Berlin Proposal

After walking down American streets a countless number of times without once having my smile acknowledged, I can’t help but wonder what hardens locals against strangers. Is it the fear of the unknown, or something deeper? More specifically, are people too lazy to acknowledge others? Could it be that smiling at a stranger on the street, waving to a vagrant, or even brushing against someone else affects a person negatively because it acknolwdges the other’s existence? Are we so selfish that we prefer to exist in our tiny bubbles, believing that at least in our worlds, we’re the most important?

            Clearly these, among other questions, will be difficult to answer, but exciting to explore. In Berlin, I seek to answer these questions: What cultural differences cause the issue of personal space to be different in America vs. Germany? How do citizens of each react to invasion of this space? Is the difference really that perceptible, or are people generally the same?

            To answer these from a scientific and objective perspective, I have conducted research here, including observing and interacting with others,  which I have recorded in a research journal. Upon arrival in Berlin, I plan to compare my results in order to come upon an accurate or at least logical conclusion. Yes, I may discover that human inter-action isn’t logical, but to me, that is an extremely significant discovery. Perhaps I will find that humans are too different to be sloughed into little masses of culture, and because of their uniqueness can not be classified. More interestingly, I may find that intrinsically, we are all the same. 

Abstract

Studies of prostitution, personal space, social interactions, and athletic inclusion regarding gender and religion come together to create an umbrella theme of Social Borders in Berlin. These social borders, exhibited through very different studies, which use very different methods, are generally lines that Berliners encounter and interact with in their lives. Studying them will attempt to further understand why they exist, how they compare with their American counterparts (do they even have American counterparts), how those who see and experience them feel about the existence of the borders, and whether or not these walls should remain standing.

Questions ask, more precisely: what cultural differences cause the border to exist? How do citizens react to the border? What are the “rules” that dictate the border? How many people does this border affect or influence? (Further, what is this border’s affect on cultural identity?) What are the implications of this border? Are insiders aware of this border? How do outsiders view the border? Focusing on and personalizing these questions will drive the research.

Each of these topics is very site-specific. An important part of the research will be attempting to experience these borders on-site and interacting with the people that the border directly includes (speaking with prostitutes, bumping into people, sitting in market places, and playing soccer, respectively). The concept here is that experiencing (directly and indirectly) the border itself and interjecting oneself into the social division being researched will promote more insight, understanding, and, frankly, more questions. Specifically, as each research topic in this “Social Borders” group deals overtly with society and social interactions, projects will all become clearer once that social (on-site) wall is confronted.

I never thought of that!

Having lived in Turkey for so many years, I expected to be familiar with most of the issues presented in Aksoy and Candan's papers. While I was aware of the issues with entering the EU, I was not aware of the extremity of globalization in Istanbul. I spent most of my time in Ankara, which I wish we could see, because it's so different from anywhere I've been. The streets are always dusty and cracked by stubborn and knotted tree roots, the streets are sparsely populated, and the people are friendly and eager to offer tea. When I picture Istanbul, I do picture the busy metropolis that was described in the papers, but sadly, I don't want to picture this. Turkey is so rich with culture that I fear it's turning in the wrong direction. Why should Istanbul expand and become more of a metropolis? Yes, it will attract more tourists, and it will continue to be, as was said, a 'microcosm of Anatolia,' but will this really please visitors? Visitors who come to see the true Turkey and end up seeing the Starbucks and Burger Kings that pepper the streets of their homelands? I fear that Turkey is concentrating so much on its entering into the EU that it's forgetting where it comes from. It's forgetting that it's culture and landmarks are arguably more rich with history than many other European countries. Why would Turkey want to lose the Lira, or want to join up with an organization that is clearly reluctant to accept it? I'm very interested to hear about what the speaker today has to say, because after the readings for today, I'm left thoroughly confused. 

It's pretty cumbersome being me

I make progress daily in my research, since I'm an extremely clumsy person. More frequently than I'd like to admit, I run into people, sometimes jarring myself so hard that I stumble. Lately, I've begun to not apologize when this happens (even though this faux pas eats me up inside), and I've been met by what can only be described as genuine glares. Some have yelled at me, some have sarcastically cajoled me on my inability to walk in a straight line, but absolutely none have ignored me. 

I seek to continue my blatant lack of grace in Europe, where I expect different reactions. I seek to find the source of this ignorance of personal space. What causes people overseas to be so much less uptight? Granted, to answer this question I'll need to do a lot of inferring and assuming, but it's better to postulate than to give up.

 

Mmm... learning

I'm extremely happy to discover that Berlin has a museum festival from January 31st- August 29th. Sure, this might not sound all that special or interesting, but what's fabulous about it is that it's called the Long Museum Night festival. Visitors may enter anywhere between 6pm on  a Saturday to 2am on the following Sunday. If night-museuming isn't enough to enthuse a traveller, it's worth mentioning that these museums will provide food, theater performances, and much more. I can't wait to go!

Naturally, I'll Swerve to Avoid you

I've always wondered: why do people put so much effort into avoiding each other? This certainly isn't a universal thing, because in German and Turkey for instance, people would rather be close than anything else. Consider an empty classroom. You're the only one sitting in the room, and you're sitting on the far right front row. A Turkish or German citizen would sit right up next to you, preparing for oodles of others to swarm in the door, and not afraid to pop your personal bubble. An born-and-bred American, however, would sit as far away as possible, so as to preserve the untouched air around you, and himself. 

But it's not only classrooms in which we avoid each other, but on the streets as well. We matrix-dodge out of the way in order to avoid sleeves brushing sleeves, or avert our eyes if people are approaching, rather than send them a friendly smile. I suppose we think: why would I bother to look, let alone smile, at a person who I'll never see again? But if we thought this, wouldn't we also not bother to be polite to them, shoving them at our discretion? Perhaps it's not that we want to be polite, or the opposite, but that we don't want to acknowledge strangers at all. I suppose touching a person, making their transience tangible, makes them real to us, and perhaps, Americans, obsessed with their bubbles, hesitate to let others form within their realms of reality. 

In Berlin, I seek to discover whether or not this strange cultural difference is just that: simply a cultural difference, or something more-- an ideology perhaps, or a product of some sort of dogma. This study would most likely fall under some sort of sociological theme, or a theme about "personal borders."

Response to Ghosts of Berlin

I've been to Berlin twice, both with my sixth grade class and with my parents for a weekend, specifically to visit Christmas markets and become quickly fatter (to insulate ourselves for winter. It was simply the only option.) Therefore, I never really got to know Berlin's history, seeing as a sixth grader I was paying more attention to whether or not the boy I liked was looking at me rather than listening to the tour guide. Because of this, I really enjoyed The Ghosts of Berlin, mostly because much of it was new information. 

I was aware of some parts already though, including the death strip and the speed at which the wall emerged. It was interesting to read about Ladd's opinion, but of course kept my own. One thing that he said that made me question him, was that the German public wanted badly to forget the wall. Yes, granted, it was a terrible time in history. Why then, would the German public keep up a stretch of the wall? Yes, they want to forget the terror, but today, it has become beautiful. It has become representative of a triumph, of a community now unified, and of the artists who painted it so mockingly and powerfully. 

And if we assume that the Germans in fact are trying to forget the wall, or what the wall represented, we must acknowledge that this is impossible for them. Can Americans forget 9/11? Surely not. The Germans are bombarded by tourists ever drawing attention to the facade. and flooded with little "pieces of the wall" post cards that were surely just pieces of gravel from someone's driveway that had been slyly spray painted. It seems then, that while Ladd understood the German hurt, he did not understand the inevitability of the wall's infinite presence, both physically and metaphorically.