside in the cold. At 7:30 PM, I walked in, found my seat, and relaxed as I
let the music into my mind (and ears). The music was written by Bach and although
it did not have a full orchestra, it was wonderful nonetheless. I then
approached the oboists after the concert and we had a nice, short conversation.
It’s a great thing that music is still something so valued in German culture.
As the next day unfolded, we took a day trip to Dresden. As
we got off the train, we walked out of the station and into a surprisingly bright
and sunny sky. We met our tour guide in front of a large church (The Church of
Our Lady) and we took a city tour as we passed the Zinger Opera House and other
such buildings of architectural and historical importance. From there, we
arrived at a museum that showed incredibly valuable artifacts from the times of
August the Strong. The collection included intricate clocks and ivory devices.
The centerpieces of the collection included an intricately decorated game
board, a depiction of a huge exotic party, and a green 40-something carat
diamond. I was amazed at the priceless nature of these items; it’s really
something when an object has so much historical and physical value that it no
longer even has a price tag. Because today was busy, we didn’t really have
lunch and we then walked over to the Deutsch Hygiene Museum where I ordered a
Berliner Kartoffelsuppe before the tour. Cassie and I paired up to discuss and
view the exhibit about Learning, Memory, and the Brain. I picked this
particular section of the museum because of my deep interest in psychology and
how the brain and mind function. Each group presented a short tour of each
section that represented a certain part of the human body. Even though many of
the exhibits were in German and not English, it was still very interesting to
see the breakdowns of the human systems. I have to say that this exhibit is by
far one of the best excursions thus far on the trip.
On January the 3rd, we took a train to the outskirts of Berlin where we arrived at the Max Dellbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, or MDC. We had a tour of the overall facility and visited the research labs and had an introduction to the research of a lab involved in chloride channels (and other things) and a genetics lab with interests in targeting which genes can cause disease. It was all very interesting, especially the genetics part. In a period of a few short years, the technological advancements in genetics have surpassed all achievements made in genetics since its existence as a field of science. After lunch, we rushed over to the Charite Museum where we had a tour regarding the gruesome nature of many procedures before the discovery of anesthesia and gallstones and preserving body parts cut during anatomical human dissections. It was a very riveting exhibit and it made me gratfeul for the medical advancements that we have today. I know for a fact that if I lived in the 19th century or earlier, I would have already died from the sicknesses that I’ve had throughout my childhood. We then were guided by two medical students from Germany in their 9th semesters (of 12) to a lecture hall where the talked about the medical school system in Germany; it’s so different than America’s medical school system; they essentially get in right after high school. They also showed us various practical tutorials like ascultations and intubation. We also got to simulate the movements/seeing of old people and the shaking of the hands during Parkinson’s or old age using electrical gloves. I have a feeling that I may not enjoy becoming old… As this particular day was jam-packed, we all walked over to the Reichstag Building and German Bundestag. We had to go through security and show our passports in order to enter. We all used the restroom, but the reason I am saying this is because I truly realized the nature of bathrooms is different in Europe. The stalls are basically little rooms and I feel the concept of privacy is different in Germany than it is in America. Sorry for the randomness, I just thought this observation was interesting. The tour was guided by a funny lawyer/tour guide/soldier. He talked all about the history of the building and the structure of Germany’s government (like the Chancellor is very powerful and is currently a woman who is a PhD physicist). We got to go to the top of the Reichstag and then after about 8:30 PM, the day finally ended.
The 4th of January was the last day of the program
before the free weekend started. But I had to do my laundry first. I didn’t
know washing clothes would be 5 euros a load. It was so expensive and was
basically a big bucket that your clothes sloshed around in for about 40
minutes. Interestingly, after finishing the laundry, I met two cellists from
Brazil who were in Germany to prepare music for some sort of concert. They told
me they were playing Stravinksy’s Firebird, a Sibelius piece, and some modern
piece. We took a train and a short walk to the Charite for a lecture by Dr.
Wasser. On the way, he showed us the memorial of the first victim of the Berlin
Wall. We ended up in the same lecture room as yesterday and he discussed the
importance of Virchow and other important German scientists/doctors. From
there, we ate lunch and then took taxis to the Otto Bock Science Center as it
was raining and the bus system was confusing. The science center was incredibly
interesting as we got a tour of various prostheses simulations. The guide
talked about the various technologies of the Otto Bock company and how they
deal mainly in prothetics and materials engineering. It’s amazing how advanced
their prostheses technology is. What’s even more shocking (but expected) is
that it’s free for citizens because of the health care system in Germany. We
went through various exhibits and discussed each one in depth; this was one of
my favorite tours thus far on the trip. after this tour, we left Berlin for the
free weekend. Cassie, Kitty, Ariana, Aaron, and I took the M4 to Alexanderplatz
where we took an S4 bahn to Berlin Hbf. From there, we made our way to the
Harry Potter-styled train that would take us to Hamburg.
After a relaxing night of sleep in Hotel Continental (in Hamburg), we
first ate lunch at a Iranian kabob place that was fairly expensive but pretty
good. I had a Barg (lamb filet with basmati rice, butter, and tomatoes). We
then bought a group ticket to go to Landungsbruck where we strolled along the
portside and enjoyed a very chilly tour of the port by boat; this port is known
as the 3rd largest in the world. Afterwards, we walked up and down
the strip looking for souvenirs and currywurst. When we finished, we walked
over to the Reeperbahn and went shopping at various stores such as Aladin
Center, Merlin, and other such stores. I even got boots to replace the pair
that broke during day one. We saw the Beatles plaza as well. Later that
evening, our group went out to the Reeperbahn again to see the active
nightlife.
I woke up at around 10 AM on the 6th of January
and Aaron and I quickly packed our things and checked out. Our group went out,
ate breakfast at a nice nearby café where I bought everyone breakfast (I got
apple and mango juice and a Strammer Max), bought another group day pass and
proceeded to St. Michaelis Cathedral. We had a brief visit (after eating
currywurst) and shopped a bit along the Reeperbahn until we got bored. After
that, we basically chilled at the train station (where I spent money on some
Cup ‘N Go steamed potatoes and corn, a chicken curry dish from Manju, pan-fried
noodles, and apple juice) until we left for Hannover.
The trip has been great so far. I’m learning a lot about the
history of Germany and how medicine has been shaped by the accomplishments of
German doctors and scientists. I love the culture and the distinctness of this
country. I have to say, however, that I miss free bathrooms. But overall, this
study abroad trip has definitely left me motivated to come here again, maybe in
Spring 2014. I’ll be writing an update about Hannover and Vienna when I visit.
Guten abend!
Austin Wang
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