I was there!

"Go to Potsdamer Platz. Philharmonie is on fire. Get some great pictures. Stine." is how the text message I got read. I got it while I was at the Tiergarten. 

At first I though maybe a protest was going on--so figuratively speaking "it was on fire!"

But as me and my friends continued to walk though the garden we got to an exit, not the one we went in.

At first when we got to the street, with slow traffic and policemen trying to direct it, I had not realize yet what was happening. We stood there a couple of minutes, and the sound of sirens and fire trucks hint us to the direction of the fire. 

It was literal! A fire at the Berliner Philharmoniker. 

But we did not see it immediately. We were following smoke signs. To be honest, it didn't seem that big of a fire. 

Also, at the moment, to me it was a yellow building on fire--I had not connected the text message and the fire pieces together.

We finally got to the scene. crowded with firemen, officers and people taking pictures--Us included.

We were walking through a cloud of smoke. I almost fell my lungs asphyxiating by the smoke.

But to be honest, what surprised me the most was the kindness of the people there. Firemen and officers were willing to talk to you. Not at any moment were they rude or tried to send you away. 

Instead, they were glad to pose for a picture, or even be in it with you.

This lead me to think that in reality you shouldn't be afraid or really stand back when officers are present, as is the feeling when you approach an officer in the US. Sometimes you may even cringe at the thought of approaching him or her, especially at an event as big as the the fire of the Berliner Philharmoniker.