After finding my way to the flight transfer desk and getting myself rebooked on the next flight to Berlin, I sat in the picturesque Parisian airport trying not to break into tears. My eyes burned, "why does France care whether she flies to Germany or not?" I asked myself. Of course, I understood later that they would be liable for her if they let her go. I was angry for a little while, but once I made my flight to Berlin, I was able to calm down and relax.
I had no problems at the Berlin airport. Minor was at the gate waiting for me. After a warm welcome we caught the bus to Zoologische Garten, an area near where he lives. I changed money at the Deutsche Bank while Minor bought subway tickets for me.
Berlin was amazing!! The city has no tall buildings and lacks the eminence of New York, still it has 3.3 million people and it is very large. I think that the public transportation system in Berlin is a model for the world - it was simple enough for me to understand after a day and I don't speak German or know Berlin at all. They have four kinds of public transportation: U-Bahn (subway), S-Bahn (train), Buses and trollies. The S-Bahn is an above ground train like you might see in Boston or Chicago - except the stations for the S-Bahn are very near the U-Bahn stations and share station names. The U-Bahn is an underground subway and these go very fast. The trolly and buses cover everything that the trains don't. The trains come every seven minutes with German precision, the trollies and buses are less frequent but are always on time, very reliable and very well designed, as well as clean.
Minor gave me the kind of Berlin tour that you cannot buy - it takes knowing a local. We covered every square inch of the city from Alexander-Platz to Checkpoint Charlie to the new Sony Center. Berlin is vibrant and fast-paced with a pleasant atmosphere. I like it much better than any other city I have ever been to. It is clean (mostly), there are few bums, few addicts, and while the Germans will run you over to get in line - I don't find this odd for a city. In fact I noticed how in New York people will literally push you out of the way if need be.
In Berlin, Minor and I spent some time sightseeing after which we would visit the street side cafes or beer-gardens.
The cafes in Berlin are very common. There is no air conditioning, so in the summer nearly every restaurant seats their guest on the sidewalk. The prices at the cafes were somewhat higher, but they expect you to sit for long periods - which is nice because the waitresses and waiters leave you alone until you ask for the check.
Our discussions were wide, ranging from the semantic web, agent platform design, the meaning of knowledge (my definition is somewhat more strict than academia in general as it turns out), machine learning (as it is known in the field of CS) versus the theory of learning, Ontologies vs Taxonomies vs Object Oriented Design, the beauty of python as a programming language, why you should never sit down and write a major project in a new language - the need for insignificant tasks in the process of learning, the pain of learning, the burden of work, how to gain respect in the community, how to meet enlightened people and why they are so rare, finally love, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. "I am purged", I said.
In Tulsa, the only intellectual I really have to talk to is Maryna. It is wonderful that she is my girlfriend; my best friend (besides Minor). It felt really good to catch up with my only peer - i.e. an enlightened intellectual (more so than I) from a small town in the Mid-West of America who is very interested in Computer Science among other things.
