I don't have any class today... very nice feeling! My language class meets 2-3 days a week and this week we only met on Monday and Wednesday. Other classes meet every morning Monday-Thursday. My class is an "Experiential Beginners" for people who don't intend to major/minor in the language. We're supposed to be getting a basic crash course in the German language so we'll be able to live with more than just pointing and nodding. There are 10 of us in there and I'm the only one who isn't in the UC (California) system... which means many of them are putting Spanish accents/words in for German since that's the other language that they've learned. It's kind of funny but also kind of frustrating because the instructor doesn't really correct our pronunciation much. I'm also a little disappointed in the pace of the class because several of my classmates don't seem to have picked up any German on their own by just living here. I guess I have an advantage because I'm always going out with stronger German speakers who refuse to speak English but it is frustrating to hear how much further behind than me they are already in the second week of class. Although, I won't lie... Bingo was pretty fun yesterday... :)

I'm taking three other "content" courses (thankfully in English!). On Tuesdays, I have "Integration, Conflict and Security in Europe" taught by the program director, Dirk. It reminds me a lot of what I liked about the IR major before I switched to Justice. Right now it's covering the history of European governments/integration (supra-nationalism) post-World War II and after the midterm break it will focus more on conflict/security issues that have occurred after the end of the Cold War. During our class trip to München and Vienna in two weeks, we're going on a tour and presentation of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) in Vienna. We also have to independently go to the Allied Museum, the German-Russian Museum in Karlshorst and the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and write papers about our visits.

My second class is also taught by Dirk on "Contemporary Germany in European Perspective". So far it's been about the history of Germany from 1949-1990 with a basic overview of the leadership/policies of both German states before Reunification. Something I never really thought I'd study! Because the whole program is a more European Studies focus, this class spends a lot of time applying Germany to Europe and making sure that everything we're learning about Germany is integrated to Europe as a whole. Our independent course projects are on the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German History Museum showing both the FRG and GDR from 1945-1990), an exhibition in the Deutscher Dom called "Wege – Irrwege – Umwege", and either the Erinnerungsstätte Notaufnahmelager Marienfelde (memorial site that used to be used to process East German refugees to the West after 1953) or the DDR Museum showing what "typical life" was like in East Germany.

My third class (along with Contemporary Germany on Wednesdays) is on "Architecture in Berlin from the 19th Century to Today". This will probably be my most challenging class... I don't know anything about architecture and our exams will be recognizing building styles, historical significances, etc. So far we've gone over the history of Berlin's growth from the Middle Ages to the post-Reunification growth projections/realities of today and looked at both architectural terms and a quick history of Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The best thing about the class (I think) will be the walking tours we're taking throughout Berlin. Next week we're starting at the Old Museum (Altes Museum) on Friedrichstraße in Mitte and looking at several of Schinkel's buildings in Berlin. Other walking tours include tours on Onkel Toms Hütte, Hansaviertel and Pariser Platz/Government Quarter area. Our independent course projects are visits to the Bauhaus Archiv's exhibition on "Berlin Settlements from the 1920s", the Olympiastadion (Olympic Stadium built by Hitler for the 1936 Berlin Olympics) and a "self-guided walking tour". I also have to write a paper and present on Bruno Taut's "Horseshoe Development" housing complex in Berlin-Britz... I have no idea what that is (I've seen a couple pictures) but I'm sure I'll know a lot more pretty soon. :)