Time to Reflect

I showed up at my parent's house a little over week ago, and left Europe a few days before that. In this time, I have had time to process what I experienced in Germany and the Czech Republic. Trying to explain what I have been thinking and feeling about this trip has been difficult, more so than I expected. Friends and family approach me with questions about the trip, and it's hard to begin. It has to be disappointing for them, as it is for myself, when I have trouble explaining what I have been doing for the last few week. Of course there is so much to say, and that's just it. But I have specific things that I want to say which are hard to being up in conversation, so perhaps writing will be a better way of sharing my thoughts.

I don't want to share about the food, art, architecture and the physical surroundings I have been in. That's what my photos are for, or ideally you should just go yourself. It was great, really. I'll add some photos into this post for you anyways, maybe you'll keep reading.

Something that has stuck with me has been quite outside what has been advertised about this trip. The people I have met during the trip have been inspired me to do much more with myself in the near and distant future. I have met many people in my travels who are doing more than I thought myself capable of. It is because of these people, I have found myself at a new job this summer that I enjoy much more than the job I had been working, with plans to move down to Ann Arbor this summer, rather than merely sticking with comfort with my family. I have things and projects in my mind that I have been working on that I never thought I would do. Of course, I was inspired by this program and its creative direction, but these people who are leading by example, have been essential to my understanding of this experience.

Before this trip, I always thought I hated modern art. I couldn't understand why anyone would enjoy, let alone buy, a piece of canvas with random lines on it, or a sculpture with no structural purpose. Modern art was something I didn't understand, and so I decided it wasn't worth my time. I was wrong.

On one of our first museum days, Kristin and Janet instructed us to walk around the exhibits and take pictures of the ones that stood out to us, or the ones we liked best. To my dismay, it was all modern art. I walked circles around and around trying to find something, anything I liked, but I fell short. When Kristin asked me which ones I liked, I clearly remember stating "I don't really like modern art, but I like the portraits." At this point, she pointed out some features of the art and why the artists made it the way they did, and I began to appreciate the art a little bit more because I finally knew the intent of the artist. 

As the days passed, and we saw more and more art, and I started to pick up on things in modern art that I hadn't realized before. I began to see how the simplicity or complexity of the piece added meaning to the work, how the colors brought out different emotions, and how I spent more time thinking about what the picture expressed rather than showed. Each visit, I was falling slowly in love with modern art, but didn't realize it.

It wasn't until Berlin when our group went to an art exhibit in a bunker, when I finally understand what modern art meant to me. The exhibit contained interactive art, art that pushed the limits, and art that made me feel happy, sad, angry, and worried. I realized that modern art makes me think more than any traditional art could. Modern art not only pushes the boundaries of what is art, but it pushes me to think of what and who I am as a human. 

Germany taught me above anything else my love for modern art. I have pushed myself to experiment in art while at hope and I thank my experience abroad for introducing me to this new passion.  

I just returned home after 6 1/2 weeks in Europe and fully expect to have some culture shock now that I am back home! I wanted to post Part II of photos from the trip to give a sense of what the day to day experience was like. Part I (posted earlier) was from May 4-17 and these shots are from our final days in Germany, starting with May 18 when we traveled from Dresden to Berlin. In Berlin, we kicked off our final week of seeing incredible performances with tickets to "The Situation" at the Theater festival. That play was about the current situation(s) in Europe and elsewhere. As with many of the plays we saw, it presented issues about identity, relationships, the refugee crisis, and globalization from multiple perspectives. It was the perfect way to start off our Berlin segment of the trip--the beginning of the end of a great study trip. By the time we reached Berlin, by far the most diverse and the largest city we visited, the group was savvy about travel. We packed in walking tours, heard personal stories, saw world-class museums, had art lessons, experienced great "ethnic" food, and saw some amazing dance and theater performances in a range of venues. Some members of the group even took part in a hip hop dance workshop! Berlin tied together all of the elements of our study trip, provided insights into everything we had been learning about in our class and in Germany.

This was the most ambitious study trip I have planned, with visits to Munich, Kochel, Murnau, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Nürnberg, Dresden, and Berlin. I appreciate how cooperative and enthusiastic the group was. We experienced so much in just three weeks. Whew!  Special thanks, again, to CGIS and to the RC, to several RC Alumni, who made special donations to help some of the students afford the trip, and to Asgard Press and Peter Shin. And thank you for following our blog. I know that a few more posts are likely to appear as students wrap up their own travels and share a final reflection and/or photos, so I hope that you will continue to check back.
--Janet

Oh, and here's a somewhat rare shot of Kristyn and me. I am grateful to my co-leader for the instruction and assistance she provided on the trip.

May 18. Berlin Brandenburger Tor & Kreuzberg

May 19. History tour of Mitte and a few Counter-memorials

May 19 Hackesche Höfe. This is one of the first areas that experienced gentrification.

May 20: Art lesson on portrait painting.

May 20 Walking Tour. Perspectives on the GDR

May 20 Treptower Park.

May 21 Boxhagener Platz Flea Market

May 21 Kristyn paints on a human canvas aka Max

May 22: Another lesson in portrait drawing.

May 22 Camille at the Wall.

May 22: More flea markets

May 22 Steglitz. Michelle takes every opportunity to practice her German.

May 22 Fritsch's "Murmel Murmel"--probably the last chance to experience it!

May 22 Curtain calls in Germany are long and well-deserved.

May 23. Hohenschönhausen Stasi Prison Tour by a Zeitzeuge

Telling his own amazing (film-worthy!) story.

The Jewish Cemetery at Weissensee.

May 24 Sharing at our final group reflection

May 24. Final group feast. Celebrating learning and friendships.

Fantastic food and we managed to eat it all!

May 24. The last shot I took of our group at the Gorki Theater, 

following another great show!

Post-Trip Reflection

It has been a week since I have returned home from Germany, which has given me an abundance of time to settle back into my normal routine and reflect upon all that I experienced on the trip.

I definitely have mixed emotions about returning, besides the fact that for some reason I thought Donald Trump would magically disappear by the time I came back, there are certain things I already miss about Germany. I quickly became spoiled with the phenomenal accessibility of the arts in Germany and by the end of the trip I was so accustomed to going to multiple museums and performances each day.  Each evening I had the opportunity to see a different theater performance, opera, or classical music concert at a different venue in nearly all of the seven cities we visited. Every performance I saw opened my eyes and made me question my prior perceptions of performing arts. When asked by my friends and family what my favorite performance was that we saw, it’s impossible to name only one, but instead I believe that the variety of shows made the trip truly amazing and memorable for me. Similarly, we didn’t see any “terrible” shows, and while there are some that I certainly preferred over others (Zement and Faust at Residenz, Tosca at National Theater, and Don Giovanni at Komische Oper being among my favorites) every single production we saw was thought provoking, well staged with a solid cast, and unlike anything one could experience in the US.

While I miss the constant exposure to the performing arts, I am a little glad to be able to spend hours in a practice room again. The shows I saw in Germany continue to inspire and challenge me weeks after and will continue to be influential as I tackle an abundance of new repertoire during the rest of the summer.

Will return to post more soon!

Deine,

Camille

La Bayadère- National Theater, Munich                                             Garmisch Partenkirchen

Opernhaus Nürnberg, Lieder Recital

 Semperoper Dresden, Dornröschen

                                               

Same same, but different

Germany was a wild ride. From the shows we saw to the art we made to the relationships we formed, it was truly a wonderful experience.

There is a saying that I think really applies to our trip; it is, “Same same, but different”. Whenever one travels abroad they are shown the differences and similarities between their culture and the culture they are visiting. The American culture is similar to the German, but there are also some striking differences like how quiet people are in public and the strict observance of no J-walking laws. These differences make me examine our culture to find what I like and what I’d like to adopt from German culture.

            By traveling around Germany, we were also able to see the similarities and differences between different parts of Germany. I found there were some underlying similarities that created a common Germany feeling. I can’t quite explain it. Despite this there were differences particularly between Munich and Berlin. Munich is very influenced by their Bavarian heritage, while Berlin has been deeply influenced by the Soviets presence and the East West Divide. This divide and the later fall of the fall created a huge alternative scene in Berlin which continues today through their clothes and street art. The Bavarian influence of Munich has led them to keep the Bavarian flag flying high and have very different food. Munich is know for spätzle, schnitzel and beer, while Berlin over the years has been influenced by so many cultures that it now can be hard to find traditional German food; instead, doner and currywurst are huge in Berlin.

            There are also some similarities and huge differences between our group now and before the trip. Before the trip through the play and our class we created a community where each person pulls their own weight, but also helps each other. This same attitude existed at the end of our trip, but our individual relationships are very different. In the past 3 weeks through our constant interacts, I have gotten to know the people of our group better than I have in the 2 years of knowing them. That’s why I think travel is the best way to get to know people.

Travel shows you the similarities and differences between cultures, types of food, and people and at the end you are always the same, but a little bit different.

Over the course of this trip we saw countless plays, ballets, and ever operas, and never would I have thought that the one that left the most lasting impact on me would be the play where all of the dialogue consists of one word: murmel. Murmel Murmel was, to say the least, eye-opening. Its peculiarity and uniqueness challenged the status quo of playwriting and simultaneously forced the audience to question what other status quos are followed without much resistance. For me, it tore down the veil of what society considers normal, and allowed me to look at my actions and ponder what I am doing because I want to do it, and what I am doing because it is the normal thing to do. It is easy for discussions about society to devolve into anarchic slander that makes what society is today seem like an even better option than before comparatively. Murmel Murmel, however, tastefully walked this line, thus nurturing a healthy conversation over societal norms as opposed to an angry tirade about why society is unsatisfying. Ever since Murmel Murmel I've looked at my daily life different, albeit subtly. It is one thing to think that you can carve out a place for yourself in this life; it is another to feel it. This entire trip, especially Murmel Murmel, has encouraged me to be more active in my life by shedding self-doubt and by consciously ignoring potential societal doubt, and for that I am grateful.

Photos from May 5-May 11

Photos from Week One: Munich, Kochel, Murnau, Garmisch Partenkirchen. Theater, Opera, Ballet. Trying our hand at art. Museums. Tours. City vs. Nature.

May 6: Excursion to Kochel. Franz Marc Museum and Painting

May 7: Tour of Munich History& Architecture. Surfers!

May 8: Museums of Munich: Alte Pinakothek, Pinakothek der Moderne. . .

May 8: Opera goers. Nationaltheater. Tosca.

May 8: Theater-goers. Kammerspiele. Susn.

May 9: Munich tour: Architecture. National Socialism in Munich. Studying in Munich. . .

May 10: Schauburg Theater der Jugend. Dance Theater.

May 10: Excursion. Murnau. Das Russenhaus. Kandinsky/Münter Haus

May 10: Alpine home.

May 11: Garmisch-Partenkirchen Hike. Partnachklamm (Gorge).

May 11: Waterfall. Partnachklamm.