nmah395.xml

nmah395.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-23

I was working in Switzerland and my colleagute told me, that he has just been called by his wife, telling him that a plane hit the wtc. We tried to get informations out of the internet and we managed to come to the cnn page close before it collabsed.

I call my boyfriend - he was watching cnn. He called again to tell me that the second plane crashed and to tell me that the buildings collapsed.

I was shocked - remembering how much time I spent in and around the wtc. Pictures came into my minde on what I did during the 6 month I spent in NYC in connection with the wtc - how many times I was sitting and chatting in the "windows of the world restaurant", how I went to school at murry street, how I used to have lunch at the river... I also tried to imagine, where I would have been considering that I was still at this school...

That afternoon, I was not able to work again. I can't remember doing anything beside writing an meeting invitation which my boss had to check a few times as I was not able to concentrate anymore.

At home, I watched TV and saw what I only have heared by then. Seeing it was much worse than only the thoughts about it. I was shocked the most after I saw people jumping out of the building.

I have not been back to new york and I am still not able to really believe that the towers are not there anymore. Realizing that it all looks different there now - I have to be there to do so and I am afraid of this moment.

I think it hasn't.

I am lucky that none of my friends had to leave their life on September 11. I reached all of them within pretty short time to hear that they are ok.

It should be remembered that it happened and that it always can happen at another place on earth again.

My feelings to the American flag did not change because of this event. I still love the flag I bought back then in an army shop in china town.