It snowed!!! I love snow. Snow is soooooooooo pretty. Especially when you don't have a car and don't have to deal with the troubles that snow causes. And here, snow is a really good sign--it actually indicates warmth. In this time of year, lack of snow can often be attributed to temperature too cold for snow.
Isn't it cool how no two snowflakes are exactly alike? God makes really cool stuff. Like, way cool. :)
Other than snow, the other topic I want to write about tonight is the choir I'm singing in. I don't think I've talked about it much. Really, up until now it hasn't been that exciting. I mean, I like singing... like, a lot... but the choir is really huge, it's not hard to get into so we're not especially amazing, and you get the point. But, tonight was our first rehearsal with the orchestra (also students, which is cool because I have friends that play in it), and tonight was pretty sweet. The music just sounds weird without the orchestra, and my friends in orchestra said the same about it without the choir. Hearing it all together though was way cool. Especially this incredible work we are singing, Honegger's King David. We sing the German translation, which for me is almost like singing English, which you don't get to do that often in choirs. The work tells the story of David's life through the music and through short spoken sections. It has the effect almost of a musical. The music not only tells the story, but it also responds to it. It's really awesome (despite my lame attempt at describing the awesomeness). I don't think I've ever gotten that into something classical that I've sung. I have sung music I connected with personally in some way before, but never in my own language. Even when you translate the text of something in another language and you sing it with a knowledge of what it means, it's not the same as singing something in your own language.
So, enough rambling, I'm just on sort of a high right now. Man that was awesome. I'm still bummed that I have to miss church this weekend for rehearsals, but I really get to worship through this music! Sweet...
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Winter has... wintered.
That was supposed to be like a knock-off on the phrase "Spring has sprung." I know, not that funny, but I do try. :)
Yep, it's winter now. Below-freezing temperatures for the first time, I think since that little "November Snow" scare I had awhile ago. The nice, though strangely odd, dwelling in the 50's has come to an end, probably thanks to dear old Hurricane Kyrill. It was a beautiful sunny day today, but cold. I was outside around noon, and there were a few frozen puddles that were not melting despite the sunshine. Sigh...
Some pretty snow would be nice though! I've definitely had enough of this constant raining it does here. Snow would be a good alternative.
Other news? Not a whole lot. Plugging away on a presentation I have to give tomorrow about the Integration (or lack thereof) of Muslim Immigrants in Berlin. It is a very interesting topic (which is why I picked it, haha) but a little tough because I took a whole class about Immigrants in Germany (which was more or less a class about Muslim Immigrants in Germany) last year at Penn, which means I'm relatively well-informed on the topic for a non-German, but there are so many directions I could take this project that I just don't know what to pick. And, I'm annoyed that I don't have all the articles and notes I have from my class last year. Oh well.
Not too much else to report on... Oh yeah, on Friday I watched Finding Nemo in Germany with my friends Molly and Elizabeth. The characters are sooooooooo cute in German! Of course, they were cute anyway, but this was a new cuteness. The sea turtles even spoke German with Australian accents! We also rented The Incredibles (in German), but only Molly actually saw it because Elizabeth went home and I fell asleep. This Friday we plan to watch Monsters, Inc. in German.
That's all the news from here...
Yep, it's winter now. Below-freezing temperatures for the first time, I think since that little "November Snow" scare I had awhile ago. The nice, though strangely odd, dwelling in the 50's has come to an end, probably thanks to dear old Hurricane Kyrill. It was a beautiful sunny day today, but cold. I was outside around noon, and there were a few frozen puddles that were not melting despite the sunshine. Sigh...
Some pretty snow would be nice though! I've definitely had enough of this constant raining it does here. Snow would be a good alternative.
Other news? Not a whole lot. Plugging away on a presentation I have to give tomorrow about the Integration (or lack thereof) of Muslim Immigrants in Berlin. It is a very interesting topic (which is why I picked it, haha) but a little tough because I took a whole class about Immigrants in Germany (which was more or less a class about Muslim Immigrants in Germany) last year at Penn, which means I'm relatively well-informed on the topic for a non-German, but there are so many directions I could take this project that I just don't know what to pick. And, I'm annoyed that I don't have all the articles and notes I have from my class last year. Oh well.
Not too much else to report on... Oh yeah, on Friday I watched Finding Nemo in Germany with my friends Molly and Elizabeth. The characters are sooooooooo cute in German! Of course, they were cute anyway, but this was a new cuteness. The sea turtles even spoke German with Australian accents! We also rented The Incredibles (in German), but only Molly actually saw it because Elizabeth went home and I fell asleep. This Friday we plan to watch Monsters, Inc. in German.
That's all the news from here...
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Socialism is cool...?!
Okay, here it is, I just gotta say it... if there's one thing I don't like about Germany, it's the socialist attitudes. Especially at the university. I'm really rather baffled by it and am considering doing further research into this phenomenon during the break.
Elections took place this week at the university for student parliament. What exactly said parliament does or how much power they have, I'm not so sure. I am actually researching this at the moment so that I can write about it at my job. But, interestingly, student parliament elections work just like regular elections here - that is, you don't vote for a person, you vote for a party, and then each party can select a number of representatives to sit in the parliament according to the percentage of the vote that party received. At the university, they don't really have parties, but instead there are "lists" which appear to be about the same thing, but most are much more specialized. There are all kinds of "lists". First of all, there are lists that are associated with the major political parties in Germany, more or less the "Young Democrats", "Young Republicans", "Young Socialists", "Young Libertarians" and "Young Greens". Then there are a number of lists that represent specific majors or areas of study--the med students have one, law students, econ, history, philosophy, etc. Then are other special interest type ones, for gays, lesbians (yes they are separate groups here!), feminists, ethnic minorities, students who have a child, etc., as well as groups fighting for specific issues, primarily students against semester fees.
Basically all of them are incredibly left-ward leaning. The only ones that really aren't are the "Young Republicans" and "Young Libertarians", but they had very little advertising, and other lists actually put out flyers bashing them (as well as the other ones that are tied to political parties). Today, as I was researching all of this (to try to find out what in the world the student parliament actually does, how much power it has, etc. and also to investigate student opinions about this election) for work, I read a newspaper article that upset me more than any newspaper article has upset me in a really long time. It upset me for a number of reasons: very biased handling of an issue in an article that was not written as an opinion article, one-sided interviewing, and just the general shock received when one discovers that the university where one is studying is known as a left-wing stronghold. And by left-wing I don't mean left-wing like we know it in America. I think a lot of Democrats would not like all this either!
I don't get it. I just don't get it. These people expect higher education to fall from the sky into their hands, they don't want to pay a dime for it (and until very recently they never had to), and yet people wonder why so many Germans leave the country to go to college and why German universities are not competitive on the international spectrum. There are many initiatives right now trying to improve the universities--initiatives to bring some level of competition into the German university system, initiatives to streamline course registration and bureaucracy issues, initiatives to standardize (to some extent) diploma requirements so that diplomas can be better understood by international employers and schools... But the students here, at least from all the talk, are so resistant to change! The new diploma requirements set some higher standards, and they say it is an infringement on their freedom. Free higher education for all! is the big campaign. They will fight to the death over these semester fees (which soooooooooo miniscule compared to what it costs to finance higher education! up until now they've gone to college 100% free!!!) and are against the concept of having some universities be better than others (and receive more funding as a reward for accomplishment), but they don't seem to care that their own university is not that good! Maybe they just don't realize it could be better, but it's still... Settling for mediocrity is AOK with them. Heaven forbid a capitalist should enter the scene and suggest some ways to bring improvement.
Higher education costs money. It's a fact. In the U.S., we have never had "free higher education" but it works just fine. If you want to study badly enough, you can. You might have to work for it, but if you've got the grades and the desire to learn, you can go to college. Here? Less than a third of teenagers attend the type of high school that allows one to even study at a university (my thoughts on the split-track high school system another day), and those kids can bust their butts and still not get into the universities because there aren't enough spots. But there's no money to open new universities or expand the ones they have! Why? Because the whole darn thing is financed by the government (i.e. by the absurdly high taxes Germans have to pay) and controlled by the government, and the money's just not in the safe. I don't know what the motivation for these new fees was, but maybe, just maybe, they could go toward improvement of the university...
The kids at the university I attend right now probably had to go through a lot to get here. They represent a very small percentage of Germans who have the chance to study at a university. They cry "free higher education for all" but they don't realize that as long as higher education is "free" in the sense of "government financed", it will never really be free for all, and it will never be able to reach it's full potential.
I'm off my soapbox now. Just had to rant because my university is so disgustingly full of socialist this, socialist that, everything should just be free and I don't believe in that. I don't believe in forced mediocrity. Yes, I want every person to have a chance in society. But it's not happening the way the system works now, and in the meantime I really feel the achievements of so many are being stifled. This country has so much more potential.
In other news: surrived a hurricane last night! Hurricane "Kyrill" came sweeping through Germany yesterday, it was pretty crazy. I mean, I slept through it, but it was all over the news, and my Turkish class ended early yesterday because they decided to shut down the building we were in and send everyone home. On the front page of the newspaper yesterday was a weather map with big BLACK clouds sweeping in. You know that can't be good! But we survived. ;)
Elections took place this week at the university for student parliament. What exactly said parliament does or how much power they have, I'm not so sure. I am actually researching this at the moment so that I can write about it at my job. But, interestingly, student parliament elections work just like regular elections here - that is, you don't vote for a person, you vote for a party, and then each party can select a number of representatives to sit in the parliament according to the percentage of the vote that party received. At the university, they don't really have parties, but instead there are "lists" which appear to be about the same thing, but most are much more specialized. There are all kinds of "lists". First of all, there are lists that are associated with the major political parties in Germany, more or less the "Young Democrats", "Young Republicans", "Young Socialists", "Young Libertarians" and "Young Greens". Then there are a number of lists that represent specific majors or areas of study--the med students have one, law students, econ, history, philosophy, etc. Then are other special interest type ones, for gays, lesbians (yes they are separate groups here!), feminists, ethnic minorities, students who have a child, etc., as well as groups fighting for specific issues, primarily students against semester fees.
Basically all of them are incredibly left-ward leaning. The only ones that really aren't are the "Young Republicans" and "Young Libertarians", but they had very little advertising, and other lists actually put out flyers bashing them (as well as the other ones that are tied to political parties). Today, as I was researching all of this (to try to find out what in the world the student parliament actually does, how much power it has, etc. and also to investigate student opinions about this election) for work, I read a newspaper article that upset me more than any newspaper article has upset me in a really long time. It upset me for a number of reasons: very biased handling of an issue in an article that was not written as an opinion article, one-sided interviewing, and just the general shock received when one discovers that the university where one is studying is known as a left-wing stronghold. And by left-wing I don't mean left-wing like we know it in America. I think a lot of Democrats would not like all this either!
I don't get it. I just don't get it. These people expect higher education to fall from the sky into their hands, they don't want to pay a dime for it (and until very recently they never had to), and yet people wonder why so many Germans leave the country to go to college and why German universities are not competitive on the international spectrum. There are many initiatives right now trying to improve the universities--initiatives to bring some level of competition into the German university system, initiatives to streamline course registration and bureaucracy issues, initiatives to standardize (to some extent) diploma requirements so that diplomas can be better understood by international employers and schools... But the students here, at least from all the talk, are so resistant to change! The new diploma requirements set some higher standards, and they say it is an infringement on their freedom. Free higher education for all! is the big campaign. They will fight to the death over these semester fees (which soooooooooo miniscule compared to what it costs to finance higher education! up until now they've gone to college 100% free!!!) and are against the concept of having some universities be better than others (and receive more funding as a reward for accomplishment), but they don't seem to care that their own university is not that good! Maybe they just don't realize it could be better, but it's still... Settling for mediocrity is AOK with them. Heaven forbid a capitalist should enter the scene and suggest some ways to bring improvement.
Higher education costs money. It's a fact. In the U.S., we have never had "free higher education" but it works just fine. If you want to study badly enough, you can. You might have to work for it, but if you've got the grades and the desire to learn, you can go to college. Here? Less than a third of teenagers attend the type of high school that allows one to even study at a university (my thoughts on the split-track high school system another day), and those kids can bust their butts and still not get into the universities because there aren't enough spots. But there's no money to open new universities or expand the ones they have! Why? Because the whole darn thing is financed by the government (i.e. by the absurdly high taxes Germans have to pay) and controlled by the government, and the money's just not in the safe. I don't know what the motivation for these new fees was, but maybe, just maybe, they could go toward improvement of the university...
The kids at the university I attend right now probably had to go through a lot to get here. They represent a very small percentage of Germans who have the chance to study at a university. They cry "free higher education for all" but they don't realize that as long as higher education is "free" in the sense of "government financed", it will never really be free for all, and it will never be able to reach it's full potential.
I'm off my soapbox now. Just had to rant because my university is so disgustingly full of socialist this, socialist that, everything should just be free and I don't believe in that. I don't believe in forced mediocrity. Yes, I want every person to have a chance in society. But it's not happening the way the system works now, and in the meantime I really feel the achievements of so many are being stifled. This country has so much more potential.
In other news: surrived a hurricane last night! Hurricane "Kyrill" came sweeping through Germany yesterday, it was pretty crazy. I mean, I slept through it, but it was all over the news, and my Turkish class ended early yesterday because they decided to shut down the building we were in and send everyone home. On the front page of the newspaper yesterday was a weather map with big BLACK clouds sweeping in. You know that can't be good! But we survived. ;)
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Back in Berlin
Greetings from Berlin! Here I am, "home" again. It actually feels pretty good to be back here.
My journey back was a little interesting. Everything went as planned, except that my bag didn't make it (but it wasn't lost, it's being delivered today, thankfully!), but it was just like the weirdest day/two days ever. My flight took off from Nashville at 5:15pm on Sunday, and I arrived in Berlin around 4pm (Berlin time) on Monday, having stopped in Detroit and London inbetween. Tobi picked me up from the airport (and was a good sport about waiting with me to figure out what was up with my luggage) and brought me to my apartment, and when I got there, I had less than an hour before I had to leave to go to a film viewing for one of my classes at 6pm. Amazingly, I did not fall asleep during the movie (thanks for British Airways for flying me on a cozy 777 with newly designed economy class seats that have nice foot rests and adjustable lumbar, I slept pretty much that whole 8 hour flight). The movie was actually really good. But long. I mean, L-O-ong! It's actually a made-for-TV film series about the Holocaust, and we watched two parts of it, which lasted altogether almost 4 hours. I had never seen it before, but it's actually American (dubbed over in German) and pretty old. Meryl Streep stars in it, playing a young newly-wed. I spent the first hour of the movie trying to figure out if that was really her and the film was really American--you know, sometimes the lips don't move exactly the way they sound, but when it's an old film, it's hard to tell... Then in one scene a family was singing "Silent Night" and gave themselves away when their mouths said "holy night" while the voices sang "heilige Nacht". Those don't look anything alike.
So I made it through the whole thing, got home, and still thought it was Sunday. I was confused why there were so many people out and about on a Sunday night, and why the subways and buses were running more frequently than usual for a Sunday (when they more or less don't exist). I managed to go to sleep around midnight and woke up feeling better though. First thing in the morning was the class for which we had the film viewing, and the prof was like, "Frau Lordeman, can you give us a recap of what we saw for those who couldn't make it? And what was your impression of it as an American?" My first thought was, "Uhh, I didn't even know what day it was last night, why are you asking me?" but miraculously, German started coming out of my mouth! Alas, I can still speak the language--the two weeks at home didn't seem to deteriorate my language skills much. Just occasionally I think of words in English first instead of German, much like the reverse of what I did at home. Interesting.
One thing I do have to confess though is that I am still majorly missing Mexican food. I ate sooooooo much of it at home, and yet I still crave it. I've indulged myself in Turkish food twice now in the last 24 hours, which is a good substitute not available in the states, but still... anything for some chips and salsa and queso... sigh... I also ate a "sandwich" yesterday, which no one in America would really call a sandwich. It was very disappointing. Gotta go grocery shopping so I can make my own.
On a more positive note, the weather here is GREAT. And by great I mean not freezing, for one thing--around 50 most of the time, actually!--and there is much more sunlight than when I left. This morning was really beautiful and sunny. It's amazing how much that helps me feel better!
Now it's time to get cracking on some homework. Prayer is greatly appreciated for the work I have ahead of me the next two months--namely, 3 huge term papers which at the moment I'm rather scared of. But, there will be many fun things to come as well... just gotta muscle through, like Stelmaszak used to say, haha...
My journey back was a little interesting. Everything went as planned, except that my bag didn't make it (but it wasn't lost, it's being delivered today, thankfully!), but it was just like the weirdest day/two days ever. My flight took off from Nashville at 5:15pm on Sunday, and I arrived in Berlin around 4pm (Berlin time) on Monday, having stopped in Detroit and London inbetween. Tobi picked me up from the airport (and was a good sport about waiting with me to figure out what was up with my luggage) and brought me to my apartment, and when I got there, I had less than an hour before I had to leave to go to a film viewing for one of my classes at 6pm. Amazingly, I did not fall asleep during the movie (thanks for British Airways for flying me on a cozy 777 with newly designed economy class seats that have nice foot rests and adjustable lumbar, I slept pretty much that whole 8 hour flight). The movie was actually really good. But long. I mean, L-O-ong! It's actually a made-for-TV film series about the Holocaust, and we watched two parts of it, which lasted altogether almost 4 hours. I had never seen it before, but it's actually American (dubbed over in German) and pretty old. Meryl Streep stars in it, playing a young newly-wed. I spent the first hour of the movie trying to figure out if that was really her and the film was really American--you know, sometimes the lips don't move exactly the way they sound, but when it's an old film, it's hard to tell... Then in one scene a family was singing "Silent Night" and gave themselves away when their mouths said "holy night" while the voices sang "heilige Nacht". Those don't look anything alike.
So I made it through the whole thing, got home, and still thought it was Sunday. I was confused why there were so many people out and about on a Sunday night, and why the subways and buses were running more frequently than usual for a Sunday (when they more or less don't exist). I managed to go to sleep around midnight and woke up feeling better though. First thing in the morning was the class for which we had the film viewing, and the prof was like, "Frau Lordeman, can you give us a recap of what we saw for those who couldn't make it? And what was your impression of it as an American?" My first thought was, "Uhh, I didn't even know what day it was last night, why are you asking me?" but miraculously, German started coming out of my mouth! Alas, I can still speak the language--the two weeks at home didn't seem to deteriorate my language skills much. Just occasionally I think of words in English first instead of German, much like the reverse of what I did at home. Interesting.
One thing I do have to confess though is that I am still majorly missing Mexican food. I ate sooooooo much of it at home, and yet I still crave it. I've indulged myself in Turkish food twice now in the last 24 hours, which is a good substitute not available in the states, but still... anything for some chips and salsa and queso... sigh... I also ate a "sandwich" yesterday, which no one in America would really call a sandwich. It was very disappointing. Gotta go grocery shopping so I can make my own.
On a more positive note, the weather here is GREAT. And by great I mean not freezing, for one thing--around 50 most of the time, actually!--and there is much more sunlight than when I left. This morning was really beautiful and sunny. It's amazing how much that helps me feel better!
Now it's time to get cracking on some homework. Prayer is greatly appreciated for the work I have ahead of me the next two months--namely, 3 huge term papers which at the moment I'm rather scared of. But, there will be many fun things to come as well... just gotta muscle through, like Stelmaszak used to say, haha...
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Los geht's...
Well, it's time to head back to Berlin, after an incredible two weeks at home. I think I'm ready. I needed this time very badly and God has done more during it than I could've asked for. Things are going to be different. I'm excited about it.
Thanks to all the wonderful Brentwoodians I love who made the last two weeks really special. I will miss y'all tons! Berlin friends... see ya real soon. I'm looking forward to it. :)
Love,Stina
Thanks to all the wonderful Brentwoodians I love who made the last two weeks really special. I will miss y'all tons! Berlin friends... see ya real soon. I'm looking forward to it. :)
Love,Stina
Friday, January 05, 2007
Who is my anonymous blog commenter???
I'm beginning to wonder who's posting "anonymously" on my blog... not sure if the anonymous commenter from the salami post is the same as the anonymous commenter who asked me to bring home a WWI-era tank or airplane for Chrismas are linked, but perhaps... at any rate, I'm curious about both. So, if it's you, fess up!
On another note... life is good. I'll be ready to go back Sunday night, but I've loved my time here. No reverse culture shock. Except that sometimes I think I fumble with words more than I used to--I've stopped inserting random German words into sentences, but sometimes German words come to mind before English words.
Dinner time now, but I will provide a more thorough update on my adventures in Brent-hood sometime soon. :)
On another note... life is good. I'll be ready to go back Sunday night, but I've loved my time here. No reverse culture shock. Except that sometimes I think I fumble with words more than I used to--I've stopped inserting random German words into sentences, but sometimes German words come to mind before English words.
Dinner time now, but I will provide a more thorough update on my adventures in Brent-hood sometime soon. :)
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