As a Neuroscience major and a pre-med, I don't get a lot of opportunities to pursue my personal interests in the humanities. I didn't want to weigh down my study abroad experience with heavy science classes, and decided to try something completely different and a little out of my comfort zone. When I enrolled in Gender and Sexuality of Scandinavia, I initially also signed up for the Amsterdam trip that focused on prostitution and trafficking. After arriving in Denmark, they announced that there would be a new study tour to Berlin that focused on queer culture and activism. The study tour also incorporated a second class I was taking, Sociology of the Family, so I thought "Perfect! Why not?" Long story short, switched study tours, great decision!!
I listened to someone rant about how so many blogs become picture books with no writing, and I felt really guilty about the lack of commentary I have been providing about my adventures. (This may be because I personally have a very short attention span and I usually skim through pictures rather than reading.) Still, I'm going to try to include a little more insight in the following posts. Feel free to skip them, I won't be offended, I promise.
Pictures...WITH INSIGHT (ugh):
We started off the trip with a Queer Berlin walking tour. Our tour guide was Finn, an absolutely amazing Irish trans man. The tour was his baby (he wrote the entire thing) and I think he was excited to do a test run on us. We got to see some important queer monuments, and Finn was sweet enough to also take us to some normal Berlin sights because he heard it was the first time in Berlin for many of us.
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| Standing in Potsdamer Platz. Fun fact! Berlin was built on a really swampy area. The pipes serve to pump groundwater away to prevent flooding and allow construction. |
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| When the Berlin Wall stood, it ran through Potsdamer Platz, making it into a No Man's Land. All the buildings in Potsdamer Platz were constructed in the 1990's. |
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| Just to give you an idea of the complete desolation... Potsdamer Platz in 1982, courtesy of Wikipedia. |
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| And now... |
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| Parts of the Berlin Wall reconstructed for tourists. |
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| This is all gum. EW. |
Finn was giving us the historical story behind Potsdamer Platz when he suddenly points out this building...or is it?? This is actually a FAKE building made up of large posters to eliminate the feeling of empty space. Say what?
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| #deception |
We then stopped off at Tiergarten. This nondescript cement block is actually a memorial for gay victims of the Holocaust. Finn pointed out that many people forget that Jews weren't the only populations targeted by the Nazis. Gay men, the mentally/physically handicapped, and criminals were also sent to concentration camps. While Jews were denoted by the Star of David on their striped pajamas, gay men were marked by a pink triangle.
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| When you looked inside, there was a video of gay men and women kissing. |
Interesting note, the term "gay" in Europe is used exclusively to refer to homosexual men while the term "lesbian" is used for homosexual women.
It was a nice day and I wanted to make use of my unlimited transportation pass so I headed over to the East Side Gallery. I had heard that bits of the gallery were torn down in late March by a construction company in order to make way for luxury condos. (Very sketch, read here.) Luckily, the pieces I was most interested in were still standing.
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| This depicts an completely non-queer moment in history when the leaders of Soviet Russia and East Germany exchanged a brotherly kiss after a speech at the 30th anniversary of East Germany |
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| A portal through the Berlin Wall. Symbolic? |
After free time, we went on a scavenger hunt/pub crawl through various gay bars in Kreuzberg. My favorite bar by far was Roses, where the walls were completely covered in pink shag. Oooooh baby.
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| My drinking buddy, Chris. |
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| I just had to include this picture of us Americans chilling in front of Dunkin' Donuts. Typical. |
One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to Sammlung Boros, a privately owned collection of art housed in a renovated WWII bunker. The bunker itself has served as a shelter, a POW camp, a refrigerator, and a hardcore techno club over its long history. The owner of the gallery now resides on the 5th floor and the museum is open by invite-only. Lucky for us, it was art weekend and the bunker was open to the general public.
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| Bunker Chic |
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| Art!! |
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| This artist believes in engaging multiple senses. This machine is on all day and the popcorn is not allowed to be removed from the building. It has been on since September! |
No visit to Germany would be complete without a photo of wienerschnitzel.
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| Those potatoes hiding under that large slab of meat? Heavenly. |
Our teacher, Michael, gave us his own interpretation of a walking tour. We walked through the art gallery/shopping area of Mitte and past several of the Berlin landmarks.
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| Alexanderplatz |
While chilling by this fountain, we stumbled across a man dressed in a Waldo outfit. Apparently, he was making a picturebook for his nephew's birthday and his nephew's task was to find him. Well, now his nephew can also find 19 overly enthusiastic Americans.
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| Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral) |
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| Brandenburg Gate |
Don't go to Berlin without visiting the Holocaust Memorial for Jewish Victims. If you have time, go into the exhibit underneath the memorial. It's free, but bring tissues, it is absolutely heartbreaking.
DIS paid for two meals every day and I was operating on a tiny budget, but I knew I had to try currywurst. The sausage is nothing special, but the curry ketchup on top? Mmmmm....
I was very impressed with this study tour because it did a great job incorporating the academic with the social. We went to several panels and workshops.
On the first full day, we were given a talk by GLADT, an organization that advocates for gay and lesbians of Turkish descent. We learned that many are persecuted in their home country for their sexuality but become victims of racism in Germany. GLADT provides a safe-space and has expanded its services to include immigrants from other countries as well.
We then attended a workshop by a queer activist who was Danish and had just moved to Berlin. After a brief history of queer rights, we learned 15 ways to resist oppression. Then, we were encouraged to think of a time in our life when we had been oppressed because of our gender, sexuality, culture, etc. We had a great group of DIS students and we really opened up...needless to say, waterworks by the end. Great bonding moment. Listening to people's stories made me realize that lots of less than great things have happened to me (once a drunk Danish man insisted on calling me "Ling-Ling") that I've attributed to simple ignorance. This workshop taught me that ignorance is not an excuse; it's the problem. Definitely gave me some food for thought.
We also had the chance to meet up with some young queer activists living in Berlin. They represented a wide range of populations: gay, lesbian, German, Iranian, sociologists, academics, party-animals etc. It was basically a two-hour session where they just answered all of our questions. One of my favorite moments is when one of the activists described Copenhagen as a "perfectly boring place to live". HA. Oh, Berlin...the place where parties are bumpin' until 10 AM the next day.
Hands down favorite moment of the trip, DRAG SHOW.
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| Frighteningly fabulous. (Photo credits: http://www.tikberlin.de/) |
Crazy thing that happened this trip: One of the other DIS students got chicken pox. CHICKEN POX. He immigrated from China to the US a few years ago and I guess he just never got his vaccinations. He had to take a train back to Copenhagen because he couldn't get on a plane. :\ Rough days.
OK, a bit of an honest moment here. One of the things I've been struggling with in Denmark over the past few months is finding people that I click with at DIS. I feel like more of an IPC student than a DIS student. To sum it up, on a long study tour, a student once made the broad statement: "We're studying abroad. We all know what it's like to come from money." That was definitely a moment where I really felt like I didn't belong. (#peasantproblems) It's been a struggle living on a budget in Denmark, where minimum wage is around $20 and lunch costs about three-fourths of that. Then to be surrounded by people whose idea of a good time is going out to bars and clubs every night (Not to knock on bars and clubs. The Danish scene is jumpin'.) is just a slap in the face. I admit that I'm a bit of an introvert, my idea of a good time is exploring the city and finding delicious, authentic street food, and sometimes I'm a big ol' Bitter Betty about life. Still, on this trip, I felt like I met a bunch of amazing people who are facing similar struggles, people who share my interests (you know, those outside of who is hooking up with which hot Dane), people who can crack me up on a daily basis. If you're coming to DIS looking for a great time, you're going to find it. But if you're already here and having difficulties, don't be disheartened. There are other crazies like me and you out there. :)
A great long weekend and I'm a little saddened to think that it is the third to last. :\ Woah, where has my semester gone??
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