Magdeburg Day 20

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So, have a difficult time getting motivated to write in this journal -- which is likely because so much happens to me every day. In order to organize my thoughts, and so as to accomodate those who might be disinterested in certain portions of my experience, i.e. I won't hate you for not wanting to hear about the ancient ritual of German handshaking, I'm going to divide each entry into themes.

Kultur (Culture):

This is not necessarily related to culure, but it's a segue into what I'm about to say: Magdeburg is cold during the summer! I asked my director, Herr Joseph, how hot it gets in the summer, and his reply was about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The good thing is, I actually enjoy cold weather, but I'm a little sad about missing the clothing that accompanies hot weather, i.e. skirts and dresses.

Today, Magdeburg was 45 degrees (Fahrenheit)! Ludicrous. I only brought 2 pairs of pants, assuming that Magdeburg would be just as hot as Rome was in August or Munich in September. So, I gave in and bought 2 pairs of jeans at a store in the center. I know, I know -- woe is me, I *had* to buy some clothes. This is where I get to the culture part -- I absolutely love German fashion. When I studied abroad in Italy, I felt out of place constantly, in that Italians dressed like they were "going out" 24/7. In Magdeburg, on the other hand, they dress in almost the complete opposite way. I've almost never seen a woman with shorts on or a skirt above her knees.

While, yes, I enjoy wearing shorts every now and then, I like that I don't stand out as *the* Nebraskan everywhere I go. I had no idea how differently we dress in Nebraska as compared to states on the east coast until I studied abroad and lived with four girls from the east coast. Suddenly, I understand how eighty-percent of people in Nebraska have German heritage!

But seriously, I'm enjoying the fashion here -- maybe too much. Everybody dresses casually, and nobody looks like they're trying to out-do anybody. The jeans are the last items of clothing I'm buying (for a while)!

Sprache (Language):

At last, I feel like I've gotten over some kind of "hump" and am reaping the benefits of speaking German 24/7! You probably noticed in my first few entries that I was a bit frustrated, especially with Germans responding to me in English. I've realized that I need to concentrate primarily on my accent when I speak to strangers, employees in stores, servers, etc., in order for them to continue speaking German, and for me to be able to practice.

On my trip with Herr Joseph to Stendal this morning, we chatted the entire way, and I felt like I "proved" to him how much my German has improved. I found myself forgetting that I was speaking German and expressing exactly what I wanted to say -- without having to substitute words I wanted to say with words I actually know. While it doesn't seem that my vocabulary is much bigger than when I arrived, I know that it's expanding exponentially.

By chance, I stopped by a book sale in front of a store in the center and noticed a bin of books for 3.50euros. The first book I picked up was a feminist critique of Angela Merkel. Um, can somebody say "fate"? I bought it right away and plan on starting it tonight. Reading a book in German, especially one with useful vocab for work, should help my German a lot, a lot, a lot.

Freunden/Mitbewohneren (Friends/Rommates):

Fortunately, lots to report here! I haven't talked much about "Dani" in this journal, but she is one of the students, with whom I was originally going to live. In any case, I decided, "What the hell?" and emailed her, asking how I might go about finding people to hang out with in Magdeburg.

She responded and said that I'm more than welcome to hang out with her and her roommates, and that she'd let me know when they go out, so I can decided whether I want to join them. Turns out, they're awesome -- they invited me to grill on the Elbe river this weekend and to an "alternative" music concert next Thursday. I'm looking forward to it very, very much.

In even better news, Martin moved back into the apartment, and is actually quite cool. Last night, we biked around Magdeburg for a bit, then saw to Slumdog Millionaire at the theatre. I was reticent at first, because the movie had voice-overs and not English captions. I surprised myself, in that I understood everything! Even more impotantly, German voice-overs are hilarious. The voices are always a little too low -- and very much too awkward.

After the movie, we went to a bar less than a block away from the apartment for a beer. I had an Altenburger Pils, which is actually manufactured in Saxony-Anhalt -- and quite good, if I do say so myself. Also, I love how irrationally enormous the bottles of beer in Germany are; you definitely get your money's worth!

Even despite my interovertedness, I'm making a huge effort to talk to him as much as possible. The last thing I want is to feel like I missed out on Germany in some way or another.

Politik (Politics):

Always so much to report here, too! Where do I even begin?

As I mentioned in my last entry, I travel almost every day for my internship. Although the Committee meetings are interesting, so are the out-of-town meetings, with the added plus of being in a quaint German village.

On Wednesday, I accompanied one of the younger representatives to a meeting in Halle for the archaeological museum and a few other issues, i.e. integrating the disabled into the "normal" German school system. The museum was fascinating beyond words. Not only did we get a tour of the museum by its director, but the museum contained the remains of the oldest family ever discovered, among so many other fascinating artifacts! The family is (obviously) significant, and Halle hopes to make the museum a tourism hot-spot because of it.

The director also took us into the museum labs, or restoration area. It was so interesting to see the restoration process first-hand, not to mention artifacts that weren't on display in the museum.

Today (Thursday), I accompanied Herr Joseph to Stendal, where we met with the directors of the "technical school" (difficult to translate into English) of Saxony-Anhalt. The meeting was also interesting, except that the directors spoke at warp speed. Na ja, it was interesting to hear them talk about "rechtsextremismus," or right-wing extremism, among the student body. Fortunately, the Nazi Party isn't terribly popular in Saxony-Anhalt, thought it does have representatives in a few of the local (not regional) governments of Saxony. Yikes.

Also, I've started formulating potential topics for the Fulbright and thesis. I have an interesting idea for the thesis, which requires fieldwork that I could (tenably) conduct. I need to run it past somebody first.

Ach, although I'd love to elaborate on the "politics" section more, I'm incredibly exhausted. I'll start with the politics section first in the next entry, with the hope that I won't summarize quite as much!

The take-home point: I love my life in Magdeburg! Life is good.

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