Hallo once again! Having a four day week sure made time fly! I am hoping to get this done by the time we leave for our early dinner in 30 minutes, so I will manage even though the student lounge is a bit loud here!
Well, today was a fairly good day. Class is finished up well, we visited the Uniseum (university museum), and I have the next two days ahead of me to relax and enjoy the sights. The Uniseum was pretty interesting; we walked in a few minutes before it opened and one of the caretakers spoke to us and asked us (nicely) to wait outside while they set up a bit. I was pretty excited that we were able to pick up on what the person was saying. I am definitely starting to understand more of the spoken language, which is nice. Tonight, we are going to an Italian restaurant. Pretty interesting to be doing that in Germany, but I guess it's supposed to be pretty darn good. It's going to be the good bye dinner to the younger sister of two of the Union girls here. I am looking forward to a change of pace from all of the bratwurst and breads, but I'm still not sick of all that delicious German food! Later tonight, Andrea and I are going to movie night at the Goethe Institut. I can't remember what film we will be seeing, but I hope at least it is one of the decent German movies.
Well, just one more thing before I start getting ready for dinner. Today in class, we had to interview each other about what we spend our money on, what we hate to have to pay for, and whether we like to save money. I was paired with one of the Italian students in my class, a really nice guy. We were talking about saving money and I mentioned that I like to save for the future. I was then surprised when he asked me what my religion was...It was difficult to understand at first what he was asking with the difference in accents and all of that, but he asked me if I was Catholic. I said no. He then asked, "Oh are you Jewish?" And again, I said no. I was very surprised when he said he was glad that I did not practice that specific religion. He seemed to imply that because I save money I might be Jewish. This whole interaction pretty much has thrown me off all day. I could not believe that someone my age would be ignorant enough to play into this centuries old stereotype and that this sentiment would be held by Europeans still to this day. Through the many classes I have taken on the topic, I have learned so much about discrimination and antisemitism. The Jews were forced into the money handling business back in the middle ages and they were then hated for their later prosperity and just for doing their job. But the Augsburg Fuggers (my distant relatives) were money lenders, too. They financed loans used to wage war and purchase indulgences (a "free ticket" to heaven). And yet, they were not hated like the Jews. I just don't understand why someone's personal beliefs--whether they be religious or otherwise--would influence another individual's views of the person. Should being Jewish or Christian or agnostic or Atheistic or Islamic or Buddhist or a Scientologist really have an impact on the perceived virtue or personality of a person? So what if someone likes to save money? That only makes them smart...not Jewish. I was really struck by this whole situation. It was also very ironic that the interaction took place in German, the language of a people whose history of antisemitism dates back far before the Second World War. I wish that this encounter did not happen in the last two minutes of class, that I had understand right away what this student was saying, and that I could have then confronted him about his misconceptions. I makes me very disillusioned to think that these stereotypes have been carried on by my generation. I only hope that some day we will be able to overcome our differences, misconceptions, and prejudices in order discover our ability to come together as a world. I will leave it at that. 'Til next time...Tschuess!
