I had two reasons for staying in Chapel Hill this summer: one, to escape my parents, and two, to start learning German for graduate school. The Germans are notorious for their classical pedantry. Throughout the summer, I have come to understand the German culture and people better than before. I had no conception of the differences between regions. I found the German attitudes toward friendship and privacy particularly interesting. This summer I have been dealing with problems with my best friends at home not keeping in contact; having the German context to compare my own troubles to has helped me to solve some of these issues.
In the first summer session, I asked Alex for German movie recommendations. This started a veritable movie-watching spree. I have watched between 8-10 German films (this is an accomplishment for me) in 12 weeks. This has given me an appreciation for German cinema which I never knew I had before. In comparison to the Swedish, French, and American films which I have seen, the German have undoubtedly been the best according to my tastes. My favorite films have been Das Leben der Anderen, Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum, and Gegen der Wand. All of them combine a strong message about human nature with a fascinating, deep story.
I have a better understanding of the German attitude behind their Classical scholarship. Instead of just wanting to read boring articles on JSTOR for a Ph.D, I now want to read outside my typical range of archaic poetry and branch into German philosophy and literature. That change is in itself is a huge advance for me!
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