Boring Things To Know (if you must, I suppose)
I grew up in a city divided by a wall. It’s hard to imagine for those that haven't been there. Living in Berlin wasn’t difficult, and, for the most part, we didn’t notice the wall. There was nothing we missed out on, but we knew the wall was there. We wanted it gone. The wall "fell" in 1989. I was out on the street celebrating all night and didn't get home until 6 a.m. I had just enough time to take a shower and go to work. I will never forget going Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate and Alexander Platz that night. However, after that night, life changed. Berlin should never again be the same way as it was. And while I gained half a city and all the surrounding areas, it also took me years to realize that I lost my hometown. Berlin wasn’t the Berlin that I knew. Don’t misunderstand me, Berlin was and still is beautiful. However, you can’t force people to feel like neighbors overnight. And since I never knew Berlin without the wall, the Berlin I knew all my life had changed overnight.