We stayed in a hotel in Aubervilles, a suburb of Paris. The Parisian suburbs are typically considered the "ghettos," or the less affluent areas. I was so excited and relieved to finally find a program that understands the value of staying somewhere other than the tourist traps, and I maintain that stance, even though a young woman I really like got her purse stolen as she got off the bus to return to the hotel. My roommate in Paris was born in Sri Lanka but moved to Amsterdam when she was 4. She is part of the Netherlands program, so I won't be seeing her again 'til June 5th, when all the country programs (the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland) return to Paris for the closing ceremony. I love meeting new people, but it's always a little rough for me when I get thrown together with folks for a couple of days, bond a lot, develop the beginnings of great friendships, and then realize that the future of our relationship is probably going to be diminished to a now-and-then facebook exchange. It seems like part of the focus of this trip is how to sustain transnational networking, so hopefully my fears won't be realized.
In Paris, we spent a lot of time focusing on the politics of memorialization and commemoration. The theme has carried over to the first part of the Berlin program. We have been focusing on how different themes and occurances in Berlin/German history are commemorated and memorialized. It fits that we began with the post-Holocaust German identity. From visiting a former concentration/labor camp to visiting the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe to visiting the Memorial Site for the Persecuted Homosexual Victims of National Socialism to meeting with a Holocaust Survivor to discussing how Holocaust education is and should be taught, both to "ethnically German" students and to students of "migrational backgrounds," it has been a whirlwind of a learning experience already. And that was a whirlwind of a run-on sentence, sorry people :)!
The best part of my experience thus far has been stumbling across the everyday differences between German culture and American culture. For example, in Germany, it is taboo to use the term "race" today. "Race" here implies a discourse on breeds and is underst00d as a dehumanizing term. It makes total sense that they would be so wary of the word, considering the history of the eugenics movement and the genocide linked to "racial purity" here, but my identity and my entire life is so based on the understanding that racial identity/ies and race dynamics are an inextricable part of American life. I have been raised with an understanding that discussing race is crucial to positively contributing to and participating in society. Instead of using the term "race," Germans say "ethnicity." This gets complicated, because Aryan people are referred to as "ethnically German," while everyone who is visibly "non-ethnically German" is labeled as someone "with/of a migration background."
Another word that they don't use is "leader," because Hitler was referred to as the "fuhrer," or "the leader." We have to do research projects in the last two weeks of the fellowship--we get to pick our own topics--and I'm seriously contemplating doing mine on taboo words in German culture. I'm really interested in studying how leadership development programs are limited or altered by the lack of mobility with vocabulary. How do you train someone to lead when you can not use the term "leader"? How does that impact young people's perceptions of what it means to be civically engaged?
On another note, Berlin is poppin' in terms of art. There is street art/graffiti EVERYWHERE, and I love it! The whole city has a really good vibe. Sometimes I get a little creeped out thinking about what went down on this land not many years ago, but I try to keep my head in the present. Part of what is so intense about HIA is our talks about how genocide could potentially happen anywhere, anytime. I wouldn't put it past the U.S. to be home to such an atrocity sometime in the not-so-distant future. CONSTANT VIGILANCE (any Harry Potter fans reading this?).
The train system is beautiful and so so easy to use. I'm staying in the Berlin suburbs, in Southern Berlin, in a gorgeous house with a host mother whom I adore. It's a 20 minute walk from her house to the S-Bahn (train) station. I got lost the first night trying to get home from the station, but since then I've become good friends with my walking route. We've been out a few times with the German fellows, the Americans, the Bosnians, and all of the Senior fellows who happen to be in Berlin. They really like hanging out with us, and I can tell already that I'm locked in to an amazing network of people working to change the world. Last night we all went out to a beer garten and then to a club. It was 'Balkan Beats' night, which apparently is the new hot thing in Berlin.
I had Doner Kebab, a Turkish-German lamb sandwich that's kinda like shwarma and that is so so cheap and available everywhere. That is one thing that keeps surprising me: the food in Berlin is sooo cheap! We had Moroccan food last night for 4 euros per person, and Indian food one of the first nights for about 7 euro per person. And you're not really expected to tip much here. It's beautiful. Apparently housing is ultra cheap, too. Sadly, my guess is that as Berlin gets more and more popular, this will change. Berlin has already shifted to popularity in Europe; apparently it's the hot-spot destination for most young Europeans.
I wish I had more profound reflections to share, but at the moment I am still digesting all that I've experienced thus far. When I've sat with it a bit longer, I'll share some more personal notes. For now, I hope this was a good run-down of my happenings.
Paz y amor,
L
The best part of my experience thus far has been stumbling across the everyday differences between German culture and American culture. For example, in Germany, it is taboo to use the term "race" today. "Race" here implies a discourse on breeds and is underst00d as a dehumanizing term. It makes total sense that they would be so wary of the word, considering the history of the eugenics movement and the genocide linked to "racial purity" here, but my identity and my entire life is so based on the understanding that racial identity/ies and race dynamics are an inextricable part of American life. I have been raised with an understanding that discussing race is crucial to positively contributing to and participating in society. Instead of using the term "race," Germans say "ethnicity." This gets complicated, because Aryan people are referred to as "ethnically German," while everyone who is visibly "non-ethnically German" is labeled as someone "with/of a migration background."
Another word that they don't use is "leader," because Hitler was referred to as the "fuhrer," or "the leader." We have to do research projects in the last two weeks of the fellowship--we get to pick our own topics--and I'm seriously contemplating doing mine on taboo words in German culture. I'm really interested in studying how leadership development programs are limited or altered by the lack of mobility with vocabulary. How do you train someone to lead when you can not use the term "leader"? How does that impact young people's perceptions of what it means to be civically engaged?
On another note, Berlin is poppin' in terms of art. There is street art/graffiti EVERYWHERE, and I love it! The whole city has a really good vibe. Sometimes I get a little creeped out thinking about what went down on this land not many years ago, but I try to keep my head in the present. Part of what is so intense about HIA is our talks about how genocide could potentially happen anywhere, anytime. I wouldn't put it past the U.S. to be home to such an atrocity sometime in the not-so-distant future. CONSTANT VIGILANCE (any Harry Potter fans reading this?).
The train system is beautiful and so so easy to use. I'm staying in the Berlin suburbs, in Southern Berlin, in a gorgeous house with a host mother whom I adore. It's a 20 minute walk from her house to the S-Bahn (train) station. I got lost the first night trying to get home from the station, but since then I've become good friends with my walking route. We've been out a few times with the German fellows, the Americans, the Bosnians, and all of the Senior fellows who happen to be in Berlin. They really like hanging out with us, and I can tell already that I'm locked in to an amazing network of people working to change the world. Last night we all went out to a beer garten and then to a club. It was 'Balkan Beats' night, which apparently is the new hot thing in Berlin.
I had Doner Kebab, a Turkish-German lamb sandwich that's kinda like shwarma and that is so so cheap and available everywhere. That is one thing that keeps surprising me: the food in Berlin is sooo cheap! We had Moroccan food last night for 4 euros per person, and Indian food one of the first nights for about 7 euro per person. And you're not really expected to tip much here. It's beautiful. Apparently housing is ultra cheap, too. Sadly, my guess is that as Berlin gets more and more popular, this will change. Berlin has already shifted to popularity in Europe; apparently it's the hot-spot destination for most young Europeans.
I wish I had more profound reflections to share, but at the moment I am still digesting all that I've experienced thus far. When I've sat with it a bit longer, I'll share some more personal notes. For now, I hope this was a good run-down of my happenings.
Paz y amor,
L
1 comment:
This sounds amazing... Can't wait to hear/learn more!
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