The Thing About Germany Is...

After a long end-of-semester hiatus, and some uneventful post-semester recovery time, the blog is back.

"Grillenparty" with cathedral spires in background

There are a lot of things about Germany that still strike me as odd, in both good ways and bad. At the moment the thing about Germany is that the weather has been unbelievable the last couple of weeks, and for once I have had the time to enjoy it. The last two times I was in Germany for February and March, the weather was awful--snow and sub-zero temperatures blown in from the East on a bitter wind. Twenty minutes outside and your ears were burning. Not this year. The same weather phenomenon causing the polar vortex back east has also drawn the Atlantic jet stream south, causing all the systems that would normally come rolling across the North Sea into northern and central Europe to collide with the British Isles instead. So while they struggle with unrelenting floods, we have had almost three weeks of sunny days in the mid-50's. It was so warm last week that I even went to a BBQ on one of the islands in the Danube river. I say this whilst knocking on wood, because March is a treacherous month that likes to get your hopes up then hit you with a blizzard. Nonetheless, I say this hoping for an early Spring.

Some other things about Germany:

Cloudless skies in the late-afternoon

I've said it before and I'll say it again, German bureaucracy lives up to it's Kafkaesque stereotype. I recently was offered the position of research assistant at the university by one of my professors. The project sounded interesting and I figured it would be good for my resume and help my hone my research skills. My professor referred myself and a colleague to the link where we would get the list of required items for taking on the paid position. I found on the list eight different forms and even more other materials ranging from proof of enrollment and medical insurance to a birth certificate (thank God I brought mine with me). Among the forms I have to fill out is a fealty pledge to the German constitution which may conflict with the thousands of times I recited the Pledge of Allegiance in school. Even more laughable was a questionnaire concerning any involvement with Scientology. Unlike in America, Scientology is not given the status of a church, and is rightly regarded as being somewhere between a cult and a scam. I can't help but feel like the man from the country in Franz Kafka's parable "Before the Law." It is only two pages if you have never read it and here is a link to an English translation: Before the Law 

The other great exception to the stereotypes about Germanic formality and rigidity lies in Academia. Given, there are separate systems for registering for classes and registering for exams, and multiple systems for finding course reading, study questions, powerpoint presentations, and other course-related materials, but the academics themselves do not conform to the mold. The stereotype of the German academic as laid out by Winifred Hegert in his account of Americans studying in German universities in the late 19th century (because the American university system was till in its infancy and German universities were considered the best and most innovative in the world at the time) was that of a reclusive, almost hermetic personality who shunned society, hated social interactions with non-academics, and was utterly devoted to their field of study. While my professors have more personality than that, they continue to exercise a range of independence and self-determination that American professors would envy. The system as a whole is more flexible, it is very common for term papers not to be due at the end of the term but at the beginning of the next. It is possible to begin studying for a masters degree before turning in one's bachelors thesis. I would not want to suggest, however, that the standards are not high. Sure the German curriculum requires less of the individual on a weekly basis than the American student at a respectable college would expect, but projects and papers tend to be larger and longer, much more importance is placed on the study and discussion of theory (and the reading of tedious, jargon-filled papers on theory) and the onslaught of work at the end of the semester can be overwhelming.

Finally, as much as Germans, like most Europeans, like to complain that the Westernization of the world over the previous decades is really just an Americanization of it, they do like American crap. It is common for Europeans to say that America has no culture, at the very least no high culture, and that the importation of American popular music and fast food erodes their culture, but I don't hear any complaints when it's 2 AM and I find myself the only person not ordering a burger at McDonalds. If there were an In-N-Out or a taco truck in Regensburg that would be a different story of course. I hear bad American pop music in the gym, and see kids wearing T-shirts that say Venice Beach or sporting a Washington Redskin baseball cap. I tell people I am from Newport Beach, California and they respond with big eyes "Das OC?" in reference to a teen-soap opera that ended almost a decade ago.

Then one day while enjoying our unseasonably good weather and taking a long walk, I discovered the Regensburg Cowboy Club, est. 1960. There is was, on the outskirts of Regensburg, a faux town from the old west, complete with covered wagons, a saloon, and a Wells Fargo. No one was there at the time, but if they were I bet dollars to donuts they'd mess their britches if told them I was descended from actual stage-coach driving, Indian-fighting, roping, and wrangling pioneers and saw my adobe ranch house out at Warner Hot Springs. At the very least I will have to keep and eye out for some upcoming events, sounds like great blog-fodder to me.

This weekend I am meeting up with my wonderful cousin Lauren for a few days in Luxemburg where we will take in some light sightseeing, relaxation, but not opening up any tax shelters which is why most Germans go there. Thank you for taking the time to read and I promise to start writing on a regular basis again.