For the global seminar in Vienna, our independent work focuses on a space or building that each student gets to choose in Vienna that correlates to the readings done in class. Part of the course deals with anti-semitism in Vienna in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; Freud was hampered in his professional pursuits by being Jewish, and many notable intellectual elites in Vienna like Stefan Zweig were Jews as well. I chose to research Jewish life in Vienna at this time to understand the role Judaism played for these Jewish intellectuals, and to discover the extent of anti-semitism. The space I study is the Stadttempel, built in 1826, that is located in the Innere Stadt 1st district. The Stadttempel, or the city temple, is the main synagogue of Vienna and is the only remaining synagogue from World War II. Why the Stadttempel survived can still be seen today: its location is squeezed in between housing complexes, resulting out of a rule banning synagogues from having facades that consequently caused the synagogue to exist in a standard building complex, which ironically made it impossible to demolish the synagogue without inflicting damage to neighboring buildings. Inside the building though, rests a beautiful synagogue created by the Jewish elite. The synagogue captures a theme summarizing Jewish experience as a repressed and hampered life of restricted opportunity as evident by the synagogue’s forced plain looking facade that conceals and limits its true character inside. While researching has been illuminating from an historical perspective, it has also been interesting to use the synagogue as a way to understand the current Jewish community in Vienna in relation to Jews in the past, which will likely be the focus of my research paper.
Where are you REALLY from?
Due to the initiative of a classmate, our Global Seminar was able to celebrate the 4th of July at the US Embassy’s party in Berlin.
After going through security, we were greeted by a live band, free food and drinks, and an entire field filled with people dressed in red, white, and blue. Witnessing an amazing fireworks show with people celebrating our independence was mind-blowing; we couldn’t be more proud to live in America.
Following the party, we were able to navigate the wonderful streets of Berlin using subways, trains, and buses.
We use public transportation everywhere in the city; personally I love how easy and liberating it is to hop on a train and get wherever I need to go; this night was slightly different. We were sitting at the subway stop because it was pretty late and we were pretty tired from the party and from the hot day. There were 5 minutes until the subway’s arrival.
I noticed as a man sat on the bench next to me; I didn’t acknowledge him because I was sitting next to a few of my classmates and it was not unusual to sit next to strangers. When he put his hand on my shoulder and tapped me, I couldn’t help but turn towards him; he was holding a bottle of wine in his hand and seemed happily tipsy. I was wary as he asked if I had a cigarette or any tobacco and I answered that I didn’t. He then apologized and I turned back to my classmates, double checking that I had all of my belongings.
He then began to engage in conversation with me by jumping up and asking “Vietnam?” whilst pointing at me. As I turned back towards him, he went on to grab my wrist and pull me up (not aggressively but enough to make me stand). He then laughed and said “no you not Vietnam” gesturing with his hand at his shoulder height, motioning that height was a way to distinguish race. I shouldn’t have, but I was shocked and immediately laughed. I was very wary of his actions especially when he grabbed me, but his shocking racial joke completely caught me off guard.
He then asked me where I was from. My answer was obvious; I am from America. He paused and then vigorously denied my belonging to the US. At that point he grabbed his almost empty bottle of wine and thrust it at me, asking if I wanted a drink. I politely declined and turned back to my friends, but he again interrupted.
This time he wanted to see why I did not drink. The language barrier made it difficult to communicate with him, but he eventually decided that I never drink. He then asked about marijuana and also gestured toward his veins on his arm. At that moment, we were all pretty shocked because we couldn’t tell if he was asking if i smoked weed or did other drugs, if he was offering me drugs, if he wanted me to go get/take some with him, or some other situation. I said no again, and my friends and I leaned away trying to ignore him and not aggravate the situation.
My friends were concerned, asking if I was okay and if I wanted to walk away, but I was fine. Walking away could be misconstrued and this was a very delicate circumstance because he was drunk and we couldn’t understand him. I changed my mind when he started to stroke my hair.
At that point, I finally gave up and we stood for the remaining time. The entire exchange took 4 minutes, as a minute later, our train arrived and we made sure to get into a different car.
Returning safely to our apartments, my classmates expressed their own emotions regarding the situation, and anger was a prevailing one. I had only expressed amusement, caution, and shock during the situation. Despite never facing conditions as bad as this, even in New Jersey or other states, I often get questions such as “Where are you REALLY from?” after answering that I am from Washington State. My perception of Berlin has not changed at all; I love the city and everything I learn from being here but I also am more aware of problems that arise from traveling.
I am proud to have been born and raised in the US, but even in the US, I was forced to gradually condition myself to handle situations like this. I had finished celebrating the United States’ Independence just a few hours earlier, but I was forced to ask myself what does it really mean to be American, especially as an asian-american studying in Europe.
Toji Temple Flea Market
The Toji Temple Flea Market is a truly authentic Kyoto antiques market on the grounds of Toji, a temple built in the 700s during the Heian Period. The flea market is only held once a month on the 21st, so we were encouraged by our professors to make the trip to Southern Kyoto to experience it.
Rising bright and early on a Sunday morning is never ideal, but it was definitely worth the grogginess to get to the temple at 8am to beat the crowds. I have never seen so many priceless antiques, handmade artisan crafts, and delicious food all in one place! It was such a treat to experience the bustling market, taste the food (I especially loved the yakisoba wrapped in egg), and attempt to communicate and bargain with the vendors using what little Japanese we have learned so far.
I personally have quite the weakness for ceramics and couldn’t resist purchasing some beautiful handmade mugs and tea cups. The artisans themselves were there selling their work, and they all seemed so humbled and grateful that I had taken a liking to their pieces. It really makes a difference to personally buy something from the craftsman who made it by hand, and it was extremely rewarding to be able to ask them about their work.
It is a shame that the market only comes around once a month. I’ll most definitely be planning any future visits to Kyoto to coincide with a flea market date!
Maia and Jared Enjoy the Boat Trip to Mt. Athos, which is the global center of the Christian Orthodox religion.
Scouting Unit 38 Service Project
I was walking down Horikawa Street when I coincidentally met Mr. Oh-yabu and other members of Scout Unit 38 of Kyoto Scout Council. As an Eagle Scout myself, I recognized the Scouting uniforms that they were wearing, so I decided to stop and ask them about the community service project that they were doing. With water flowing around their ankles, they were raking up the algae off the bottom of a shallow stream running along Horikawa. Mr. Oh-yabu told me that their volunteer work is important in the preparation of a festival that is to take place there in a few weeks.
I asked him if I could join them in their service project, and he happily accepted. For a few hours, we raked up the algae and traded many Scouting stories. I explained to him my experiences in the Boy Scouts of America, and he compared them to his own experiences with the Boy Scouts of America and Scouting in Japan. Mr. Oh-yabu was a very good-natured and funny person, and we shared a number of laughs in the heat of the afternoon.
While talking to Mr. Oh-yabu, it amazes me to experience how global the Scouting organization is, and even when I’m on the other side of the world, I see how the spirit to give service back to communities continues to thrive. It really was an amazing opportunity for me to participate in this project because of my own admiration for the Boy Scouts of America.
Kanze Noh Theater
Today, we went to the Kanze Noh Theater in Kyoto. I had never seen a Noh performance before, and although I had read about Noh for lecture, I didn’t know what it would like to be in the actual audience.
The Noh performances opened with an ensemble of musicians: a flutist and drummers. Percussive vocals soon joined the instrumental music–I was impressed by the vocal control of the drummers, and later on, the choir and actors.
Thinking of my experiences with choral music, I recognized immediately the skills that these singers had. To transition smoothly from a deep, guttural sound to a falsetto requires a strong command of posture, breath, and tone. It was just incredible to witness the stamina of the singers and actors, too! There were several deliveries sung for at least five minutes at a time.
As the performances continued, I was amazed at the costumes–particularly those of the “Shite.” In the first performance, the Nochi-shite was a god while in the second, it was a spirit of a “nue.” Both had fantastic costumes with elaborate designs and possibly gold leaf. Along with the masks that the actors wore, the effect of these huge, brilliant costumes was somewhat terrifying–especially when the actors danced at the ends of the performances.
What contrasted the arcs of slow, controlled movements of the Shites in the first act was a series of quick, articulate gestures in the dance. The movements, however, remained just as graceful. It was truly an incredible experience.
Eine Kleine Weisheit in Wien
At Augarten, a Hapsburg-hunting-lodge-turned-public-park, there looms a flakturm, an anti-aircraft bunker built during the Nazi regime. Most of the people at Augarten describe it as a bleak and unwanted reminder of darker times. But when I asked an older gentleman, he responded, “Well, they would come in their planes and bomb us. We had to defend ourselves.” His words surprised me; had he lived through the war? “Of course. I served as a German soldier against the Russians.”
The ethnically German veteran was born in Silesia, an ever-contested region of Poland: “my people… we were displaced people. We were not allowed a home.” He was seventeen when he joined the army and was subsequently wounded in Russia. After the war, he came to Vienna to study civil engineering. Now, he visits Augarten to exercise his injured leg and “see the young people” who frequent the park. He was delighted to discover that I attend “Prinsch-uh-tihn”, and thanked me for listening.
We have always learned that in the Second World War, Germany was the “bad guy.” With this perspective, it’s easy to view the people as the machines of an evil institution, rather than as complex individuals. But as this veteran has shown me, nothing is ever that simple. In my hour with him, I was the recipient of fascinating stories from a beautiful human being. He and Vienna have reminded me that the more we see of the world, the more we realize how much there is to learn.
Around and around we go
Downtown Windhoek bustles on most afternoons. The sidewalks are crowded, store doors flung open, scents and sounds propelled by the people in motion. It is hard to take it all in at once; the city moves with people come in from the widely-splayed residential sectors of the city to conduct their business in the middle.
But then the sun sets, around 5:15. And a calm sets over the city as the darkness does. Hurried people disappear with the sunlight, reckless taxis evaporate with the warmth, store windows lose their bright color with the sky.
And by six o’clock, night is full and the city is empty. Or, almost, except for a few stragglers or late restaurant-goers. It is eerie how quickly the place clears out. I’ve never seen anything like it. The setting is the same, but it is not the same city as an hour before. The energy is entirely different.
The stillness descends on the center of Windhoek even earlier on weekends: in the afternoon on Saturday, virtually all of Sunday. But come early Monday morning, the place throbs with energy and motion and activity again.
I appreciate the cycling of things: Still water to clouds, clouds to rain, rain to still water (this is more of a theoretical cycle right now in both where I’m from (CA) and where I am); summer to fall, fall to winter, winter to spring, spring to summer (another cycle that is more imagined than real in California—and one that I appreciated so much this year in Princeton); student to teacher, teacher to student; sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset; full city, empty city, full city, empty city—these rhythms that mark our passing days.
Visit to Salzburg
On Saturday, the 20th of June, 12 students from the Vienna global seminar visited Salzburg. The students who went on the trip were Jon, Nick, Hadley, Oscar, Christina, Paige, Sumer, Laraib, Mariam, Rachel, Shruti and Allison. Having only seen Vienna, we were excited to visit Salzburg and experience another side of Austrian culture.
We took the train both there and back. Although it was raining, we did not let that dampen our spirits, and explored as much of the city as we could in one day. We first went and saw the garden where parts of the sound of music was shot. After the girls had taken numerous photographs there, we visited a local flee market. Sumer, Jon and Nick also went to h&m and took advantage of the 50% off sale to buy some great stuff. We then went to a traditional Austrian restaurant, where we feasted on the local delicacies.
The highlight of the trip though, was our visit to the Hohen Salzburg fortress. It was on a hill, so we could see some breathtaking views of the entire city. Everyone was struck by how green it was! The fortress had exhibits about the history of the city, and we even saw the torture chambers. I am attaching a picture of the view from the fortress.
Views of Ninnaji
Ninnaji, the second site that we visited in Kyoto, is a registered UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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