Sunday, June 22, 2014

Week Two of Classes: Goethe Institut Dresden

Guess what?!? Monday, the 9th of June, I did not have class! Today was Pfingstmontag! The Pentecost church holiday is celebrated throughout Germany. Restaurants and shops are closed today, or at the very least, only open for a partial day. It was nice to have a day of recovery after a fun-filled first week of class. 

Tuesday's cultural activity was Konversation "conversation" hour. This was a separate class held for individuals who wanted to come and practice speaking German with each other [outside of regular class time]. It was really fun because we spent the time discussing stereotypes that other cultures have concerning Germany. The teacher for this hour was born in Germany and lives in Germany still--very authentic source! That evening was also a film night! We watched "Der rote Kakadu". It was a film produced not too long ago concerning teenagers during the end of the DDR time. It follows a teenager who loves this girl, but love is complicated in this film. She is in a heartless relationship with another man, but wishes to be with the main character. Towards the end of the film, the young- longing to be together- couple wishes to live in the West. The film ends in tragedy. Our young protagonist makes it the West Berlin and waits for the love of his life to come shortly after. He waits and waits...The radio shouts deliberately that the Wall of Berlin has been taken down. He goes to Checkpoint Charlie in the hopes that the love of his life will be there, but she never comes. Fun fact: There is a scene in the movie that shows the Opera house setting up for a performance. Painters are running all over the place being productive and industrious... my German father was one of the painting extras in the film! 

Wednesday was choir rehearsal and Friday we traveled to Hellerau. Hellerau is a very quaint village. It is not even necessarily considered a city but more of a village. Hellerau contains a lot of modern architecture and that is what makes Hellerau famous in this part of Germany. The whole village is a working village which means that the majority of the population of Hellerau works at the factory for modern furniture in the central part of the town. There are very few people who live in Hellerau that do not work at the furniture factory. 


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