berlin: first impressions

Despite arriving by train after a missed flight and prolonged stay at an unfamiliar airport, arriving in Berlin was just as exciting and invigorating as I expected it to be if we had arrived as expected. The drive home (by car -- the only time I've ridden in one during my stay thus far, and I suspect the whole trip) was punctuated by some of the most famous Berlin landmarks, noteably the victory column. The change in atmosphere from the stuffy apathy of a long travel to the cool livliness a bustling city was much appreciated. Already I witnessed a diversity in Berlin that destinctly separated the German city from anything I would ever experience in Arkansas. Many women walk down the street in hijab, indicating a higher Muslim population than the nearly non-existent one in Springdale as well as a level of religious tolerance you would never find in the bible belt. Often in America, Muslim women fear for their safety when wearing religious garb in public as they are often met by disgusting stereotyping, verbal harassment, and even physical violence. This does not seem to be the case in Berlin. Berlin also has a large population of Turkish people, a nationality I had never personally encountered. On the streets, you hear a myriad of languages spoken by both tourists and Berliners -- German, English, Russian, Spanish, French, Turkish, Arabic, and perhaps even the occasional African tongue. People of all races and relgions blend together in perfect harmony with the simultaneous antiquity and modernity of the city's architecture to create my first impression of Berlin: a beautiful city filled with history and set apart by its diversity.