I Heart DT

This blog post has been a long time in the making-- and while that mostly means that I was not diligent enough in blogging throughout the trip like I was supposed to be, I think it will still be a worthwhile read for whomever may still be lurkin' on this webpage, and above all else, a good way for me to wrap my head around the amazing experience I just finished.
Okay so rewind to almost 3 weeks ago now, when we were still fresh off the airplane and stumbling around Munich like the drunken toddlers we arguably still are. The city was to us a labyrinth of pastel colored store fronts, baroque facades and monstrous classical monuments. Was it, in the barest of descriptions, incredibly amazing? You betcha. But was it also overwhelming, congested, and did I on multiple occasions choke on the unexpected smoke of an offending cigarette? Yes. That's why visiting the Alps both on my birthday, and later when we stayed in Garmisch-Partenkirche, was such a welcome relief from city life. It's a complete cliche, but returning to the slow and simplistic side of natural, country living brought a much needed detox from the tight schedule we were running in Munich. And while Berlin, the next gargantuan city we visited, was crazy amazing, I found myself wishing for a quiet Alpen refuge I could escape to.

But I can't complain too much, because Berlin was a whirlwind/hailstorm/tornado/category 5 hurricane of epic adventuring. In our in-person reflection, I talked about Berlin as the city where "History is everywhere and nowhere", and I think I will try to elaborate a little more eloquently on that topic here. And I mean eloquently in the most generous of ways--basically it won't be me stuttering nervously through a bullet pointed list of my unaffecting, asinine observations.

Because Berlin was significantly destroyed in World War II, much of the city is fairly modern. It's once elaborate storefront facades have given way to flat faced bauhaus apartments, and the fishing village it was founded on can no longer be located on a map. Berlin does not rely on it's pearlescent, romantic European architecture or hundreds-year-old monuments to convey its status or its wealth of history--it can't. Rather, its past has fed certain aspects of Berlin life that have given us the evolved Berlin we have today. We see the history and evolution of German guilt and absolution in unmarked, repurposed, or dilapidating Nazi buildings; in expansive museums dedicated to Jewish history and the holocaust and in small golden steins with the names Terezin, Auschwitz, Treblinka; in the waves of immigrants pouring into Berlin's diverse boroughs, and in the commentary of many theatrical productions. We see Berlin history in the way the former Berlin Wall is completely unmarked, denoted with cobblestones, or has become a living, breathing work of art. We see Berlin history in bunkers that have become Art exhibitions and  in abandoned and decaying DDR era warehouses, prisons and shanties that are now hotspots for East Berlin night life. We see Berlin history in the strong, alternative, anti Neo-Nazi presence among not just the youth, but their parents as well, who remember all too acutely life before the Iron Curtain dropped.  Berlin isn't pretty like Prague or Budapest. But it's got a past that's easy to see and feel if you take the time to look, and a character to it that is unique among Germany, and even all of Europe.

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Kristin Cimmerer

Post-Trip Reflection

I can't believe it's over! As we all kept saying, it felt like the trip lasted both 2 seconds and forever. Here are some of my final thoughts.

For me, a lot of this trip became about re-evaluation. I re-evaluated my own preconceptions, my initial reactions, and my thought processes. As I shared with the group during our reflecting session, this direction for my train of thoughts was started near the end of the trip when a few of us visited the Jewish cemetery in Berlin. This place, seemingly so focused on the deaths caused by the holocaust, turned out to be one of the most peaceful places I have ever been. Instead of being a symbol of war like I had assumed it would be, it turned out to be a place full of nature, life, and rest.

That experience prompted me to think more closely about what other aspects of the trip turned out to be different than what I had expected. This included many of our tour guides who, instead of being vessels to get information from, were characters who had unique viewpoints. Many theater shows took on a whole new meaning when I thought about them again days later. The art that we did as a group seemed to be above our skill level, yet after we let ourselves make mistakes, real art was created. These are only a few of examples of things on this trip that I re-evaluated in order to come to more informed conclusions and realizations.

Overall, this trip has caused me to think about experiences not once or twice, but over and over again until they hold a much larger amount of meaning. Talking and discussing with the other people on this trip was also a huge asset in guiding me towards reflection and appreciation for all of the theater, art, and sights that we experienced. I will forever be grateful to every individual (shoutout to Janet) who made this trip an incredibly fulfilling experience for me.

And also, it was TONS OF FUN!!!

Over and out,
Franny

Our study trip is officially over but please stay tuned for more posts from the participants! I'm so grateful to my collaborator, Kristyn, and to this fine group of UM students! I would like to take time to intersperse the students' posts they will be adding to the blog with photos to give you an idea of what our journey has been like, starting with a photo from May 4 at our on-site orientation meeting, where we reviewed expectations, logistics, and the program itinerary. It is hard to believe that that was just three weeks ago! We have accomplished so much in that short time. It feels as if we have all grown so much since the meeting that day! There is nothing quite as special as experiencing an adventure with others, witnessing growth, and sharing experiences.

May 24 reflection

Never in a million years would I have pictured myself on this trip painting in the alps, painting right here in Berlin, or even just painting period. Painting, drawing, sculpting, and theater, all of these activities have never been part of my meticulously detailed 8-year plan of science, logic and problems with solutions (and a little bit of music on the side). I'm often asked why I took this course and sometimes I ask myself the same thing too. But sometimes there is no algorithm; I simply felt as if I had a place in this program regardless of the title of my major or my "career goals." 

Before the trip I was given the tools to develop my own creativity with acting and to experiment with my physical presence. During this trip, I've been given the opportunity to explore a new place, and doing it with a creative mindset has opened up a new world entirely. Suddenly gloomy train stations became places vibrant with color, and passing glimpses of tired, strange face became canvases filled with their own dynamic stories. Depth, lines, angles, movement, and color all make up our visual world, subject to our individual perceptions and distortions. Mine are just now being discovered.

In our classroom, whether at the bottom of the alps, in a museum, at a market in the city, or early this year on stage, I learned about the principle of appreciating and producing art. To me this has been key to being able to explore my surroundings with a new, more open perspective. 

--

Mary Elizabeth Zinn

Dresden & The Slaughterhouse

     We started our first full day in Dresden with the most amazing breakfast spread I've had in Germany thus far (and I do feel that deserves mention). After loading up on that, we all headed to what turned out to be a rather unorthodox tour that was roughly centered around Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Slaughterhouse Five". Our guide was a really interesting guy. He used to be a school teacher but had recently been doing some independent work; I believe these tours are one of those things.
     He was extremely knowledgable about Kurt Vonnegut, wartime in Germany/Dresden, and the content of the book itself. What he said left a rather strong and interesting impression on me, and definitely forced me to consider various aspects of my life, county, and the historical/political context of it all. One can tell almost immediately that our guide was someone who spends a lot of time thinking about things that don't even occur to most people. I admired him for that.
     Later we went on to a museum that concerned the history of the military, not only in Germany but all around Europe as well. The building was designed again by Mr. Liebeskind, who I now realize has been very busy what with also designing the Nuremberg document center and the Jewish history museum in Berlin. He makes excellent buildings that are both easy to navigate and significant in metaphorical meaning. The military museum was amazing; we got another great tour there and got to see and learn about a lot of interesting things. It was definitely a place I could've stayed at for several more hours.
     After all that we had a delicious group meal in a sit-down restaurant by the river before retiring to our hostel to prepare for the last leg of our journey: Berlin.

The Surprise Trip

     May 6th, 2016: we looked at our calendar itinerary and saw the activities for the day were cryptically titled "surprise daytime activity. Meet at the train station". We spent some time the night before speculating but didn't come up with anything nearly as awesome as what we ended up doing.
     10am: we're on the train headed to a little town called Kochel. As the ride went on we saw beautiful forests, calm lakes, and...mountains! Janet and Kristyn finally told us the plan for the day. We would be visiting the Franz Marc art museum and then do a little casual painting in a field of wildflowers, one way a view of the town below, the other a majestic mountain face.
     The goats and sheep nearby were friendly and adorable. I think they have a good life there in the mountains, chewing on grass and baaing at passersby.
     We all ended up with very unique and equally lovely paintings. I have come to appreciate individual interpretation and personal artwork much more through German theater and this trip than ever before. I am consistently impressed by the inherent artistic talent of my classmates; all perspectives are special. Many of our works were inspired by painting from the Franz Marc museum as well as the unbelievable landscape. I really enjoyed reading the comments made by Marc's peers upon his death at the museum...they were all consistent in his sensitivity and appreciation for animals, nature, and art in general, which I feel was also made apparent by his paintings. I wish I could have met him, and it's a shame that he and all others in general fell victim to war.
     After our painting adventures we had a nice meal at a place in town and headed back to Munich for a bit of rest and relaxation. This day was great; everything planned worked out perfectly and it was an indescribably cool experience to have.

Please excuse typos. Sent from my phone.

Thanks RC + CGIS

Drawing workshop.

Memorials in Berlin

Visiting memorials in Berlin have raised questions which I haven't spent time on before: What distinguishes a memorial as good or bad? Does the content and style of a memorial as important as what is being memorialized? Notably, we have visited the Jewish memorial near the Brandenburg gate, and the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park, both of which I believe are exemplary of a good and poor memorials, respectively. 

Images courtesy of Wikipedia

As you can tell from the images, both memorial approach the topic of death during the second World War with different approaches in style. While I could perhaps write a thesis about this topic, I merely wanted to show something that I have been thinking about in Berlin for the last few days, and pose the question, does how me memorialize things have an affect on how we remember them?

Throwback to sunny days in München! Never thought I'd see surfing in the middle of a big city 

Piano at the Philharmonic

I had the amazing opportunity to go see Valentina Lisitsa perform at the Berlin Philharmonic. She is a phenomenal pianist. I’ve never been to a piano concert before and found it really cool how it was in the chamber music stage. This room has seating all around the stage in the center. It felt almost like we were about to watch a sports game. Our seats were looking at the back of the grand piano, which I found preferable because it allowed us to see her face while she was playing. The music was flawless and beautiful, but what I found really enjoyable was the fact that we could hear little sounds coming from her. I couldn’t always tell if they were just noises or she was talking to herself, but it was fascinating. It was not overpowering or obvious, but it was slightly noticeable at times. I felt that it really added to the live experience. It allowed for the audience to get a glimmer into how she was feeling while performing. The expression on her face was just as apparent as it is in actor’s faces, but her’s was genuine and people could tell. I especially loved comparing her facial expressions from her actual performance, to her facial expressions during her encores (there were 3). She was so much more relaxed and looked very happy during the encores, which was really nice to see. She knew she did well and no longer had that stress on her shoulders.

I spent some time looking at the other audience members during the performance as well. They were mostly older people, especially couples, but there was one little girl there with her mother sitting directly across from us. I would guess she was about 7 years old (give or take). She was so happy during the entire show. She would watch so carefully at times, and other times she would be conducting along. At the end, she was clapping and even ran down so she was in the front and as close as she could be to Valentina. It gave me joy to see such a young girl in complete awe. Music is an art form that can be enjoyable by all. It’s completely universal. I was really happy that I was able to add a musical concert onto the list of the multiple different art experiences I am able to witness on this trip. I feel as if I am expanding my horizons.

Please excuse typos. Sent from my phone.

Please excuse typos. Sent from my phone.Max as Franny. Human canvas.

Please excuse typos. Sent from my phone.Boxhagener market

On the road...

Teach



--

Kristyn Watterworth - Kryart Studio & Gallery

24 Main St. N. Bayfield, ON N0M1G0

kryartstudio@gmail.com

kryart facebook

416-710-2695

@kryart

May 14 blog post

May 14

Today was an exciting day in a new place! We arrived at our hotel in Nürnberg to a nice surprise of huge beds, ensuite bathrooms, free towels, and lots of space in each of our rooms. Two of the hotel rooms had two levels and one even had a full kitchen. Compared to our previous hostel in Munich, this seemed like luxury. As much as we wanted to bask in the overwhelming glory of our new home, we also wanted to explore the city. We didn't want to waste another moment inside because today was a rare day in which we had some free time. Exploration of the city was our first priority.

I broke off from the rest of the group to try to get a new perspective without the security of having my buddies by my side. I'm the one in the group that depends on others for navigation, so trusting myself to not get lost or end up in a different city was difficult. With my ever-developing German skills and a map, I first set out to find food (where else?). 

After a satisfying meal of Döner (I thought that the shop's claim of having the "best Döner in all of Germany" was pretty accurate) I spent some time sitting down and watching people. I took note of the behaviors of people here that differed from large crowds in America. These included: 

1. The quantity and quality of public displays of affection. People are truly not ashamed of hiding their love for each other here. 

2. Dog - owner relationships. Dogs here are better trained than any dog I know back in the states. They trot alongside their owner, wait patiently for them when told to do so, and ignore the rest of the busy world around them like it's their job. 

3. The only loud obnoxious people are under the age of 14. All the adults and young adults that I watched today walked purposely and quietly through the square, talking to each other in hushed tones and politely maneuvering  through others. The flow of foot traffic was incredibly functional and mature.

4. Open alcohol container laws. They don't exist here.

These, among a multitude of others, were just some obvious things that jumped out to me today. 

I continued my adventure through the shopping district, and made my way into an old church (there are so many of those here), a few music stores, a store that sold cute kitchenware, a stand that sold hand crafted pocket watches, and eventually back to the hotel. I don't know how I did it, but I was gone several hours and didn't lose my sense of direction.

The group got back together and we finished off the evening by making a home-cooked meal together in our fancy hotel kitchen. A day well spent! 

--

Mary Elizabeth Zinn

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | Residential College '18

Biopsychology, Cognition and Neuroscience

Research Assistant | Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

Email: mezinn@umich.edu

Yesterday

Food in Germany

Food is wonderful in many ways, and through my experience on this trip, I have discovered yet another way in which food is wonderful: its ability to demonstrate the personality and culture of a country. In one word, German food is simple. Meals are consistently full of separate components that are meant be eaten as they come, with the occasional exception of a sharp mustard to highlight the flavor of the dish. It is a logical approach to maximize the satisfaction of a meal; a dish is only as good as the summation of its parts. That is why every part is so damn delicious on its own. The bread is always freshly baked, the wurst has a crisp snap, and the beer is as refreshing as the water. The Germans see no reason to hide their food under differing sauces or to combine flavors; rather they desire every component to shine in its own right. It is quite the German ideology: fundamentally deconstruct a problem and then build a solution from the problem’s foundation. I have noticed Germans are very much a “no nonsense” people. Trains arrive on time, there is nearly no litter, and dogs are incredibly well behaved (seriously…incredible). Their food follows this paradigm, and while it is a relaxing cultural difference, it is most importantly a recipe for some very enjoyable food.    

May 13th - Birthday in Germany!

Aha! Finally my first blog post. There is so much that I have to write down, but I'll limit myself to the adventures that we had in the days around my 20th birthday - May 13th :) Here we go!

After a picturesque and calming two days in the Alps, hiking and reflecting, the group traveled back to Munich for our last days before traveling north. When we got back to the city and our hostel, we felt like it was home. One week during this trip feels like a month! It was comforting and sad to realize that we had one more day with a city that we had come to know and love. With one glance at our itinerary, however, I got excited to get to know other cities in Germany as well.

That night the whole group got to see Faust, one of the most well known works of Germany. The play adaptation that we saw was many things – some of them shocking, explicit, and alarming – but more than that it was an example of powerful German theater. The delivery of the rhymed lines blended in with the acting to create unique dialogs. The actors were versatile and expressive. The whole set, complete with cannons and a roof and different rooms, rotated and changed and became innumerable different scenes. We were all blown away by the entire performance, and also a little shell-shocked. It's not something I'll ever forget.

The next day was my birthday, and lucky for me we were spending the day going to museums and exploring Munich for the last time. We started at a tiny dinosaur museum, where I geeked out over fossils. The true highlight of the day was the Neue Pinakothek Museum. This museum is one in a set of three – old, new, and modern – art museums among the many in Munich. The new museum holds pieces by famed artists such as Renoir, Degas, Monet, and Van Gogh. We took our time when looking at paintings that we had only ever seen in books or on TV before, and it was incredible to see new details, like brush strokes, that you can only observe in person. After starting to learn new things about how to paint on our own, it was very cool to see the masterpieces of the same medium. It was a very special afternoon.

And now we have begun the journey north! Nürnberg is turning out to be a wonderful combination of medieval history, street markets, and scenery. We have already fallen for the town, as I suspect will happen with our next two stops as well. I am excited to explore and learn more about the town, and of course see some more theater. Until then, with the Bavarian word of parting, I'll say "servus"!

-Franny :)

Belated May 5th Reflection Post

It's very late but I'm happy to finally be able to post this blog! After numerous fights with my temperamental laptop and frustrating wifi connections, I finally figured out a way to make it work! I apologize for the delay, but time to travel back in time to May 5th, when I originally wrote this blog:

Today I learned how much can be expressed with little to no words. Through the use of pencil crayons, dance, and theatre, artists can move an audience in so many ways. Today, for the first time since 5th grade, I really attempted to create art. I was intimidated by my lack of natural talent. I found that the hardest part is becoming comfortable enough to start an idea. I know I need to work on my confidence in order to become better. I am really excited to see the progress I make throughout the trip. I now have my first piece created and look forward to seeing the transformation over these next few weeks.

My art time was cut short in order to go see the ballet La Bayadere at The Nationaltheater. It was worth it before the curtain even rose, because the building was so beautiful. I loved the ballet because it was so universal. The audience ranged from 5 years old to 85, and everyone was able to enjoy themselves. The ballet did not disappoint. I loved the fact that they were able to convey an entire story without a single word spoken. Through the art of dance, they were able to show emotion and create a plot. It was truly amazing. People underestimate the art of dance, they think it is just something beautiful to watch. It is very beautiful, but it is so much more. It holds a great meaning that everyone can enjoy. I am so glad I had this opportunity.

There wasn’t much time for rest. I grabbed a very quick dinner and then was on to the next show, “Yesterday You Said Tomorrow”. I had no idea what to expect when I went to this play, which I think turned out for the better. There were very little words spoken. The entire show consisted of 3 people in a room, but experiencing their own virtual reality. Video projection was incorporated within the play. Seeing the multimedia is new to me, and I really enjoyed it. I now know that nothing was exaggerated when we learned about German Theater winter semester. I would not be able to experience this anywhere else in the world. It was crazy and made me think. It ended with the words hope and fear alternating fast, making people think about whether or not the future of technology is something to hope for or fear. After discussion with others, I was able to come to conclusion that I hope we attack the advancing technology in a way that would limit fear. In order to do that, we need to get people thinking about the potential problems, which is exactly what this play did.

Traveling through time and space

Our trips take us back and forth in time and space. It's a great way to learn and to gain perspective.

Hmmm. I've discovered that I'm not great at flying. In Munich, I could take up surfing, but then again, taking in nature has so much appeal.

Tschüß! Bis bald!