proof (that I have actually been learning things)

Hey guys. Since my brothers have been joking that I don't go to class and am learning absolutely nothing (both accusations are false and slanderous), I figured I'd talk about a guest speaker that I had in my Deutschland/EU in der internationalen Politik class yesterday (and prove once and for all that I am learning things). Our guest speaker  was a Finnish woman named, Teija Tiilikainen, and she is wicked awesome. She has had various jobs representing Finland in the EU's parliament, was the Finnish Secretary of State, and a head honcho at the University of Helsinki. Yesterday, she spoke to my lecture about the EU Identity, something that we had been covering (albeit in a slightly different capacity) in this class. 

Ms. Tiilikainen first discussed how the European Union as a collective identity/unitary actor came about. Then she moved on further to the way the EU acts in international politics. Namely, she made the argument that the EU is, in fact, more of a state-like actor than many politicians on a member state-level are willing to admit. To back up her assertions, she discussed the single monetary policy, interdependent economic policy,  and unified military actions. Furthermore, she went on to discuss how the EU emerging as a strong state could mean in terms of the global balance of power, and whether the EU could use its normative power (an area which Thomas Diez, my professor, has done much research into) to change that stage. Obviously, there are questions to be raised by her assertions, a few of which she covered. The few that I am remember are: the EU seems weak (especially compared with such superpowers as the USA) due to its limited military strength and heavy reliance on NATO and the whole Ukraine debacle. 

From an American perspective, this discussion is very interesting and kind of funny. For one thing, it brings me back to discussions I had in Doc Wend's AP US History course my junior year in high school: the Federalist debates. It's kind of funny to hear a debate, effectively, about Federalism in the 21st century, since, as an American, that seems like something that was handled so long ago in our hemisphere (but of course is still being rehashed). But the EU is, in some ways (and I am aware this is a bit of a stretch), going through what the US first went through after the revolutionary war. The difference, however, is that the countries in this union have been completely sovereign, separate states for far longer than the States back post-1783, and these separate states have far different historical experiences, cultures, values, political and economic landscapes, the list goes on. 

I wanted to asked Ms. Tiilikainen a question at the end of the lecture, but my European classmates instead wanted to attack the core of her argument, and I figured, since it is their supranational government we were talking about, they had more right (and were far more informed) to ask questions about the topic than I. However, I was still very curious as to her view how (if at all) the economic crisis has changed the development of EU state-like actordom or, at the core, the desire to be a unitary actor in the first place. 

So yes, there's my proof, family. Now Billy and Dobby can stop spreading their malicious rumors.

I don't have a skull...or bones

Hey guys. So I figure I'll try to keep in the habit of this whole blogging thing, because otherwise it will go by the wayside and that would just be sad. However, there's still very little to report. With finals rapidly approaching (I have two on February 10th), there hasn't been time to do too much of anything that resembles leaving Tübingen. I haven't left since I got back from London. Which is may be for the best. I travelled a lot there in late November and December. 

The Princess that Wouldn't Shut Up

In any case, I'll give you a round-up of my week. On Tuesday, we had an awesome lunch with Ute to make up for not having Kaffeestunde. She took us to an Indian lunch buffet, which was so delicious. Om nom nom. Also first time I had eaten Indian food since being here. Other than that, Tuesday was rather typical. I had a day-worth of classes and then conversation group with my little German high-schoolers. This time, we spoke English for the first hour and then went into German sort of. They also gave me a "Lilliput" Schwäbisch Dictionary, which is adorable. In case you don't know, Schwäbisch is the German dialect spoken in this region. While some of it just sounds like funny German (zum Beispiel: feeling, Gefühl = Gfiehl) , some words are not even close to being the same (stairs, Treppe = Schdaffla). For this reason, it can be very hard to understand people here some times. Not to mention that it's also difficult for Germans from other regions to understand the Schwaben. Afterwards, I hauled myself up to Wanne to watch Despicable Me 2 with Lasse, Lisa, Louise, Lucia, and Anna. How I had not seen it before Tuesday is a mystery to me, but it's totally adorable and oh my God, minions. Also Lasse gave us all really cute Norwegian-themed gifts. One part of which was a Norwegian chocolate bar that on the inside has a Norwegian fairy-tale. 

Baby's First Orchestra

Wednesday, as I am sure you gathered, was a weird day. But I went to class and then art class and almost finished my drum. I'll post a picture of it afterwards. I'm pretty proud of it. Also there are elephants on it. 

On Thursday, I did the whole early class nonsense and then went back home to nap and do some homework. I had to be back at the library at 4, however, to meet up with Tapani, Yasmine, and Anna to start going over our stuff for history (one of my exams which is on the 10th). Afterwards, Anna and I went up to Ficthenweg, where she did my nails (they look so cool) and we watched the Swan Princess. Then we went back down to meet up with Lasse and Marissa at Unckel, because we were being fancy and getting dinner before going to Lisa, Louise, and Hannah's orchestra concert in the Neue Aula. I wore a skirt and everything. It was weird. It was also my first orchestra, which was kind of cool. It was good. They played Bach, Schumann, and Schostakovich and then did a tribute to their conductor, because he was leaving, wherein they threw paper airplanes everywhere. So yeah, that was Thursday. 

Yühüüü

Then Friday. I spent most of Friday doing work, but at night, we had Laura's birthday party. Which was also a costume party. I decided to do the whole Rosie the Riveter thing, because 1. it's a super easy costume and 2. feminism is awesome. Unfortunately, I am not in possession of any pictures of my costume, but if they go up on Facebook I'll post one here. My friends, however, dressed up as characters from Frozen, and it was totally adorable. (Sidenote: if you haven't watched Frozen, you totally have to because it's the best thing ever.) (Sidenote to the sidenote: yes I am 20 and obsessed with this Disney movie. I accept any and all judgement.) And Yasmine dressed up as Sputnik, because we are Tufts kids and find that kind of thing hilarious and also because we have been studying for history for way too long. There was also some nonsense with putting make-up on Brian, which was hysterical and he looked fabulous. 

So yup, that's about it for my week. Not particularly exciting, but hey, I enjoyed it. In any case, time to do some more reading on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Wooohoooo! Bis später, dudes.

An Aside

So this blogpost is not about me or Germany or Europe or any of that, because sometimes things happen that are bigger than all of that. Yesterday, one of my former classmates at my elementary school, St. Frances Cabrini, was shot and killed at a shooting at his university. Andrew Boldt was one year older than I, only 21 years old, and studied engineering at Purdue. It would be disingenuous to try and claim closeness, but nevertheless my thoughts go out to his friends and family and our entire West Bend community. 

While I may not be studying in Ireland right now, I still think an Irish blessing is appropriate. 

May your troubles be less,

And your blessing be more.

And nothing but happiness,

Come through your door.

Rest in peace, Andrew.

let's go skin a crocodile

Hey gang. So because my family asked why I hadn't posted another blog, here it goes. Really, I haven't written anything because there is less than nothing to report. Quite literally the night after my polisci final, I started getting sick. Which was not great. However, this did mean that the picture to the right here was the story of my weekend. Netflix, tea, and soup, more specifically Maultaschen soup, which is quite yummy. Anyways, yeah, I spent my weekend lounging in my bed and watching way more of Once Upon a Time than is healthy. But it seemed more grown-up than marathoning with Disney movies. There was an exception when I pulled my sorry ass out of bed on Friday to eat burgers (Marlena is the best) and watch the other Tufts people play music. Other than that, lots of lounging and doing nothing. 

Anna und die Holztruhe Teil 7

Anna verließ den Großvaterbaum und ging zum Hügel. Dieser Hügel war nicht so groß, aber es gab viele Bäume und es war schwer für Anna, den Weg zu finden. Sie hörte etwas und sie dachte „was mache ich hier?“ Es war Nacht, aber sie kletterte weiter. „Ich muss in der Nähe sein.“

Und dann hörte sie etwas, etwas gefährliche. Die Männer des Prinzens. Sie wusste, dass diese Männer sie nicht sehen konnten, aber konnten sie die Holztruhe sehen? Was, wenn sie es vor ihr sahen? Sie rannte nach oben und war außer Atem. Sie fuhr fort.

„Wo ist dieses Mädchen?“ beklagte sich ein Ritter. Anna lächelte und fuhr noch weiter.

Und dann fand Anna eine Lichtung. „Hier“ flüsterte Anna. Sie hatte ein Gefühl, und ihr Ring begann zu vibrieren. Sie hörte immer noch die Ritter und sie waren sehr nah.

„Wo ist das“ fragte sie den Ring. Dann schritt sie nach links. Der Ring vibrierte weiter. Sie schritt nach links wieder. Der Ring vibrierte mehr und mehr. Dann trat sie etwas. Es war klein, nicht größer als ihre Faust, aber es ist aus Holz gemacht worden. Sie staunte, und dann öffnete sie die Holztruhe...

2+4; I'm gonna reduce our nuclear weapons

Hey! Look! I'm working!

Hey gang, so sorry that these blog posts keep getting less and less interesting, but unfortunately finals are upon us. I have my first on Wednesday. Ironically the first day of the second semester at Tufts. For this exam, I get to answer fun things, such as "was Germany a civilian power (Zivilmacht auf Deutsch, ich glaube, dass das besser geht) from 1945-1990?" or "what are Ian Manners' 5 methods of norm transfer?" Such fun. We'll see how the entire thing goes. Also did I mention this is my entire grade for this class. Lolerskates, why aren't I studying right now? 

Anyways, I am trying to think of other things that I have done that have been interesting in the past week or so. I guess I do have a mildly funny story. I was over at a friend's house playing card games, and I tried to walk across their living room, which is rather small and such that you don't have a terribly clear view of their floor. Their floor is also tricky in that it isn't all at one level. Part of it abruptly drops down about a foot. So I managed to completely eat shit on said floor. Which was absolutely hysterical and Max shall never let me forget it. 

This weekend was mostly studying with a mac n cheese (nomz, it was bacon and bbq mac n cheese) and hair-cutting party on Friday night, another Spanish dinner on Saturday night, and then dinner at my friend Lasse's on Sunday with delicious chicken and Norwegian Christmas cookies and Aquavit. Which sounds like I had a life or something, but really there was a lot of pre-Klausur hermitting. 

In other news, I have an internship for next semester with this group called Vivat Lingua, which is a language school in Tübingen. I'm going to be part of their English team. 

And then finally the fun stuff. After this blog goes through the "oh my God, finals" phase, it's going to get a lot more fun. Namely because it's going to be in the "TWO MONTHS OFF TIME TO TRAVEL" phase. Which means that this will get to be a fun little travel blog. Thus far, there are relatively concrete plans in the works for: a trip to northern Italy for Carnival, a week-long roadtrip around Eastern Europe (Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic as of right now), a trip to Belgium for my friend Louise's birthday, a trip to Ireland (Dublin and Galway) for Paddy's Day, and a trip to Norway to hang out with Lasse and go hiking. Furthermore there's been talk of trips to Switzerland, Spain, Scotland, and Sweden. (Weird, all S names.) But since there's two months, there may be even more in the works. So have faith, beloved blog-readers (if you exist, I like to think I have a loving public to talk to), this blog will cease to be about me dying of finals and other schoolwork very, very soon! 

So with that, I must say bis später for now. Studying and then sleep calls. And to all you Tufts kids, viel Spaß beim ersten Tag des Kurses! :)

Oh and here's a good ole' German grammar joke. So silly.

Diese Scheiße geht runter

Hey gang. So there's nothing much to report since the start of the New Year. Thus far, my New Year has been a lot of studying for my political science Klausur, which is in T-Minus 10-days. Wooooooo. Party! I actually went into the bowels of the library for the first time. (The library is split into 4 buildings connected by a hallway. I usually stay in the front two, but on Friday, I went to one of the back ones--the horror!) However, I have had some fun this weekend. Julius had two Tufts friends (Maggie Morrow and Kevin Stine) staying with him for the weekend, and Max came up to visit, because he moved down to Ravensburg (a city in Baden-Württemberg close to the Bodensee and the Swiss border) this weekend. So there was a bit of fun, feta mac n' cheese (nomz), and debauchery. Beyond that, today is a good day (despite the fact that the Packers lost last night--fucking 49ers) because everyone's getting back, and I've made some significant progress in my poli sci study-guide making. However, classes do start back up again tomorrow. Boo, no more sleep. :( So that's about it from my end. Bis später, Kinder. 

Some Musings on New Years Day

As the daylight hours of New Years Day dwindle here in Deutschland, I figured I'd post a wee bit about my New Years here in Tübingen and maybe get a little sappy. 

My New Years was an incredibly fun and rather American evening. All of the international kids of Deutsch Kompakt and all of my German friends were in their respective home towns, which pretty much left the American ex-pats to ring in the new year, which was perfectly fine with all of us. A group of roughly 15 of us met at Prinz Karl, where we had a classy-ish dinner. I guess as classy as the chicken parm I made (which went, gladly, went over well). Then after hanging out for a while and drinking some champagne, we made our way to the Österberg, which is a large hill with a big field on the eastern part of town. It also happened to have a fantastic view of the fireworks. So, in Europe, on New Years, everyone buys a bunch of fireworks and basically turns every single city into a war zone. On the Österberg, there were people lighting off fireworks every which way, that walking back up the hill from a lower part of it feels like you are walking through some kind of combat zone (not that I know what that feels like, but it's the best analogy I got). Then there were the fireworks coming from the city in the valley. It was everywhere and bright and colorful and constant. They went non-stop for at least a half an hour after midnight. It was the most incredible time. I didn't think I could like fireworks more, but Europe has proved me wrong. I wish I had taken pictures (I didn't wanna risk bringing my camera up there), but I'll post my friend's photos, once they go up on Facebook.

So that was pretty much my New Years Eve. However, because of it, there's always the inevitable reflection of the past year and resolutions for the year to come. 2013 has been absolutely incredible, from the hell-ish-in-terms-of-work semester that was second semester sophomore year or spending the summer with my friends at Tufts or these amazing past four months in Germany. I have done some stupid things, but I have also done some great things and met some incredible people, with whom I will hopefully always remain friends. However, looking forward is even better. I have another 7 incredible months to experience in Germany and a wonderful family (and we're including you in that family section, Dip, if you are reading this) to return to in Wisconsin and equally amazing friends (and one really adorable kitty) to return to in Boston. So with that, I'll end with some Tennyson, because why the hell not. 

“Hope

Smiles from the threshold of the year to come, 

Whispering 'it will be happier'...” 

So here's to 2014 and all of the craziness that will inevitably ensue.