This is my class, well, most of my class. The Willy Brandters of 2015. The final tally I believe was 74 students from approximately 35 countries (but whose counting?). This picture is from our Welcome Reception this past Wednesday after more than 5 weeks of classes. It was quite an event, hence the fancy clothes. We had some big wigs of the university, the historical society, and from the major money donors of the school come and give some context to the school and it's icon, Willy Brandt. This was followed with an excellent buffet including salad and dessert and unfortunately only one complimentary champagne. There were a lot of photos taken by a professional photographer and others and they may crop up here later once I find any good ones of me. The professional setting here eventually dissolved as the night wore on, and many of us ended up going to the Kicker Keller, an underground bar in the center of town that features cheap drinks and free foosball (provided you pay 8euros for a year long membership card). It was pretty fun seeing so many people with dresses, suit jackets, and ties at a dive bar playing surrounding a foosball table. It's unreal how good some Germans are at foosball, and they have some interesting rules for each game. For example, when one team scores, they pull the ball out and place it at the feet of the team which just got scored on, to serve as a kickoff like it real soccer. Secondly, there is a pretty informal system of knocking the table with your knuckles to signal your intention to play the next game. This often leads to confusion (especially with drinks in hand) because multiple knock at several different times and then arguments break out for who is actually supposed to play. The quarter system in the US is pretty handy, but doesn't really apply when all the games are free. But damn do they respect the foosball table there- everything was well oiled and felt amazing.
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