I Stood On Both Sides Of The Wall Today

Right here, right now

Published on May 17, 2005 By chiprj In Current Events

I found out earlier this year that someone was trying to donate sections of the Berlin Wall to our post. Apparently, legal wranglings have kept it from happening for a while (years), but those were finally resolved. And today, I got the chance to stand on both side of the Berlin Wall. It's still hard to believe how something as simple as standing in two spaces, just meters apart, can be so significant.

We have three sections. They are not chunks. They are not bricks. These are full sections of concrete wall with the steel reinforcing bars sticking out of the sides at places. They are from separate sections of the wall, although you can only tell that from the west side. It's easy to tell which side is which. The graffiti is still there on the west side. The east side is plain and at the base is the support that kept it standing.

I wanted to touch them. Just lay a hand onto something that has such a significant era of history centered around it. But there was yellow tape around it and today at lunch a construction crew was putting up posts with a chain barrier. It's probably better that way to keep it preserved, but I will cross that line and touch it. Soon.

I vaguely remember the wall coming down. The images of people atop the wall. Whole sections being tumbled. The true significance was lost on me in my youth. I was only recently out of high school and too worried about my future to care about the past. But today, this wall means much more to me.

You see, at the end of World War II, the Allies split more than just one country in half. And for the past 13 years of my life, Korea has been my focal point. They are still separated and my interest has only grown since 1992, when I first came to DLI to learn Korean. I've since been to South Korea. I've lived there for nearly four years of my life on four separate occasions. I have friends there. I have family there. What happens to Korea is important to me.

To many, the Berlin Wall is a symbol of what can go wrong between nations. What can go wrong between people. It separated a country. It separated families. People died trying to cross over that wall.

To me, the Berlin Wall is a symbol of hope. Or maybe, I should say that the fall of the Berlin Wall is a symbol of hope. A hope that one day, North and South Korea will be one country. Or at least not two countries at odds with each other and the world. And a hope that it will occur peacefully.

Yeah, peaceful reunification seems like a long shot.

But, so did Germany.

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Comments

Angloesque

on May 17, 2005

I remember when it came down, too. My uncle is an opera singer and he had been performing there, and the next day he went and got some pieces. My parents still have one.

I admire that it means so much to you. Maybe if I think hard enough, I can find what my Berlin wall is. But I feel as though I haven't found it yet.

-A.

Dr Guy

on May 18, 2005

I have part of the wall as well. But I took it back in 74 before it came down (so it is just pieces, not whole sections). I too stood on both sides of the wall - before it came down.

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