Aya's Archery News

Berlin has been buried under a winter snow this city has not seen since 1979! And what would this icy weather be like if I wasn't humping boxes through a blizzard to my new flat with a nasty flu to boot! Regardless, I managed to not break my neck, build all my IKEA furniture without missing a single screw, and get a fantastic leg workout moving to the fourth floor with no lift! And I suppose if one must get the winter crud, why not have it when your life is already miserable... two birds with one stone so to speak...

And once this all passed, I had but one week to prepare for the Berlin-Brandenburg (Landesmeisterschaft) Indoor Championships. I won the 3D last year and had my sights set on winning the indoor as well. Though the last events leading up to this were not good indicators of a grand outcome. But somehow, with the weight lifted off my shoulders after my move, both literally and figuratively, I was able to simply shoot and enjoy it too!

OK, enjoy was when I actually won the event but honestly, it was so freezing cold in the hall that we had to cancel the matches and I won based on the round scores. As a whole everyone's scores were down and that included me and my teammates. We won the championships but did not shoot enough points to qualify for the German Championships. Nor did I shoot an individual score high enough to earn a ticket. So indoor is for the most part finished yet it may be some time before we can dig out enough to start training for the outdoor season.

The 4th of November marked one year since my first opening at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in Berlin when I presented a permanent exhibition of varying generations of the Berlin Wall from 1961 until 1989. After 9 months laboring on my newest project, I finally gave "birth" to my second exhibition (2nd news feature) of Berlin Wall models including one piece with over 8000 bricks crafted with the help of Ken Fitchhorn and his laser cutter and another with over 3000 barbs of barbed wire hand-tied on my archery string jig! http://video.voila.fr/video/iLyROoafI4V5.html TV Berlin (2nd news feature)

Just 5 days later, I attended the historic 20 year anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall at Brandenburg Gate from 9 November, 1989. Arriving 7 hours early, me and two friends established a front row center position at the steel barricade. Three hours later we found ourselves holding ground against the German police who were trying to dislodge us from our primo location. With the help of several hundred others who also waited in the cold and rain for hours, we managed to cling to the barrier and maintain our awesome location!

When events finally kicked off, there was an energy in the air as the Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit opened the Fest der Freiheit (Festival of Freedom). His speech was followed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Also very powerful speeches by British PM Gordon Brown and Hillary Clinton and message via satellite from Barack Obama. The concluding speech from Chancellor Angela Merkel who originally came from Eastern Germany was followed with a roar of applause from the 100,000 people lucky enough to squeeze into the Festival venue.

The climatic event was the symbolic toppling by former Polish President Lec Valenzi of 1000 Berlin Wall sized dominoes. Painted by children, artists, and businesses worldwide and set along the former path of the Wall, the dominoes fell in three stages with special performances between. And just when sensory overload kicked in, fireworks burst from the Brandenburg Gate showering streams of brilliance which reflected off the glistening rain-soaked surroundings. It was over.

The city has been alight with many events leading up to this occasion. One of the best for me was the renovation of the East Side Gallery, a 1.3 km stretch of Berlin Wall, and the opportunity to photograph and assist Berlin Wall Artist Thierry Nior as he repainted his famous characterized heads. I also met Jim Clancy from CNN at the East Side Gallery and had a great discussion about his time in Berlin during the Fall of the Iron Curtain. Later I was interviewed by a CNN affiliate at Brandenburg Gate with my models of the Berlin Wall displayed on the original location. (haven't found a link)

Also leading up to this event was the annual Festival of Lights where Berlin city landmarks are lit up with lights and lasers for 10 nights. As part of the festivities I submitted a 3-part phrase to the "be Berlin" contest to win a chance to have my phrase and name lit up on Berlin's most famous landmark of all... the Brandenburg Gate. My phrase be reunited, be united, be Berlin and my name were not only chosen but featured on the RBB nightly news. I also received a hand signed foldout with a photo of my phrase on Brandenburg Gate from Klaus Wowereit, the Mayor of Berlin!

Also included in this amazing run of events... One of my models and a large photo of me with the Berlin Wall and model thereof were displayed at the Martinski Fine Arts Gallery in Kruezberg for the 20th Jahre Mauerfall.

So needless to say, the past month has been ever so amazing and I shall never take for granted the momentous experiences I have had since moving to this incredible city.

Anyone that has been following my blog has probably stopped because I haven't written in over six months. For this I apologize.

However, for those who were following my blog, you already know that I have been travelling frequently to Berlin for some years to continue my research of the Berlin Wall and build architectural scale models for presentations of the Berlin Wall. Well, two months ago I moved to Berlin! I took a leap of faith and followed my heart.

It was not just for my "vorbotene Liebe" with the Berlin Wall, but my archery is doing better here. In Berlin there are so many clubs and tournies that it makes for a tourney every weekend! Sometimes even two!

I have joined the oldest archery club in Berlin, 1st Berliner Bogenschützen. While I awaited my gear being shipped, I borrowed a compound and got a wild card to compete in the Berlin-Brandenburg 3D Championships where I won my first gold in Berlin! Though I haven't picked up a bow for several months, it felt so natural being back in the saddle again. It only reaffirmed how much I love this sport and 3D!

Now comes the indoor season. I completely bypassed the outdoor season minus the one 3D but now that I am settled into my new life and I hope to come back into my own again and set some goals for my archery and get back into the competitive spirit!