We woke up in Sungsoo’s apartment with plenty of time for people to make it to class (most of them are all in the same program together). I went back to Matt’s apartment for a shower and to plan my activities that day. Since his apartment is so close to the old East-West (Ost-West) divide of Berlin, I decided to walk along the old path of some of the wall.
The wall no longer exists in this part of town (or most of the city) except for designs in the ground made by old chunks of the wall. In some areas there are pieces of rebar that have been erected to commemorate where the wall used to stand. Since its destruction, the area the wall used to stand is being replaced by things like biking paths and parks. I did not realize that most of the wall consisted of a series of walls and pits and other obstacles. It provided plenty of extra space to add green spaces or additional roads to parts of Berlin. Along the entire path are information stands with pictures of the wall and different historical perspectives about the divide. It was a nice leisurely stroll. I ran into many tour groups following the same path. There was even one group that stopped in front of my friend’s apartment. Apparently there was a tunnel somewhere in his complex that went under the wall before it was discovered and destroyed.
After some time I lopped back around towards my friend’s apartment. There was a decent looking pizza shop open and I bought a small pizza to bring back for a late lunch. I ate it while doing some research for my job offer. There was a phone call scheduled with the hiring coordinator later in the day, and I wanted to be prepared. Research was a little tiring though, so I took a short nap. It was about this time when Matt returned from his classes. After catching up it was time for my phone call back to the USA. It went well and consisted of more questions about my travels than the job offer to which I had been extended. The written offer should arrive in a day or so. I will make my decision after I have reviewed it.
After my call Matt and I went down to the grocery store to buy supplies for dinner. We hauled it all back and had a beer while making some nacho casserole. Also, I introduced him to the HBO series Entourage, and we watched the first few episodes before calling it a night.
