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Immigration is a controversial topic all around the world. This has been especially reflected in Columbus and Berlin as of recent. Since both cities have large immigration populations, there is an increased concern about possible terrorism and safety within these countries. Berlin, as well as the rest of Germany suffered from a particularly bloody summer. On September 18 of this year, a police woman was stabbed in the neck by a radical Islamic terrorist (Sunday Express). In addition to this attack, there have been numerous other attacks around the rest of Germany. In a single week (July 18-July 24) there were 4 attacks in various cities. These attacks include two knife attacks, a shooting, and a bombing. This is mirrored in Columbus, on a much smaller scale, because there have been 2 attacks in the past year. In February of this year, a man entered a restaurant with a machete and began attacking customers. He injured 4 people before he was killed when he tried to attack police. The much more recent, and much more traumatizing, attack was the attack outside of Watts Hall this past week. An OSU student drove his car into a crowd of people, and then got out of his car and slashed at people with a butcher knife. All of these attacks, both in Columbus and Germany all share similar traits. Many people are concerned that the increase in terrorism is due to the increase in immigrant population in both cities. In Berlin, nearly 50% of children living there have some sort of an immigrant background (berlin.de). Many refugees come to Berlin as well. There are over 2,000 refugees living in Berlin’s Tempelhof airport (Independent).

While I was not able to find any exact values on the number of refugees staying in Columbus, I found numerous organizations that provide housing for refugees in the Columbus area. In addition to refugees, Columbus has been experiencing a rise in immigration from places such as Mexico, India, China, and Somalia (Columbus Council on World Affairs). The immigrant population in both Columbus and Berlin is something to be celebrated. America is considered a “melting pot” and we should be proud about the diversity that is spreading throughout Columbus. It shows that Columbus is a welcoming town that accepts people of all different backgrounds. The diverse immigrant population also allows immigrants to hold onto a small part of home while assimilating. As someone who lived outside of the United States for a while, the culture shock can be terrifying. Having people, restaurants, and other places that remind you of home can make the transition much easier. In addition to immigration being socially beneficial, it also benefits the economy in Berlin.

As the population of Germany ages and shrinks, the large increase in immigrants helps balance it out. Immigrant families tend to have more children than German families (Stratfor). Since this will greatly benefit Germany as a whole, it is likely that it will be made easier for high and semi skilled immigrants to find a place to work in Germany.

In my hometown of Lake Zurich, Illinois, the main borders are due to streets dividing parts of the city. There are a couple of gated communities in Lake Zurich, but the largest one is called Wynstone. Wynstone is located on 750 acres with 437 homesites (Wynstone Property Owner’s Association). Surrounding the entirety of the community is a large stone fence. While this is very much so a physical boundary, it also creates a social boundary. There are surveillance cameras set up all around the Wynstone Wall and anyone caught trying to climb over the fence will be picked up by Wynstone Security and possibly arrested. They are really trying to keep people who aren’t from Wynstone out- to get through the gates, the person you are visiting must call ahead and give them your name, description, and license plate number. The houses in Wynstone are grandiose and elaborate; they are priced anywhere between $700,000 and several million dollars (Realtor.com).

Obviously, the people living in these houses tend to be more well off than the rest of the community.  The economic difference creates a lifestyle difference, which, in turn, creates a social gap. While children raised in Wynstone spend their time taking golf lessons and joining the swim team, most children in the rest of Lake Zurich spend their time in the forest or at the parks. A lot of the members of Wynstone have a very elitist attitude.  Since a lot of the Wynstone kids grew up within the gates of Wynstone, they tend to stay friends throughout K-12, and are usually the kids that are considered the most “popular”. A physical border has created a social border. Another physical border that created a social border as well was the Berlin Wall. While the Wynstone gate is a much less extreme example, they have a lot of similarities. Both barriers created an “us versus them” attitude. For borders such as rivers, the difference in people can often be blurred. However, with the gated community and the Berlin Wall, it was one or another. The Berlin Wall split up many families who were left unable to visit each other after it’s construction. Built for the opposite reason that the Wynstone Wall was built, the Berlin Wall was built in order to keep East Germans in. This fence, however, was topped with barbed while and had more than 300 guard towers (Independent). If you were caught trying to escape from the East to the West over the wall, you would be shot on sight. Due to the shoot-to-kill order, at least 128 people were killed trying to escape the East (History). Thousands were imprisoned saying the wrong name at the border or mentioning to the incorrect person that they were thinking about fleeing.

Beyond being a physical border, the Berlin Wall also created a lifestyle border, although this wasn’t a choice for many of the residents living in East Berlin. In the East, people had no freedoms. If they wrote something critical of the GDR, they could be banished from the East. If they demonstrated against the government, they would be arrested. They lived under complete and utter repression and the only thing separating them from normal life in the West was concrete.

 

It’s hard for me to define a “hometown”, since I’ve lived so many places. I was born in Columbus, but raised in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. I even lived overseas for a short while. However, I’ve lived in Illinois the longest, so I’m going to chose Lake Zurich as my hometown. I’m going to compare the difference between entertainment in Berlin and the entertainment in Lake Zurich, because they are drastically different. In Lake Zurich, finding something to do can be a challenging task. Within the village limits, we have a movie theater, a couple parks, and a McDonald’s that is a lot more popular than it should be. Lake Zurich was founded around a lake, and there are several parks around the lake that people go to.

The biggest one, Paulus Park, is home to a beach, a small spray ground, a large playground, and several walking/biking paths. Several events are held here every year, most notably the Fourth of July celebration. Fireworks that can be see all across the village are set off lakeside at the park. There is also live music, games, and plenty of food vendors. Another event held in Lake Zurich that draws a lot of attention is Alpine Fest.

Main street is closed off and a carnival is set up in the middle of the town. This happens mid- to late-July every year. There’s fair food, carnival games, and rides. It draws a lot of attention due to the fact that there is not a lot to do in the village, and it is set up on one of the most traveled roads. It’s location is actually incredibly inconvenient, so we may as well get some enjoyment out of the inconvenience. In the fall, football is a pretty big deal in Lake Zurich. So many people go to the high school football games that they had to make the bleachers bigger–and they still don’t have enough room for everybody. One of the main reasons that entertainment in Lake Zurich is different than Berlin is that Lake Zurich is a small village, while Berlin is a big city. Therefore, there are a lot more “big city things” to do in Berlin. Something that draws a lot of tourists to Berlin is the nightlife. Clubbing is popular, at places like Week-End. Week-End is a unique, modern dance club in a building that used to be an office building. There is also a dance hall called Clärchens Ballhaus, for those who enjoy a throwback. This is “authentic Berlin dance hall from 1913” (www.travel.nationalgeographic.com). In comparison to our Alpine Fest, a lot of much bigger festivals are held in Berlin. This month alone, there are 17 festivals in Berlin alone. Of these festivals, the one that caught my attention was Pyronale–an international fireworks competition. Teams have to create different routines in order to impress the judges and the public. The judges ultimately decide the winner, but the public gets to vote for their favorite as well. As well as nightlife and festivals, Berlin also hosts a lot of sporting events. According to Visit Berlin, “Berlin is and remains an attractive location for top-class sporting events” (www.visitberlin.de). Since Berlin is a large city, it has a lot of wonderful stadiums and arenas to hold sporting events at. The main difference between Lake Zurich and Berlin is not because they are in different countries, but because they are much different sized cities. The entertainment in Berlin is very similar to what you would see in other large cities, such as Chicago or New York. Other aspects of the cities may very, but the entertainment aspects remain similar.

 

Sources:

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/city-guides/berlin-entertainment/

https://www.berlin.de/en/events/

http://www.visitberlin.de/en/experience/sport-metropolis?tid=844

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