Fulbright Seminar Day 2 and 3

These have been two intense and powerful days of learning. We walked to the nearby Academy of Music to hear presentations about various Fulbrighters projects.

The presentations were grouped into three areas: Arts and Humanities, Natural Sciences and Area Studies. The topics ranged from Kate Dervishi, a painter, learning how to make 3-D models based on the German film expressionists so she could bring scenes into her studio to paint, to Evan Torner who is studying how Indians and cowboys are presented in German films between 1962-1985, to Brady Shinn who is using participating in a soccer league with Turkish youth as a way to study their religious practices to Moran Levy who is comparing water management between the California Delta area with the Dutch Delta area.

These presentations were followed by a Barbara Kisseler, Head of the Senate Chancellery. She gave a short address and then took questions from the Fulbrighters. These questions ranged to what kind of religious instruction is and should take place in public schools to can Berlin afford three opera house, to what are the long standing feelings among the German people about reunification. We were all very impressed with her translator who appeared to translate Kisseler's answers into English and record that in a kind of shorthand. Kissler would talk for nearly 5 minutes and when finished her translator would then do the answer in English.

The morning events were followed by a reception with all kinds of drinks and light food. I had what appeared to be a chicken finger placed into a shot glass that contained some vinegary ketchup.

We had the afternoon free and I took off for a walk along the Unter den Linden. Below are some things that caught my eye.

A cute sculpture

Why I couldn't get lost. The building is the hotel, 40 stories high, one of the highest buildings in Berlin, next to the TV tower. One can appreciate how high the tower is after knowing the hotel is 40 stories!

The contrasts all over Berlin -- a very new building, set against an old structure and next to a construction crane for yet another building.

Another view of construction

Just a bit of the Russian Embassy. This building is 1.75 blocks long and I have no idea how deep. The remained for the second block holds the Aeroflot offices. It must have been an overwhelming presence in a divided Berlin and Germany.

A book sale by Humboldt University. The books were on the street and one went into the building to pay. Can you imagine this happening in the United States?

In the evening we went by bus to the University of Arts Concert Hall. The evening's activity was a concert presented by Fulbrighters studying music.

The concert was magnificent! That is the only word for it. It ranged from Vivaldi's Concerto in C-major featuring Bianca Garcia,the best piccolo flute player in the United States, to Michael Compitello presenting Drukman's Relections on the Nature of Water, played on the marimba to Darius Brubeck presenting selections of African jazz that he composed during his first Fulbright. Brubeck is now doing his second Fulbright in Romania.

Here are some of the musicians at the conclusion of the concert. The two women with flowers on their heads presented Poulenc's Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon in a comic manner.

Day 3 began with a panel called European Dimensions. We heard from Fulbrighers working in Sweden, Italy, Bulgaria, Spain and Norway.

My Fulbright colleague, Mark, presented about teaching English in a high school in Pecs. Tom Berry, a fellow Minnesotan, who is in Sweden, observed that the Fulbright experience allows one of get out of the usual box of learning and working. That idea is right on and what this conference has been about -- so many new ideas that have very little to do with health care.

I next went to a panel discussion about what student life is like during a Fulbright experience. I came away with the idea that there isn't a single method of European university education. What the students were complaining about in their universities is a 180 difference from what is troubling me about how I have to teach the doctoral nursing courses in April.

Our last session concerned Transatlantic Politics. During this conference I have learned of the huge support the German people have for Obama. And the health reform legislation has received a lot of discussion and postive acclaim in Germany. Karsten Voight, the former Coordinator of German-American Relations, brought this into focus by observing that how we [Americans] handle domestic issues does more to shape the European perception of America than does our foreign policies. He also said that most Europeans think social equality is a necessary condition for democracy. Thus they applaud the US health reform bill bringing almost universal access into place. Voight said more low income people in Germany participate in elections than do so in the United States because they feel like they are indeed part of the country.

I did a bit of wandering about this afternoon and can add a couple of scenes. I call the above, "really fast food." The vendor carries the cooker on his waist!

I was also amused by the candy selection in the nearby Galeria department store.

Tomorrow I head for Poland.

A request to readers -- what do you think of the idea that social equality is a necessary condition for democracy? Have you thought about health reform in this way? I'd be interested in your comments as would perhaps others who read this blog.