http://www.wn.de/Welt/Politik/2423993-Liveblog-Brexit-Grossbritannien-stimmt-fuer-EU-Austritt Germany is waking up this morning to an EU where its second largest economy has just voted to leave the Union. For Germany this is particularly significant since issues of immigration and acceptance of refugees have probably tipped the balance in the election. Germany has been the voice in Europe pleading that others take…
Author: ndecker@rollins.edu
billboard campaign
At the train station some billboards caught my eye that had wide-eyed characters — like this one. I did not get the significance at first. “Wachtel” = quail. Then in the lower righthand corner I read “vielviel koffein” = lotsa caffeine. Aha! Lot of caffeine makes you wide awake = “wach”! “Wach”tel = wide-awake…
Keeping Münster Clean
Germans are known for a tendency toward cleanliness and order. As a matter of fact, when I have taken students to places like Berlin where “funkiness” and graffiti outweigh flower boxes and traditional Bavarian mural painting, students are often initially turned off. Yet, the Münsteraner have outdone anything I had seen so far. Streetsweepers —…
trip to Osnabrück
The Wednesday evening excursion to Osnabrück was a blast: 1. visit Felix Nussbaum Museum — building designed by Daniel Libeskind — CHECK 2. chat with Wiebe Ahlers, 2014-15 Fulbright FLTA — CHECK 3. eat dinner under shady trees — lots of potatoes — CHECK 4. eat Italian ice in beautiful, downtown Osnabrück — CHECK
Ende of semester tradition
As I often do, I strolled through the Altstadt last Tuesday, a rather rain-beaten day. On the square in front of the Lamberti Kirche an unusual looking crowd of young men was forming. The longer I stood, the more young men congregated near the door to the church. I began to recognize signs of old…
bunny challenge
The Promenade is certainly one of the most distinctive features of the city of Münster. This 4.5 km ring around the city center marks the path of the medieval city wall. After the 30 Years War and the destruction it wrought on Münster the citizens decided over time to replace the fortification with a tree-lined…
Bargains at the open-air market
It was raining capfuls (not buckets) for the second day in a row this Wednesday morning. That wasn’t going to keep me from going to the open air market on the cobblestoned cathedral square of the St.-Paulus-Dom. It did mean that I stopped at the cafe on the edge of the square of a latte…
Sommer Deutschland in Münster: July 5-August 2
Rollins students are spending four weeks in the charming German city of Münster studying German language and immersing themselves in German culture. The Faculty Director for the program, Professor Decker, is overseeing their coursework, leading cultural activities in and around Münster, and providing students with academic and cultural support. Here are their experiences.