Freizeit! Politik...

Today I had my Referat (presentation) and I think it went pretty well. I've also narrowed down the courses I would like to take. The choices are: Gender and Development, The Political System of the European Union, 20 Year Review of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, Intercultural Learning, Decolonizing Europe: Power and Politics in a Postcolonial World, and German Foreign Policy. All of these are taught in German, eeek!

Tuesday marks the day that I will finish the pre semester intensive German language course. On Wednesday or Thursday I would like to take a trip to see a concentration camp and maybe stay overnight in the city we go to. There aren't any really close to Frankfurt. The options are either Buchenwald or Dachau. The famous holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, author of Night was imprisoned at Buchenwald along with his father. Seeing and walking around these camps will undoubtedly be incredibly difficult, but I believe it is something I have to experience while I'm here in Europe.

Ok, on to a lighter topic! This weekend... Tonight I'm going out downtown for some dancing and

bar fun. Tomorrow morning I'm going to head to the Museum of Modern Art here in Frankfurt. For anyone interested, here is the link http://www.mmk-frankfurt.de/ As for the evening tomorrow, I'm thinking dinner by the Römer. This building has been around for about 600 years and houses Frankfurt's "Rathaus" or town hall. Again more info found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Römer

Edit: I almost forgot! This Sunday is Germany's Federal election! They vote every 4 years like we do, so its a treat that I get to be here for this. The streets have been full of various candidates campaign posters and signs. Germany has a ton of political parties, but the most prominent are the CDU, SPD, Greens, FDP, and The Left. Angela Merkel is the incumbent (CDU) and is running against Frank Walter Steinmeier (SPD), and Guido Westerwelle (FDP), along with a few others. A few days ago Al-Qaeda threatened Germany regarding the elections. They said that if the election doesn't turn out how they want it to, they will attack the German citizens since in a democracy it is the citizens who choose the leader. They want good 'ole Angela out because she [somewhat] supports the fighting abroad. The heightened security in public places is already noticeable. Polizei with big guns in the subways, train stations.... I highly doubt anything will happen, and I think Angela will win office once again.

I think all of you have had a good enough history lesson for today! Have a good weekend everyone!!