By CARE

By Chandara Tith.

Today I am going to Berlin.

Me in Berlin. I spent a whole day on my bike, visiting as many places as possible. (Photo: tourist)

It was an awaited opportunity for me since I knew that I will go there. I went to the train station an hour earlier just to understand how the train system works. Luckily, it was not that complex as I expected. When I sat on the train and it started to move, my heart was beating fast. I was on board in a high-speed train for the first time in life!

My colleagues in Bonn told me that I would have a great time in Berlin and that I’d love it. Of course, I was curiously looking forward to arriving at the capital of Germany.
Five hours and 15 minutes later: I have arrived in Berlin.

After getting off the train, the colleagues of CARE in Berlin picked me up and showed me around the city. I was so impressed by the numbers of tourists who are much more than I expected while the open-air buses for city sightseeing passed by every few minutes.

Berlin is poor but sexy?

The first day I arrived, my colleague in Berlin told me that there is a quote from the mayor of Berlin, Mr. Klaus Wowereit, “Berlin is poor, but sexy” (“Berlin ist arm, aber sexy.”) It sounded amazing and I brood over it. I asked my friend in Berlin “Is Berlin sexy?” She was so surprised and she replied she doesn’t think Berlin so. She asked me instead whether she looks sexy.

What exactly is the meaning? I think the quote is to get the tourists interested to visit the city. As an immediate example, I felt curious to see the city after I heard the quote while I am a tourist–waiting for the weekend to hang out. I was probing for the sites to see how sexy Berlin really is and how it can attract such a crowd of tourists. I felt just couldn’t wait for it.

I found it quite thrilling to be in a city as Berlin that was separated into two parts. I went to see the wall and imagined how a city and an entire country could be divided between a democratic and communist regime. The reunited city, Berlin is now best known for culture, media, politics, and science and is one of the top tourist visit destinations in Europe.

Look at Cambodia: this country is also a target tourist whereabouts in South East Asia. A report from the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism states that the number of tourists was increased of around 12 percent in the first six month of 2010.

The Bradenburg Gate is a well-known symbol for Germany while Angkor Wat is famous for Cambodia. (Photo: Chandara Tith)

The biggest tourist destination is Siem Reap province, best known for historical and natural locations especially temples. While Berlin is popular for The Brandenburg Gate, Siem Reap has the Angkor Wat temple as a symbol of the Cambodian realm.

On bike: Round about

I was anxious to have too little time in Berlin. On Saturday, I borrowed a bike from my colleague, seized a map and carried it off finding places to go.

Berlin is big enough to miss some tourist sites. I went to ask people though their face looks quite serious when I felt unsure about the street. I spent a whole day just on the bike to see as many places, took as many pictures as I could to show people in Cambodia how Germany is. I didn’t feel tired and exhausted since the weather was warm enough for me to explore the city.
It appeared like three years ago when I rode a bicycle to study in Cambodia in my freshman year. I always got sweaty after five minutes: It is so hot and the traffic condition is not good enough to ride bicycle in Cambodia. Most students prefer motorbike to bicycle. A year later, my mother sold a piece of land and bought me a motorbike.

A closer look to the academic know-hows

I’ve never dreamt to go and work in the capital of Germany. One day the government opened their offices for the public to visit. Sunday early morning, many visitors were already on a line waiting to visit the chancellor’s office.

CARE, other NGOs and embassies installed booths and provided information to the visitors at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ: Bundesministerium Für Wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit).

CARE at the BMZ. We informed visitors about CARE's work and gave them mini CARE packages. (Photo: Chandara Tith)

Although I couldn’t go to the Chancellor’s office, I had a good time visiting various embassies’ and NGOs’ booth, absorbing notions and culture of the world at the BMZ. At CARE’s, I was trying to talk to the visitors in English though some people couldn’t understand. For that, I used body language to make them understand by pointing.

In a bottom line, one week with CARE in Berlin was just a short time, but I demanded to learn more and more. Besides the city exploration, I had been working all days with CARE and I went to visit the Royal Embassy of Cambodia in Germany, Deutsche Welle, the Motor FM, the Konrad Adenauer foundation, the CARE street canvassing, the BMZ.

Astonishment in the contemporary era

It doesn’t end there. I also got to understand the German art scene. Germany is also famous in the modern arts and culture.
For example, I went to an art gallery inside a very old building called Kunsthaus Tacheles. All kind of exhibited arts extracted from contemporary concepts that I will need much time to understand each piece of it.

The same day, I was given a chance to see a contemporary arts performance at the Schaubuehne theater where CARE was also there with a small booths to raise some fund for Pakistan. It was quite complicated, but in an educational way that I couldn’t see proper plots and episodes. I was in dense of doubt all the time from scene to scene. I wonder how they could come up with ideas that made me as an audience so frowned.

One week sounds so short, but I did voluminous of works; it was not a waste of time. With the bicycle, I discovered the city as if I was a local inhabitant. That was a wonderful time. Berlin was truly SEXY for me. And now understand what it means: Berlin is an interesting, exciting and fascinating place to visit.

Now, Goodbye Berlin, I hope to come back one day.

Have you been to Berlin yet? If not, maybe this is a place to be considered for your upcoming vacation. Isn’t it sexy?

Tags: Berlin, BMZ, Cambodia, Cambodian Diary

This entry was posted on Friday, September 3rd, 2010 at 13:29 and is filed under Allgemein, Cambodian Diary, Chandara Tith. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.