July 8 and 9 -- Daily Diary

Posted by: Karinne Sandstrom

July 8

'Twas the night before presentations and all through the hostel, groups were meeting one final time. But before the flurry of Power Points and practicing, the day proved to be a very eventful one. 

We had the wonderful opportunity to meet an artist, Catherine, and learn about her background as an immigrant to Berlin. She has lived in four different places, each having an influence on her art. While she studied art in Finland, Catherine did a lot of activist art, such as working with others to hang plastic bottles in a city center to make citizens aware of water waste. At times during her discussion with us, her raw vulnerability matched the experiences she had being a “foreigner” in a country. 

One thing I found interesting about the talk with her is that because of her experiences moving around, Catherine considered herself a European and not any particular nationality of a country. This is an interesting identity formation, one that I have never really considered. I think of myself as an American from California, but not really a Californian or North American for that matter… so it’s hard to draw parallels with someone who identifies herself with an entire continent. Although Catherine did say that the European Union does make moving around a lot easier, there were certain instances in which she felt discriminated against. Overall, she was a truly brave individual with an interesting background that helped provide the group with another perspective on identity formation.

Before the meeting with Catherine, some of the group members and I went to visit the Neuss museum on Museum Island. While it was intriguing to see ancient Egyptian and Roman artifacts (my favorite was the jewelry pieces and coffins), I find it extraordinarily odd that this place in Berlin has all of these historical and valuable artifacts. At what point do we as societies take ownership of the past and who has the right to present this past to others? We all felt after visiting that it is a very colonialistic mindset to have this museum on display, but at the same time feeling that the U.S. has taken similar ownership to things not exactly “owned” by the country. Despite our moral dilemmas with the way in which past meets the present, it was a cool museum and seeing extremely old artifacts dating back to 3000 B.C. is pretty mind boggling.

July 9

I have the lucky opportunity to blog about presentation day. While it was definitely frightening to walk into Humboldt’s Senate Room and see rows and rows of chairs in addition to a stage with a podium, I am thankful for this opportunity to have our presentations in such a historical place. 

Despite some technical difficulties, the presentations went off without a hitch. My group presented first and I thought all of us did a nice job showing the evolution of our projects and how we came to our conclusions at this moment in time. I felt myself relax as I began to unfold my own presentation. It is nice to share with a group of academics your own personal frustrations with arriving at knowledge because in more ways than not, every person on the study abroad ran into the same types of issues. What matters most from all these presentations is that we are reflecting and continuing to ask questions that dive further into the program themes as well as our own personal attachments here in Berlin. I enjoy how everyone has a truly unique approach to their research and am excited to hear how everyone’s projects go beyond our time in Germany.

As we head into a three-day weekend, I am looking forward to a trip to Poland and then heading to Jena with the group! I can’t believe how fast this trip has gone. 

Auf Wiedersehen for now!

Presentations at Humboldt Universitat, Senate Room, July 9

“Reenacting German and American Identities”

Summer 2015

Research Presentation Colloquia, Thursday, July 9, 2015

14:30-17:30 (2:30-5:30 p.m)

Senate Hall, Humboldt University

Student Presentations: a dialogic colloquia showcasing student research in progress

Description of Program:

This summer program, a collaboration between the University of Washington, Seattle (Honors Interdisciplinary and College of Education) and Humboldt and Jena Universitats (American Studies Departments) has a focus on identity politics and identify formation, individual, cultural, national, and what is involved in this production in Berlin, Germany and comparatively in Seattle, U.S.A. The program uses a comparative interdisciplinary model to learn about topics including:

·      Identity and Environment

·      Identity Migration and Education

·      Borders and Frontiers specifically: Refugee and migration movements in both Germany and U.S. and also East and West Germany identity complexities

·      Identity and the Arts/Historical Artifacts

Students will continue to work on their project write ups through August while back in Seattle, posting their final write ups to their blogs, located on the program blog.  You may find more information here: http://germanyhonorsuweduc.blogspot.de

Afternoon Presentation Schedule

·      Each student will present for approximately 7 minutes with a 5-minute group introduction before individual presentations.

·      Discussion will follow each presentation and time is allotted for discussion in between groups and at the end of the colloquia.

Welcome!

Student Presentations

(time for discussion after each presentation)

Memorialization and its effects on national and urban identities

Yu Hou--Nazi Germany architecture and changes since 1945

Natalie Hillerson--Pride and Sacrifice: War Memorialization and National Identity in the United States and Germany

Anna von Ravensberg—The Identification of Memorialization and Art

Jasmine Kim -- A Country Divided: The Effect of East and West Memorialization on German Identity

Immigrants and Society: Education, Economics, and Politics 

Lindsey Trimmer – EU and Immigration in Germany

Anna Gallagher –The Difference in Heads: Diversity in German Classrooms

Reem Sabha-- Identity Economics: College Major and Identity

Karinne Sandstrom –American identity in Foreign Context

Betty Gao -- Employment Situations for People with Migration Backgrounds in Germany

The Human Medium: Identity in News Media, Film, and Theater

Hannah Lewis -- Narratives and Impacts Surrounding Islam in German News Media  

Mira Naidoo -- The Eyes of Others: The Emergence of Immigrant Perspectives in German Cinema 

Kendra Ferrier -- Political Theater: Advocating for Equal Rights and Opportunities 

Roujia Wang-- -Self Expressions of Ethnic Minorities in Germany through Stage Performance.

Formation of Identity and Minority Identity through street art and social media 

Michaila Forte-- Street Art: the Relevancy of Identity 

Yi Shi--To what extend should Berlin, Kreuzberg develop while not losing its identity?"

Emerson Matson--The Internet Culture: Demographic Formation of Cultural Identity in Social Media

Thank you, wrap up. Drinks and snacks and more discussion.

Neukölln

Daily Diary Days 21 & 22

June 6^th, 2015:

After a sweltering weekend (one hundred degrees on Saturday and Sunday—ouch!), I was glad that it was only eighty-one degrees today, which meant that I could venture outside the reach of a fan. I started off with a walk around Kreuzberg after breakfast, then, donning a new hat that I had bought in the heat of the moment (haha), I decided to go on an abenteuer (adventure).

I took the U12 and the U5 to Alexanderplatz (love the U-Bahn, always on time!), but instead of venturing into Alexanderplatz’s vast shopping district, I headed to the opposite direction and wandered around the older parts—“old Mitte.” I saw the old palace, some old churches (dating back to the late 1600s) and the rathaus (town hall). The area had a very medieval aesthetic to it, and was quieter than some of the other parts of Alexanderplatz. There was also another reason for wandering around Alexanderplatz: finding Marx and Engels. I had gone with Mira and Kendra last week to find the giant statues of these historic beings, but nobody we asked seemed to know where they could possibly be. Some people even went as far as to claim that they didn’t exist. It was an extremely victorious moment when I stumbled upon Marx and Engels, and after patiently waiting in the queue for a photo, I had proof of their existence.

I ate a sandwich on the U-Bahn to Friederichstrase, then switched to the U2 to get to Oranienburgstrase. Here, I went to the Neues Synagoge—the “New Synagoge.” It isn’t really new; it has just been rebuilt recently after being destroyed. I went inside the synagogue and walked up to the dome, where I had a pretty decent view of Berlin. The outside of the synagogue was spectacular: the domes were encrusted in gold plating.

Afterwards, I headed back to Friederichstrase where I ate a persimmon for a snack. This is extremely significant for the sole reason that persimmons are usually only available in the United States from October to early December. THEN THERE ARE NO MORE PERSIMMONS. And I become a very sad person because persimmons are my favorite food. You can only imagine my surprise and gastronomical delight to find out that in Berlin, persimmons can often be found at Kaiser’s or at U-Bahn grocery stores in the middle of summer.

Persimmons were not the sole reason for going back to Friederichstrase: I went to Humboldt University and sat in on Professor Klepper’s American History course. The lecture was about the Civil Rights movement, and it was fascinating to see both the students’ reactions to the injustices African-Americans faced and to see the differences in how classes are conducted between Humboldt and the University of Washington. Professor Klepper showed excerpts from the PBS documentary “Eyes on the Prize,” and I could see many students shaking their heads and looking very disturbed at the footage of African-Americans being denied services or brutally attacked by the police. I wondered what they thought of Americans after learning about this: were they shocked? Relieved that Germany never had Jim Crow Laws?

I was very surprised at the atmosphere in the classroom. First of all, most of the students arrived fifteen to twenty minutes late. I cannot think of a single professor at UW who would be alright with this. Many of the students talked to each other instead of listening to the lecture, even though it was a small classroom (twenty-five or so students).  Some of the students would make comments in very authoritative tones—there was less hesitancy, less hedging. I was taken aback by the abruptness of some of the students’ comments. I had also expected the students to be more engaged (or at least on-time). One highlight from the course was meeting a girl who had done a yearlong exchange to the United States while in high school. Of all places, she had ended up in Camas, Washington, which is a small town right next to Vancouver, Washington, where I hail from (to be exact, my house is a five minute drive to the ‘official’ Camas boundary). It’s a small world after all!

After the course, I headed back to Kreuzberg, bought some fresh fruit and vegetables, dropped stuff off at the hostel, and then headed to the Badeschiff (swimming area on the Spree). We were meeting up with Manka and her kids for a final “hang-out.” Juice drinks in hand, we played hangman in the sand and enjoyed being near the water. Some people decided to swim, but a few of us headed back to the hostel and then ventured out for dinner. A group of three other girls and I had a somewhat overpriced meal at a restaurant near the hostel and then got some ice cream/sorbet pops. After a busy and adventuresome day, it was now time for a cool shower and getting work done (research project and readings for our trip to Jena).

July 7^th, 2015:

Today was HOT, although not as bad as last weekend (I doubt anything could be worse than last weekend). After breakfast, I had planned on exploring Berlin before the heat set in, but back in my room, I flopped on the bed and slept for another hour. Oops.

I ventured to Humboldt in order to conduct more research. I interviewed six more students and Professor Isensee from the American Studies department. The students I interviewed included:

-A girl from Italy studying in Germany because “Italy does not put instruction or education in first place.”

-A guy studying German language who told me that “In Germany, we say at the end of studying the German language that you’ll end up a taxi driver.”

-A guy studying history who was very interested in my research project and talked to me far longer than anybody else.

-A girl from China on a yearlong exchange in Germany.

-A girl studying dance science. I didn’t even know that was a thing.

-A guy studying American Studies, who had gone back to school as an adult (he was 33 years old).

Many of the students, when asked if they cared about making a lot of money after graduating, told me that they didn’t because of the “new lifestyle.” I asked Professor Isensee if this was actually legitimate, and he told me that among the younger generation, it is more popular to have a vocation that will allow give you more free time. The “American Dream” is being replaced by a “European Dream.” According to Professor Isensee, “Americans live to work. Europeans work to live.”

Maybe I ought to follow the “European Dream”—here I am, at a café, furiously typing away! Oh well, alles gut! And tomorrow is only supposed to be in the low seventies (with a chance of rain!). I think I might head back to the Lindt store tomorrow to celebrate a return to tolerable temperatures. Tschuss. 

Lindt chocolates. Yum. 

Saturday, July 4^th – Day 19 in Berlin

Complaining about the weather seems to be the running theme of the week, and I am not one to break with tradition. So, as the temperature climbed into the high 90s/low 100s, sticking to U-Bahn seats became a real problem, ice cream an acceptable meal substitute, and air conditioning a sought-after luxury.

On Saturday, some of us managed to brave the heat and head out to Schlachtensee and Wansee, a couple of lakes just southwest of Berlin. While some of the U-Bahn trip and the walk to find a shady spot on the shore was nearly unbearable, the scenery was beautiful. Locals and tourists alike were out enjoying the day in boats, swimming around, or biking around the lake. The better outfitted among us took a dip in the water, making the acquaintance of some friendly fish and the occasional giant floating beetle. It almost felt like a quintessential Fourth of July celebration (by the way, Happy Fourth!). Without the weeklong lead in of sale promotions, shady firework dealings, and patriotically printed napkins, it nearly slipped my mind. Still, we managed to get a little more traditional with a dinner of burgers and fries. Go USA.

Sunday, July 5^th – Day 20 in Berlin

This Sunday was projected to be the hottest day during our time in Berlin, and it most certainly lived up to expectations. After planning on spending the day hiding from the sun, I joined a group ventured to Mauerpark in Prenzlauerberg for the weekly flea market. We were dripping with sweat, and I maintain that if I were less sun-dazed I would have made fewer impulse purchases, but the day was enjoyable nonetheless. Much like the lakes, the Flohmarkt seemed to draw a bunch of tourists. The vendors were also equally diverse, and I heard many different languages during our walk through the stalls. If you’re looking to purchase anything from handmade jewelry and antique furniture, to bottle caps and some random’s beat up old Converse, the Mauerpark Flohmarkt is your best bet.

An aside to round off the weekend of heat-induced madness: we are 110% sure we saw Michael Cera, of Juno fame, at the flea market. After some initial stalking, and a quick powwow with a group of British girls who had the same idea, we knew it was him. The bravest of souls, Natalie, managed to say “hi” to him as we casually walked by, to which he gave the shortest, most annoyed “hi” back and speed walked in the opposite direction. That happened.

I'm Melting Over Here | July 2nd and 3rd

Might as well cook me up and fry me. I was beginning to enjoy the nice cloudy, rainy, Seattle-esque weather that was becoming the norm here in Berlin during the beginning of the program. It's really one of those things where when it was rainy and cloudy you wished it was sunny but here we are nearing 100 degrees in this dry, scorching weather. Now we wish it was ice cold and snowing. Preferably while we're stilling wearing our t-shirts and shorts so we can bathe in the melting ice a bit.

On July 2nd, we had some class time but a lot of time to pursue our projects. Since my particular project involves me analyzing lots of data that I have collected on the laptop, I get to enjoy the nice weather in solace out here in the courtyard of the hostel. However, towards the evening I got ready to attend a pretty cool event that Humboldt University holds a few weeks before the ending of their second semester. It is the summer festival where you can enjoy bratwursts, delicious smoothies for pretty cheap, and some amazing Belgium waffles (I'm still drooling over them over here). Not only that, we got to see a pretty fantastic trapeze artist perform right in front of our eyes. Although it was a bit... hard to watch sometimes (as in I was so worried for her safety, but she performed everything perfectly and didn't fall).

One of the most amazing times I've had here in Berlin is what follows. After the sun went down and we had some time to relax in our hostel after a pretty long, dreary day (the sun really sucks out all your energy) we grabbed some drinks and headed to the river. We let our feet hang over the walls holding back the massive river, and enjoyed the fantastic view of the Berlin skyline. Although it still can't compete with the Seattle skyline, we sat and talked about our experiences till the early morning hours, enjoying every minute of it. What better way to close out a long day than to spend it with some amazing people all accompanied by an amazing view. We even had some Berliner friends sitting nearby on each side to enjoy the view along with us.

July 3rd made me realize how hot it really is outside. We really spent pretty much the whole day outdoors in the sun and I came back to the hostel pretty much drenched. This day I really wanted to explore Alexanderplatz (the shopping district) in its full entirety. Although the mission was relatively impossible and still was not accomplished, a lot of ground was covered. You really don't realize how huge shopping malls and department stores can be until you've visited this place. You really could spend the whole day in a single shopping mall and still have lots more to visit around the area. Although, sadly, I did not leave with any purchases, it was really intriguing to see the fashion that is available and popular in Europe. Items such as long, thin t-shirts, knee length pants, and really low-cut sneakers were pretty much in every store and worn by every person. Afterwards, we headed to the Zoologischer Garden Street stop for the U-Bahn and explored the area while some people in the group had to go to the Apple Store to get their computer fixed. One of the places visited served the most amazing Gelato in a cone with the shape of a flower. (Which reminds me, lemon mint flavored Gelato has to be one of the most amazing flavors ever)

By this time we were tired and exhausted. The sun was even hotter than the previous day and it didn't help that we were standing around and walking the whole time. (Most of the time getting lost in the area, trying to find our way around the confusing streets with the friendly help of locals) We went back to Kreuzberg and searched for a place to eat. We still have to take a look at every restaurant that is relatively close to the hostel and we decided to take a chance with a Thai place that was nearby. Thai seems to be a popular type of restaurant here in Berlin, you really can't go far without seeing a Thai restaurant or two. The best part is that they are really good and you can't really go wrong anywhere. What is interesting, however, is that these Thai restaurants have a wildly different style than we are used to seeing in Seattle. This isn't necessarily bad, but it was an interesting observation to take note of.

This was an amazing two days in the program and inspired me to get some lighter clothing for the upcoming scorching sunny weather.

Day 15 and 16

Day 15:

Hello from ever warming to Berlin !! These past few days we have finally begun to see some sun and it feels like summer! Our Tuesday morning started out with class at Humboldt lead by Dr. Viola Georgi. She is a professor here in Germany did a lot of research does on the German educational system and how the migration background of many students Affects Their experience in the classroom. It was interesting to hear the perspective of someone who does research on the German education system and is really trying to change it, so did it benefits all students.

In the afternoon we met with Monique Messique-Muller who is in charge of a neighborhood association in Kreuzberg where we are staying. The story of the association was incredible and it gave a little insight as to why Kreuzberg is seeking a diverse and lively neighborhood.

Day 16:

Wednesday morning we went and talked to two people that work for at organization called Young Islam Conference. They work with youth and politicians in Germany as well as other Organizations to create an open dialogue about the discriminations towards Muslims in the country. One of Their goals is to inspire young people, thosethat practice Islam and thosethat do not, to talk about and educate others about issues Further That Muslims face in Germany. I found the presentation to be very interesting and the Work That the organization does to be inspiring.

In the afternoon we had class with Reinhard Insensee, an American Studies professor at Humboldt. He talked to us about higher education in the United States and Germany. We Discussed different aspects of earning a postsecondary degree and the priorities did influence them. Professor Isensee used a different lecture style then most of us are used to. He did not use a powerpoint and it was a very open dialogue. It was very engaging and we all enjoyed it.      

So far in the program it has been a bit of a tradition for some of us to go to a bar close to our hostel, Madame Claude's, and play music trivia on Wednesday nights. We happened upon it our second night here and had a great time. The second week our performance as a team Which much more impressive, so we went into this week ready to win. We were thoroughly disappointed When we got there. We did not know many of the songs and the person running the game Which not very engaging and needless to say, we were not even close to winning. We were sad indeed are trivia night was not what we had photoshoped, but we will be back next week to enjoy our last Wednesday in Berlin!