Berlin

The country Germany typically has a bad connotation attached to it because of its dark history. Nazis, Hitler, and the Berlin Wall are just a few examples of a past riddled with attrocity and injustice. Berlin itself has become a memorial to this long past.

My US cultural memory class today talked about Berlin remembering and embracing this past that many simply would like to forget. It would not be wise for Germany to deny the holocaust, yet it could ignore the genocide like Turkey has denied the Armenian Genocide. Yet Germany has made it a crime to deny the holocaust or promote Nazi philosophy in any way.

Treptower Park in deep east Berlin is another example of a past that Germany is not willing to deny. The park was built as a memorial of the Battle of Berlin where the Soviets saved the Germans from the Nazis. Of course this is all very subjective. The Battle of Berlin led to the split of Germany and Berlin and eventually led to the massive prison perpetuated by Soviet power through methods such as the Berlin Wall. However, this memorial still stands and is still well kempt.

http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmaltag2006/images/fotos/treptower_park_sowjetisches_ehrenmahl.jpg

Treptower Park may skim over the horrible conditions after the fall of the Nazis, but it does commemorate the end of the Naazis. Russians did fight The Battle of Berlin and they were a vital part of the Allies in defeating Hitler. This memorial commemorates that.

I really love this class because we explore the meaning behind memorials. We never think that anything is coincidence. There is always a significance to the quote that was chosen, or the location, or any other element of the memorial. This class definitely is the highlight of my week.

Let's just hope I get a good grade on this essay!   

Foofaraw

I have realized that a lot of my time is wasted. I feel like I need to take that energy that I simply burn and put it towards something productive. Perhaps clearing out the many thoughts that come to my head would be a good way to spend my time.

Dictionary.com's word of the day today is Fooforaw:

foofaraw

FOO-fuh-raw\ , noun:

1. Excessive or flashy ornamentation or decoration.

2. A fuss over a matter of little importance.

It's fate I tell you. This blog will mainly be my random thoughts that I will probably be very dramatic about but actually mean little to anyone other than me.

My time is typically spent avoiding what I actually have to do. I am avoiding:

• Editing my paper for my US cultural memory class
• Reading US foreign policy articles 43-47
• Reading for Comparative Politics the driest text book I have ever had
• Planning for my Sunday School Class and the new Arabic book that I have been forced to use (this angers me)

So as you can see, I have a lot to avoid. Mainly, I think I am also avoiding sleep. I was listening to a story on NPR that basically said that we need to change our perception of sleep as a society. Today, we see sleep as for weak people. The more time spent sleeping, the more time we feel is wasted. I think I have that perception hard wired in me as well. If I sleep, I am losing time to be doing anything else (productive or not). I also think that being surrounded by people all day, late at night is my own personal 'me' time. I don't want to waste that special time SLEEPING.

Now that we have established why I need a blog. We can move on to all of my future foofaraws.

Currently Watching: How I Met Your Mother Season 4 Episode 7