Hey, I actually did something for my new job. I was pretty excited about this. They asked me to do something professor-like; like, to evaluate something based on my expertise!
They asked the faculty email list to say which journal subscriptions the cash-strapped library should not cancel.
This required me to dig deep, really deep, into my extensive training, in order to say that no, our library should not cancel its subscription to Central European History.
I developed this process:
Ask self: Have you, or anyone you know, ever read, or felt like you/they ought to read, any article in any of the journals in question?
Example: Slavic Review--hmm, I think so-and-so had an issue of that kicking around his office--we better not cancel that one.
Task dispatched with aplomb!
In related news, recent nightmares include:
I'm in some seminar (as a participant) and a guy on the hiring committee walks in and sits in the back of the room. Then I realize that instead of pants, I'm wearing a bath towel.
I go into my first day of class and the students are so rowdy that I can't even say, "Hi, my name is..." and have to call security to have one particularly uncooperative girl dragged away. Oh, and I on top of it, I haven't finished writing the syllabus.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
In the big time now
Hey reader, check it out--I got my picture taken in front of something that there's a picture of in Making of the West.
The MOW is the textbook that taught me everything I know about European history.
MOW is the one constant and reliable support in grad student life and is therefore beloved. When asked in job interviews how I would teach a survey class: "Well, I would assign MOW..." Some grad-student-taught summer courses are actually (semi) dramatic readings of the MOW.
The MOW is the textbook that taught me everything I know about European history.
MOW is the one constant and reliable support in grad student life and is therefore beloved. When asked in job interviews how I would teach a survey class: "Well, I would assign MOW..." Some grad-student-taught summer courses are actually (semi) dramatic readings of the MOW.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Queen of Pickles
Deep in the marshes east of Berlin lies an ancient land, er, forgotten by time, where people travel by barge from farm to farm, a former hot-spot of East German tourism (the "Venice of Germany") where the mail is delivered by punt and members of an ethnic/cultural minority (the Sorbs) won fame for their pickle recipes: the Spreewald.
I have wanted to go here for a long, long time, but no one else wanted to go--until CC! [Birds chirping, puppies frolicking, flute music.]
(Picture: we rented a canoe and paddled around. Sadly my camera ran out of batteries.)
By canoe, we reached a village beer garden and the Pickle Museum. The Pickle Museum underwhelmed (until, at the end and after trying unsuccessfully to talk us into buying sausages, they gave us those same sausages for free.) But, at the Pickle Museum, I found out about the Queen of Pickles Pageant.
Each year, ladies of the Spreewald dress in traditional costumes, fix up a basket of pickles according to an original recipe, embody Spreewald culture, and arrive by barge to be judged by one old man and two old ladies. The winner is crowned Queen of Pickles.
The Sorbs of the Spreewald endured some harassment by the Nazi regime, which wanted them to stop speaking their dialect, etc. Under the communist East Germany, flocks of tourists included a friend of mine who went for a day. Her family lived in West Germany. When West Germans went into the East, they had to buy 25 Marks worth of East German money. They weren't allowed to take any back with them--they had to spend it all in the DDR. My friend said the canoe rental cost them 1 Mark, and at the end of the day her dad was left with like 20 M, which he had to get rid of. So he tipped the woman selling french fries 20 M. This was apparently very embarrassing for my friend because the french fry seller took offense.
(Picture: mail delivery by punt)
(About the french fry story: me being an American*, I was like, "Why was she offended? Hey, free money!" My friend was like, 'well it's like, you big rich West Germans come and eat our pickles, and lord it over us, you think you're so great, etc.')
*Read: insensitive
I have wanted to go here for a long, long time, but no one else wanted to go--until CC! [Birds chirping, puppies frolicking, flute music.]
(Picture: we rented a canoe and paddled around. Sadly my camera ran out of batteries.)
By canoe, we reached a village beer garden and the Pickle Museum. The Pickle Museum underwhelmed (until, at the end and after trying unsuccessfully to talk us into buying sausages, they gave us those same sausages for free.) But, at the Pickle Museum, I found out about the Queen of Pickles Pageant.
Each year, ladies of the Spreewald dress in traditional costumes, fix up a basket of pickles according to an original recipe, embody Spreewald culture, and arrive by barge to be judged by one old man and two old ladies. The winner is crowned Queen of Pickles.
The Sorbs of the Spreewald endured some harassment by the Nazi regime, which wanted them to stop speaking their dialect, etc. Under the communist East Germany, flocks of tourists included a friend of mine who went for a day. Her family lived in West Germany. When West Germans went into the East, they had to buy 25 Marks worth of East German money. They weren't allowed to take any back with them--they had to spend it all in the DDR. My friend said the canoe rental cost them 1 Mark, and at the end of the day her dad was left with like 20 M, which he had to get rid of. So he tipped the woman selling french fries 20 M. This was apparently very embarrassing for my friend because the french fry seller took offense.
(Picture: mail delivery by punt)
(About the french fry story: me being an American*, I was like, "Why was she offended? Hey, free money!" My friend was like, 'well it's like, you big rich West Germans come and eat our pickles, and lord it over us, you think you're so great, etc.')
*Read: insensitive
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Tourism at the Revolution
This is about my May 1 adventures, which happened about a week ago.
The First of May or International Worker's Day is a big left/socialist/communist holiday around here. It was a big day for the good old German Social Democrats (SPD), who, I want to note, are a mainstream political party, one of the nation's largest, who put on a well-attended street fair with free concerts, Turkish food, and a booth where you could write an answer to: "Why are you celebrating the 1 of May?" People wrote: "Because I love vacation!" and "Because I want free childcare!"
Right, so before I get to the riot: the socialists around here come in many varieties.
The First of May is maybe the biggest day of the year for rioting by the anti-fascist left--the German Communist Party (Yes, they're still around!), Antifascist Action, those folks. The anti-neo Nazi punks. Who, as I found out, seem to be mostly under the age of 17.
They kicked things off with a march, which I filmed! (Below.) The anti fascism march, as you can maybe tell from the video, seemed from the outset to be organized in anticipation of violent clashes with the Berlin police, who showed up in their usual large numbers and also in full riot gear (sort of like football pads, with a motorcycle helmet). The anti fascist kids wear all black, black hoods and sunglasses (apparently the police photograph them and try to arrest them later). Some seemed to be wearing multiple sweatshirts, for extra padding.
This was all somewhat out of tune with the democratic socialism street fair taking place in the same neighborhood (Kreuzberg). On the sidewalk with me as I filmed the passing demo were street-fair goers, one of whom was sipping a mojito. An antifascist teenager in all black ran by us, shouted something like "down with capitalism!", and knocked her mojito out of her hand.
She was like, "Hey, my mojito."
I guess I left before things got real lively. The next day the overly conservative newspapers proclaimed it the worst 1 May riots in years, with hundreds of police officers injured (injured anti fascists didn't make the newspaper headlines.) But they were gearing up to proclaim it the worse 1 May riots in years the day before. And having police in riot gear there from the get-go doesn't help things, right?
I did see one dumpster that'd been set on fire. I stopped to take this picture of it:
As I was lining up to take this picture, a little boy rode past me on a bike. I tried to get him in the picture too, but as I was focusing, the fire in the dumpster caught his attention and he wiped out, flipping over his handlebars and landing in the middle of the street. I ended up with a picture of this, too:
The boy got up and ran toward the fire--I guess it was in his apartment building, which may be why he wiped out on his bike when he saw it. He stood and watched the ambulance crew drag the dumpster into the street, where it burned.
This made me feel sad about the whole demo.
The First of May or International Worker's Day is a big left/socialist/communist holiday around here. It was a big day for the good old German Social Democrats (SPD), who, I want to note, are a mainstream political party, one of the nation's largest, who put on a well-attended street fair with free concerts, Turkish food, and a booth where you could write an answer to: "Why are you celebrating the 1 of May?" People wrote: "Because I love vacation!" and "Because I want free childcare!"
Right, so before I get to the riot: the socialists around here come in many varieties.
The First of May is maybe the biggest day of the year for rioting by the anti-fascist left--the German Communist Party (Yes, they're still around!), Antifascist Action, those folks. The anti-neo Nazi punks. Who, as I found out, seem to be mostly under the age of 17.
They kicked things off with a march, which I filmed! (Below.) The anti fascism march, as you can maybe tell from the video, seemed from the outset to be organized in anticipation of violent clashes with the Berlin police, who showed up in their usual large numbers and also in full riot gear (sort of like football pads, with a motorcycle helmet). The anti fascist kids wear all black, black hoods and sunglasses (apparently the police photograph them and try to arrest them later). Some seemed to be wearing multiple sweatshirts, for extra padding.
This was all somewhat out of tune with the democratic socialism street fair taking place in the same neighborhood (Kreuzberg). On the sidewalk with me as I filmed the passing demo were street-fair goers, one of whom was sipping a mojito. An antifascist teenager in all black ran by us, shouted something like "down with capitalism!", and knocked her mojito out of her hand.
She was like, "Hey, my mojito."
I guess I left before things got real lively. The next day the overly conservative newspapers proclaimed it the worst 1 May riots in years, with hundreds of police officers injured (injured anti fascists didn't make the newspaper headlines.) But they were gearing up to proclaim it the worse 1 May riots in years the day before. And having police in riot gear there from the get-go doesn't help things, right?
I did see one dumpster that'd been set on fire. I stopped to take this picture of it:
As I was lining up to take this picture, a little boy rode past me on a bike. I tried to get him in the picture too, but as I was focusing, the fire in the dumpster caught his attention and he wiped out, flipping over his handlebars and landing in the middle of the street. I ended up with a picture of this, too:
The boy got up and ran toward the fire--I guess it was in his apartment building, which may be why he wiped out on his bike when he saw it. He stood and watched the ambulance crew drag the dumpster into the street, where it burned.
This made me feel sad about the whole demo.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Night of the spooky bike tour
Yesterday, April 30, was a creepy evening here in Berlin. It was Walpurgisnacht, the festival of the witches's dance, and also the anniversary of Hitler's suicide.
When the sun set, I went on a bike ride to a) look for witches and b) look for neo-Nazis discretely observing the anniversary.
First stop: Hitler's bunker, the site of his and his wife Eva Hitler (formerly Braun)'s suicide and the erstwhile site of their graves.
As you can see, it's now a parking lot. (The bunker was mostly destroyed by the Soviets and later by the East German government, though the floor and walls are apparently still down there.) For years there was no sign. From what I've read, the city didn't mark the site to keep it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine.
But according to the sign pictured above, since the movie Downfall came out, there's been so much interest that they put up said sign.
So, is it a neo-Nazi shrine? Well, there weren't any neo-Nazis lurking around. (I may have missed their real holiday, H.'s birthday.)
There was that guy with a camera and microphone just sitting by the sign (pictured). Hmmm, what was he up to? Waiting for a ride? Surreptitiously recording what was going on?
Sorry--I have no idea because I didn't ask him.
Additional Hitler/Braun trivia: Burned and then buried in the garden above the bunker, their remains did not rest there for long, but were dug up by the Soviets, identified with dental records and x-rays, and shipped to a KGB barracks near Magdeburg, Germany, where they languished until 1970, when the KGB fully cremated them and tossed the ashes in a river. The Soviets kept the story of the remains secret, and until the end of the Cold War a mystery surrounded the final whereabouts of the bodies.
Next stop: The search for witches!
Walpurgisnacht is an ancient pagan spring festival that involves witches jumping over bonfires. In Berlin, it got mixed up with May 1, which is the next day. May 1 or International Worker's Day, which is today (!!), involves left demos and rioting.
There used to be a big Walpurgisnacht party, which I guess often turned into a riot, in a park in the neighborhood in which I'm staying. I biked over there (pictured below).
It was pretty cool! I did see one little kid dressed as a witch. Lots of people where there, all drinking beer--punks, parents, people my age, older folks, little kids (they did not appear to be drinking beer). Also a bunch of bands. And fire juggling. And a bonfire.
Walpurgisnacht I guess is tamer than it once was. No rioting that I saw. But a whole army of police were in attendance, as they have been at every gathering of more than twenty people that I've ever been to in Berlin.
These police are the "Anti Conflict Team." They wore these vests. I was unsure whether the vests were working or not.
When the sun set, I went on a bike ride to a) look for witches and b) look for neo-Nazis discretely observing the anniversary.
First stop: Hitler's bunker, the site of his and his wife Eva Hitler (formerly Braun)'s suicide and the erstwhile site of their graves.
As you can see, it's now a parking lot. (The bunker was mostly destroyed by the Soviets and later by the East German government, though the floor and walls are apparently still down there.) For years there was no sign. From what I've read, the city didn't mark the site to keep it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine.
But according to the sign pictured above, since the movie Downfall came out, there's been so much interest that they put up said sign.
So, is it a neo-Nazi shrine? Well, there weren't any neo-Nazis lurking around. (I may have missed their real holiday, H.'s birthday.)
There was that guy with a camera and microphone just sitting by the sign (pictured). Hmmm, what was he up to? Waiting for a ride? Surreptitiously recording what was going on?
Sorry--I have no idea because I didn't ask him.
Additional Hitler/Braun trivia: Burned and then buried in the garden above the bunker, their remains did not rest there for long, but were dug up by the Soviets, identified with dental records and x-rays, and shipped to a KGB barracks near Magdeburg, Germany, where they languished until 1970, when the KGB fully cremated them and tossed the ashes in a river. The Soviets kept the story of the remains secret, and until the end of the Cold War a mystery surrounded the final whereabouts of the bodies.
Next stop: The search for witches!
Walpurgisnacht is an ancient pagan spring festival that involves witches jumping over bonfires. In Berlin, it got mixed up with May 1, which is the next day. May 1 or International Worker's Day, which is today (!!), involves left demos and rioting.
There used to be a big Walpurgisnacht party, which I guess often turned into a riot, in a park in the neighborhood in which I'm staying. I biked over there (pictured below).
It was pretty cool! I did see one little kid dressed as a witch. Lots of people where there, all drinking beer--punks, parents, people my age, older folks, little kids (they did not appear to be drinking beer). Also a bunch of bands. And fire juggling. And a bonfire.
Walpurgisnacht I guess is tamer than it once was. No rioting that I saw. But a whole army of police were in attendance, as they have been at every gathering of more than twenty people that I've ever been to in Berlin.
These police are the "Anti Conflict Team." They wore these vests. I was unsure whether the vests were working or not.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)