Last weeks

Goodbye, Lenin! was a perfect film to finish off the quarter. I felt like it drew together both our courses and allowed us to discuss – with our newly acquired contextual knowledge – the ramifications of the fall of Eastern Germany. Considering the past hundred years, the end of the GDR struck me first as simply another change in a long, complicated string of alterations, changing the face of Berlin and of Germany. It dawned on me, however, that the period from the fall in 1989 to the present is in fact the longest stretch of peaceful history is maybe 130 years, or at least since World War One. Germany is moving forward, and as the distance between past and present grows, German reunification remains the last and, arguably, the most important change yet.

Allan’s article addressed, among other things, the complex relationship between fiction, history, and memory. He discusses Goodbye, Lenin! in the context of other post-GDR films. Like others, Goodbye Lenin! is a comedy gently poking fun at GDR stereotypes. However, the film definitely breaks down some of these stereotypes. Allan argues that it is “through the characterization of Alex’s mother, Christiane, that the film succeeds in providing a corrective to stereotypical notions of the GDR generally, and of socialist activism in particular.” Christiane isn’t some brainless party proponent, but rather an activist intent on improving the system. She sees through the pomp of the party leaders, and is clearly aware of some of the stifling and backward elements of GDR ideology. “The film marks her out as a figure whose qualities transcend the boundaries of East and West,” something the film does in other respects as well. Positioning the story around a family drama works to elicit sympathy from both Easterners and Westerners. The decision of Christiane to stay in the GDR is left puzzling for all viewers, and helps the viewer understand better the complicated and conflicting loyalties felt by many Easterners.

I enjoyed the movie much more than when I first saw it. I’m not sure whether it’s because I know more history now, or whether I was able to better view the film after a quarter of film analysis. I feel like I could see more into Alex and his struggle with both the fall of both is mother, and of the GDR. The alternate ending he produces for his mother seems like a commentary on our changing relationship with history. All of history is production, to an extent, and he allowed (or attempted to allow) his mother a version of history that many probably still wish for.

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of sorts. Beginning Monday of last week, I don’t think I spent less than five hours each day on the project. But last Monday night we struck gold, as far as our project is concerned. We finally went out to a ping pong bar, played ping pong, and met people. Nice people. It was thrilling, to say the least. We played for probably two hours with this couple that later agreed to an interview. They provided great perspective on the game and Berlin, but as it turns out they weren’t actually from Berlin, so we weren’t entirely sure how to place their statements in the context of our film.

In the end, it worked out just fine. We panicked for probably the first three days of intense editing, then the pieces started to fit together into a manageable whole, and the process got a lot easier. Nate took on the bulk of editing at first, manning the computer while we all tried to provide input. I got on the computer probably Thursday, and finally put together a sequence on my own. It was kind of exciting. I’m not used to producing something like that. I felt kind of immensely proud of myself. By the end of the project, I was having such a hard time maintaining interest while watching that I took over for most the last three days. My baby in the project was the training sequence, which I did entirely on my own. I also did most of the micro-editing, trimming down clips, color correcting, and sound balancing of the film.

By the end of the whole thing, I was surprised to find myself really enjoying our group. We spent hours and hours together, for days at a time, and we came out alive, and with a final project. Everybody contributed, all four of us, and while we got grouchy at times (or I got grouchy) it worked really very well. We had some artistic differences, but everyone was pretty good about giving in when overruled. I was skeptical, and honestly pretty nervous about showing the film to the class. I thought it wouldn’t go over well. I felt it was artistically deficient, especially compared to the other projects. But I think people enjoyed it for what it was. It felt really good, especially when I realized we couldn’t hear the movie because everybody was laughing too loud.

This program was amazing, Eric, and I hope the rest of the class appreciates it. I’ve been on three study abroad programs. Of course they're all amazing, but the caliber and quality of both students and staff on this trip were just totally unbelievable. I couldn’t believe how impressive all the projects were last night. Nobody slacked off, nobody half-assed anything. It was all sincere, and it was all well done. I can't believe how lucky I am to have finished off college with this kind of experience.

Weeks 7-9

WEEK SEVEN

Last week we finished our acoustic film. It seemed to go over pretty well in class. The group had to work together, for real, for the first time on the project. I think it went well, and will go well in the next few weeks as long as no body gets too hardheaded. Nathan did a lot of the editing for the acoustic, which was so great of him. He did most of the grunt work of importing and clipping, and then we all got together to paste things into a real project. We probably spent about 15 hours in three days. It was intense.

I’m heading to Bavaria this weekend, but the moment I return it’s going to be freak-out time. We need to get our shit together, and start forcing this film to take shape.

The process of shooting has been increasingly problematic. We have been multiple places and met a few people, but the language barrier proves consistent. We’ve gotten some great footage, but as far as substantial interviews, we’re really struggling. One of the biggest problems for me in that regard is that I hate forcing the camera on people. I can’t shove myself in anywhere. I’m shy around large groups, at least initially. I had hoped from the beginning that I could stay in the background, and make up for it in editing hours. Not so. We are desperate for footage, and we’re spending almost literally every evening going out to ping pong. It’s exhausting, and extremely detrimental to group morale. To be honest, we’re to the point where I may need to simply utilize the simple fact that I’m a girl.

On to more cinematographical issues, this week we watched Lola Rennt. I loved the article by Sinka. I had no idea how much cultural depth lay at the heart of the film, a fact that gets completely overlooked, I think especially, by American audiences. I have to admit that I had initially agreed with some of the international criticism Sinka sites in her article (lack of character development), but her description of Lola as an “agent of change” makes so much more sense to me now. Berlin and Lola overlap in that regard, both lying at the heart of so many daunting outcomes. You hold your breath for Lola, much as Germany, Europe, and the western world waits in anticipation to see what next comes of a city that has transformed the lives of millions. The center of so many regime changes, you can’t help but compare Berlin to Lola, a city trying hard to get it right, having failed so devastatingly in the past.

A discussion of movement is also central to the film, where tension, movement, and music wrap the viewer in a constant hold. In Sinka’s article, she addresses the political ramifications of this theme, and how even the film itself was used directly in political campaigns. Recovering from sixty years of uninterrupted political tension and turmoil, the Berlin emerging from the Cold War was forced to reshape itself entirely. Movement forward, towards a unified and modern German republic, has been a vital change in the last fifteen years. As Sinka points out, “no city is so synthetic and yet so alive as Berlin, claims Tykwer, and Lola rennt shows the exciting synthetic Berlin currently wedged between modernity and demolition.”

In our course, over the past nine weeks, we’ve watched Berlin transform into what it is today, through film. I believe Tykwer and Sinka’s description of Berlin as ‘synthetic’ yet ‘alive’ is totally on point. So much has been demolished, rebuilt, preserved, or newly created that the city itself buzzes with life, tension, transformation, and renovation. Movement forward has become undeniably important, and everyone is waiting to see what comes next.

WEEK EIGHT

We didn’t have class this week, which is not to say we didn’t do work on our film, but there was no readings or movie for me to discuss here.

Specifically, the work we did do was on Thursday, when Jesse and I went to one of our ping pong bars that was supposed to be having a tournament. It was, but the whole thing was very laid back. We tried to talk with one guy, and he couldn’t speak English. So we shot about two minutes of footage and then left. It was a frustrating evening. The only person nice to us has usually been the bartender.

WEEK NINE

I found this week’s material some of the most interesting yet. Judging by the level of discussion participation, I believe the rest of the class felt similarly. Me Boss, You Sneaker addresses, more directly, the contemporary world, and I don’t know about the rest of the class, but I found it an invigorating change. All of my personal loyalties to history aside, I sometimes need the intellectual stimulation of examining modern times.

So now follows a more deliberately focused and analytical discussion of the film, the readings, and our discussion (as requested by our beloved professor.)

Gokturk, in Identity Politics, introduced some intriguing points for discussion. In her discussion of anarchic comedy, she defines Kutlucan’s film as “a refreshingly mocking take on the discourse of mutliculturalist differentiation.” His film marks a departure, she argues, from some of the more problematic elements in social problem films. Through the use of anarchy, irony, and comedy, the filmmaker is allowed to steer away from the image of immigrant as victim. Instead, films like Me Boss, You Sneaker move towards a less patronizing approach to the problematic issues of immigration, nationality, and identity. I think Gokturk makes an excellent point. When you’re dealing with an issue as complex, as sensitive, and as baggage-laden as that of ethnic, national, or cultural identities, sometimes it’s important to take a step back. As Gokturk puts it, “Immigrant comedies at their best can train spectators in not taking themselves too seriously…they have the power to destabilize discourses and iconographies of power.” She brings up the climate of “ethnic tribalism” and “fetishization of cultural difference” surrounding approaches to identity these days, and I think she’s right. The modern world is faced with more complex issues of “race,” “ethnicity” and “identity” than every before, and everyone is running around terrified of offending. Attempts at political correctedness are almost nauseating when backed up by ignorance, and these attempts often only serve to mute and hamper racially and socially charged dialog. By providing humorous, often ironically critical approaches to modern identity, filmmakers (and artists of all kinds) such as Kutlucan allow for a broadening of cultural discourse. By lightening the mood, Kutlucan is forcing the viewer to take a step back from themselves and their initial assumptions, reactions, and opinions. This is essential to any discussion of culture, nationality, identity, and ethnicity. “We need to infiltrate cultural studies and policy with an ironic, irreverent spirit to counteract essentialist notions of territorially rooted identies,” argues Gokturk. I agree completely.

Now for the keeping-account-of-what-we-did part:

This week was nuts. Monday, after returned from travel, we decided we needed to be out filming every day, taking advantage of all daylight hours. Especially sunny hours. So the moment it got sunny, I grabbed the camera and went out alone for a few hours filming for our introduction. The clips turned out well, and by Thursday we had put together a pretty great introduction to our film. That is, once Nathan and Frodo spent hours figuring out how to import or export and render things for quicker handling in Adobe Premier.

Wednesday (I think it was Wednesday) we went out as a group. It was the first day that I remember having a really great time filming, so it was a nice change. We spent about four or five hours capturing footage for the second part of our introduction, as well as our “training” sequence. Hopefully we got enough, because this next week I doubt we will have much time to grab filler shots.

Every day this week our group spent time together, staring at clips and piecing them together. I’d say at least 2-3 hours a day. Monday night three of us went to Dr. Pong and got maybe our only significantly substantial interview yet. The rest of the week we spent editing. Nathan and Frodo deserve a lot more credit than I do this week. I couldn’t invest myself very fully in the project because I was extremely distracted with family matters at home (my grandma had relatively major surgery on Thursday, it went well) so I’m hoping to make up for that this weekend. Tomorrow I interview a tisch tennis player on my own, and I plan to also spend the entire day doing as much rendering and clipping as I can, in an effort to save us as much time as possible in this coming week.

One last note: we finally come up with some really encouraging ideas for how to structure and extend the film (personal interviews, third-person perspective.) I think it’s going to be great, as long as we keep things funny. Hopefully it wont be trying too hard…

Weeks 6-7

The past two weeks have been hectic but fantastic.

The visit from Kohlhaase was amazing. Just being IN Berlin has been exciting enough for me, as it's so historically central. Sitting down with a man who has not only witnessed the very heart of modern historical transition, but also culturally participated in it is somewhat mind boggling for me. It reinvigorated my excitement over our film projects as well, an enthusiasm that had been slowly draining up to this point. It was encouraging to hear from a professional how difficult the process can become, and how there must be some kind of inherent trust that from all the confusion and tension and mess can come an actual film.

I think what I loved the most was just watching him talk, and wondering what it would be like to have those kinds of years behind you. It has been a long time since I've heard any kind of wisdom spoken from his generation, and I'd forgotten how much perspective can come from 70+ years. The struggle between generations, and just the acknowledgment of that tension, is something I think is so facinating.

I took lots of notes, something I only do when I get really excited. These are my favorites of what I wrote down:

"When finding out who you are, you are a groupie. You want friends on either side of you. You must kill your father, and make friends with your grandfather."

"Berlin is the right place for me. It is the only place I know so well, and there comes a point when you can only view new places as a visitor, when they can no longer change you."

"Many people are unlucky for life because they want to play a part that they cannot, that they were not meant for."


Anyway, it was great, and this program just keeps getting more interesting.

The two films we watched, Wings of Desire and Die Mauer, have been my favorite so far. I've seen the first half of Wings before, and personally I think the first half is the best half. Films like that one somehow manage to slow down life to such a simple process, where you can appreciate what taking your shoes off under the table feels like in a way you never have before. Most of my friends haven't liked that movie, but I loved it.

Interesting discussion on that film, by the way. I listened to so many people leave class heated and disgruntled because of such a "stupid" argument, so I spent the trip home arguing with everyone about how the issues of sex and race can always be a point of debate, regardless of the topic or circumstance. I figure it could have been any movie chosen as a battleground. The discussion about white, male hegemony wasn't over and done with in the 70s (a suggestion I actually heard on the way home) so I just like to pry at anyone who thinks it was.
. . . I took a lot of radicalizing courses in my last quarter on campus at the U (stratification, race radicalism, etc.)

Watching Die Mauer was also great. I'd never seen it before. I only realized half way through the film how captivated I was. I can't imagine watching that first slab lifted out of the wall, or the climbing and the dancing.

Watching a documentary was especially helpful for our own film project. It was encouraging to watch a project put together by somewhat informally gathered footage. It seems to me like the director probably filmed everything he could, then pulled out the best clips at the end. We've been attempting some kind of footage gathering, but up until this week we had remained almost completely unsuccessful. Finally, though, we've located actual places and actual people who are as into Tischtennis as we thought they'd be. Last night we thought we hit another dud at Serene Bar. Walking in to dimly lit disco balls and naked ladies on the walls didn't strike me as a table-sport environment, but as it turns out they have weekly games on Wednesdays (they pull a table right out into the dance floor) AND the bartender promised to send out an e-mail letting everyone know we'd be shotting next Wednesday.

We also returned to a different place we found earlier this week. While the bar owner was enthusiastic about our project, walking down into six or seven people having beers, playing Tischtennis was kind of intimidating. More so because we were in Friedrichshain so some of the guys with the perfectly tussled hair and overly-tight sweaters were definitely not welcoming. But we got to shoot two pretty intense players (not hipsters; these guys were total nerds.) One approached us after playing, interested in getting the footage, and said he could have us over to Spandau where they train. While I'm not entirely sure who 'they' are, I'm getting pretty excited.

As far as our acoustic movie goes, we've gathered pretty much all our material and now just need to edit. Nathan has been the most ambitious with the software up to this point. I'm hoping to learn some of it before missing out on the sound project entirely. It's a difficult program to just jump right into. I'm the type of person who likes to know as much as possible about something, so I have difficulty just barely learning enough to get by.

All in all, it has been an encouraging week. Hopefully next week pans out. We've had preliminary agreements for some interviews, so I'm extremely optimistic at this point. Wish us luck.

Weeks 3-5

WEEK THREE

This week we changed our complete idea for our film. For the better, as far as I’m concerned. I wasn’t ready to tackle the topic we originally came up with. So instead we managed to get pretty excited about the idea of documenting Tisch Tennis in Berlin. I think it’s a good idea with a lot of potential. The guys got really excited about the project, and I think interest level is one of the most important elements for our group. So we’re buying all the necessary equipment and planning to practice up.

I’m hoping the movie will go the way of another pseudo-documentary I’ve seen on Berlin currywurst, where an American woman decided to see what Berlin was all about through the Imbiss. I’m really hoping to meet some people and get a chance to talk about, first of all, their interest in ping pong, and second, their opinions about their own city. We’ll see how it works out.

Watching movies in class has been helpful, although I’m excited to get to post-war films. I have an easier time relating to the film process once color, sound, and more modern equipment are introduced. But Kuhle Wampe was great, and said so much about Berlin at the time that it was made. The introductory sequence was my favorite, with the bikes and the jarring music. Music and score have always been probably my favorite element of film, and the way that Brecht uses the combination of such intense, almost uncomfortable music with the rapid, desperate movement of the bike wheels was perfect. Like I said before, I’ve been most excited about the editing process, and especially the audio. I’m glad our group has the acoustic movie assignment, because audio editing will be SO great to learn.

I already have in my head how I hope our end project comes out. I think we just need to start shooting, especially the outdoors as much as possible. I think the weather isn’t going to stay as nice as it has been lately.

WEEK FOUR

Last week we watched Germany Year Zero. Definitely my favorite film so far. Rubble films evoke such a bizarre atmosphere in film. I can’t believe the city existed like that, and for so long. I think what I enjoyed the most were the long periods of just walking, just the boy walking through the desolate city. The whole movie revolves around what people are doing, and not what they are saying.

In reference to our own film, I’m hoping we can capture the feel and expanse of the city somehow, especially for our introduction. Jon and Nathan and I tossed around a few ideas for the organization of our film. I think we can introduce the city through a kind of Berlin montage, just to make it clear what city we are actually in. I’m thinking we will probably end up having to do a voice-over in order to really introduce what we’re doing, but we still aren’t sure about that part. We’ll eventually somehow bring the introduction to focus in on the ping pong tables that are scattered throughout the city. Since the tables are now so empty in the autumn, we’ll have to somehow introduce the indoor realms of Tisch Tennis. I think we will also need to introduce US as participants in this whole thing, so we had a kind of funny idea about doing freeze-frame profiles of each of us. So we can pop up a video or picture, then maybe even use text to bullet-point our names, ages, and probably what will end up being humorous trivia or commentary. But these are all just preliminary ideas. Who knows what this project will actually turn into? The process is still kind of scary for me. I’m always the first one to assume we will be struggling to scrape together something that isn’t entirely embarrassing by the end of the quarter.

And actually we have failed to make much progress so far. We went out as a group for the first time to find a ping pong club, and the first one was closed. We fell back on a place called Dr. Pong, which was cool (everyone runs around the table in a circle taking turns hitting the ball), but to me it felt like the crowd was very young and very foreign. I want the real CLUBS, with ping pong tournaments, teams, etc. We are covering both the array of bars with tables, and places that exist solely for ping pong, in order to display the true expanse of the sport within the city. We really haven’t found what we’re looking for yet.

It’s been great seeing the small projects made by each group. This week Josh/Cynthia/Joel/Ed showed their “point of view” film, and they did a really amazing job. It was encouraging because the camera picked up very clear and very good sound, which we will really need for our acoustic movie. Next week the other acoustic group will go. Hopefully we will get ideas for our own, which is still kind of up in the air.

WEEK FIVE

We decided on an idea for the acoustic movie that sounds very do-able (something I think we need right now.) We are going to try to capture the journey to school every morning through sound. Should be interesting.

We watched A Berlin Romance this week. As we discussed so extensively in class, this was the first film to feel really “Hollywood-ish” in the sense that the plot was character-driven and fairly simple. Because the content of the film was more enveloping than that of, say, Ruttman’s film, I spent less time looking at cinematography and more time considering the characters and their relationship to the divided city. I can’t WAIT for Kohlhaase to come to our class. Screenwriting is so impressive to me. I’d do that for a living if I could. I don’t know what questions to ask, but will work on coming up with one before his visit next week.

The divided city is such a strange concept to me. It was especially bizarre when the border was still open, and people could go back and forth. You were allowed at that point to really consider each side and their differences, and how you related to each. While films made in the GDR had to adhere to certain regulations, I feel like a Berlin Romance really pushed the consideration of Uschi and Hans, and their character’s statement on their respective regions. Hans isn’t any kind of evil capitalist fascist, but rather just a boy looking for work. While the statement on unemployment in the capitalistic system is obvious, I feel like there is more going on. What struck me most about both Hans and Uschi was that they both had a dream they wanted to pursue – boxing and modeling – and the film didn’t really conclude what place those dreams should occupy in their lives. Neither is allowed to pursue them, but they aren’t necessarily completely condemned as foolish (although modeling is an obvious statement on consumerist capitalism, the GDR had models too, so the topic is less of a statement.) I feel like neither character was entirely resolved in the end, and while they become “just another couple in Berlin,” they still have obvious issues to address. Personally, it made me sad that Hans couldn’t pursue boxing, something he was obviously talented at but unable to continue. Was the film implying that he could pursue such a dream in the GDR? I couldn’t tell, and I also have no knowledge of the place that sports took in the old Soviet and socialist states.

More bad news on the ping pong clubs. We have failed at three places now, and hopefully will finally find some this weekend. But the whole endeavor HAS managed to get me out into the city more, and into regions I haven’t been in before. Instead of a bar with ping pong, one time we instead found a tiny little pub that took up almost its entire floor space with Foosball tables. They were free, and Jesse and I immediately took a turn against one of the scary reigning teams. We lost, 10 to 2. I made our two goals with lucky goalie-kicks, so they don’t even count. Those people were INTENSE. It makes me almost wish we had done our project on THAT small-ball sport, and not ping pong. But we are persevering, and hopefully things will finally start to come together. Who knows, maybe we can include a little blurb about Foosball somewhere in our film.

We have at least started to gather footage of the city in general, which will probably be necessary to fill in the film at various points. I really just have no idea where we will end up with this project. Hopefully we really get it together soon, because we are all going out of town every weekend of November.

Weeks One and Two

Unfortunately my work habits (or lack there of) being what they are, I have left the production of two journal posts to the last day. So this entry will be a composite reflection of the first two weeks as a whole, and likely a reflection on my first month here in Berlin as well. I apologize in advance for spelling and grammatical errors, as I am one of a generation hopelessly dependent upon auto-correct, a feature sadly absent from Internet cafe web windows.

The first two weeks of the program have been both encouraging and somewhat daunting. Production of our own film projects, while enormously exciting (and the draw of me to this program in the first place) has produced in me an inexplicable dread. Our group has literally no experience, and I feel like Nathan, Jon/Frodo, and Jesse came here for different reasons not entirely or maybe even remotely connected with film. I'm encouraged by their enthusiasm to film and we definitely have no shortage on energy, but our project and its focus has yet to develop into any clear form. I personally am most excited about the editing process, and was hoping to assign myself to the majority of that responsibility, but it has become clear that we will all be doing much of the work together, as a group. It will likely turn out much better this way, but I'm intimidated both by our topic and by the time we have to produce a body of footage.

Originally our group was drawn to the notion of a comedy film, somehow giving whatever we produce a funny twist to keep it interesting. I still think this is an excellent idea, because making anything entirely serious, overly artistic, or intellectually challenging may end up in disaster. We want to keep it light, in order to keep ourselves interested and also to keep from getting into anything over our cinamotographically adolescent heads. So our tentative topic so far will have something to do with Berlin counter-culture and its history. Which aspect we will focus on is the difficult decision we will have to make within the next week in order to begin filming. A few (myself included) in our group are interested in the sociological explanations behind Berlin's legacy as a center for deviance and rebellion against certain social norms and stereotypes. This issue, however, is a difficult one to address in film, especially in a manner focused and succinct enough to fit into a 2-month process and 25 minute final product. So I'm left uneasy and unsure of where to go. Eric provided an interested suggestion surrounding squatters in the city, a group with a history here and much pertinent to the topic at hand. We will be looking into the options and researching the history as much as possible this week. I find my biggest reservation surrounding the necessary interviews we would need to sufficiently address these topics. Approaching some of the groups we are considering will be an intimidating project.

I have to interject here, it has been an extremely technologically frustrating week. I say this now only because I just took a 40 minute break from writing just trying to figure out how to switch the word processor over to English on this terribly slow computer. Now I have the luxury of spell check, but it cost me 30 cents to get it. I can't wait for Internet in our apartments, which should arrive this Tuesday. Everything will be easier. Research, correspondence, posting, coursework, and leisure. All of these things will no longer come at the cost of .50/hour and we can do them from the comfort of our own apartments.

Also throwing a hitch in getting things started is the now-apparent lameness of my computer. My relatively new Toshiba is not only at merely 50% operating capacity, RAM-wise, of what it should be but also pathetically low on free space. Tomorrow I will take in my computer to get it upgraded, and hopefully get the ball rolling on this whole film-editing process. I am excited to get this film software for free (or not-so-free, considering the $3000 program price-tag) and even more excited to have it for use after the program. While I have no experience producing or editing film so far, I have watched the process in the past and have many friends engulfed in the frustrating process of trying to “make it”in the film world. While I aspire to no such goal, film is the medium to which I feel most inclined as an artistically-challenged individual. I could never draw or paint, and while I can play a musical instrument, composition is like a frighteningly foreign language. But film I can understand, and if this process goes well and in a way that I find encouraging, I will consider devoting part of my life to it. If not, it will at least be a skill I can use as a hobby for the rest of my life.

Aside from technological hiccups, these first two weeks of class have been extremely exciting. As a history and sociology major, the topic foci of the two courses are perfect for me. A large part of the reason I came to Berlin was to experience physically a place I have so many times experienced intellectually. While my focus in history was quite broad, I have taken at least three courses discussing German history and its influence on the movements of Europe in general. To put myself at the center of that history is exciting. Having a teacher a tour-guide of Thorsten's caliber is awesome and I can't wait for all the weekly excursions. Last week I volunteered to take the first “special assignment”in Thorsten's class on collective memory and culture. It was a daunting task, and I don't think I managed to cover it adequately, but my efforts at least brought home to me personally all the psychological depth involved in a city like Berlin. The layering of memory is intense, and the whole city seems to vibrate with the unseen. So much change happened so rapidly in the last century. In Kracaur's essay Farewell to the Linden Arcade he addresses this social transience, as he refers to it, and also develops his discussion of “passageways” into a discussion of movement and transition in general. His last sentence I found particularly haunting: “What would be the point of an arcade in a society that is itself only a passageway?” For some reason the notion of society as passageway strikes me as eery. From where to towards what are we traveling? His reference to fascism is shocking in its accuracy, and makes the reader consider historical trajectory. It made me consider Germany and Europe today, and Berlin as the center of new historical direction as unclear as that of Kracaur's Berlin in the 1930s.

All for now. I have surpased both the word requirement and my lunchtime.

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