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Immigration

The definition of “immigration” is: the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country (1).  Immigration is a vital component to the culture and society of many countries.  With immigration comes new ideas and perspectives.  Countries like the United States are primarily composed of many different types of races, religions, and culture.  America would not be what it is today if it was not for all the different types of groups that immigrated here.  Just like the United States, major cities around the world such as Berlin, are home to a vast variety of immigrants.  The immigration in Cleveland Ohio is similar in some ways to the immigration in Berlin Germany.

Various groups were starting to immigrate to Cleveland in the nineteenth century, but the most prevalent group was the Germans.  Many Germans were trying to escape economic failure and oppression of religion and politics (2).  The influx of German immigrants continued throughout the nineteenth century and then it slowed down at the start of the twentieth century.  The immigrants brought with them their skills in craftsmenship and agriculture.  Skilled craftsmen were primarily Germans who worked as tailors, jewelers, cabinetmakers, and other professions (2).  They also introduced soil conservation methods that could rejuvenate lands that were depleted of soil.  The Germans would continue to contribute in other fields such as science and music.download-2

Berlin has a wide variety of different cultures that compose their civilian population.  One group that dates back to the sixteenth century is the Turks.  The Turkish people started to come in contact with Germany when they were attempting to expand the Ottoman Empire.  They would continue to enter Germany later on as soldiers for the new Prussian army (3).  After the Berlin Wall was erected, many Turks were in West Germany because of the Gastarbeiter (guest worker) agreement that allowed migrants entrance into the country for labor.  Many Turks just planned to make enough money in order to return back home and start a better life but, this changed when Turks were allowed to start bringing their families into Germany (3).  When the Berlin Wall finally came down in 1989 and the reunification process began, discrimination against the Turkish population began to increase.  Germany still has many citizens that are Turkish because many second-generation Turks have chosen to becom German citizens (3). download-1

Despite geographical distance between Cleveland and Berlin, there are similarities and differences between immigration.  The Germans in Cleveland fled their country becasue of certain social and political problems while the Turks in Berlin came into Germany in order to find work.  Another difference is that the Germans were not prersecuted later on like the Turks were after the fall of the Berlin Wall.  A major similarity between the two groups is that they both were hardworkers and help contributed to a diverse community.  Another similarity is that both groups immigrated to different countries with the hopes of starting a new and better life.

No matter what country we are from or where we reside in,  we should be understanding of different culturals, religions, and races that we may encounter.  Immigration has impated the whole world because different groups of people contribute their own perspectives to things we encounter in every day life.

1.) dictionary.com

2.) ech.case.edu

3) wikipedia.org

Borders

Borders can be found throughout different parts of the world.  They can be social, geographical, or actual physical borders.  No matter what type they are, they create a divison between groups of people or different regions.

Willoughby Ohio does not have any tangible border that divide two areas.  However, there is a major social border between Willoughby South High School and Eastlake North High School.  This social border differs with Berlin’s historical wall that was erected in 1961 in order to divide East and West Germany (1).  The two borders both divide two regions because of separate groups of people, but they have different degrees of severeness.berlinermauer

South High School and North High school have had a sports rivalry for many years.  South was opened in 1959 and North was opened in 1957 (2).  These two high schools are symbolic of the Confederation and the Union in the Civil War.  South High School is similar to the Confederation while North High School is similar to the Union.  The school mascots are even symbolic of the Civil War.  South has a Rebel as a mascot while North has a Ranger Star.  This symoblism strengthens the present social border between the two schools.  The students that go to each high school are similar, the only difference is where each student lives.  A sports rivalry is very trivial when compared to the division that the Berlin Wall created.  The wall was created by German Democratic Republic in order to prevent fascism from spreading from West Germany into East Germany.  Another reason was to stop Eastern Berliners from moving over to the west because they wanted better opportunities for themselves and their families (3).  The wall eventually created a more distinct difference between the two regions.  When the wall did finally come down in 1989, there were two notcibly different groups (1).  Another difference between the social wall in Willoughby and the physical wall in Berlin is that once the Berlin Wall came down, reunification could begin, but a social wall cannot simply dissolve.  Social barriers either go away slowly as time goes on or they continue until a change is made.  The social border in Willoughby is not deleterious since it is a friendly rivalry so it is not likely it will go away any time soon.  download

Regardless of the different borders found in Willoughby, Berlin, or anywhere else in the world, they are similar in the fact that they divide groups of people and regions.  There is a spectrum of how severe of a problem a border creates.  In the case of Willoughby’s social border, it is not a serious problem since sports rivarlies are usually enjoyed by people.  But then there are instances such as the Berlin Wall where borders are a very serious problem.  People’s perspectives also affect the severeness of borders.  If someone in America was hearing about the Berlin Wall on the news, they might not think that there is a serious problem since they cannot observe the wall’s effects in person.  While a person living in Germany would personally experience the effects of the border and the problems it creates in their community.  Whenever we hear about different borders or problems around the world, we should keep an open mind to the problems that could be present.

 

 

1.) http://www.bbc.co.uk

2.) https://en.wikipedia.org

3.) http://www.placetobe.info

Berlin, Germany v. Willoughby, Ohio – Education

According to Pearson, the United States is ranked 14th for education while Germany is ranked 12th.  Why is there a difference?  It may be because there are different types of education offered or the length of the school day and year.
The school system for my hometown, Willoughb280px-willoughby_south_high_school_willoughby_ohiohy Ohio, is not that complicated to follow.  Everyone has to go through the K-12 system.  Berlin Germany is similar in this aspect because they too have a mandatory education law along with the K-12 system (1).  When I went to grade school, I was only there for kindergarten-5th grade.  Then I transitioned into middle school which is 6th-8th grade.  Finally, I went to high school for 9th-12th grade.  During high school, I had the options of doing college classes at my school or at a community college.  Students who know what profession they already want to do also had the option of technical school for jobs such as nurses, mechanics, and more.  After 12th grade, students have the option to go to college or get a job and start working.  Berlin is a little bit different because children still attend kindergarten but then move on to elementary school for grades 1st-4th.  After the 4th grade, the students are separated into three schools based on their academic ability and how they are as an individual (2). The three choices for secondary school are: Gymnasium, Realshule, and Hauptshule (3). Gymnasium is for students who are more academically inclined and plan on attending a university in the future.  Realshule combines academics and vocational training.  The students in this type of school also have the option to switch to a Gymnasium  if they also decide to attend a university.  Finally, Hauptshule has the same academics as the other two types of school, but the curriculum just moves at a slower pace. This type of school also offers vocational training and apprenticeships (2)(3).  There are obvious difference between the type of education that is offered in Berlin and in Willoughby, but they have the same outcome oberlinf students either attending a university or entering the work force right after they graduate.
In America, the school day length usually varies based on what grade you are in.  When I was in grade school I would usually start my day later in the morning at about 9:00 am and it would end around 2:30 pm.  As I moved into middle school and high school, my mornings started earlier (7:45 am) and would end later (2:20 pm).  For Berlin and all of Germany, the school days usually start at around 8:00 am and end around 2:00 pm (1)(2)(3).  Willoughby and Berlin have about the same school day lengths.  The only minor difference is that for the United States, the days get progressively longer as you become older, while Germany has about the same time every day no matter what academic level you are at.  My school year is usually about 180 days out of the year.  We start about mid August and end beginning or the middle of June.  The whole academic year is broken up into four quarters. We also have breaks for summer, winter, and holidays throughout the whole year.  The academic year for Berlin is split into two semesters rather than four quarters(2).  Berlin also has breaks for holidays and summer like Willoughby (2). The school year in Germany starts around mid August or September and ends around the end of July (3).  The two school years are very similar with subtle difference such as how the holidays and the academic year are split up.
Even though Willoughby and Berlin are thousands of miles apart, we are not that different from each other.  If students from both cities were to meet, they would probably have a lot more in common than they would think

1.) http://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/education/the-german-school-system/
2.) http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/germanschools.html
3.) http://www.expatica.com/de/education/Education-in-Germany-German-school-system_101611.html