Home » Seminars and Projects » Academy report » The Eustory experience continues: Day 2 in Berlin

The Eustory experience continues: Day 2 in Berlin


The amazing David Hasselhoff couldn’t have been more proud today to hear he’s still so popular in the streets of Berlin. What started off as a regular day in the German capital for its four million inhabitants, turned out be one hell of an experience for basically every of the twenty-five Eustorians, one by one the best in what they do in their own country.
After an early-morning run for myself and a German-style breakfast, the Academy officially resumed, starting the day with several 30-minute lectures. The lecture that made the biggest impression on myself was the one by Luís de Almeida Sampaio, the Portuguese Ambassador in Berlin, about “Power Structures”. It’s truly remarkable that most of us didn’t know how big of a deal the legitimization of power in the world is and how much power, as well political as economic and social, is located by non-state institutions and organizations, like social media, rating agencies or multinational companies.
Anyhow, the day moved on quickly and so did we, literally spoken! Our afternoon activity, a guided tour in downtown Berlin by bike, was ideal to do in the bike-friendly city that Berlin really is. While biking next to a line of cobble stones where once stood probably the most famous wall of all time, our guide Tom, his accent

Tom, explaning 60 years of German history on the pavement

and humor as British as possible, told stories about the German Democratic Republic, life in Berlin during the Cold War, heroic escape attempts to former West-Germany  and, whether you’d like it or not, told silly jokes and laughed at Tina’s strange admiration for David Hasselhoff.
It was a day to remember, a perfect combination of serious matter and recreation activities in an amazing historical scene that illustrates what this Academy is about! I hope the coming days are as exciting as the last two have been, but first I’ll catch some sleep before the German bedbugs start biting me.

Cheerio Andreas