The Young Women's activity that we did this week was the Journal Jars. If you haven't heard of them, they are pretty cool. It's a bunch of topic printed on paper and then cut into strips and put into a jar. Each day you are supposed to draw a strip of paper out of the jar and write in your journal on that topic. The idea behind it is that it is supposed to give you something meaningful to write about, and hopefully keep your interest in journal writing.
So... since my Young Women are doing it for their Personal Progress goal, I decided to do it as well. I don't know if I will do it daily, but I will shoot for at least weekly. So here is my first one!
Topic: Where were you and what were you doing the day the wall came down in Germany and when the coup occurred in the USSR?
Wow! I'll start with the wall in Germany. My details on this are really fuzzy. It happened on November 9, 1989, so I was 11 years old. I clearly remember watching this happen on T.V. I remember that my Dad said this was a historical moment and that I had no idea what it meant to those people to finally be free. I don't remember where I was or what I was doing, but I do remember seeing it on the news. I guess it was in my own home? There were several Germans, both from the East and West, who were taking hammers to the wall and smashing it into pieces. I remember one specific shot on the news of a man holding up his big piece of the wall and kissing it. My dad told me that piece of the wall was priceless.
I don't really remember much about that particular day and event other than that, but I do remember that I knew what the wall was, what East Germany was, and that the wall coming down was a big deal. I also remember watching a movie as a child, I think it might have been called "The Great Escape." It was a true story about a family who crossed over the wall in a hot air balloon to escape East Germany. I just Googled it, the movie was actually called "Night Crossing."
I wish I could remember more about this day, but I was still pretty young. So there you have it, there's my memory of the day the wall came down.
The coup in USSR. Well......... I don't remember a thing about it. I know I should, I was old enough to know what was going on and to remember, but I just don't. It happened in August 1991, I was in the 8th grade. Since I don't remember much about the coup, I will just talk about my memories of the USSR. I was a definite child of the 80's along with everything that encompasses, including the Cold War. That's all I remember of Russia, was that there was a Cold War. I figured it must be really cold in Russia. Especially when I watched movies like Dr. Zhivago. I guess I thought that was why this war was so "cold." But we all knew that Ronald Reagan was going to fix it all, and he did.
I grew up
with Russia being the USSR. The flag was a hammer and sickle, which I thought looked pretty scary, especially when Ivan Drago wore that emblem on his shorts when he stepped into the ring to fight/kill Apollo and subsequently fight Rocky!.... It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight.....
I remember my Fifth Grade teacher, Mrs. Harper, scaring the heck out of us regarding the Cold War. She asked us how far away the USSR was and if we should really be afraid. We all said that the USSR was very far away and their bombs couldn't reach us...... Risin' up to the challenge of our rival ....... She then pulled down a large map and pointed to how close Russia was to Alaska. She said that we each had Atom bombs pointed at each other and that if one of us shot off one of the bombs, the other country would see it coming and shoot off their Atom bomb. Both countries would be obliterated in an instant. That's what the cold war was. I was still convinced it was really cold, especially when she brought Alaska into it...... And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night .....
All I knew is that Russia was scary, Russians were scary, and we were all going to be dead and really cold. We would use the term Russian like people use the term terrorist today. It's probably the same way that people of my parents generation used the name the Japanese, or the Nazi's. Thank goodness Rocky took out Drago!...And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger .....
After the coup, which I don't remember, things between the USSR, us and many other countries started to become peaceful. I guess that was a good thing, but it wreaked havoc on the World Geography that I had just learned. There were suddenly like 1o more countries, and we were no loner allowed to call it the USSR, it was Russia and 10 other countries like Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, etc., etc. But if that wasn't enough, as soon as we would get them memorized, then even more would break independent and we would have more countries to learn. No wonder the kids my age all failed Geography! Just kidding, I actually am proud to say that I got an A!
So... since my Young Women are doing it for their Personal Progress goal, I decided to do it as well. I don't know if I will do it daily, but I will shoot for at least weekly. So here is my first one!
Topic: Where were you and what were you doing the day the wall came down in Germany and when the coup occurred in the USSR?
Wow! I'll start with the wall in Germany. My details on this are really fuzzy. It happened on November 9, 1989, so I was 11 years old. I clearly remember watching this happen on T.V. I remember that my Dad said this was a historical moment and that I had no idea what it meant to those people to finally be free. I don't remember where I was or what I was doing, but I do remember seeing it on the news. I guess it was in my own home? There were several Germans, both from the East and West, who were taking hammers to the wall and smashing it into pieces. I remember one specific shot on the news of a man holding up his big piece of the wall and kissing it. My dad told me that piece of the wall was priceless.
I don't really remember much about that particular day and event other than that, but I do remember that I knew what the wall was, what East Germany was, and that the wall coming down was a big deal. I also remember watching a movie as a child, I think it might have been called "The Great Escape." It was a true story about a family who crossed over the wall in a hot air balloon to escape East Germany. I just Googled it, the movie was actually called "Night Crossing."
I wish I could remember more about this day, but I was still pretty young. So there you have it, there's my memory of the day the wall came down.
The coup in USSR. Well......... I don't remember a thing about it. I know I should, I was old enough to know what was going on and to remember, but I just don't. It happened in August 1991, I was in the 8th grade. Since I don't remember much about the coup, I will just talk about my memories of the USSR. I was a definite child of the 80's along with everything that encompasses, including the Cold War. That's all I remember of Russia, was that there was a Cold War. I figured it must be really cold in Russia. Especially when I watched movies like Dr. Zhivago. I guess I thought that was why this war was so "cold." But we all knew that Ronald Reagan was going to fix it all, and he did.
I grew up
with Russia being the USSR. The flag was a hammer and sickle, which I thought looked pretty scary, especially when Ivan Drago wore that emblem on his shorts when he stepped into the ring to fight/kill Apollo and subsequently fight Rocky!.... It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight.....I remember my Fifth Grade teacher, Mrs. Harper, scaring the heck out of us regarding the Cold War. She asked us how far away the USSR was and if we should really be afraid. We all said that the USSR was very far away and their bombs couldn't reach us...... Risin' up to the challenge of our rival ....... She then pulled down a large map and pointed to how close Russia was to Alaska. She said that we each had Atom bombs pointed at each other and that if one of us shot off one of the bombs, the other country would see it coming and shoot off their Atom bomb. Both countries would be obliterated in an instant. That's what the cold war was. I was still convinced it was really cold, especially when she brought Alaska into it...... And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night .....
All I knew is that Russia was scary, Russians were scary, and we were all going to be dead and really cold. We would use the term Russian like people use the term terrorist today. It's probably the same way that people of my parents generation used the name the Japanese, or the Nazi's. Thank goodness Rocky took out Drago!...And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger .....
After the coup, which I don't remember, things between the USSR, us and many other countries started to become peaceful. I guess that was a good thing, but it wreaked havoc on the World Geography that I had just learned. There were suddenly like 1o more countries, and we were no loner allowed to call it the USSR, it was Russia and 10 other countries like Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, etc., etc. But if that wasn't enough, as soon as we would get them memorized, then even more would break independent and we would have more countries to learn. No wonder the kids my age all failed Geography! Just kidding, I actually am proud to say that I got an A!
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