Thursday March 19

First of all... today was the first day after the CAHSEE. I hope you all did really well and I thought of you while you were taking the exam on both Tuesday and Wed. I can't wait to see your results and hope you are proud of all your effort! Great job!

Today was a busy day of meetings from 9-7 p.m. with a lot of walking mixed in. We met very official people today and the information included so many topics that it would be hard to list them all. Most of the discussions revolved around foreign policy and German-American relations, etc. Our first speaker discussed migration and immigration mainly focusing on how after WWII since Germany was so devestated bv the war and needed workers, the allowed immigration for people to work. However, they found out that workers are staying and never left which creates different problems that the country will have to face. One result of this is health care. Germany is a welfare state which means it socializes healthcare all people are allowed to go to the doctor and the government pays for it-- regardless if you work or not which can be very expensive. The last topics included local and federal government, then we went to the government offices in downtown Berlin. We met the federal foreign Officer who explained to us about foreign relationships with America and other countries. Then we visited a vocational school. The culinary program made us a delicious lunch and we heard about the program and saw a variety of classes. The vocational training included florists, hairdressers, seamstresses, plumbers, electricians, and machinary. From there was the high light. We went to the Federal Chancellery which is the equivallent to the White House and spoke to the National Defense Secretary. He also shared about many topics regarding foreign relations. Then we met two other parliment members in a building that is similiar to the House of Reps. What a day of meeting very official people. On our way to the last meeting, we saw stopped to see one of the only remaining parts of the Berlin Wall that is still standing. Remember that the Berlin was was created to divide the captialists "west" and the socialists "east." The capitalist were free to travel anywhere they wanted, but East Germany was restricted and controlled by the German Democratic Party(GDP) who was the son of the Soviet Union. The GDP accepted money from the Warsaw Pact the communist economic stimulus plan when many people wanted to leave and go to the west, the party built the wall to keep them in. As we travelled closer to the government buildings, the wall is still seen, but only by a small row of cobble stones that are on the side walk to remind everyone that Germany is no longer divided but is united as one again. As we continued to walk more around the city, we saw the line of cobblestone all around. It was really moving to think that where we were walking was not safe for some people during the Cold War.