Germany Maymester Portfolio
Julianna Szuwalski
I arrived at the Frankfurt Airport today, and after getting off the 9 hour flight, I meet with the group at the designated meeting point. Once we got to Otzenhausen, and got checked in, we went on a "leisurely" walk. While the hike wasn't that long, there was one section up a hill that really got me, but it was all worth it in the end. Our hike was up to a Celtic Fort, in the ring wall style. We hiked up the wall, and that it where the above picture was from. This was a really good way to stay awake despite the jet lag. Also while on this hike, we drank out of a water spout that has been there since the fort was built. After out hike, we had a European/Saarland style barbeque, and it was SOOOO good.
Today, we had our first day of class, and our first excursion. In class, we talked about cultural values in Europe and briefly discussed the Rule of St. Benedict, before our excursion to the Benedictine Abbey. The above photo is a photo of the abbey and church. This excursion was actually a lot more fun than I thought. I thought the monastery was going to be a somber, unfriendly place, but I was really wrong. The brothers in the abbey were a lot of fun, and some were even in a band. The brother who led our tour also told us about life as a brother, the work, and how each brother had one job that was his main job. The monastery sold fruits and vegetables, and held conferences to make money for the monastery. This excursion was an eye opening experience into the life of a monk.
Today, we had class in the morning, and a lecture on intercultural communication. The lecture this afternoon was really interesting. The speakers, Claudia Heß, talked about how people from different countries should interact, and the customs of different countries. She talked about how before you go to a foreign country, and we participated in an activity that helped us to understand the importance of knowing the customs of another group of people before you visit them.
Today, we had class in the morning, then an afternoon visit to Saarbrücken. When we got there, we had a guided tour of Louis Church, then we walked up to the castle and heard a brief history of the city of Saarbrücken. We ended our tour at the castle in Saarbrücken. After this tour, we had free time in Saarbrücken. I used my free time to do some shopping in the pedestrian mall, and enjoy some food and drinks from a local bakery in the mall. The most impressive part of free time was shopping at Karstadt, which I would call the German equivalent of Macy’s. While shopping, I noticed something about business transactions in Germany. While people are waiting in line to pay, they have their money already out, so that when they got up to pay, the transaction went very quickly and efficiently. This shows the emphasis that the German people place on efficiency. While buying goods at a bakery, the only conversation with the bakery worker was, you: “I would like ____”, worker: “it is _____ euro” you: (hand over money) “Danke”. There was no small talk, or questions like what do you like best. You knew what you wanted and the interaction was short.
Today, after class, we had a lecture on the Baroque era. This lecture was very thorough, and covered basically all aspects of the era. The lecturer, Claudia Wörsdörfer, covered aspects of the baroque era, like art, architecture, music, ect. I found it very interesting the differences in paintings with the same subject. I also thought it was very interesting to listen to the music. She showed us clips of the music, and what a baroque orchestra would have looked like, with violins, harp, double basses, cellos, ect. She also went over the different musical terms. I really enjoyed this lecture.
After class in the morning, we participated in the hammock project. This was my favorite thing that we have done so far. We hiked about 30 minutes into the forest by the Academie, to an old hunting house. At this house, we received hammocks, and were given instructions on this project. We were to go into the woods for one hour, no phone and nothing but yourself and the hammock, and lie in the hammock, listening to the forest and enjoying the natural scenery for one hour. I really enjoyed looking at the leaves, and all the different shades of green the were present in the forest.
We spent all day today on an excursion. We went to two different places, Schengen, Luxenbourg, and Verdun, France. In Schengen, we had a walking tour, where we saw a monument to the signing of the Schengen treaty, which set up open borders between the countries of the original agreement, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, France, and Luxenbourg. The treaty was signed on a boat, on the Luxenbourg side of the ______ river. They did this so that the name of the treaty would be the Schengen treaty, and there wouldn’t be any fight over whether to call it the Schengen treaty, or the named for the city on the other side of the river. We then went to see two pieces of the berlin wall, and the side of the wall that faced West while the wall was intact, actually faced west when they were on display. Then we went to see a sculpture, which was three cylinders, on that represented the original 5 countries, one representing the Northern European Union countries, and the third representing the Eastern countries of the European Union. The stars on these cylinders represented a different country, and displayed objects of significance to that country. Then we drove to Verdun. Verdun was the site of the Battle of Verdun, a yearlong battle between the French and the invading German army. We first visited the memorial museum at Verdun, which was very well put together, and had so much information on the battle of Verdun. It had weapons, cannons, and machinery that were used in the battle by both the Germans and the French troops. One thing I learned that I found interesting was that the French switched out troops at Verdun, and many soldiers for the Union army fought at Verdun. The Germans didn’t do this, and had one set of soldiers fight the whole time at Verdun. The we went to the cemetery, and got to go in the building that had a memorial to the men who fought at the battle of Verdun The we went to the cite of one of the villages that was destroyed during the battle of Verdun. The ground was uneven from the bombs that fell during the battle. It was really cool to see how the battle affected the landscape of the battle cite.
Today we had a lecture on whether Europe can have a common future without a common past. The lecture was very interesting. The lecturer points out that his dog was more European than he was. His dog had an EU passport, whereas he had a German passport. There were many attempts to unify Europe, like a common textbook, which failed. The second attempt was a Museum of European History in Brussels. The last attempt was an attempt to set one day to celebrate all of Europe, but it was hard to find a date. One suggestion was the day of liberation of Auschwitz, but you can’t create an identity on shame and guilt. The final takeaway from this lecture was that history can foster cohesion, but cant compensate for the differences between countries.
Today, we visited the World Cultural Heritage Völklinger Hütte. This is an old steel mill, that closed in the late 1900’s. I thought it was very interesting to see how the steel was produced, and I also thought it was interesting that the tour guide spoke about daily lives of the men who worked there, he talked about how many men started training when they were 14 years old. He also talked about how the men started using ‘to-go” coffee, and how they kept their coffee and tea warm for hours on end. While on the tour, we got to one of the highest points of the factory, and look out over the factory, surrounding village and landscape.
Today we had a lecture on the Enlightenment. I really enjoyed this lecture because the lecturer kept us engaged. He had us read passages from the time period. He also showed us the importance of these passages by telling us what the passage influenced.
5/26- today we had class as usual.
5/27- We went to Saarbrücken for the second time today. We visited the Jewish synagogue in Saarbrücken. This was one of my favorite things we have done so far. I thought it was really cool to listen to the different aspects of the Jewish faith, and their stance on different things, like abortion. After our visit to the Jewish synagogue, we had free time in Saarbrücken. First, we went to eat lunch in Saarbrücken. We ate at a wurst restaurant near the main square. After, we went to the Europe Gallerie. After this, we went to a church and museum near the palace.
5/28- Today we went to Trier. We took the public bus to Trier, and I thought it was an interesting experience. The buses were very clean, and the interaction between people was similar to how it is in the United States. People chose to sit by themselves instead of sit alone, and there wasn't any interaction between people. Once we got to Trier, we saw the Porta Nigra, and then we had free time to eat and explore. My friends and I ate at a cafe, and our lunch took so long we didn't have time to explore the city before we met to go to the Karl Marx house. The Karl Marx house was really cool, especially because it had his history, as well as movements that were influenced by his works. After this, we went to the basilica, and it was really fancy. The was so much detail in the architecture, and how well kept the gardens were.
5/29- Today we had class in the morning as usual, and then we went to a Medieval Festival. The medieval festival was fun, because I got to see some things that I otherwise might never have seen. There were also musical performers and dancers that were interesting to watch.
5/30- travel day to Berlin
5/31- Today, we went to the Topography of Terror museum. It had an outdoor exhibit that went over the general rise of the Nazi Party and different general facts about the Holocaust. Today, I learned the extent of the holocaust. I knew that Jews, disabled, gays/homosexuals, and political adversaries were punished, but I did not know that citizens who were unproductive, asocial, work-shy, beggars, or those who refused to conform were all persecuted by the Nazi Party. On the inside, there was more specific information about the terror caused by the Nazis, even for people who weren’t persecuted in the Holocaust. Then, a night, I went to see members of the Berlin Symphony play some more famous classical pieces. This concert was WONDERFUL! The performers did an excellent job conveying the emotions of the pieces and played them beautifully. This was worth every penny.
6/1- Today, we had a tour of the old Jewish quarter and then a guided tour of the Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe and a chance to walk around the museum. The memorial was really cool to see, but it was a totally different feeling inside the memorial. It was somber, and reflective, and really gave you a chance to think about the horrors that the Jewish people went through. The museum was REALLY emotional. It started with a brief history, and then it went into four rooms. The hardest room to walk through was the room that had the letters people wrote before they died.
6/2- Today we went to the art museum on museum island. E had some free time to wander around the museum, and then a guided tour. During our free time, the two things I found that connected to our classes was a sword from the 12th and 13th centuries. This reminded me of the short story, Lieutenant Gustl. In the story, Gustl thinks he is being threatened and someone threatens to break his sword, and for a proud military lieutenant like Gustl, this is a big deal. The second thing that reminded me of something we talked about was the Martin Luther Bible. Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, making religion accessible to anyone who could read German. This was controversial because the Bible was supposed to be written in a holy language, and German was not a Holy Language. After the museum, we went to eat lunch, then we went to the Berlin Dungeons. This was AMAZING. It is kind of like a haunted house, in that you walk through different rooms, and there are people in costumes, but it is also like a live performance. It starts with a little history about the plague and revolution, and ends with a small drop tower.
6/3-Today, we went to the East Side gallery, which is a remaining part of the Berlin wall where there are paintings from the original wall, as well as paintings that modern painters have done. The artwork and propaganda on the sections of the wall was really cool to see. Then we went to eat lunch near the Turkish market.
6/4- Today, we had a free day in Berlin. I decided to go to the Deutschland Democratic Museum, which talks about life in East Germany while Berlin was divided. It was interactive and a lot of fun. It also had reduced prices for students. Afterward I had my last lunch in Berlin, and then went to do souvenir shopping.