[Astra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ludovicotek

This is so utterly charming. You put some serious work into this thing. Your ingenuity is impressive. Great job!!

Aw, thank you so much! It certainly was a labour of love. I have done a lot of things like this, it's amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it. I may be hung up on details a bit too much but that's who I am!

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBlueMarvel

Being around the same age as you, I remember the collapse of the Berlin Wall and you sharing your experience (thank you) really drove home what it meant for you and, potentially, so many others.

Back then, I didn't appreciate the significance of the event. Perspective would come later in college after choosing poli-sci as a major. Your story made me smile as a direct example of what happens when we dismantle both the figurative and literal barriers between cultures. This is a concept that is currently under assault by people determined to turn the clock backward in my country (and abroad) serving as a source of frustration for many...but I digress.

Nice job, I'm glad you kept your handmade memento of history....and, yes, I'm quite familiar with Hasselhof's (The Hof!) singing career and popularity in Germany!

I have become a bit desillusionated now. Back then there was so much hope that the world would come together. Now suddenly the Russians are the bad guys again, how did that happen?

Honestly, at the time I was still young and innocent and not really interested in politics. A lot of people felt fenced in and unfree, I never questioned the way of life. It's all I knew all my life. It was just what it was. A lot of people also yearned for stuff they couldn't have but saw in Western TV all the time. Well, since we didn't have that comparison... we were happy with what we had?

Here's a story for you: I was a fan of Sherlock Holmes stories. I once read that you get a reply from "Sherlock Holmes" if you write a letter. I took all my school English (which wasn't much at the time) and sent a letter. Never got a reply. I wonder if the letter even made it out. That's all I wanted, a simple letter with a real British stamp. Years later I was able to travel to London and go to the Sherlock Holmes museum in Baker Street. Back then I had never imagined this ever being possible. I knew it was out of reach so I didn't even think about it.

We have the 30th anniversary coming up which is crazy. Where has the time gone? Children now learn about it in history class. Even my little brother does not remember much of the time. The older I get the more I see the differences and I start to question some things in Capitalism. Having lived in both systems, you get a different look on things. Plastic bags is just one of them. We didn't have those and we still survived. One thing is for sure, we can't go on like this forever.

If you are interested, I have written up a bit about how much life has changed literally overnight. How many things we lost - food of my childhood, TV shows, all gone. Felt like moving to another country. Just send me your e-mail and I'll send it to you.

Thank you! I could never throw something like that away even though I have long moved on to other things.