Widespread beauty

Ship creek, Anchorage

ANCHORAGE. In Alaska I had positive and negative experiences. Since the beginning of my journey, I was looking forward to see Alaska, my last stop. When I arrived in Anchorage, I was a bit disappointed.

I did not like the downtown area. So I shared a tandem with a friend and cycled along the water side. There we saw some beautiful areas, e.g. Ship creek. A lot of people - inhabitants and tourists -  go fishing for Salmon there every day. 

Another day I took a train to Seward, a little town south of Anchorage. As soon as I'd been 30 min out of Anchorage, there was untouched nature everywhere. For the rest of the train ride (4 hours) there was no sign of humankind out there. It was wonderful.

Trees died because of salty sea water which came with rising sea level

Seward, AK

Still existing glacier

Most of the places are just reachable by plane. That's why a few people here in Alaska legally own little aircrafts in their backyards. In Alaska, there are more registered aircrafts than automobiles! Another highlight here are the short nights in the summer. 22 hours daylight. I had to think of the white nights that I saw in St. Petersburg, Russia, once. As I am night blind, it was literally heaven for me!

Acceptance?

SAN FRANCISCO. Last friday there was the decision about a comprehensive law of legal gay marriage in the US. Who's not talking about it? The weekend after, the pride parade took place in some countries. I visited the pride on Market street in San Francisco.

What I saw, were people with a happy and relieved face. Even though the right for gay marriage already existed here in California, this comprehensive law leads us all to more equality, freedom and acceptance in general.

I think, Helen Keller, a very well known deafblind American from the end of the 19th century, would like today's little step towards a more open minded community to equality. With it comes more acceptance. When I was in Washington DC last February, I visited the National Cathedral to see the place where Helen Keller's ash has been located. 

National Cathedral, Washington DC

Helen Keller's tombstone

On behalf of those with a disability there is to say that we also want to be an included part of the community. Some might be more or less different from the main part of society, but aren't we all different? Every culture, religion and disability brings its pros and cons. 

I think, a gapless system of inclusion could make a positive difference for disabled people to find their way into community – sooner or later.

Hollywood

LOS ANGELES. Hollywood! I walked down the walk of fame. When I finally found Marylin Monroe's star, I thought: How unfortunate. It was in front of a Mc Donalds and the building was under construction so that I could barely see the star. No glamour. Anyway, she's been such a strong woman - I admire her.

To go on in my LA trip, I visited Beverly Hills and its Rodeo Dr. Beautiful! Probably the first time that I didn't see any homeless people on the street since I've been to the US. Also, I visited the Universal studios on Memorial day weekend. It was really crowded but I enjoyed it so much there.

When I was younger, I wanted to be an actress. This idea lost its value because I recognized that I would have problems to act during the film shooting with my tunnel vision. 

E.g. I took part in a school theater for a few years. I did acrobatics and acting. It was so much fun! But sometimes there was just rare light on stage, so that I struggled to act how I would normally do. It's especially because of the night blindness. I get insecure in the dusk and even more in the dark which makes me acting more carefully. I hate that. Easy things like shaking another person's hand while looking him/her in the eyes could fail. I mostly just hold my hand and the other person has to grab it. It works.