Professor Solbakken's enthusiastic German V class – with the addition of other advanced German students – will meet at Prof. Solbakken's house for a German dinner in April.
Vienna was the topic for one session in the German I class: and what is more fitting than eating decadent tortes for such a day? The students were eating Sachertorte and Linzertorte, mit Schlag, as they watched a video on Vienna.
The beginning German class this year is particularly enthusiastic. They enjoy spending time together, so it seemed a good idea to extend that beyond class time and have a dinner party with German food. Everyone gathered at Prof. Solbakken's house in late February for a meal with slightly exotic dishes. Instead of serving Wienerschnitzel, which everyone knows about, she made things like Käsespätzle, Königsberger Klopse and Zwiebelkuchen.
The German IV class has been reading a lot of Bertolt Brecht this semester. They are now in the middle of "The Caucasian Chalk Circle", which they read in German, and which they will see on stage at the College of the Holy Cross at the end of March. Prof. Solbakken chose that particular play to take advantage of this offering of the Theater Department at a Consortium College.
Lea, an exchange student from Lübeck, presented the perspective of a German teenager to the German II, IV and V classes. Lea is spending the entire academic year at the home of Prof. Solbakken in Worcester, where she attends Doherty High School. Her comments on differences in the school systems were particularly interesting for the students. For the month of April, Lea's best friend from Germany, Svea, will join her in Worcester, and she will meet the German students as well.
Lee Desrosiers, a German Minor and Philosophy Major, has been accepted to the JYM program at the University of Munich. This is considered the best study abroad program in Germany, and it is also the oldest of its kind. Illustrious alumni such as the writer Jonathan Franzen have attended JYM. Lee will finish his college career in Munich, where he will complete his final semester. A dedicated German student, he put into motion the extention of library hours at Assumption College by writing a convincing article on the topic in the student newspaper and meeting with the library staff.
Jared Becker '02 was the first of Prof. Solbakken's students to attend JYM in Munich. Jared was also a German/Philosophy student, and liked life in the Bavarian capital so much that he stayed on another year. He recently returned from another stint in Germany and is currently in the process of applying for a grant for another stay in Europe. Because of their shared academic interests, Jared and Lee were invited to the professor's house for an evening of conversation about study abroad.
Spring Break was a time for Prof. Solbakken to get some quality German time. She flew to Munich to visit her daughter Nina, who is a Junior at Wellesley College and is spending this academic year at (of course) JYM at the University of Munich. Nina Lawrence is a German/Art History double Major. She is also the recipient of a DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) grant this year. Munich is always great, and the museums are awesome. Nina’s sister Silvia is also in Germany this year. She is a senior at Notre Dame Academy in Worcester, but is spending her last year in high school as an exchange student in the Black Forest. The Spring Break reunion in Munich was the first time they could all speak German together, which was in many ways a strange experience, as they spent days speaking a language together that Silvia did not begin learning until this past August. Prof. Solbakken is returning to Germany for a weekend in May, where she will attend the wedding of an old friend from the University of Tübingen.
Other students are planning to spend time abroad this summer: Timothy Grieco of German II will study German in Salzburg, and Eric Matthews is considering going to Freiburg. Matthew Smith of German IV has been accepted into the summer program at the London School of Economics. Granted, they do not speak German in Britain, but it is nevertheless important to keep an international perspective on things.
Keith Fleischer, a German Major who transferred to Boston College, visited some of the German IV classes. He just left to spend the summer semester at the University of Heidelberg.
Molly Taylor joined the German I class last fall. She already graduated from Mount Holyoke College, but wanted to learn German in order to apply for grants to study and work in Germany. She has been accepted into the Congress Bundestag Program for Young Professionals.