The Atlantic World and Pond Jumping

Boarding a plane and leaving the United States gives me the feeling of being on the move. It is a very forward looking sensation, but at 35,000 feet above the sea and clouds traveling opens up my perspective even more. I spent much of my five-hour layover in Frankfurt International Airport watching people from all over the world cross paths and move on toward their destinations in a cacophony of different languages. When I finally reached Berlin, I knew that I had to deal with jet lag and stay awake as long as possible. Berlin is very familiar to me and it felt good to be back and look for the little changes. Yet I also had that intense feeling that I had crossed into another place in our world and that reminds me to be very aware of my project as a historian and a writer who is looking for materials that provide access to the past. I am from a different world and time and entering another space and place looking for part of the German world (and our own) that is no more.