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Acculturation in Marburg

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been adjusting to life in Marburg. With my language and culture courses nearing a close, and the regular semester beginning in just two weeks, I thought I’d talk a little bit more about life in Marburg and with the International Undergraduate Study Programme.

 

Culture classes

As a part of the IUSP program, I’ve been taking culture courses daily for the last two weeks, along with my morning language classes. The topics covered in these classes vary widely, and last Monday we had the opportunity to participate in a mock debate, a first for me. Split into partners, we represented the interests of particular countries in the 1990 2 + 4 agreement on the reunification of Germany. For this discussion, I got to represent the FRG, or West Germany, and argue for immediate unification and full sovereignty, against countries such as France and Great Britian, which were wary of Germany’s united power. In the end, we came to an agreement that differed greatly from the actual historical result, and through the process had many quiet side conversations and formed alliances. It was an exciting experience that made international politics all the more engaging.

 

Being vegetarian in Marburg

Recently, I made the decision to become pescatarian, which means that I eat fish, but not other meats. As a result, one of the first things I had to discover in Marburg was where to get food that I can eat. Meat is, of course, a major cultural staple in Germany, so this wasn’t immediately obvious. What I have discovered, though, is that as a university town, there are vegetarian options at almost every restaurant in Marburg, as well as major vegetarian aisles in grocery stores. I was able to find, for example, delicious veggie patties for a grill dinner hosted by my floor in residence. Perhaps my greatest discovery on this front, though, was a small vegan restaurant called Vegi Queen. Located just behind the main university cafeteria, this restaurant serves everything from vegan bratwurst to soy gyros, and is a great way to get a feel for the German food culture without actually eating meat. Other than this restaurant, veganism isn’t the easiest thing in Marburg, but being vegetarian certainly is no problem.

 

Social life

While keeping very busy with my hectic class schedule and other work, I have been able to explore some of the social aspects of Marburg as well. With student train passes for all of Hessen, there is more open to us than might be expected for such a small town, and my friends and I have explored options such as spending the night in Frankfurt for music festivals, going shopping in nearby Giessen, and roasting marshmallows just outside the Studentendorf dorms where there is a fire pit at the ready. The student residences are certainly a great place to be if you’re looking for parties, though less so if you’re hoping to sleep. My building is an international dorm, and so there is very little respect for quiet hours, even during the school week. People can be heard playing games, chatting loudly, and singing well into the night. I would recommend either getting a good pair of earplugs or, if you don’t have early classes, venturing into your residence kitchen to see what all the excitement is about. If nothing else, the multi-lingual conversation can be quite the experience.

 

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Ankunft, Unterkunft, und Auskunft

Just like Craig, I finally have a moment to share a bit with you all about my adventures in Deutschland so far! As he mentioned, there are several of us working with the PAD (PädagogischerAustaushDienst) this year as Fremdsprachenassist*en/innen, so we’ve all been on a very similar path thus far: traveling to Germany, attending our orientation course, and then traveling to our respective postings.

Stephanie (me), Lauren, Craig, and Alex at our PAD orientation in Köln.
Stephanie (me), Lauren, Craig, and Alex at our PAD orientation in Köln.

I’m living in the university city of Göttingen, which is essentially in the dead centre of Germany. Like Marburg, where Rowan is living, Göttingen was almost untouched by the Second World War, so the ancient ramparts of the city are very well-preserved and are a popular place for joggers and dog-walkers. It’s absolutely beautiful and incredibly easy to get around, especially when you have a bike – as does almost everyone here.

There have been a few logistical challenges that I’ve been dealing with, but everyone has been so supportive and helpful. Both my Betreuungslehrerin (mentor teacher) and I were not as organized and communicative as we could have been over the summer, and I arrived in Göttingen without having sorted out a flat to rent. Thankfully, another English teacher at the school responded to our slightly desperate email for a place to stay, saying “Wir lassen niemand auf der Straße!” Every day I’m on the hunt for a flat, which is proving to be unexpectedly difficult. All of the university students are pouring back into the city for the start of the semester on 1.October, and competition is cutthroat. However, several of my colleagues at school have been sending out emails and checking with contacts to see if anyone knows of a place to stay, and I’m not worried about being indefinitely homeless. However, a word of wisdom: do whatever it takes to arrange a flat before you leave Canada! I know it’s discouraging when you send out emails asking for Skype interviews and you don’t hear back, but stay diligent!

My German is improving daily and it’s exciting to experience such a noticeable improvement. I came here feeling like my German abilities were really low and like I would be heavily reliant on English, but I speak German at least 85% of the time, if not more. Everyone I meet is quite complimentary about my German, which I take as a tribute to my teachers. 🙂

I’m working in a Gymnasium (middle/high school) with students as young as 11-12 as as old as 18, although I haven’t fully started work yet. First I have a Hospitation phase, during which I observe the classes and get to know the teachers. Today I was in a 6te Klasse while they were learning how to talk about their summer holidays. Some of the boys at this age are really energetic and rowdy, and my favorite moment was when they were discussing the USA and confused a couple of landmarks (this was in German,):

Student: Mrs. Jähn, our textbook must be quite old, because it talks about the Empire State Building! That’s not even there anymore. It fell down!
Fr. Jähn: Thank god, no, it did not.

My other favorite classroom experience thus far happened in a 10te Klasse on my first day, when a 15-year-old boy asked me if it was true that Canada has a special national holiday when it’s legal to smoke marijuana. I hadn’t really expected to tell them about 4.20 on my first day in the school…

Ciao und VLG aus Göttingen!

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Einleben und Einführungstagungen (Settling in and Intro Courses)

Moin!

So I’m Craig, and a recent graduate of the department, but since most people reading this blog probably know me or of me, that’s all I’ll say about me. 🙂

So I’ve been in Deutschland (Specifically the city of Braunschweig, in the state of Niedersachsen in northern Germany) for about 2 and a half weeks now, and I finally have the time and energy to describe them for anyone interested! I think I might make a personal blog as well, so that I can see all my posts in one list, but this is great because it might actually motivate me to write my blog, which I failed at last year, but I can’t let the department down!

So my first few weeks can be broken down into two main events: me getting eingelebt (settled in) – watch out for Denglish, I’m sure I’ll be using it a lot!- and after my settling in period, going to my Einführungstagung to work as an Ehemaliger, or former assistant, to help the PAD with the course.

So to recap my first adventures here, I left Canada on the 2nd of September with my parents, who happened to be flying out to Scotland on the same day as I was to Germany. The big difference being that my parents flight was at 9am on the 2nd and mine was at 10:30pm, which meant after leaving the Island the day before and staying in a hotel, we all got up at 6am and went to the airport, where I immediately said by to my parents for 10 months and started the 15 hour wait in the airport…but because I have kind and benevolent Eltern, they gave me some money for my basic needs like food and stuff. Anyway because of free internet the wait ended up being not so bad (for 15 hours) and I was airborne before I knew it. The flight was less horrible than I was expecting (I have a fear of flying, but I never let it stop me) and I arrived in good ol’ Deutschland before I knew it. Then I had a rush to catch my train from the Frankfurtflughafen station direct to Braunschweig, but my Bahncard 50 had expired, so I needed to buy a knew one real quite so that I wouldn’t be fined for having a cheaper ticket. Which was stressful because I had 15 minutes to do it in before my train, and because my phone was dead and I didn’t know my new address in BS yet, which meant I had to rush in, ask for a power outlet, charge my phone, what’sapp my new roommate, and then buy the ticket. But I managed it with time to spare! 😀 Afterwards the train ride to BS was a blur due to exhaustion, but I met a nice German man and we talked for th 2.5 hours before I jumped out, finally at my destination! There one of my new roommates Amelie picked me up and led me to my new home. Honestly my apartment is awesome. My room is large, the rent is super günstig (warm too!) and my roommates are super nice. Amelie is 25 and a student, Patrick is 28 and a Berater for a Firma, and Eva is 36 and works for a company as an Ingenieurin. Also I get to be the youngest! Anyway the first few days consisted of my unpacking and basically lounging about and sleeping all the time due to jetlag. It was terrible. But I did manage to do to important things the first week: Open my bank account and register myself as a Braunschweiger, something you must always due in German cities (and villages and everywhere) because Germany likes to know where you live at ALL times. But you get some sweet coupons from the City out of it!

One great thing about Braunschweig is that I already have so German friends who live here, so I within the first week I saw a guy who went to my high school as an international student play in his band at a festival in the city (Magnifest) and I hadn’t seen him in like 8 years so it was pretty cool. The following day my friend Anna who also went to my high school once upon a time invited me to one of her friend’s birthday parties (she got permission first!) and I met lots of new people there, including a girl who graduated from the Gymnasium I will be teaching at, which was a cool connection to make. Aside from that I have also dabbled in helping Anna’s boyfriend Marc with an Englisch exam he is preparing for. The cool thing is when I first met Marc 5 years ago on my first trip here, we could not really communicate because he couldn’t speak English and I could barely speak German, but now I can have full conversations with him, which really shows how far I’ve come in German and makes me happy! His English is also improving, but he only started relearning recently. I’ve also been watching Tatort every Sunday with my roommates, which is natürlich an important German Kultursache. First episode that I saw was in Switzerland (Charlotte!) but they had dubbed it over with German voice actors (Verdammte Synchronisierung!) Although I probably wouldn’t understand it in Schweizer Deutsch!  Well that pretty much wraps up my settling in phase, but there was still one more important event before I could really start my life in Germany:

My Einführungstagung in Köln! Now the PAD had asked me months ago if I would support them as an Ehemaliger in this Tagung and I said “Na Klar!” of course, and I’m glad I did, because it was so fun, and of course I got to meet lots of cool assistants both near me in Niedersachsen and quite far away. What was especially cool was that 5 people from Victoria were there, and 4 of them were Uvic Germanic Studies students: Lauren, Stephanie, Alex, and I of course! So it was fun being the biggest group of any one Uni (or at least Canadian Uni). The Tagung started on Monday the 15th of Sept. and was over on Thursday. As an Ehemaliger with 2 others working together (Tom, who I knew from my Tagung last year, and Lydia, who did it the year before me and knows Grant Mason of Uvic, who did the PAD the year before me! Small world! 🙂 ) our job was to help the new assistants with things. We had a question night where they could ask questions by submitting them to a box, which started slow but ended well, and on the last night we did a pub quiz. It was a lot of fun, and of course much time was spent in the Cellar Bar. On Thursday we then left Maria in der Aue (the name of the hotel in the middle of nowhere) and headed back to Köln, where we all split off to head to our new respective schools and cities. I still didn’t know what was going on with me, so I had to call my school from Köln, but I will tell more about that in my next post, which is to follow soon. This is getting quite long, and also probably awefully written because I’m trying to remember and cram so much in. So sorry about that, I’ll be more succinct in my next post. Hopefully. It’s never been my strength, I kinda love to talk. 😀

At any rate I arrived back in Braunschweig with my fellow Braunschweig assistants (Rachel and Chris who are very nice peeps from jolly old England…there are also still two Americans and a French assistant I intend to contact!) on Thursday evening and headed back to my apartment after eating some lasagna at Chris’s. Friday was my first day at School but I didn’t do much, but again, I’ll have a real post on my school and that will then brings us up to date with today having been Monday and my second day on the job. I have tomorrow off, so I should be able to write that as well. Sorry about the length again, procrastination is my number one skill, so it happens when I let to much stuff happen without a post. Ok well bis zum naechsten Mal! Tschuess und LG aus Deutschland.

 

 

 

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Welcome to Marburg

Hello! I have been in Marburg, Germany for just under three weeks now, and am starting to get accustomed to life in yet another new city. As I get settled in my language classes, I thought it would be a good time to give you all an introduction to the International Undergraduate Studies Program (IUSP) at Phillips-Universität Marburg.

My arrival in Germany was nothing if not hectic. Because I had to go back to Oswiecim, Poland to pick up my luggage, my mom and I ended up driving all night to get to Germany for registration day. As we entered the city, though, we knew that everyone who had told us fantastic stories about Marburg were telling the truth – the whole city is visible on a sweeping landscape of hills, and looks like it was pulled directly from a period movie. As one of the only cities in Germany essentially untouched by World War II, the old German architecture is stunning, and makes for some interesting contrasts as you near the edges of new construction sites.

The registration process proved to be exceptionally well-organized. Despite assuring our group that they would not “hold our hands”, we were each given detailed schedules for the first two days, maps of the city, bus passes and more. We were led on a short walking tour, showing us where the most important stores were, and were told that we would go on a more substantial tour in the coming days. We were then brought to our various residence buildings, which are spread out on the edges of the small city and shown our rooms, kitchens, and laundry facilities. Compared to every move I’ve made before, this was by far the easiest.

The living situation itself is different for everyone, but I think what most worried the students upon our arrival was the unexpected lack of Internet. While there is wireless access for students in all school buildings, this is not true of all our dorms, and it has been a problem for some people in particular. While I am among those who doesn’t have Internet in my room, I am able to walk to a nearby residence with WiFi in the lobby, and have been doing so almost every day since I discovered it. While the lack of Internet originally seemed an inconvenience, it has forced me to get out of my room and meet people, which is after all the aim of the program. The community feeling is increased by the communal kitchens which (while not especially clean) are permanently full of neighbours from all over the world.

Shortly after our arrival, we returned to our classrooms to take our placement test – as it turned out, though, this wasn’t necessary for about 40% of the class. Like me, many of the other students are beginners in the German language, and we were split into two groups without having to take the test, based on whether we had any German experience at all. While I didn’t, I ended up in what’s known as the “advanced beginners” class, as my experience with other foreign languages helped me grasp concepts like grammatical gender and cases quickly. With three hours of classes a day and tests every Friday, all the classes move quickly, and everyone I’ve spoken to is thrilled to be learning so much (especially the beginners).

On Monday, we started our culture class, which promises political role plays, an introduction to German religions, and a visit to the local Dunkelcafé (“dark café”), where customers eat in absolute darkness and are served by blind staff. The class is sure to be filled with new experiences which I will comment on in my coming posts.

Rowan

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St. Petersburg Summer Study Program

 

The Russian study-abroad program in St. Petersburg, a partnership between Dalhousie University and St. Petersburg State University, offers Canadian university students a unique and rewarding experience in the cultural capital of Russia. This reputation is a product of its rich history, proximity to Europe, and preeminence in the art world. For this intensive Russian program, two months are spent with a homestay while attending classes four days per week. By the end of the program, students complete 160 hours of classwork and earn a certificate. I would recommend to those interested in this program to take at least two years of Russian before attending. This is not due to the difficulty of the courses, since the school groups students by fluency, but because of the level of interaction students will experience with Russian citizens and their homestays. For those who are already multilingual and quick to pick up languages, only one year of Russian may be required. This was the case for at least three students who attended the program this past Summer. Finishing my third year at UVic and armed with two years of Russian, I was only prepared for very basic conversation once I arrived. But after a few weeks of being bombarded with the cryptic sounds of the Slavic tongue, my Broca’s area began showing signs of activity. My Russian is still far from fluency, but the program led to much needed improvement in my conversational skills and comprehension.

Arriving in St. Petersburg in the middle of May, which happened to be during a heat-wave, my first introduction to the country was a broken jetway at our arrival gate. Passengers on the plane had to disembark onto the tarmac and wait for buses for a ride to another entrance. I thought it was a pretty comical welcoming, and it seemed to foretell of future absurdities on my trip. After making it through customs, students were met at the Poltovo Airport with a university shuttle-bus, and whisked off to their respective home-stays. I was paired with a student from Calgary, and housed relatively close to the institute. My room mate and I stayed with an old babushka who lived on the top floor of an apartment complex. It is located in the north-eastern part of the main island, on Starorusskaya Street, 30 minutes by foot to the school. We had the weekend to get settled in before classes started the following Monday. I was given a sizable room, equipped with a desk, TV, and a bizarre little bed that looked like a fold-out couch. For the most part, the amenities of the apartment met my needs. I was especially pleased with my view across the city, which included St. Isaac’s Cathedral and Kazan Cathedral in the distance. Not having air conditioning, nightly visits by mosquitoes, and losing hot water for a few weeks proved uncomfortable, but I was able to adapt. This meant using a plug-in fumigator, heating a pot on the stove for shower purposes, and cold water foot baths. Since tap-water is not potable, students also have to rely on water jugs bought from the store. Although this is slightly inconvenient, it is helpful that the 5L jugs can be purchased for under a $1.50.

The majority of foreign visitors to St. Petersburg arrive with little-to-zero knowledge of Russian, relying on guides and planned excursions to venture around the city. I feel like this type of travel really detracts from experiencing the culture, and I enjoyed being able to navigate the city independently. Another reason to learn Russian before visiting is that it allows you to connect with locals. Although the younger generations are more likely to know English, it is not as common as you would expect. As I observed, locals generally prefer to hear you speak broken Russian than rely on your native language. In fact, on a few occasions strangers approached our Canadian group, while we chatted away in English, and demanded that we speak Russian. It was mostly in jest, but it made me aware of another peculiar Russian trait, which is the lack of inhibition that Russians have in expressing themselves publicly. In particular I am reminded of the intense public displays of affection between couples on the streets and metro. In Canada they would be sure to raise some eyebrows, but that’s not the case in Russia. Russians also seem to have a level of familiarity with strangers that is not seen in Canadian cities. There was a certain vibe in the city that I cannot exactly pinpoint, but if I were to clumsily describe it, I would say it is a feeling of cohesiveness and shared understanding. In such a culturally and ethnically homogenous environment, I think this may be a natural byproduct.

I found the two-month stay in St. Petersburg to be an ideal amount of time to take in the sights of the city, including its festivals, museums, performances, beautiful architecture and countless historic sites. Some of my favourite tourist sites included the Hermitage, the Russian Museum, the War Museum, Petergof, Pushkin’s Museum, Peter and Paul Fortress, and the Summer Garden. The program also overlaps with the ‘White Nights’ season in St. Petersburg, a time when the sun never seems to sink under the horizon and its possible to stay out all night (although sometimes this is unavoidable, especially if the bridges go up, leaving you stranded on one island until the early hours of the next morning). Near the end of my trip I got to visit Moscow for the weekend, where I travelled by train with a friend. Moscow was one of the highlights of my trip, and I would highly recommend it. There is a completely different feel to Moscow, and a trip to Russia cannot be complete without seeing it once. Unfortunately, I did not make it to the Mariinsky Theatre (or the Bolshoi) to watch a showing, but I heard great things from other students. My homestay babushka actually sold tickets to the Mariinsky, and even visited Smolny one-a-week to sell them to students, so I think I may have disappointed her by refusing. So if you happen to see her there (she goes on Wednesdays and sets up a stand), tell her “Yan is sorry” (Yan is my Russian name).

Since you’re essentially on your own when participating in this program, you’re responsible for feeding yourself (among other things). There is a lunch cafeteria in the school itself, but it serves a small variety of food that is of mediocre quality. I found this surprising because the Smolny campus itself is spectacular. Consequently, I decided on bringing my own food to avoid the cafeteria early on in the trip. As a large city, St. Petersburg has plenty of places where you can find good food. If you’re on a tight budget, it’s best to prepare some meals yourself. Our hostess allowed us full access to the kitchen, and cooked us breakfast every day. In Russian cities, the corner stores, or “Produktiy“, function as small grocery stores where you can find most basic goods. There are a few larger grocery stores, such as in the Galleria, a large shopping mall off Nevsky, and Stockmann’s mall, also off Nevsky, which offer better selection. In Russia, it is also quite common to find Stolovayas, which are simple cafeteria restaurants that offer various types of Russian cuisine. These places are always cheap, and are a good option if you’re on the go. One thing that is uncommon to eat in Russia is peanut butter, and comes at a pretty steep cost if you can find it. I couldn’t bring myself to pay 350 rubles for a small jar of peanut butter, however, despite the temptation. Coffee is also surprisingly unpopular in Russia, with the majority of people preferring tea. I admit to be one with a coffee addiction, and so the lack of a coffee-maker in the apartment was pretty enervating.

As for public transportation in St. Petersburg, it is extensive, cheap and convenient. It includes five metro lines, two train stations, a bus system and taxis. The subway system in St. Petersburg is one of the most impressive features of the city. In the grand halls of the city’s many metro stations, serving over 2 million passengers daily, one can experience the famously long escalator rides (St. Petersburg is home to the deepest metro on Earth) and observe the radiant Soviet-era adornments. My favorite station was Avtovo, which is built with ornamented glass columns and beautiful white marble. If you’re traveling to Petergof, Avtovo is the station where ‘Marshrutkas’ (think ‘airporter’) pick up passengers and drop them off. This is the cheapest method of travel to Petergof (costing 60 roubles) – the other popular option is a ride by ferry. Be careful to avoid the gypsy cabs, especially at night, since they are notorious for victimizing tourists.

Since the Summer of 2014 marked a fairly uncongenial time between the West and Russia, I was unsure of how I would be received as a Westerner. As I discovered, daily life in Russia was proceeding with little regard to geopolitics. Although the director from Dalhousie advised us to be very cautious when discussing events on the Ukraine, especially in public, I was never put in any difficult situations. As a side note – I did bring up politics with my home-stay grandmother over breakfast one morning. It was interesting to hear her opinion on Russia’s history (incuding many harsh words for Gorbachev), but as it would often happen with our conversations about politics, she began to despair over the horrors of WWII. With my Russian being too limited to absorb everything, I can only remember snippets, such as her proclaiming that “All the good men were lost in the war”, which she blamed for the difficult years that followed. Even as World War II becomes a more distant memory for most of us, the event continues to be a source of tremendous pride for the Russian people, and is commemorated every year on May 9th, also known as Victory Day. Although this comes before the Summer language program, there are other opportunities to witness Russian patriotism, such as on St. Petersburg’s anniversary (the Day of Peter the Great), the Scarlet Sails festival, and Children’s Day.

If you’re interested in what type of clothing you should bring to St. Petersburg, I would recommend a business casual look. In Russia, it seems women are especially concerned with how they present themselves, and their standard of dress is considerably higher than in Canadian cities. High-heels are almost ubiquitous, and I imagine also very uncomfortable. As one of our tutors explained, St. Petersburg residents often spend the majority of their earnings on their appearance, even if that means less money to spend on food. For men, it is typical to wear a leather jacket (unless it is sweltering), slacks, and dress-shoes. For older men, the standard of attire means sandals and shorts are frowned upon. I rarely saw any locals in shorts, except maybe young boys. This may seem like a dilemma for those who enjoy wearing shorts, but as a tourist (and believe me, you won’t be able to disguise your foreign origins) you don’t really need to abide by these rules. So what you wear is not that important, but if you’re worried about standing out, it is always better to adopt the local style. In the case of one male student from Calgary, who decided to wear a gold-cross necklace (despite being a professed atheist), a newly purchased leather jacket, slacks and slip-on leather shoes, you might say that’s worrying a little too much.

I’ve tried to paint a general picture of what it is like living in St. Petersburg, including what can be expected as a visitor to the city. Although this study-abroad program comes with its challenges, I found it to be very rewarding and worthwhile. The memories I made in St. Petersburg will be with me for life, and I feel very privileged to have seen some of Russia firsthand. It has also encouraged me to continue working towards better Russian comprehension, as well as eventually earn a masters in Russian studies. I believe the world needs more people with an understanding of Russia and the nation it represents. St. Petersburg’s Summer program at the Federal State Educational Institute of Higher Professional Education, St. Petersburg State University, has a solid track-record as an institution providing academic and international experience for those who visit St. Petersburg.

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I-Witness and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum – Rowan Meredith

Hello! I’m Rowan Meredith, and I’ve had the incredible opportunity to participate in three different programs overseas this year, and now to write about my adventures. I’ve been on the road for just under four months, and have another four to go. In May, I was a part of the 2014 I-witness Holocaust Field School with the Germanic Studies department at UVic, and spent three weeks exploring Germany, Austria and Poland in an effort to understand how the Holocaust is memorialized in Central Europe. I then stayed in Poland to work as an intern at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum for the remainder of the summer. I’ve just arrived in Marburg, Germany, where I will be studying the German language until December. My blog will mainly be centered around Marburg, but this introductory post will give you an idea of what I’ve been doing for the last four months (so forgive me if it’s long).

 

I-Witness: Observation, Experience, Understanding

In May, the I-Witness program began with a week of classes held on campus at UVic. Our group spent every day listening to survivor testimonies, discussing a broad range of readings, giving presentations about the very sites we were to see, and getting to know one another. We then flew off to Berlin, where we began our tour, visiting memorials, meeting with students from each of the countries we visited, and discussing our rapidly shifting opinions of the sites. The memorials in real life were very different from the images we had seen in our readings, and we experienced considerable emotion in examining them, often finding ourselves unable to process our thoughts for at least 24 hours after an experience. Our biases were exposed, especially in our encounters with other student groups, and our networks of belief began to break down. Inner conflict was often the theme of the day.

The understanding this experience gave our group about the Holocaust was by no means black and white, and was among the most meaningful “classroom” experiences possible. The program has inspired me to continue to work against present-day genocide and human rights violations, and is an experience I would recommend to anyone with a passion in these fields, regardless of background.

 

Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum: Participation

At the end of May, I left the I-witness group and moved to Oswiecim, Poland, to participate in an international co-op term at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. The feeling at the museum is in stark contrast to what I had experienced so far: instead of the wide range of emotions of discovering the Holocaust sites for the first time, the employees at the museum experienced never-ending curiosity, and worked to make the emotion real for camp visitors. Nevertheless, working at the museum could be extremely eerie at times, especially as volunteers are housed in the office of the former camp commandant Rudolph Höss. As a volunteer in the Collections department, I had a wide range of duties, from creating identification cards for newly retrieved artifacts, to transcribing videos of survivor testimonies, to scanning and photocopying historical documents. This program allowed me to become a participant in the memorialization process.

Unfortunately, complications with my visa arose which required me to leave my work term early and return to Canada. The Polish Embassy in Vancouver gave me mistaken information on several occasions, leading me to believe that I would not require a visa for my co-op term, even though I was to spend more than 90 days in Europe in total. When in Europe, it was impossible to obtain the needed visa, so I had to leave the country, only to return two weeks later and apply for a rush student visa in Germany. If you are going to be participating in a similar program lasting more than 90 days (including any travel time outside Poland), I highly recommend you get in contact with the Canadian embassy in Poland, or with another embassy in Europe, for more accurate information.

For prospective students looking to take part in a work term at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, I would certainly encourage you. The experience can be deeply satisfying, especially if you use your free time (as the workload at the museum is relatively light) to explore the nearby cities and immerse yourself in the Polish culture. Work at the museum is a deeply moving experience, and is likely to inspire your own research. Knowledge of either Polish or German would be valuable, as these are the primary languages spoken at the museum and documented in the archives, but I found that Russian was also helpful, and many people do speak English. Do not count on French as a back-up.

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Welcome!

Welcome, everyone! We are excited to add this new way to communicate with you! In this blog, we would like our present and former students to share their experience while studying, working or volunteering abroad.