If you follow the blog you can imagine that last week was emotionally draining and rather difficult. After returning from Bärenstein on Sunday we were looking forward to getting back into a routine and moving forward. Not having Georgia around is taking some getting use to but in her absence we started a new adventure.

On Thursday Logan started Kindergarten [considered Pre-School in the States]. Logan attends an international school with about 350 other students of various ages and ethnicities (something that is rather rare in the Berlin area). This is a preparatory academy for secondary school that would begin in 3 years. The focus is on play and experiencing new things. They have a lot of fun initiatives including clubs, field trips, science experiments, dance class, and more. We knew this would be the place for him when we toured the campus and were very lucky that he got in considering there were only 4 spots open this year. Logan’s class are called the Tigers and he will be with these kids all the way through 13th grade (Germany does an additional year of school) if we continue to live in the same place. We were impressed with the level of planning and psychology that goes into their program. Each class has a dedicated curriculum creator who focuses on each individual student and their needs as they develop. If a student is struggling to learn a language for example they immediately focus on pairing the child with another who is strong in both English and German so the child can get caught up. Logan immediately took to the class and the kids on day one. He is in the on-boarding stage right now with half days and will go full time starting early next week.

On Saturday we were visited by Erica and her 10 year old son Ian. Erica is a long time friend of Doreen’s and have stayed in touch over the years. Erica, who enjoys both German and US citizenship, lived in Germany and moved back to the states 5 years ago to be closer to family. The two of them have been on a wonderful summer vacation visiting Germany, the Netherlands and Italy for the past weeks and made time to come to Berlin before they head back. Erica hadn’t been to Berlin since she was in her early 20s and was curious to see how it has changed so on Sunday we took her and Ian on a bit of a walking tour around the city. The weather was beautiful so we spent most of the day just wondering around taking in the sights and delicious food. We look forward to spending time with them this week.

Toward the end of our walk we stopped by The Palace of Tears. Today it’s a museum but from 1963-1989 it was the final stop on the train before heading to West Germany. Because the wall was put up in such a hasty fashion, there wasn’t a plan for separated families to see each other. It was 2 years after the wall was up until East and West Germany could agree on travel across the border. Very few permits were issued from the East but on day 1 of the plan over 1.2 million were issued from the West. The Palace of Tears, named for the extreme amount of sadness that took place here, is the last point where families could say goodbye to loved ones before crossing the border and getting on the train back to the West. Most of the people traveling through here were citizens of the West since the East granted very few passes. Today the museum is full of memorabilia and stories of everyday people that frequently experienced traveling across the border between ’63-’89.

Until Next Time,

The McNeills