Well, it appears I have succeeded in packing what I need for a two-week business trip into a carry-on bag. Not just any suitcase. I got it into my mind that I would go with an international-size bag. Which, in case you don’t know (like I didn’t until 3 weeks ago) means it measures 19″ x 14″ x 9″
I am heading to Berlin, Dresden, Prague & Brussels – with 12 other journalists from the U.S.: writers, producers, television & radio broadcasters, NPR, Radio Free Europe, Seattle, Bend Oregon, DC – just some in our group. We are guests of the RIAS Berlin Commission. Which describes itself thusly:
RIAS BERLIN COMMISSION — founded 1992 in recognition of the merits of RIAS Berlin (Radio in the American Sector) as a “free voice of the free world” from 1946 to 1993 — is a binational organization for the promotion of German-American understanding in the field of broadcasting.
One of our anchors at WNBC 4NY did this trip in 2002 — and suggested to me that I apply. Amazingly — I was accepted. So, here I am heading to Berlin for a grand adventure. Here is just some of what is planned for us:
- Touring the parliament building: Reichstag
- Visiting a former Stasi prison
- Listening to experts on security, counter-terrorism, the future of Berlin after the fall of the wall, organizer of protests against the gentrification of East Berlin, problems between East & West, immigration, the Ukraine, and, of course NSA spying.
And, THAT’s just some of what we will do in our first full week — in Berlin.
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