Your Time On The Weltzeituhr
We are turning the clock forward for daylight saving time (DST), though I don’t need to do it manually, thanks to our radio-controlled wall clock that shifts to summertime or wintertime automatically. Otherwise, I may have to get up at 2:00 AM tomorrow to turn my clock forward. But I couldn’t possibly do this, who could anyway, when everybody’s in deep slumber at this hour. This is another change that I find myself quite hard to get used to in the first week. It feels like my sleep is abruptly one hour short and everything will be affected. If I get up tomorrow at 10:00 AM the real time is already 11:00 AM. But it doesn’t matter much cos I normally sleep in on Sundays. The week ahead is more of an adjustment period.
Speaking of DST, this Weltzeituhr (World Clock) in Berlin shows the local time of different countries. The first time I saw it, I thought it was nothing but a unique design of a clock.
The Weltzeituhr at the Alexanderplatz in Berlin
It was summer when we were there and I noticed that the clock showed the exact time in Manila at that time in Berlin. The local time is shown on the wall clock while the world’s time is shown on the 24-hour clock. Tourists will never lose track of their own local time.
Behind me is the Weltzeituhr
Check your time on the Weltzeituhr when you’re in Berlin!
The Public – PhotoHunt
This is what I found for PhotoHunt challenge today. The public at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin were all in position to take photos of these camouflaged but pretend soldiers. The bear mascot was also in place to smile on the cameras. They welcomed tourists to this spectacular presentation that depicted the old West and East Berlin. And it all happened at the Brandenburg Gate where the militaries stood divided to guard their own posts, making sure no one from east would cross west and west to east. But now it’s only a scene so don’t be scared and get your cameras ready when you’re in Berlin.
At the Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate
The woman in the middle of the guards had nothing to do with them. She was among the public who wanted to be photographed and be a part of the scene of the day. Anyone could actually come forward and pose with the performers. It might be scary for children to see men in camouflage but the bear mascot was there to lighten them up. That’s how open Berlin to the public these days. I don’t know if they do this all year round but it was summer when we witnessed this reenactment of the past.
The Fall Of The Wall
It will be 20 years tomorrow since the Berlin Wall was torn down amidst the protest of the east side for freedom. My morning newspaper is making a big deal of the history of the Berlin Wall, with ten pages of stories and illustrations from the day it was built, torn and how significant it is now for the people. Darn, I wasn’t born yet when the east side of Berlin started to build the wall in 1961. And by the time it was razed in 1989 I was already in college studying to be a teacher. But my mind was not completely focused on the event when the people shouted in jubilation because it was the same year when my beloved father died. A month and a few days after the fall of the wall, my father succumbed to death. Not because he was devastated or overjoyed about the event, I wouldn’t know he’d feel about it but he died due to prolonged illness.
I didn’t think of relating this event with my father but somehow, reminishing the fall of the wall has led to another event to be reminisced. I was trying to remember where was I and what did I do during that time when the year 1989 suddenly poked me and I exclaimed in the back of my mind, “Oh, my God!” and started to recall the days that were. How ironic how the fall of the Berlin Wall reminded me of my father when today is also Father’s Day here. Jesus Christ! How all these things just popped in my mind while writing.
Anyhow, back to the Berlin Wall, part of it is still standing in the city and tourists visiting there can imagine how thick and high the walls that used to divide the city of Berlin. Now it’s there to remind the history behind it.
The Berlin Wall in the background
Ruins of the Berlin Wall
That’s how the ruins of the wall looks now. My father could have seen me with these pics if he’d still be alive. But I’m really surprised how that year gave me a back-to-back memory of the past, both of the world and of my life. How about you? Where were you and what did you do when the Berlin Wall was fallen down on November 9, 1989?
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