Johannes’ Blog

Today we watched a video about the Berlin wall and how it fell. It was actually very amazing how virtually millions of people just gathered in front of the Brandenburg gate on the road ‘unter den linden’. On the day they opened the gates the German railway put old diesel locomotives that hadn’t been used for at least ten years back on the old non electrified rails that had been out of use for years because the rails had been cut to make way for the wall. They put the locomotive on the rails again to carry people to the wall as it came down. I saw a lady asking a police official wether she was now allowed to visit her mother on the western side. The official replied in beurocrat language and the lady didn’t really understand that so she asked “can I go over now?”and when the answer ‘yes’ came she kissed the official and ran over the border.

In fourteen hours the Olympics start in Beijing. china has been doing an awful lot to try and show the world what it can do and has been closing down factories, taking millions of cars off the roads on certain days and even banishing thousands of cars that are too polluting from the roads altogether. If you are seen driving on a day you are not allowed too and get caught you are required to pay a 100 yuan fine($15). In Beijing china is also exterminating cats to get them out of the way. China has also built the quite amazing Water cube and the Birds nest as the aquatic center and stadium respectively. China has also upgraded Beijing’s subway system to improve transport to and from the Olympic venue. But because of fears that not many people will come to the Olympics most hotel owners have cut their prices by up to 50%!