Classes and Life in Freiburg

I think it's pretty important to at least briefly explain life here (again, with updated opinions of classes and people.) I'm in five classes. The first is Foreign Policy Analysis. In this class, we learn about the foreign policy of the EU, which doesn't really exist. I like the professor (he's Arndt, the one who went with us to Western Europe) and even if the class isn't hard, he's still a good professor. There is, however, one student who keeps flirting with him. This is Dena, the Egyptian girl who has a bad habit of comparing the Israel-Palestine conflict to the Holocaust. Honestly, she's not that smart, and she often doesn't understand what's appropriate. Around Arndt's birthday, she kept asking him how old he was, even though the rest of the class knew it was inappropriate and rude. She's always, literally, always late to class. And the flirting is just not ok anymore. The entire class is pretty much always at each other's throats, because we're all getting sick of each other. Luckily, Arndt is an easy grader (I got a 94 on a TERRIBLE essay, and it would have been around a 99 if it hadn't had such atrocious colloquialisms. I also got full points on an exam essay and an A on the exam. I studied for about 30 minutes.) We also only have two classes left.

The next class is German 101. I love the class itself, the teacher, and the people in the class with me. It's a good dynamic of people and the professor, Corinna, is great. We've all learned a ton of German, and she helps it to be fun too. It's definitely the best language class I've ever taken, and it's certainly my favorite class over here. It just happens to be a great bunch of people with a great professor. (So I can remember later, it includes Jon, Kyle, Soroosh, Zach, Evan, Danny, me, Kris, Shanna, Ruth, Allison, and Laurel.)

Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Professor Dr. Rainer Hoffmann. He talks at his hands for an hour and a half. The class is Culture and Politics: A Quest for Civilizational Identities in a Post-National World. It ends up being the following: Hamas and Hezbollah have great social programs, Israelis bombed a mosque, Iran isn't that bad, and, most importantly, Western modernity isn't necessarily right for all nations. Basically, it's very pro-Middle East and rather anti-US and anti-West. However, it has no homework at all and it's fun to look across the table at John Forneris and just mouth stuff like "What is he talking about?"It's a ridiculous class. I've learned to stay awake through the worst class possible, sans laptop. It's a useful skill. (Also, Hoffmann cannot pronounce his r's. They come out as w's. It's really funny sometimes.)

Then I have German again, and after that is Regions of the EU with Hubertus. Hubie is the hardest grader, which basically means that he has some standards for papers. I'm currently avoiding writing his term paper (about the dissolution of Belgium) by writing these blog entries. The class as a whole is pretty interesting, even if completely irrelevant for my future. Oh well, I chose this over another class with Hoffmann. It was a good choice.

My final class is PO 350, the seminar that ties everything together. It's a joke. We love the professor, Gert, but we don't do any homework and we rarely learn anything in class. Gert always seems to make snide comments about the pope (who is from Regensburg, just like Gert) which always secretly angers Matt Shoemaker, who is the most conservative Catholic I have ever met in my life. Including Nana. Including priests and nuns. It's pretty funny to watch. One thing that we tend to do is impersonate Gert's explanation of how to pronounce Angela Merkel's name. Ahn'-gehlah Mehh(r)-kl. His name is Gehh(r)t. (I can do this for each of you. It's pretty fun to say.)

Conclusion: I'm not learning anything, except for German. But in exchange, I get to see nearly all of Europe. I call it a win.