Erfurt Model UN

Aaaah the weekend... It's pretty nice to wear pajamas for most of the day and with plenty of time to do homework. The couple weekends have been very busy, including a block seminar for 8-10hrs on a Friday and Saturday, followed the next weekend by Model UN event that lasted 12hrs on Saturday and 8hrs on Sunday.  But now that they are over with, I think I'm sitting pretty for my upcoming finals.  I'd never done a Model UN event before, but I always kind of wanted to do it, so I signed up for it, not realizing that it would last as long as it did. It was an experience for sure, I can't say exactly what kind of experience, but I did it. I represented North Korea, not exactly the most respected or influential delegation in the UN, so I definitely didn't contribute as much to the activity as other members, but for me that was ok. The topic we discussed was about Israel-Palestine conflict so North Korea did not need to be involved closely with the other groups, but I ended up allying myself with most of the Arab countries. There were about 60 people that participated from several different cities that came to the event, including a large group from the University of Erfurt, so I actually got to meet some other Germans not associated with the Willy Brandt School, which was nice. My other close ally, Cuba, and I ended up talking for a lot of the breaks so I hope to see him around campus some more. Another plus of the event was that it took place in the Rathaus (townhall) which is a really beautiful building with incredible paintings all along the hallways and very nice sitting rooms with awesome wooden carvings throughout. It was pretty awe-inspiring. EDIT: I forgot to mention that being North Korea was pretty awesome. Since I didn't know exactly how to draft a UN resolution properly, I spent most of my time drafting outrageous speeches aimed at attacking capitalism and the West, as well as numerous references to the absolute power of the Supreme Leader.

Slightly blurry photo of me towards the end of the event

Strange painting along the staircase. I thought it would be biblical of some kind, but I don't remember anything with that monster on the right

Close up of the monster with a 3rd eye

 One of the other sitting rooms with enormous paintings along the walls. A classmate told me that they are historical paintings of Germany and that way back in the day Erfurt was much more important, both religiously and politically.

Chandeliers and a grand piano give it a very classy appeal

Beautiful statues. I think Mom and Dad would have liked it here. 

This is the main sitting room we used, it had nice paintings, huge wooden desks and cool chairs for the delegates. And I really liked the massive windows too. 

End of the Model UN so everyone is getting ready to leave. I can find more pictures if anyone wants to see more, but they aren't super exciting, just people sitting around in suits and raising name cards.

Belated New Year's post

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a few weeks! It's not that I haven't had any free time, but rather I've been enjoying my lazy days of Christmas break while they still last (unfortunately I only have a couple days left. On Jan. 6 everything starts up again). But! I did have an excellent Christmas with Erika's family in Friedenweiler, they provided delicious food, good conversation, and were overly generous with the Christmas cookies and gifts. I'm very pleased with the abundance of chocolate in my apartment now, all thanks to her family.

I also thoroughly enjoyed their little town too. It's located in the hills in the Black Forest, nestled in between tall pine trees and narrow gorges with little streams running through. When I first arrived I was amazed at how soft and green everything was for a late December day.

 The day before Christmas it was quite warm, probably around 45F

There's also tons of hiking trails just minutes away from the apartment, you can walk for miles without using the same trail twice. In summer there is space for plenty of mountain biking and horseback riding. A little outdoor lovers paradise (which fits Susanna and Sven pretty well). 

Sisters!!

The day after Christmas was a different story though. It snowed big heavy flakes for most of the morning and we went for a snow hike. 

Thats a public swimming pool right in front of the building there. It looked really nice as we walked by, a kiddie pool, hot tub, and a diving board included. The larger water body is also open for swimming, but not exactly a pool. Apparently nice public pools is common in some of the small towns in southern Germany

Snow for a nice change of pace and color

Tall pines covered in heavy snow

This sign shows the European watershed(?) where one side drains to the Rhein river all the way up to the North Sea, and the other direction drains to the Black Sea. Pretty cool to find in a village hike

New Year's has passed without incidence, amazingly. Germans are pretty crazy about fireworks, and there is very little regard for personal space when launching off explosives. We went to the top of the city, which is actually a historic site to watch the fireworks display at midnight. But I'm still unsure whether there was a professional fireworks display, or if everyone who bought fireworks just waits til midnight to launch their prized explosives. There were rockets going off all around us, people literally lighting rockets at the feet of strangers. No one is safe. Here is a link to a video compilation a classmate made from his experiences on New Years. This is his footage, not mine, but lighting rockets down the tram line, directed at people and businesses... Richard's New Year's video

Also the video clips mixed in with the explosions is another German holiday tradition. It's an old comedy sketch "The 90th Birthday" or "Dinner for One" that for some reason is played on TV every New Years. It's the German equivalent of the claymation Rudolph movie, except it's a 10 minute sketch of a drunk butler. I think the "same procedure as every year" may be pretty appropriate description of drunk Germans on New Years. I'll find out more next year.  Here is a link for the full, original video if you're interested The 90th Birthday