1. Cultural Experience in London and Berlin
Alex Eichenmuller

2. Initial Preconceptions
I had a pretty good idea of what London would be like because of my personal interest in the history and culture of England
Knowing and working with many people from Scotland and England gave me an advantage in knowing the culture
I expected London to be a bustling and sophisticated city with a rich historical and cultural center
I believe my preconceptions were mostly correct

3. Initial Preconceptions
I had almost no idea what to expect from a modern Berlin
The only information I knew was from WWII and what my grandfather had told me about living there in that time
Because of my lack of information I thought Berlin would be much like London
My initial preconception was way off and I realized that I knew nothing of modern day Berlin’s culture

4. Experiences
One of the major experiences for me throughout the entire trip was seeing how different countries and cultures view historical events
I knew that every country has their own side to history so seeing this in the museums was not a shock to me but what was is how some of my group reacted

5. Experiences
I think one of the biggest shocks for me on this trip was that not everyone has had the same background in history and has not had very many cultural experiences
This was probably the biggest shock to me, not the way the cities were, but how people in the group reacted to these cities and the different customs of England and Germany
It honestly astonished me at points that things I thought were basic knowledge and understands were not universal within the group

6. Experiences
The way people acted and lived in Berlin was a very good experience for me and helped me to broaden my cultural views
I expected there to be more foot traffic but public and private transportation seemed to be more popular as opposed to London
People seemed to be more reserved when in public than I had originally expected, when I thought of Germany I thought that people would be loud and drinking beer when out at dinner and that proved to be very wrong

7. Analysis
In some ways I found London to be similar to both Boston and New York City
Boston because of the historical landmarks and rich cultural background rooted in history
New York City because of the lively Piccadilly Circus

8. Analysis
London and Berlin were completely different and it was a shock to me going from a city that had a layout and culture that I was somewhat familiar with to one that I had absolutely no idea about
Almost everything I thought I knew about Berlin proved to be wrong

9. Analysis Berlin was unlike any city I had ever experienced before
There was less foot traffic than I expected
The public transit (trains) being above ground and not exclusively underground in the central areas of the city startled me
Graffiti seemed to be the norm and from what I could tell was not heavily discouraged

10. Analysis
Out of the two cities we visited I felt a greater connection to London than I did Berlin
This is because I have a great interest in the history of England, especially the reign of Henry VIII
Even though I had a greater connection to London I still felt a connection to Berlin because of my families history in the city and the areas surrounding it

11. Synthesis
I believe that my own preconceptions did not affect how I viewed the cities because I kept an open mind and truly wanted to learn about how other countries and cultures lived

12. Synthesis
My opinion is that you cannot possibly live a full life if you keep your mind closed off to different cultures, the best people I have met are those who taught me something new about the world and expanded my views

13. Synthesis
This trip has also taught me that not everyone will view different cultures the same way I do
I learned that this is not a bad thing because everyone sees the world differently but I also learned that the people I want to surround myself with are those with open minds and are willing to learn about different parts of the world and their history