Here and There

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Travelling between Scotland and Germany, my ‘new’ home (well, hardly new, I’ve been living there – here? – for 24 years now!) and my ‘old’ home (at least that still rings true… anything referring to my younger years must be classed as ancient, positively prehistoric, if you ask my teenage son). This always ends up in an exercise of ‘Here and There’.

The two words, often interchangeable.

Source of great confusion, and, mostly I’m confusing myself here. Or there. I’m never quite sure which ‘here’ and which ‘there’ I mean. I often stop mid sentence to pause, reflect, get my mental map out and pinpoint the current location of my soul. Hoping, my heart will follow.

This, a tyring enterprise. I know one can stretch too far and at some point, something will snap.

But now for something completely different: In Berlin, there are hardly any signs of the Wall left. Thank goodness for that! The few strategic reminders of what was, look out of place now and people wander from here to there, from this side to the other in bewilderment. I’m old enough to remember what was. And I watch the young school classes and student visitors stare at the remainders, the reminders in utter disbelief.

Quite right that they cannot comprehend. We don’t need walls.

Picture credit: Britta Benson.

The other day, I noticed a plaque in a shopping mall in Berlin.

It’s a quote by former German chancellor Angela Merkel, basically saying that on the 9th November 1989 we witnessed the impossible happen. It’s a wonderful experience that walls can be torn down.

Sorry for my shoe photobombing the scene.

Picture credit: Britta Benson

There are more ‘motivational’ golden plaques in the Mall of Berlin. And a slide from the top floor down – but this one, unfortunately, only for children. I checked. Which leaves me with the one all important question: Why don’t we build fun windy slides for adults? Just a suggestion.

Happy Friday to you all, and I’ll see you here tomorrow, if you wish!

©️2024 Britta Benson. No unauthorized use permitted.

16 thoughts on “Here and There”

  4. I can remember that I was totally amazed when the Wall came down. Were Germans as caught by surprise as we were? I visited the Wall for the first time in 1966–on its 5th anniversary. It was a very spooky and chilling embodiment of Cold War politics.

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    1. We were all surprised. I guess, it was inevitable, all the peaceful demonstrations leading up to it, the opening of routes via Hungary etc., but when it actually happened, it was a complete surprise. Something we always hoped for, but never expected to see. My family and I were watching television at the time and suddenly there was a breaking news alert in the middle of the programme. Then, there were live pictures from Berlin. The news never stopped that day.

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  6. me, I am dipping my toe back in, living in Germany, travelling like and I can tell you it’s weird. The only interesting political and cultural analysis I have heard is from a Turkish writer (second generation Gastarbeiter…)

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      1. the judgment is still out in my case. I had no doubt that I had to leave England at least temp the way I was treated after becoming homeless due to the flood – first bey the Local Authority and then by a sub-contractor’ unfair policy re rent… Today I have been accepted into a workshop on writing run by writer Selim Oezdogan whom I had heard being interviewed a few months ago on German TV – a voice of clarity that makes me hopeful. He even explained how in his view the German Cons had brought on much of the right-wing hostility created in the east when from 1990 they enforced refugee policy… (he said it without hostility either way). Will see where that takes me…

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