Right Wing Parade/Maisingers

Apparently tonight, in celebration of May Day and the Tag der Arbeit, the conservative fraternities up on the hill here in Tübingen march into the old city quarter and sing nationalistic songs. In a liberal university city like Tübingen, you can imagine how well that goes over. Apparently the police from all over Baden-Württemberg are being called into service to keep the students from fighting. Oh, and the onlookers throw eggs and rotten tomatoes at the parading frat members too.

Now, of course, the smart thing to do would be to steer clear of all this insanity. So, naturally, we're hurrying down to it as quickly as we can so we can participate. Should be a good time. If you don't hear from me within 3 days it probably means I got arrested.

Ciao!

Unbelievable.

What these people are demanding would be, at its essence, the equivalent of me sneaking across the border to France and then declaring that I -- because I pay taxes to the European Union on all goods and services I buy -- am now entitled to European Union and French citizenship.

The real problem here is not the United States or its immigration policies. The real problem here is Mexico, because obviously it's so bad there that millions of Mexicans are willing to brave miles of sun-scorched desert to get out. That is, the problem is not one of United States immigration, it's a problem of Mexican emmigration. As such it is just that -- Mexico's problem, not ours. The United States cannot afford to open up its borders, higher wages, and better living conditions to millions of Mexicans just to "be nice." It doesn't work that way.

So why isn't anyone calling for reform in Mexico? Better yet, why isn't Mexico working on its own problems? Simple -- why bother fixing the problems if your citizens are leaving by the millions anyway? It may sound harsh, but maybe the only way things will ever get better in Mexico is if the United States actually DOES lock up the border and not allow anyone else in.

And that's what I have to say about that.

Guess What I Did?

I signed up for rowing classes. Yup, starting Monday I will be rowing 1x a week on the Neckar!! Wooo!

Also, this is cool.

Guten Morgen, heiße Liebe!

So here I sit with my just-ausgetrunken cup of coffee staring out the window. I had actually planned on going down to Saturn this morning to get a printer, but it looks like that's not going to happen until after class. Oh well. I might not need a printer anyway, because it's looking like I might drop my International Trade Theory class. It's equivalent to a 400-level econ course at ASU and I think it might be a little advanced for me yet. I was looking through the reader and the homework assignments (I know -- homework assignments??? Since when does a German class have homework?) and it might as well all have been written in Greek. I might need a refresher course in Micro/Macro econ before I can jump into something like this. I figure it would be better to stop now rather than put myself through a semester of economics hell and put my GPA further at risk - I'm going to be busy enough as it is.

But we'll see. I'm going to the tutorium today and then on Monday I will be seeing about the possibility of getting into the American Foreign Policy class that I want...if I can get in, I think I will probably drop econ and make my life a little simpler. For now, I need a shower but don't have any more soap...hmmmmm....Looks like I need to make a quick run to the grocery store.

Ugh.

I am in a sour mood this morning. Let's just get that out on the table straight off. I blame the weather outside right now. It's overcast, cold, and raining and I definitely think that's what it is that's making me nasty. Or maybe that's because I haven't had coffee yet. I need to go take a shower. And eat breakfast.
Coffee, Brötchen, salami and cheese cure all ills.

First Day Of School

Today was my first day of classes. I had Production and Controlling as well as my International Trade Theory class. Both classes are interesting but I was lost by the end of both lectures. It's going to be a very, very busy semester, that I can tell. Not only am I taking a lot more classes this time around (which translates into me spending a LOT more time in class per week), but these classes are also very difficult ones. So it's probably going to be a very stressful (and also very short) semester. Meh, I'm looking forward to it anyway.

Also: saw Ice Age 2 tonight. I have to say I think it was close to if not just as funny in German as it would have been in English. I was laughing my head off.

Oh and because this pic turned out so well, check out how beautiful Tübingen is right now! (Thanks for the pic, Addy!)

Relaxation

My one beef with living up here in Waldhäuser-Ost is that I am separated from the Altstadt and all the sweet chillaxation opportunities it affords. A 10-15 minute bus ride separates me from the Neckarbrücke/insel, where great times can be had next to the river reading a book. I did this just today and it was fabulous, although it has come to my attention that I am in major need of a picnic blanket that I can spread out on the grass so I can lay down on that instead of sitting on a parkbench.

Now it's almost 4pm, still absolutely gorgeous outside and I want to go out and relax some more, but I am so unbelievably tired for some reason. Maybe I will manage to drag myself into the Altstadt and find a nice cafe where I can sit and chill with a cup of coffee. Such is life in Tübingen in the spring, and I love it.

Classes start tomorrow, and I've got a pretty nice lineup:

-Suppy Chain Management
-International Trade Theory
-History of American Foreign Policy in the 20th Century
-Modern German Literary Studies

Sweeeeeeeet.

Good Morning!

I have never really experienced spring before. I THOUGHT that I had in Seattle, but it turns out that for 20 years I've been missing out. Spring here in Germany is incredible. There are daffodils and random colorful flowers sprouting up everywhere, and I'm not able to tell whether they were planted there or whether Germany is just so cool that they just grow there of their own accord.

It has warmed up considerably in the past few days, and jackets are no longer necessary during the day. The Neckar has returned to its spring/summer alpine green color, the birds are constantly singing, and the trees are blooming. Even the stubborn tree outside my window, which has been naked of its foilage since late October, is getting in the game.


Waking up in the morning has been incredible. The sun is up by 6:30, and since I sleep with the window and the blinds open now, I wake up to the birds outside and the warm sunlight streaming in onto my pillow. Now I sit at my desk, looking at the trees as I write, and wondering how long the new Papyrus plant that I bought (see above) is going to live. What a great way to wake up. If this keeps up I just might become a morning person.

Home Away From Home

Yesterday evening Annette and I went for a walk through her neighborhood in a suburb of Stuttgart and we got to chatting about where we'd like to live eventually when our lives "get started." Annette is leaning toward living in Poland or some other country in the world, and I have to say that as we walked around in that neighborhood and I looked at the houses, I could pretty easily imagine myself living in a place like that in Germany for a long time.

The walk got me to thinking that I will probably end up moving to Germany for an indefinite period of time within 5 years of graduation, if not sooner. The funny thing is that there is such a sense of pride in me thinking about that. Part of the thrill of living in Europe, for me, is knowing that I am doing something that only a handful - if any - people in my high school graduating class have done or are capable of doing. I want to walk into my 10-year reunion and be able to say, "See? Look what I did. I've moved to a different continent, speak a different language, and live a totally different life than you can ever imagine. My life ROCKS!"

I dunno. In any case, I definitely feel the desire to live here in Europe for a long time. It's just way too cool to not do that.

The Test

I walked into the lecture hall, grateful that, at the very least, it was well-lit and had huge floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the street below and let plenty of the sunlight in from the cloudless, blue sky outside. Finding a seat toward the back of the auditorium, I took out my notebook and began ripping out pages to write on. Dictionary on the table, pen, paper, ready to go.

The tests were handed out. My heart dropped into my stomach when I saw that I had no idea what a few of the first questions where. I turned it over and looked at the essay prompts. It figured. All the stuff I HADN'T studied in detail was on here.

Scheiße.

For a few moments I honestly considered getting up and walking out of the auditorium. Why go through all the trouble of writing a test it was obvious I was going to fail again? But somehow reason won out and I stayed put. I started writing.

It was a shaky start but after a while I was writing furiously, calling up everything I could remember and writing a novel even though the prompt said to answer the questions "briefly." I didn't care. If he's going to ask me about Structural & Cohesion Funds, he's going to GET Structural & Cohesion Funds.

Midway through my right hand was begging for mercy and taking it by force by cramping up. I kept writing anyway. Almost done. I felt more confident. I was giving concrete, detailed examples for everything I wrote. The European Parliament's powers have been extended considerably through the Draft Constitutional Treaty, in that, should the Treaty be ratified by all member states, the EP will receive a codecision right extending far beyond its usual boundaries, for example, concerning the Transeuropean Networks . . .

Take that, prof. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Allllriiiiiight.

Down to the last sentence. The hand was screaming now. Aaaaaaaannnnnd.....period! Done! I slammed my pen down on the table with a crack that startled the people around me. I stood up, dizzy from the concentration and totally drained. Having worn my Arizona State t-shirt today, I was proclaiming my foreigner status to everyone in the room now staring at me. I didn't care. That's right, I'm from the United States, not the European Union. I betcha my Union could beat up your Union. ;-)

I threw the stack of papers at the proctor and ran out the door and into the bright, warm light. Spring is here and it's t-shirt time, baby.

It is finished.

If At First You Don't Succeed...Make A Last-Ditch Effort

T-minus 2.5 hours of studying left before I hit the sack and call it good for the second try at my European Union final exam. I'm taking my time and not rushing through any of the subject areas - this time, the policy is: knowing a lot about few things is far better than knowing next to nothing about a lot of things. I am strangely calm this time around - after all, I can only do better this time. Or the same. In any case, this can't hurt me. Well, actually, yes, it could, but only if I fail AND my petition to the German department gets turned down. Then I'm screwed. I'm hoping that's an unlikely conjunction.

Newbies

Spring semester is starting here in Tübingen soon, and we all know what that means: a fresh wave of exchange students from all over the world and especially from the United States. Yes, Tübingen is virtually swarming with "freshies" from the west side of the Atlantic. Most American exchange students that do study abroad for only a semester do it spring semester because it often lines up better with the Ameican university schedule.

Those of us that have been here in Tübingen since August have watched these newcomers with a combination of anxiety and hostility. We're not exactly proud of it, but we can't help but feel like this is our space and these new Americans wandering in are disturbing the peace of our quiet little town. I've done some thinking about this and laughing/talking about it with friends and I've come up with some reasons why we might have this attitude.

1) We instinctively and unconsciously look down upon the students only staying for a semester because they weren't man (woman) enough to take the plunge for a whole year like we have.
2) They remind us of how we were when we first arrived and that makes us sick to our stomachs, as we have now fully adjusted and, in large degree, assimilated into this new culture and lifestyle. They also remind us of the fact that, as much as we like to forget it, we are actually Americans at the end of the day.
3) They speak horrible German 90% of the time (we conveniently forget the fact here that we actually speak English with each other 99% of the time).
4) We want to protect "our turf."

Of course we'll be totally friendly with them and very likely end up good friends with a lot of them. It's just a weird reaction that we've all found ourselves inadvertendly experiencing with their arrival and we're all doing what we can to overcome it.

Yup, It's Here.

It's 11am, it's a warm 12 degrees celsius outside, the sun is shining, and I've got my window all the way open to let the fresh, warm air in. Yup, Spring is here. Finally!

Easter

I think this is the first Easter I've ever experienced where I didn't go to church. I woke up around 9:45 and spent the morning just sort of chilling in the room for a while. When I looked outside and saw it getting sunny, I decided to grab a book I've been working on ("The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God) and headed down to the Altstadt to enjoy the beautiful day and read.

I sat at an outdoor cafe and drank a cup of coffee and read. I read the chapter called "God The Agless Romancer." Check out this excerpt:

God creates man and woman and sets them in Paradise. How long had he been planning this? ... The first chapter of Ephesians gives a look into God's motives here:

Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son . . . Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had design on us for glorious living. [The Message]

God begins our courtship with a surprise. Taking the blindfold off, he turns us around and reveals his homemade wedding present. "Here," he says. "It's yours. Enjoy yourselfs. Do you like it? Take it for a spin." A lavish gift indeed.



Those paragraphs really spoke to me. Have you ever stepped back and looked at the world and considered the thought that it is for you? That it is a wedding gift made by your Creator for you? That it is an expression of his boundless, eternal love for you? Do you ever look at the sunset and get the feeling that it was made with you in mind? It is, and it's but a mere reflection of God's beauty and power.



I guess this Easter, for me, was less about the ressurection of Christ and more about the motive behind it -- about his gracious love for us, his romancing of us. We are the focus of his love. The God of the whole universe is totally wrapped up in us! All of creation is an expression of his love for us and a reflection of his glory. The crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ are manifestations of that love for you and I. We are so precious to him, so loved by him, that he sent his one and only son to die on a cross so that we could be reconciled with him. From the very first day of mankind's rejection of God in the Garden of Eden, God has been determined to win us back. And he promised that he would.

And on the third day after his crucifixion, Christ, the Son of God, fulfilled the promise of God's love to us when he arose and conquered the power of death, the power of sin. This is why we celebrate Easter -- a celebration of God's victory over death and separation and evil and the rebirth of us anew in him through his Son. We have been crucified with Christ. We die to ourselves and are reborn anew in him.

So today was a reminder of that for me. It was a reminder that when I look out at the world I must remember that it is an expression of his love for me. Most importantly, it is a reminder of just how far he was willing to go to win me back. As you look out at the sunset tonight, think about that. Listen for the voice of God as he takes off the blindfold, turns you around, unveils his gift to you, and whispers to your heart.

"Do you like it?"

VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

A new, amazing technology has just surfaced in a ground-breaking program now available on the Internet. It's called FutureFace. If you upload a photo of yourself to the program, it analyzes your facial features, and, using a top-secret and highly advanced techonolgy, reveals what your face will look like in 30 years.

I HAD to try this out. Of course, I decided to test it on my friend Erica's mug instead of my own, just for fun. The results are staggering:

Erica Now:


Erica 30 Years From Now:



My goodness.....it's.....it's as if we're being visited by the Erica of the Future!

Lazy Day

Today has been a lazy day. My brain, for good reason, has refused to function any earlier than tomorrow. Woke up around 9ish this morning, ate some Müsli, and then I settled in for a long morning/early afternoon of movie watching. After that it was time to stock up on groceries, so I got showered and dressed and raided the grocery store. I've not made a haul like that since....well, ever... It took me two trips to get it all.

Then I decided that it was time to clean out and re-organize my chaotic black hole of a kitchen cubbard. I took everything out, wiped it clean, and then put everything back in all nice and neat. Now the spices have a section, the jars and cans have a section, the oils and vinegars have a section, and the flours and sugars and pasta have a section. After doing that I felt really relaxed and like I'd accomplished something important with my day. Is it sick that I get such satisfaction from organizing a kitchen cubbard? I must be really anal.

Bureaucracy Exists In The States Too

We finally got our pre-registration requests back today. I got only half the classes I requested because for the others -- specifically, the most important ones -- I am "ineligible." This is impossible. I am in the system, I am a professional program student, and I need those fricking business core classes.

Grrrrrrrrrrr!!! I swear, sometimes ASU's bureaucracy is incredible. I guess that's what happens when you go to the biggest university in the nation.

It Is Finished.

What a fitting title for Good Friday. Anyway, the other thing that's finished is my term paper. I finished it this morning and emailed it to my prof. It is such a relief to have that done and the funny thing is that I've been told twice today that I look like I've had "a huge weight lifted off my shoulders" and that I'm just walking around really "erleichtert." Haha. Didn't realize I showed it that obviously when I am stressed!

Anyway the rest of the day is absolutely no work allowed day. Tomorrow will probably be a bit of studying for the test and some more recouping. Other cool thing: tomorrow is supposed to be 17 degrees!! (Celsius) That is going to be SO warm. I am looking forward to that. Then on Sunday is of course Easter.

So Close!

Just had to take a quick break from the Hausarbeit to post -- I'm almost done with research and outlining the final sections of the paper, then I just have to write those sections in, which shouldn't amount to more than 3 pages and is the easy part. So close! I'm estimating a completion time of around 7pm.

Real Quick

Back in Tübingen.
I may change the blog header and colors soon. The approaching spring seems to demand something a little more cheerful than the current layout.
Tomorrow is franctially-finish-the-paper day. All day. Here goes nothing.

The (Un)romantic Rhine

We're in the Rhine area now, in a small town called Bacharach. I stayed here with my aunt during our trip to Europe in 2001 and the town hasn't changed a bit. We are staying in an old, creaky, and freezing cold hotel with a big 1,000 year old tower. The grandparents have been on a boat tour most of the afternoon and I, having 'been there, done that' as far as the Rhine area goes, have been here at the hotel frantically working on my paper. The fact that my only access to the internet is this pathetically slow (windows) computer in the lobby is not helping. Research is impossible, and this is not only adding to my stress level but will very likely result in an early return to Tübingen tomorrow.

Here Goes Nothing

Well, I've decided to go for it and retake the final exam and finish the paper. For reason last night I got a surge of confidence and emailed the prof to the affirmative. I hope I survive.

Traveling with Grandparents Rocks

Okay, new update because this is way too cool not to update about. So we just had dinner downstairs in the hotel restaurant. My grandparents had filet mignon with a dessert of creme brulee and I had a wonderful free-range chicken that was just incredible with a dessert of key lime pie that finally defined the word "orgasmic" for me.

Then we went to the concierge to ask them if they could direct us to a car rental company in the area for our departure on Saturday (we are driving instead of going with the train). Not only did they recommend one -- they CALLED for us and got it all set up. And guess what we're driving to Hannover in?

A Mercedes C-Class, baby. Oh yeaaaaaaaaaah.
Including a GPS navigation system.

And now I sit here in this enormous room looking out these floor-to-ceiling windows at the beautiful nighttime skyline of Berlin.

I love this city!

Money Does, In Fact, Buy Happiness (Or At Least A Better Hotel Room)

So did I mention that my grandparents and I moved hotels? We're no longer in the dinky hotel way out in Berlin's boonies. We are now staying in -- get ready for this -- the Mariott hotel on POTSDAMER PLATZ. Freaking Potsdamer Platz! You can't GET much more central than that. It has been a looooooooong time since I've been in a hotel this nice (employees keep saying "Guten Tag" as we pass in the hall). check out my room:

Yeah, that's my room. As in, only mine. I have two double beds. I'm totally blown away.

But that's not the best part. From our 10th-floor rooms we have this view:



It seems that money does, in fact, buy happiness. Or at least a better hotel. We are SO much more comfortable here and of course we're on top of the subway station, so getting around is a snap. Lovin' it! This afternoon my grandparents took a bus tour around Berlin while I just sort of wandered...I've seen the city and all the sites so I just wanted to sort of get lost. Ended up at Alexanderplatz and also the Starbucks at Hackescher Höfe.

Grueße aus Berlin

Bad day. Not totally bad day, because it's been cool to show my grandparents around Berlin a bit, but bad enough. I guess I should start at the beginning though. So my grandparents and I have been on the road since Monday, we hit up Nürnberg for a couple of days and now we have just finished our first day in Germany's wonderful capital. This is my 3rd time back to Berlin and I love the city more each time. It was sort of an unorganized day, we arrived at 2pm and checked into our crappy hotel which was WAY too far from the U-bahn station (which is why we're changing hotels to the far-nicer and far-more-central Marriott on the Gendarmenmarkt tomorrow). After that we hit up Unter den Linden to see Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. Not much seen today but that's why we're here for another 2 full days.

So as you all know I've been working feverishly on this term paper for my EU policy class. 6 pages minimum on the EU's regional policy. I spent all 5 hours on the train to Berlin today typing that paper (in German) and got 4 pages written, including all the footnotes done. I was so proud of my productivity and for the first time was starting to relax a bit about the whole thing. You know that wonderful feeling you get when you know you've made some really great headway on a paper?

So after all our sightseeing today I finally got back online for the first time since Sunday night and checked my email. There was an email from my EU policy professor with the subject line, "Final Exam." The email was short and to the point.

You did not pass the final exam. If you wish to retake it, you may do so on April 20 at blah blah blah (I stopped reading here).

For those of you unfamiliar with the German educational system, I need BOTH the final exam and the term paper to receive a grade and credit for the class at ASU. Without that final exam, the paper is worth nothing. There is no chance of me passing the retake, since I'm getting back to Tübingen on the 13th from this trip and that leaves me only 7 days to prepare. For perspective, I spent over 3 weeks studying for the final the FIRST time around and I STILL didn't pass.

So this means no credits for European Union Policy and that the paper I've been slaving away on for 3 weeks is worthless.

I suppose that the silver lining to this cloud is that I no longer have to worry about writing the paper and that I am officially on my real semester break now. That, and I am now a totally unnecessary expert on regional policy in the EU.

If anyone needs me, I'll be at Pariser Strasse 40 in a dinky little hotel room lying on my bed with my iPod firmly planted in my ears and the soothing sounds of Coldplay swimming through my brain.

Oh Man

So the grandparents are in town for the next two weeks for their visit. Good times, it's been fun to show them around Tübingen the past couple of days. Tomorrow we are off on our 10-day tour of Germany. Paper: still not written. Outline: half written. Why am I so freaking tired? At 4pm today I was ready to collapse right on the floor. I can't remember the last time I was that tired at that time of the day! Back to laundry, packing, and maybe some paper-writing if the paper fairy shows up.