Life in Berlin
Midpoint of the Journey!
I left Chicago headed to Berlin March 14. Arrived with very few expectations and knowing absolutely no one. Classes hadn't started yet and well, life was moving forward. As to date, I have been here for a little over three months now and things are just starting to make sense. I always have a problem over thinking situations and my life and trying to give everything reasoning, but my experience here has helped me with just settling with that is the now.
Three weeks after my arrival, classes started. I had already began to meet and go out and experience the city. School just added a little more structure to my daily routine. Since I have been here and the more I get used to certain cultural differences, I continue to get more and more comfortable of being away from family, friends and home in general.
Don't get me wrong, there are somethings such as the unsanitary waiters at restaurants who never washed there hands after handling money, receipts, dirty plates and then come fix your pasta and stir it up with their hands that I could never get used to but meeting such diverse and well rounded people is exciting for me. Everyone I come in contact with speak multiple languages, of course english being one of the many. A lot of people have traveled to different parts of the world and aren't as ignorant to cultural differences as much as I find Americans to be. Any-who, this entry isn't about America and its lack of concern with international experience.
After meeting my half way stay in Berlin, I have found and explored a new side of myself. I feel as though I am being forced to grow up twice. Living in a new country really makes you question your identity, especially in a country where there aren't as many of your own. I have came to understand how to some extent growing up in America as an African American in a lower class community has kind of set me up for a specific response when things take place outside of my familiar area. For example, Chicago is very segregated. Anyone from there know what streets to cross and which one are restricted depending on what area you are from. So, when I got to Berlin, I automatically expected to come and find a neighborhood where most of the blacks (African Diaspora) sort of meet and hang. But duh, this is not the US and it is not like that.
After learning more about Berlin culture and the immigrant situation, it became clearer that there sense of community came from different places. In result of this, I craved for a better understanding which also led to the developement of my project I am currently working on here called Lost and Found.
So, this is what the Artist has came up with and I can't wait to share footage!
Lost and Found
Lost and found is a documentary/narrative film about a young African American woman coming to Berlin and finding a part of herself. As this African American girl travel to Berlin she begins to interact directly and indirectly with Africans. She get a better understanding and gain a new respect for African culture and is able to take and share what has been lost in time. Germany is already a country with a horrible yet rich past. From genocides to wars each street tells a story. Lost and found shows a merge of cultures that all struggle with identity. In search to be whole again, you see a mixture of cultures but specifically Africans, African Germans and Germans share there stories just from daily interactions through the eyes of this young African American woman.
The conversation taking place thru the images and interactions of the people she meet helps her in deconstructing the myths of african diasporians. The integration process of africans into German culture resulting in a revelation of self discovery. It takes for one to leave home in order to began to have these real conversations about identity.
With the reunification of berlin, the city continue to define its culture. Lost and found uses the city as a backdrop and also represnts that when one undergo such a dramatic experience (the Wall for Berlin, slavery for Africans and African Americans) it becomes possible for these myths to be created because of seperation. In America, african-Americans have no reason to search or communicate with Africans. This is the same with Africans in Africa but because the blacks (africans and african americans) community In Berlin isn't as large as in there native land they are brought together for obvious reasons. Hair care, skin color, religious practices, etc. but this unification starts a dialogue that often dont take place anywhere else. The atmosphere that berlin creates bring these cultures together under unusual circumstances that no other country does.
I left Chicago headed to Berlin March 14. Arrived with very few expectations and knowing absolutely no one. Classes hadn't started yet and well, life was moving forward. As to date, I have been here for a little over three months now and things are just starting to make sense. I always have a problem over thinking situations and my life and trying to give everything reasoning, but my experience here has helped me with just settling with that is the now.
Three weeks after my arrival, classes started. I had already began to meet and go out and experience the city. School just added a little more structure to my daily routine. Since I have been here and the more I get used to certain cultural differences, I continue to get more and more comfortable of being away from family, friends and home in general.
Don't get me wrong, there are somethings such as the unsanitary waiters at restaurants who never washed there hands after handling money, receipts, dirty plates and then come fix your pasta and stir it up with their hands that I could never get used to but meeting such diverse and well rounded people is exciting for me. Everyone I come in contact with speak multiple languages, of course english being one of the many. A lot of people have traveled to different parts of the world and aren't as ignorant to cultural differences as much as I find Americans to be. Any-who, this entry isn't about America and its lack of concern with international experience.
After meeting my half way stay in Berlin, I have found and explored a new side of myself. I feel as though I am being forced to grow up twice. Living in a new country really makes you question your identity, especially in a country where there aren't as many of your own. I have came to understand how to some extent growing up in America as an African American in a lower class community has kind of set me up for a specific response when things take place outside of my familiar area. For example, Chicago is very segregated. Anyone from there know what streets to cross and which one are restricted depending on what area you are from. So, when I got to Berlin, I automatically expected to come and find a neighborhood where most of the blacks (African Diaspora) sort of meet and hang. But duh, this is not the US and it is not like that.
After learning more about Berlin culture and the immigrant situation, it became clearer that there sense of community came from different places. In result of this, I craved for a better understanding which also led to the developement of my project I am currently working on here called Lost and Found.
So, this is what the Artist has came up with and I can't wait to share footage!
Lost and Found
Lost and found is a documentary/narrative film about a young African American woman coming to Berlin and finding a part of herself. As this African American girl travel to Berlin she begins to interact directly and indirectly with Africans. She get a better understanding and gain a new respect for African culture and is able to take and share what has been lost in time. Germany is already a country with a horrible yet rich past. From genocides to wars each street tells a story. Lost and found shows a merge of cultures that all struggle with identity. In search to be whole again, you see a mixture of cultures but specifically Africans, African Germans and Germans share there stories just from daily interactions through the eyes of this young African American woman.
The conversation taking place thru the images and interactions of the people she meet helps her in deconstructing the myths of african diasporians. The integration process of africans into German culture resulting in a revelation of self discovery. It takes for one to leave home in order to began to have these real conversations about identity.
With the reunification of berlin, the city continue to define its culture. Lost and found uses the city as a backdrop and also represnts that when one undergo such a dramatic experience (the Wall for Berlin, slavery for Africans and African Americans) it becomes possible for these myths to be created because of seperation. In America, african-Americans have no reason to search or communicate with Africans. This is the same with Africans in Africa but because the blacks (africans and african americans) community In Berlin isn't as large as in there native land they are brought together for obvious reasons. Hair care, skin color, religious practices, etc. but this unification starts a dialogue that often dont take place anywhere else. The atmosphere that berlin creates bring these cultures together under unusual circumstances that no other country does.
