Après Freiburg: le mur inévitable

There is a general truth that I've decided to call Meagan's Law. Basically it states that if you push yourself to the limit for a sustained amount of time - living the VGV, la Vie de Grand Vitesse, which for me has lately been approaching light speed - your body will eventually catch up with you and you will hit a wall (le mur inévitable). Naturally this does not feel very good. So when I woke up this morning with a sinus infection - I'll spare you the gory details, but daybreak nosebleeds are among the worst kinds of wake-up calls - and an overwhelming fatigue, I decided that I may have been overdoing it. (Ha ha, as you will see, it shouldn't have taken an Einstein IQ to figure that out!) At any rate, I promptly went straight back to bed, slept in until 10, ate a leisurely and humongous breakfast including two glasses of OJ to restore my strength, and found (thankfully) that I was feeling much better. Almost human, in fact.

So what precipitated this head-on collision with the limits of my health and energy? It was one of my best weekends here yet... and one of the craziest. The Model EU in Freiburg was, in a word, überwältigend. (That means awesome!) Frieburg is a beautiful little town, right on the edge of Germany, about 45 minutes from France and Switzerland. It's approximately half the size of Nantes (therefore a sixth of Seattle) and is so charmingly Bavarian! The Münster is this cathedral that is extraordinarily airy and latticed and ornate, and unlike the limestone in France, it is made of this deep red stone that makes it look more somber and heavy. The hill dominating the eastern side of the city marks the edge of the famous Black Forest and is sprinkled with pine trees that reminded me of home.

Another cute, unique thing about the town are the little gutters that run along the main streets. Well, they are like little streams or canals about a foot wide and a good 6 inches deep, and they've been there for hundreds of years to "bring fresh air into the city." There is a legend that if you step in one by accident, you will marry a Freiburger. (Isn't that sweet?) I wish I could remember what they're called, it's something like betzlë or bëctzle... or something. It was humbling to be somewhere where I couldn't speak a word of the language! I learned to say, Ich spreche kein Deutsche, I don't speak German, and Entschuldigung, sorry - and that's about it. But it was neat to hear it spoken, and to hear how well the IES Germany students could speak it - I wonder if I sound like that in French to people who can't understand it?

Anyway, despite Freiburg's reputation as the sunniest town in Germany - it's the solar power capitol of Europe! - it was cloudy and sprinkled the whole time. (That's December for you, I guess.) It is the 'Greenest City' in Germany as well - they have a Green party mayor. You should see the bikes! It's amazing. There is a bike lane on every sidewalk and these bikers do not slow down! They ring their klingel (bells) and pedestrians literally jump out of the way. It's kind of funny to see, but I nearly got run over - and got scolded in angry German - several times. Still, it is great that they use such eco-friendly transport... and healthy too!

We spent most of our time inside the Katholische Akademie having a conference - hello, that's why the school paid for me to go there! - but we did get to see some of the town. The Christmas market was so beautiful. I bought gingerbread, Glühwein, a super yummy spiced/mulled hot wine drink, and - as odd as it might sound - a chocolate-covered banana on a stick that was sooo good. They have little stands selling candles, knit hats, nutcrackers, all sorts of craftsy and cretaive things. Wiehnachten (Christmas) is clearly a German tradition, so I suppose it's natural that they do it the best.

The Christmas decorations are incredible all over Europe, in fact, with lights everywhere in any major town. But so far, Freiburg takes the cake. One store had Jewish stars, which a Freiburg IES student explained to me was by accident - they don't know what a Star of David is, to them it's just a different kind of star, because there are no Jewish people there. Hmm. Wonder why... :( Kaiser Joseph Strasse, the main street, was once called Adolph Hitler Strasse, as with many big roads in Germany. The town was mostly destroyed in the war and has since been rebuilt to look as much like it did as possible, with all memory of the Nazi days erased, of course... Or as much as can be expected...

Anyway, wow, I'm writing a book here and I haven't even gotten to the point. The Conference was pretty cool. It wasn't always super well organized and there were times that people didn't stick to their country's actual position, so it got a bit frustrating at times. But the Freiburg kids are here with a program that does nothing but study the E.U. so they knew their stuff. We had about 8 hours of conference each day Friday and Saturday. The Finance Council had to decide how much to increase member states' contributions to the EU budget, which was a heated debate. We went with a 10% increase - from 1 to 1.1% of GDP - after essentially bribing England with a promised reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. The CAP reform didn't much appeal to France but we were able to reach consensus after substantially watering down the reduction in farm subsidies. The EU decides unanimously so it wasn't easy! But it illustrated the difficulties of such international negotiations. It was a stimulating simulation.

Afterwards we went out on the town with our Freiburg hosts, and at a bar called Schlappen (gotta love the German names) I learned what a 'meter' is - other than a measurement, that is. It's a long plank with about 15 beers on it. I guess you can't go to Germany and not drink beer, but I still don't appreciate it very much. :) They also have student bars literally in their dorms. (Like in London. How crazy is that?) The one in the former morgue was intriguing... if slightly creepy! But it reminded me of my last dorm at Whitman, the former hospital, where I lived in a 'Delivery Room.' Still, I can't imagine if we had had a bar in the basement... Although, for Europeans it's more of an opportunity for conversation than a place to get drunk. (A healthier attitude toward alcohol = one of the most persuasive reasons I can think of for changing the drinking age in the U.S.) So it was a great chance to socialize with my fellow conference participants from all over Europe. Talking to the students in other IES programs (Rome, Spain, Germany, etc.) made me realize how lucky I am to have the experiences I've gotten in Nantes. I am one of the most integrated into the life and culture of my host country. In the end, I'm really happy with the program I chose!!!

But needless to say, the free coffee at the conference was very, very welcome... I think I got 12 hours of sleep over the three nights I stayed there. Ugh. But you can't say I didn't profit from my time in Germany! I didn't go all the way there to sit in my hostel room. :) It was a good mix of fun and learning. We had a speaker on Saturday that was the runner-up for the post of German Foreign Minister, and he talked about the situation in Ukraine, which was fascinating.

Then Sunday for some post-conference relaxation, we went to a spa in the heart of the Black Forest. This forest is what I picture when I think of Hansel and Gretel. And somewhere in it is located these natural hot spring bathing pools. What a great way to unwind. We soaked and floated and got bubble massaged for a good two hours before hopping on the plane to go home. What a wonderful idea!!!

But getting back to work has not been easy. I have finals next week and two papers to write and I am just now grinding back into gear. But I'm really glad I got to go to that conference. I am going to miss Europe sooo much! Last night two American friends and I were invited over by a group of French students. They made us dinner and played Tarot - not the fortune-telling thing, it's a French game played with a five-suited deck of cards - and we sang French songs (or tried!) with a guitar and djembe (African drum) until the neighbors (from three floors up!) came and pounded on the door because they were trying to sleep. Oops! But it was one of the funnest times I've had here, and I can't help but be really disappointed to leave behind all of these friends I'm making. :(

Yet I am grateful for the memories, and ever so thankful that I've had this amazing - merveilleux - überwältigend - whatever! - time here!!! I'll never forget what an incredible experience this has been.