Title Subtitle
Text
FAHRRADRECYCLINGWERKSTATT „Kette und Kurbel“ ist ein Sozialprojekt mit dem Ziel der beruflichen Qualifizierung und Integration von Arbeitslosengeld-II-EmpfängerInnen in den Arbeits- und Ausbildungsmarkt. Wir sammeln Gebrauchträder ein, verwerten diese und stellen daraus gebrauchsfertige Fahrräder her, die sozial bedürftige Menschen kostengünstig erwerben können. Wer ein gut erhaltenes Fahrrad spenden möchte, kann es gerne vorbei bringen oder abholen lassen. Kontakt & Info: BIB Augsburg gGmbH * Memminger Straße 6 * 86159 Augsburg 08 21-258 5810 * kuk@bibaugsburg.de * www.bibaugsburg.de Öffnungszeiten: Mo., Di., Mi., Fr. von 8:00bis 15:00 Uhr * Do. von 8:00bis 17:30 Uhr
MME O - SO
RAKTI
ON
12 uni 20 ai bis J e Begegnung nM n o v me ein ten Wir bie e Anlässe für tlicher Zusam n f e n a e n h d c s rIn ie versch n. In partner burger Bürge ein n re s e u g d u lt n A u e K n h von önne it Asylsuc trad aus k it e b ar sam m brauch gemein tüchtiges Ge herstellen. s l r verkeh yclingmateria e unter Rec Termin e d n u s o e Inf burg.d Weiter w.velo-augs ww
VEL
Dear Reader, Everybody is different. Everybody has their own story to tell. But what actually is a story? Is it the goodnight story parents read to their children? Is it a fairytale that makes us wander off to a mystical world with dwarfs, princesses and witches? Or is it this once-in-a-lifetime story that makes each of us special? So hop on the magic carpet with me and take a ride to the world of stories. We’ll dive into the “imagination of a young girl”, travel on to a “professional storyteller” and learn “how to tell great stories” ourselves. Be aware of the “Tales of Terrors” and “Tornado Alley”. At one moment we´ll discover the past and meet “Charles Dickens” and “St. Afra”. At the next moment we’ll be taking the street back to the present, whooshing by the “Anglistentheater” and “Kette und Kurbel”. On our trip we’ll have “Finlay McCall”, “former eMAG members” and a girl from Kazakhstan accompanying us. From our vantage point up in the air, we’ll see what “people hide under their beds” and how “BoyMiezGirl answers questions without words”. We’ll arrive back just in time for eMAG’s 10th birthday party and hope to meet you there, too. It’s true – eMAG is turning 10 years old. This is quite a bit for a magazine. That´s why we wanted this issue to be special. You’ll find a new section called “Happy Birthday, eMAG!”, which tells you the story of eMAG and makes our magazine much longer than usual. After 10 years, our coordinator, Peter James, has quite a bit to tell, too. But we´ve got more for you – our fans! This term you´ll all get a copy for free. However, this wouldn’t have been possible without the great financial support from the University, especially Mr. Prem. A big THANK YOU! I hope you will all enjoy the ride on the magic carpet and have a safe trip! Your editor Isa
eMAG is an independent non-profit magazine published twice a year, by students, for students. It is part of a University of Augsburg Language Center course, as well as the Begleitstudium Problemlösekompetenz. Everything related to the production of the magazine is conducted in English. The aim of eMAG is to entertain and inform the university community about international, intercultural and local topics in the English language. As part of its philosophy, every semester eMAG donates a full-page advertisement to a local charity. The content of individual articles does not necessarily reflect the team‘s view and opinions. print run: 4.000 price: for free published: July 5th 2012 printed at: Senser Druck, Bergstraße 3, 86199 Augsburg copyright: 2012 eMAG. All rights reserved. http://www.emag-augsburg.de Author:: Isabel Rackow Layout: Isabel Rackow Pictures: Isabel Rackow/Universität Augsburg/ pixelio.de Katharina Wieland Müller 1
Table of contents Stories
Whole Wide World
Keep it local How stories come to life What happened to my imagintion?! Doomed to be boring Running from tornados TV commercials Tales of Terror Linus in luck “They’re allowed to use a tissue in public!” Memorizing like a genius!
6 7 8 10 12 13 14 16 19
Inside a writer’s mind Once upon a time in Augsburg How a prostitute became a martyr Working with children is fun... What’s under your bed? An evening in One Minute Top places to ... on campus BoyMiezGirl
Happy Birthday, eMAG!
eMAG: the first ten years eMAG member list Interviewing former members Looking back We‘re not Carrie Bradshaw
A life that no one in America has Cows are my passion Norwich is great, innit? Spreading the word
22 25 26 29 30
34 36 37 38 39 40 42 44
Same Procedure
Charity Article - Kette und Kurbel Into the wild Love it or hate it Staff‘s favourites 2
48 50 52 54
60 62 64 66
Title Subtitle
Text
2
Stories How stories come to life What happened to my imagination? Doomed to be boring? Running from tornados TV Commercials Tales of terror Linus in luck “They‘re allowed to use a tissue in public!“ Memorizing like a genius!
4
seirotS seirotS “If you don‘t know the trees you may be lost in the forest, but if you don‘t know the stories, you may be lost in life.“ Siberian Elder
Insert
3 5
Picture: pixelio.de/ Schwester Klara
How stories come to life Professional storytelling today
What do you think of when you here the word ‘storyteller’? I always pictured an old man sitting on a medieval road, or perhaps a bard travelling through the countryside of centuries ago. The word always had something to it that I didn’t quite associate with our modern
world. And, let’s be honest, if you see someone starting to tell a story in the middle of a street or subway nowadays, you’d probably just take him for a lunatic talking to himself. Sure, we all still tell stories – and some are better at it than others – but usually you would hardly call yourself a storyteller. However, I discovered that professional storytelling is still very much alive. Memorable performance A few years ago, a friend of mine asked me whether I’d like to go to the performance of a professional storyteller with her. She told me he was going to tell the story of Goethe’s Faust. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this, but I agreed. So, that evening, we all sat in the main room of the local library, looking up to this man about to tell a story we had all already heard many times. Or so we thought. He didn’t change the story, he didn’t change the content and he didn’t even have any props with him, and, still, I’ve never been so captivated or enchanted by spoken words. Each sentence was an incredible performance in itself and he addressed the audience from the beginning in a way that pulled you directly into the story. I wasn’t really surprised, in the end, to find out that he earned his living from this. Earning your living as a storyteller? There isn’t really an official degree or study course that can make you a storyteller. While there is, of course, the possibility to improve your storytelling abilities in courses such as those offered by Goldmund in Germany or to be informed about certain events via, for example, the National Storytelling 6
Network in the US, it remains the same as with acting, singing, creative writing and so forth: a certain talent and enthusiasm are needed as well, and, still, even quite gifted storytellers usually practise their art more as a sort of hobby or for a little extra income. Storytelling festivals However, even if it’s unlikely that you would ever earn a living as a storyteller, real storytellers can be found around the whole world. Apart from numerous festivals in Germany like the ZauberWort in Nürnberg, there is, for example, the big Yukon International Storytelling Festival in Canada. Often, these festivals not only include people from all over the world sharing their stories but the audience can participate in events such as story swapping. There are also prizes and awards in contests such as the Young Storyteller of the Year. So the desire to be enchanted by words has not simply faded. Even with films, special effects, internet, etc., it’s amazing how a few words told in the right manner can guide you directly into the substance of a story, refusing to let you go before the last sentence is spoken. I guess that’s the best way to know whether you’re listening to a master of the timeless art of storytelling. Author: Nicole Gifi Layout: Nicole Gifi Pictures: Wikipedia/Tiger St.Georg Wikipedia/Malene Thyssen
What happened to my imagination?! Or how I stopped telling stories
Last time I checked it was gone – simply gone! I couldn’t believe it at first and started thinking. How is that possible? Do people even survive without a lot of imagination in their heads? Well they certainly do because I’m still able to write this article. But what kind of life is it? Let me check my mails first... I’m the best example of my generation. When I wake up the first thing to do is check my mails and the latest news on my iPad. During the day, there is no situation in which I’m not online. How could something as simple and fleeting as Phantasy find a place in my schedule? Once upon a time... Well, it wasn’t always like this, you know. When I was in elementary school I had lots of ideas, energy and stories. I drew on every little piece of paper I found; I participated in a dance class. But the one thing that left its mark on my memory was my mind full of stories. Stories about animals, princesses, planes, ghosts or maybe just my family and friends. It was a time when I needed nothing more than a doll or some Lego to play for hours and hours in a world far from reality. And this ability wasn’t limited to my childhood games. Sometimes I came home from kindergarten and told my Mom things that didn’t happen quite as funnily or dramatically as I wanted her to imagine. This wasn’t a case of dishonesty but one of a kid who wants to check out its boundaries and tries to communicate the images in her mind to those around her. The upside... Another outcome of this habit was a rather good one. I started to write for hours and hours. When I had to write a story of two pages in second grade I wrote 15. Crazy!!! But I found a companion in my best friend. She had the same passion for stories and we started to write our own plays which we performed several times for the whole school. When I think about all this I can’t believe what an odd little girl I was. But I’m also a bit sad that I kind of lost the key to that magic world. I wanted to become a writer at that time. Nowadays I wouldn’t have the time, energy or will to sit down and write a play and I actually want to become a PR manager … How things change!
Author: Alina Ludwig Layout: Alina Ludwig Pictures: Alina Ludwig 7
Doomed to be boring? How to tell a story
One of my close friends is a lucky guy, as he seems to be stumbling into exciting incidents constantly. Fortunately, he likes to share these incidents with me, and yet there is one tiny problem: telling a story is not his bag. But he’s not the only one. Our everyday life is full of good and bad stories. When we switch on the telly, we’re pelted with ads – stories, in other words. The moment we sit in a university classroom, we listen to presentations and lectures – other kinds of stories. And during a job interview, we talk about ourselves – again, a story. Some we remember easily, while others we forget the moment they were told to us. But why do we actually remember certain anecdotes, ads or jokes told years ago and forget others immediately? The reason is not only the story itself, but the way it is told.
Why do we love stories? Listening to stories and telling them is human. We’re interested in stories, because we’re interested in other people. We’re social animals in a way. Some stories are fictional, others are real, yet both establish human relationships and even bring other people close to us. So, we constantly look for new experiences, explore extreme, unique emotions and try to entertain and satisfy our needs and interests such as curiosity, imagination and fantasy. This is why we love to tell and listen to stories of any kind – they’re a great, inexhaustible source of new experiences. What is a great story? Choosing a story that others will like is not that easy. In general, good stories touch people – both, teller and listener – in some way. Even
more importantly, every great story has a point. In other words, something that people can take away from it. A surprising turn or something funny, for instance. Understandably enough, the story has to match the audience well, encourage it to interact with the teller and move them in some way. The idea is to make them laugh, think and finally provide something to ponder about. At best, we provide something that can be repeated. Great stories are told again and again – tales, jokes and television ads. We all know that. If the story is clear, true and sincere, we avoid making it a boring one and instead create an authentic, new experience. Then, people are likely to love the story. But it’s not only the listener who should love the story, but also the teller. If there’s a story you don’t particularly like, it’s rather unlikely it’ll be good one. A joke, for instance, you don’t like to tell, is doomed to fail. The experience won’t be nice for either teller or listener. People who have done so will know. So don’t tell any story, only the ones you love yourself.
8
How to tell a good story? If you want to fail immediately, start a joke or an anecdote with the words: ‘’here comes a joke’’ or ‘’that reminds me of the story about...’’. It’s likely that you’ll have lost your audience with those words. A good story should be clear and true. Tell it in a simple, direct and lively way to make sure that the audience will follow your words. This doesn’t mean that details should be neglected, but they should be chosen carefully. When you’ve found a certain characteristic about a person or an item – be specific. Describing the outrage of a person who gets mad in a particular situation again and again, for instance, makes stories more fun and most importantly memorable. Yet, it’s important to make your point and move the story forward. Ask yourself with every word, phrase and sentence you use: does it help me to create the scene, add mood, or get to the punchline? So, a good anecdote should be brief and simple, just like its telling. Repeating aspects creates landmarks for the listener and makes it remembered so that it can be told to others. In
folktales, for instance, important elements are often repeated several times. Certainly, stories are more memorable when they are spiced up with some humour and exaggeration. Varying your tone, pitch and the volume of your voice also helps to bring the story as close to the listener as possible, as storytelling is personal. Varying rhythm, speed and articulation is not only fun for the listener, but helps the teller to discover and enjoy the story again and again. Gestures and facial expressions might help to make your point and keep people’s attention on you, but they should be appropriate and natural. Every time you repeat a story, both you and the story will improve. Storytelling is interactive by its very nature. The audience reacts to the story; the storyteller adapts to the audience in the course of the story. This is why it is crucial to be sincere when telling a story to others. If you choose a dialogue, you should know that it slows down the speed of a story, while narrating action speeds it up. So, creating setting should be preferred to narrative. Sensorial explanations will create vivid pictures, which will stick in the mind and en9
hance the pleasure of listening, and of course, telling. The end should be clear and selfexplanatory. Slowing down and adding emphasis can be a good way to signal the end. Will you be remembered? Of course, some of these aspects might appear obvious, but the moment you’re the listener, you’ll miss all of them if they’re ignored again and again. You won’t remember the story, the presentation, the lecture or the joke. Probably, it wasn’t a pleasure listening to it either. But more importantly, you won’t remember the person who told it, because a good story is personal, about human relations and the actual process of telling it. Just think of the great stories you have been told: you’ll always know and remember the teller. Right?
Author: Lukas Stettner Layout: Adina Mutter Pictures: Butko/ Wikipedia ollyx/ deviantart.de HappyCreA/deviantart.de Passing-Shadow/ deviantart.de
Title Subtitle
Running from tornados Car camping in America’s deadly Tornado Alley
Last summer my girlfriend and I drove 20,000km around America in an SUV that we’d converted into our own little home for four months on the road. Starting in California we made our way over the Rocky Mountains and continued east. To get to our next destination, we had to cross the “lovely” state of Kansas, an incredibly boring place with wide open spaces, endless farmlands, and presumably the biggest haystacks in the USA. Kansas is famous for only one thing: its tornados – Welcome to Tornado Alley! Into the heart of the storm Crossing Kansas in May meant we’d hit the region during peak tornado season, so we wanted to get through Kansas as fast as possible. Unfortunately, at 65 mph, it was still a 15 hour drive. Heavy rainstorms followed us and got progressively worse as we drove east; the rain flooded the highway, the visibility was near zero, and the wind made our car swerve wildly. Driving through the storm was terrifying. We decided to stop and wait at a sandwich shop for the road conditions to improve. After ordering our sandwiches, the power in the little transit town went out. We ate in darkness and listened to the rain beating against the windows as the strong wind bent the few trees, stripping them of their branches and leaves. Deadly tornados The 2011 tornado season was one of the deadliest and most destructive on record. In that year 1,897 tornados were reported - at least 553 people were killed compared to 564 deaths in the prior ten years combined! The same storm we encountered that evening caused an F-5 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, and devastated the town with winds of more than 400km/h. Vast parts of the city, including an entire hospital and 2000 other buildings, were destroyed - 160 people lost their lives. Bad decision The locals in the restaurant told us that continuing east was dangerous – we would hit the heart of the storm! We took their advice and decided to stay for the night. The only affordable motel in town was cheaply built and didn’t seem capable of protecting anybody from the destruction of a tornado. In fact, the motel appeared just as dangerous as our car, so the decision was made; we would “stealth camp”. It wasn’t until later that we learned: The car was the most dangerous place to be. 10
Stealth camping An empty parking lot next to some sport fields seemed to be the perfect “unofficial camp ground”. Since it was still early and we were trapped inside our little box of shelter, we played cards, and nervously observed the deteriorating weather; black clouds dimmed the daylight, strong hail-storms battered our car windows, and heavy winds rocked our car from side to side. Finally, we decided it was time to research tornados. It soon became clear that the best place to be is below ground and that staying in the car was a very bad idea. Even big RVs get sucked into the air like toys. Finding shelter We spotted a heavy iron lid which covered what we thought must be the door to a storm cellar, and decided to go out into the rainstorm to inspect it. We lifted the lid and discovered a deep hole that gave access to iron pipes, probably a watering system for the nearby sport fields. It was good enough. Our plan was to jump down into the hole and use our mattress as protection against flying objects. We were relieved to have a safety plan and were finally able to fall asleep… to our car violently rocking in the wind. Late -night’s surprise “Bang! Bang! Bang! This is the police! Is anybody in there?” A determined knock at the window woke us from our restless sleep. We saw a flashlight through our homemade curtains. My heart was beating fast when we opened the back door. The officer asked what we were doing there, to which we replied, “We’re headed to St. Louis, but we stopped because of the storm.” He seemed to understand. “Ok, but you’re parked at a school.” He told us to move to the gas station nearby because “people are a bit funny about cars being parked in front of the school at night, you know?” Tornado sirens We moved our car next to several giant trucks and parked beneath the 20-metre high gas station sign. The sign was rattling in the wind and didn’t seem sturdy enough to withstand the heavy gusts. It was impossible to sleep; we were still full of adrenaline from our police encounter. We decided to get some food and started chatting with the cashier. She told us she’d lived in the town for several decades and that tornados were a very real threat. We asked her if the town had a tornado warning system. “Of course! You need to have sirens in this area. Actually, there is a practice alarm this morning at 7o’clock. If you guys are still here, don’t freak out. It’s just a test.” Running from tornados We eventually realized the magnitude of the information we’d just learned, and began to laugh. We thought of ourselves an hour earlier, parked at the school and unaware of the practice sirens. The next morning, the sirens would have woken us like a heart attack; we would have grabbed our mattress, raced out of the car into the pouring rain, and jumped down into the muddy pit, scared to death of the approaching tornado. We then imagined the school children ignoring the weekly practice alarm and telling their teachers about the homeless people camped, and screaming, in the little hole in the school yard.
11
Author: Manfred Schoch Layout: Alina Ludwig Pictures: Manfred Schoch Wikipedia / Pete Souza Wikipedia / Chris Spannagle
TV Commercials The short stories of the 21st century?
Ever read about a 10-year-old Darth Vader who defeated a VW instead of a space station? Well, probably not but I’m sure you know him anyway. He’s the protagonist in one of the most popular commercials that can currently be seen on television.
Short stories now and then In the past we needed inspirational characters and captivating plots to be presented on a certain amount of book pages. But now we have thousands of different commercials that each tells a story of its own.
In the TV spot the mini villain is trying to use his imagined galactic forces against all kinds of children’s toys until he finally encounters his ultimate opponent, his father’s VW. Challenging the car with all his mental powers, he’s shocked when suddenly the car’s headlight turns on. While he’s fascinated by his apparent supernatural powers, he has no idea that his father is watching him from the window and remote-controlling the car. This is just one of numerous examples of a one-minute commercial that can make you smile in a few seconds.
Interesting plots From the beginning to the end of a normal commercial break we can be involved in all kinds of action, from Coca Cola’s Christmas truck tours to a thrilling bungee jump captured with the latest Nikon camera, or simply a 10year old boy desiring the coming of the Galactic Empire.
Popular advertising characters It’s not the first time that the main character of a TV spot has become known all around the world. Just remember the independent, wild and free Marlboro cowboy, standing over a canyon and living the dream of millions of tired, stressed citizens. Images like these are designed to present us with what we long for and to win us over with only a few camera shots. Diversified ideas Nowadays marketing agencies are putting more effort, creativity and money into the production of innovative and extraordinary commercials than ever before. That’s why the stories revealed in them can carry the viewers ‘off’ and help them escape from their everyday life, even if just for a moment, like VW did by using the Star Wars movie to arouse nostalgic feelings about childhood in thousands of potential buyers.
Merchandising narratives TV commercials are the short stories of the 21st century - a modern, cross-thematic version which could be described as merchandising narratives that allow us to dive into a world which is very different from the one we know. And so … may the Force be with you.
Author: Fabienne Grau Layout: Fabienne Grau Pictures: Andres Rueda (Piqs.de), Daniela Zenth (Piqs.de), Pixelio 12
Tales of Terror These fairy tales make the Saw movies look like, well, kid‘s stuff In the past, fairy tales were often full of brutality and gruesome twists and endings. These days, companies like Disney have made them less frightening for a modern audience that is clearly unable to cope, so now we see happy endings alongside cheering and dancing animals. This article looks at the happy endings of the most popular fairy tales we are familiar with and reveals their truly terrifying origins.
Fortunately, Disney hasn’t done too much damage to this tale, but they’ve left out the stepmother’s unusual eating habits. In the original tale, the Queen actually asks for Snow White’s liver, lungs, intestines and just about every other major internal organ, including one gruesome version where she asks for a bottle of Snow White’s blood plugged with her toe. Also, in the original, Little Red Riding Hood Snow White wakes up when she is jostled by the prince’s horse as he carries her back The version of this tale that most of us are to his castle and not from a magical kiss. acquainted with ends with Riding Hood beWhat the prince wanted to do with a dead ing saved by the woodsman who kills the girl’s body is left to the reader’s imagination. wolf. The original French version of the tale, written by Charles Perrault, was not quite so Sleeping Beauty nice. In this version, the little girl is a welleducated young lady who is given false In the familiar version of Sleeping Beauty, instructions by the wolf when she asks the the lovely princess is put to sleep when she way to her grandmother’s house. Red Riding stabs her finger on a spindle. She sleeps Hood takes the advice of the wolf and ends for one hundred years until a prince finally up being eaten. And here the story ends. arrives, kisses her and wakes her up. They There is no woodsman or grandmother. fall in love, marry and live happily ever afJust a fat wolf and a dead Red Riding Hood. ter. In earlier versions, the princess gets a The moral of this story is to not take advice piece of flax caught under her fingernail infrom strangers.The most horrifying bit that stead which pricks her and puts her to sleep. was edited out before the tale reached the This might seem like a small difference but Perrault version is that the wolf dissects the it becomes important when you consider the grandmother, then invites Red Riding Hood other major, and unsettling, change to the in for a meal of her flesh, presumably with a story... side of fava beans and a nice Chianti. Then he eats her too. It isn’t the kiss of a prince which wakes her up. The king, seeing her asleep, rapes her. Snow White After nine months, she gives birth to two children (while she is still asleep). One of the In the tale of Snow White that we are all children sucks her finger and removes the familiar with, presumably from the Disney piece of flax. She wakes up, at which point version, the Queen asks a huntsman to kill we imagine she must have a few questions. Snow White and bring her heart back as proof. Instead, the huntsman is unable to bring himself to do it and returns with the heart of a wild boar.
13
Author: Nathalie Bauer Layout: Nathalie Bauer Pictures: Pixelio
Linus in Luck Life’s little pleasures
Linus had been trying to be a candidate on ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ for five years. And then, finally, it was time. Not only did he take part in the show but he also won $500,000! The villa… As he walked home from work the next day, he passed by a house which had been up for sale. It was an incredibly beautiful villa, surrounded by a garden which had been lovingly taken care of. “That’s it!” he thought and back home again he immediately contacted the owner of the villa. “Hey! What a marvellous place to live in. I’ll give you $500,000,” Linus said. The owner answered: “$500,000, that’s a deal!” “Wonderful,” said Linus and two weeks later he moved in with bag and baggage. He was delighted when he woke up in his own villa for the first time. The sun was shining and the whole day he relaxed in the garden, enjoying the peace and listening to the birds’ chirping. But the longer he lived there, the more it became clear to him that the splendour of tulips and roses and the cool shade of the maple trees entailed a lot of work. As he didn’t take pleasure in it, he decided to sell the house and move back to his little flat again, which fortunately still stood empty. But what to do with the money re-maining after the sale?
The car… He didn’t have to think about this for long and decided to invest his money in a brand-new luxury car. As luck had it, there was a luxury car dealership just around the corner. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! It’s absolutely incredible! Is there anything more fantastic than
that in the world?” it just came pouring out of him as he was standing in front of his dream car, a red sports car de luxe model. The car dealer was immediately at hand and described the car down to the last detail. Linus was absolutely convinced that he had made a good purchase and, without hesitation, signed the contract of sale. With 200 hp under his backside he raced down the highway and enjoyed the newly gained freedom, at least for the time being…..because two hours later he regained consciousness in a hospital in the city. “What has happened?” he asked the doctor, still in a bit of daze. “You had a horrible car ac-cident,” the doctor told him, “but luckily you only fractured your legs and you came away with no more than a black eye!” When he had been discharged from hospital he contacted the car dealer again and sold his car to him. It was a complete write-off. Of course, he only got the residual value. The Tablet PC… Anyway, he wanted to pamper himself with something that would really make him happy! A Tablet PC seemed the perfect item to him. So he bought the latest one with all the extras and was once again the happiest man on earth. From then on he took it with
14
him everywhere he went. He was enthusiastic about the possi-bilities he had with only one piece of equipment. He could take photos, edit them or simply watch his favourite films. Once a day he was in a park and while strolling around, he watched Avatar on his new acquisition. He was so engrossed in the film that he didn’t watch where he was walking anymore. And then it happened. He stumbled over a tree root and the Tablet PC flew in a high arc against a park bench. “Damn!” he shouted, as he pulled himself up from the floor. The display screen was cracked and scratched. There was nothing else for him to do but go to the electronic media store, where he had bought the Tablet PC. The smart phone… The salesman told him: “There is nothing to be done, I’m sorry! All I can do is to offer you a smart phone, which you can get for the residual value.” Joyfully Linus accepted the deal and was happier than before. The smart phone was much handier than the Tablet PC, but had almost the same extras. And, if he didn’t currently need it, he could put it in his trouser pockets and had his hands free. One day he went for a stroll in the city. When he passed by a bookstore he felt like spending his afternoon browsing the books he had
always wanted to read. He picked up a novel and made himself cosy on a comfortable sofa in the back corner of the shop. After a while, an enchanting woman with a charming smile sat down next to him. It was love at first sight for him! Fascinated by her, Linus couldn’t concentrate on reading any more and started up a conversation with his dream woman. They
and smiled at him. “You can keep it.” Linus promised to call her and they said goodbye to each other. From then on Linus really has been the happiest man on earth. He realized that there is no money in the world that could replace the notebook with the number of the woman of his dreams written down in it. The end.
got along swimmingly and wanted to trade cell phone numbers. Linus took his smart phone out of his trouser pocket to store Kathleen’s number. But how could it have been otherwise? The battery was empty. The notebook… However, Linus didn’t even have the time to get annoyed because Kathleen had already written down her number in a little black notebook and given it to him . “Here you are!” she said 15
Author: Laura Feyrer Layout: Laura Feyrer Pictures: Max Müller / PIXELIO, Laura Feyrer
“They‘re allowed to use a tissue in public!“ Studying in Germany for foreign students
Even for us as Germans, studying at university is quite an interesting experience. All the new faces, habits, courses... But how difficult must it be for a foreign student to adapt to university life? In order to find this out, we interviewed Anastassiya Popenya, a student from Kazakhstan who studies Media and Communication at the University of Augsburg, and asked her about her motivation to come to Germany, what she thinks about studying abroad and what the differences between life in her home country and her new home in Bavaria are.
16
First experiences with the German language Growing up with a mother who studied German and English in Russia, Anastassiya became familiar with the German language quite early. (Un)fortunately, her mother also became her kindergarten teacher in a German kindergarten in Almaty, Kazakhstan, so she had no other choice than to learn the German alphabet or even typical German songs in her childhood. After that, she went to a school where she was able to continue learning the German language with the help of native speakers who worked there as teachers. She got to know German traditions like Fasching, Christmas and Easter; but there was also a negative side. She never had the chance to learn English in class. So she studied hard to get to learn the English language. After eleven years of school, she applied for some universities in Kazakhstan, although they were rather expensive. In the end, she decided to go to the German-Kazakh University and study International Relations there, because that was the only course in Humanities which attracted her.
Only two steps away from Germany Finding her luck in Augsburg At the end of her second semester, her friends convinced Anastassiya to apply for a scholarship with which she could study in Germany. First, she was very sceptical, but as the DAAD office was just a few steps away from her classroom, she thought she should try it. Her attempt was rewarded by a four-year scholarship in Germany. Anastassiya couldn‘t believe it and was completely unsure whether she should give up her entire life in Kazakhstan. When she finally made her decision, she got the chance to start her new life in Germany, beginning in Marburg, at a school which prepares foreign students for studying in Germany.
Since Anastassiya was interested in studying something related to the media and having always had a huge interest in journalism she applied for Düsseldorf, Augsburg and Erfurt, but opted for Bavaria because this region attracted her the most. Nevertheless, she was worried about aiming here because once again she had to leave behind all her new friends in Marburg. At first it was difficult for her to integrate because the German students were a bit cautious towards foreigners, but she soon got to know new people. Today, she says: “Coming to Augsburg was the best decision I‘ve ever made“. The only thing she still doesn‘t understand until today is how Germans dare to wipe their nose in public, which is really impolite behavior for Kazakh people.
Being an ambassador for Kazakhstan This semester, the „Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft“ invited Anastassiya to a discussion with representatives of the German education system such as professors and scientists, where she had to speak in front of hundreds of people about the future of German universities. She was praised as one of the best examples of the integration of foreign students in Germany and she was able to show that studying abroad is one of the best decisions you can make in your life. Hopefully other students from Kazakhstan are attracted by Anastassiya‘s commitment and will risk studying in a completely unfamiliar country in order to gain some awesome experiences like she has obviously done.
Author: Stefanie Dintner & Max Becker Layout: Nathalie Bauer Pictures: Annastassiya Popenya
17
2
Think like a genius! By making up stories!
Never forget anything anymore!
Does anyone know who Mnemonyse was? She was the ancient goddess of memory and in tribute to her, devices helping you to remember are called mnemonic devices. In the last couple of years, those devices have been experiencing a renaissance. In ancient times, people set great stock on being able to remember long speeches yet in times of no electricity, cellphones, or laptops, this posed difficult questions. How could the ancient people convince their opponents without forgetting their main points in discussions that went on for days? How could that elaborated and long-winded speech be made without making any mistake on the many occasions where this was expected of them, such as in court cases or political discussions? The ancient people came up with mnemonic devices, or in other words, with devices that helped them to remember whatever they wanted. In our times, there is has been a resurgence of these techniques. Tony Buzan, Vera Birkenbihl, Christian Gruening and many other trainers earn a fortune telling us what the ancients knew thousand years ago: Be creative, think graphically, and make up stories if you want to remember things! Easily Remember the order of the solar system Say, for example, you wanted to learn the planets of the solar system in the right order by heart. Then why not make up a story like Christian Gruening suggests for the solar system: The first planet in our solar system is the sun, so you imagine yourself sitting in your garden, while you feel the sun shining down
on your skin. Suddenly you hear a roar, look up, and catch a glimpse of a Mercury breaking through your fence and stopping short of you. You are angry until, believe it, or not, Venus disembarks and sprays earth onto your face. You don’t like that at all, so you throw your Marsbar into her face, which is no good thing to do as the earth starts to tremble and Jupiter shows up with a T-Shirt with a sun as a logo on his breast. Did you see that in your mind? It is important that you do, otherwise this device will not work. What we just did is to replacing the planet names with graphic images or with “Eselsbruecken” and then connect them to a funny story (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptun). If you know the story by heart, which is way easier than just the dry words, you will learn the right order of the planets as well by osmosis. Admittedly, it takes some time to make up stories, but it is way more fun than going over dry facts over and over again and actually way more effective. Geniuses There are people who are said to have been able to memorize whole speeches, every book they read, and every single day of their life in every detail. The psychologist Uria wrote a famous book, The Mind of the Mnemomist S, where he wrote about such a genius who did exactly that. S. is supposed to have been able to remember every word of lectures he went to and even were able to recall the nuances in voice. Uria found out that the only difference between this S. and other people was not the brain size but his ability to make up synesthetic images in his head for every word he heard. Devices like mindmapping or the creative techniques of Birkenbihl always stress graphic, associative and creative thinking! It really works.
19
How to add a dash of creativity into your daily life I have a terribly rough time remembering names or keeping my focus at lectures. And how many times are we forced to remember names or listen to long, long lectures. Not to speak of all the definitions and intricate facts and dates we are expected to know by heart. I used to be frequently embarrassed at having forgotten someone’s name, or incredibly bored during lectures. But I have to say that I found a cure through adding a dash of creativity into my daily life. When I meet a Steffi, I place a tennis racket into her hand and imagine her playing against Boris Becker, or even see her in tennis dress: this is all my brain needs to remember her name. When I find myself incredibly annoyed during a lecture, I try to see it graphically and make up my own story in my mind using the dry content of the lecturer and I find myself actually intrigued. So, if you are struggling with the same or similar problems: be creative, make up stories! Author: Johann Rhee Layout: Johann Rhee Pictures: www.wikipedia.de/Ferdinand Schmutzer; www.pixelio.de/ Wilhelmine Wulff/Dieter Schütz/ Gerd Altmann/ Carsten Przygoda For further information check out the books by Tony Buzan, Vera Birkenbihl, Christian Gruening, among others. If you want to attend a seminar, google it! The Studentenberatung is offering free courses as well. Also check out the Interview with soft skill expert Michael Scheidl on our webpage http://emag-augsburg.de!
Happy Birthday, eMAG! eMAG: the first ten years eMAG member list Interviewing former members Looking back We‘re not Carrie Bradshaw
20
Text
,yadhtriB yppaH !GAMe “And in the end, it‘s not the years in your life that count. It‘s the life in your years.“ Abraham Lincoln
Insert
21 3
Picture: eMAG
eMAG: the first ten years A few highlights
Because he has supervised eMAG through ten years of ups and downs, no-one else knows eMAG better than our coordinator Peter James. See what he has to say!
Thank you to all concerned
Featured topics
Thanks are due to the many people who have helped eMAG develop into its present shape and format: our readers, the participating students, the advertisers, Language Centre and university staff too numerous to mention, guest contributors, proof-readers and interviewees. Without the 13 editors or deputy editors eMAG has had, the magazine would certainly not have happened! They´re responsible for managing the content and publication process of the magazine, the team comprising an editorin-chief, as well as a deputy editor. At present, the latter shadows the editor-in-chief for a whole term, before taking over the editorship in the next term, a system which provides for shared responsibilty and continuity. Here´s a list of editors to date: Christina Rinberger, Isabella Hopp, Michi Albl, Katharina Seidl, Wibke Weilacher, Michael Birnstiel, Sebastian Süße, Kellie Hirsch, Johanna Hartmann, Steffi Taubenberger, Jessica Hofmann, Rebecca Schreiber, Ann-Kristin Brockmann, Danyela Demir, Annika Sickinger, Nicole Gifi, Isabel Rackow, Susi Steinacher.
From the first issue on, the magazine included a range of types of articles, including interviews, reports on foreign countries and going abroad, as well as book reviews. But from eMAG 3, each issue featured a general topic which a number of articles focussed on, as students felt that this would give each issue a more robust framework than a random potpourri of pieces. The featured topics have thus included: Broadening horizons (a focus on diversity and intercultural awareness), Pop Culture (twice! Did anyone notice?), Nostalgia, Extremes, The Number Seven, Canada, Revolution, Heroes and Villains, Australia, On Stage, The Senses, Travel, Behave Yourself!, Humour, Growing Up and Be Creative!
October 2002 - June 2012
What did eMAG set out to do?
No latte coffee; no such thing as digicampus; modularisation a mere twinkle in educational bureacrats´ eyes; the new €uro had only recently been introduced and FC Augsburg were languishing in the lower divisions. The world was a different place when a group of eMAG students met to organize the first issue published january 2003. Fast forward ten years… nineteen eMAGs later. In the last few weeks, I´ve spent hours flicking through my collection of old eMAGs, several of which are now rather dog-eared. So, having flicked, I would now like to share a few of the highlights of eMAG´s story so far...
A project like eMAG needs clear aims, and needs to communicate these to participants and the target audience. In the first issue of eMAG - by students, for students - they boldly wrote, `We hope that eMAG provides a much-needed channel of communication between students and becomes an established tradition in Augsburg´. eMAG also wished to inform and entertain its readership. I will leave you to judge whether the magazine has achieved these aims!
University more international now? In the first issues of eMAG, the students were predominantly German, but in the past six years or so, students from around the world have participated in the project, including from countries such as the US, India, China, the UK, France, Poland, Italy, Mexico, Bulgaria and the Ukraine. This had a positive effect on the intercultural atmosphere of the project, and reflects the increasingly international, intercultural character of the University of Augsburg.
The name eMAG developed on the back of a table reservation card at the first eMAG meeting 2002 outside class 22
Begleitstudium throws eMAG a lifeline In February 2010, eMAG broke with a tradition: that all members up to that point had been students of Anglistik/Americanistik in some form or other. But for eMAG 15, for the first time, Media and Communication Studies (MUK) students, so-called Begleitstudium students, joined the group (eMAG and other campus projects like it provide a context for them to apply what they learn in lectures and seminars). In the first instance, this sudden influx of MUK students helped to compensate for a dwindling of the number of Anglistik/Americanistik students, throwing the mag a lifeline. Secondly, the communication students gradually made their presence felt by systematically developing processes and structures related to the magazine. One such idea is to systematically store all information about the production systems for incoming students for next term, so they can gain access to and learn from it, without having to re-invent the wheel (this, I am informed, is what is called ´knowledge management´). eMAG Website At least three attempts and different website addresses and formats have been needed for us to get to the current recently-revamped website: http://www.emag-augsburg.de In the past term or two, we´ve made a dream come true: to publish regular content on-line in addition to what appears in the printed magazine each term, which enables us to respond more quickly to events as and when they happen, instead of saving ideas up for several months. We´re also establishing new rubrics such as „Letters from...“. And since Issue Number 17, we´ve been able to post an on-line version of each issue after all the copies have been sold. And now, last but not least, eMAG is on facebook: check it out! >please turn the page> picture: team WS 2011 celebrating the 19th issue (above); eMAG at the Begleitstudium Projektmarktplatz SS2011 (below) 23
Supporting local charities In eMAG 10, Janina Fleischhaker wrote a piece, ´Development. Collective. Elsewhere, Commit to Partnership, a student charity´, the first of many such reports about local charities, which has now become a regular feature. In addition to the report, every term eMAG donates a free one-page colour advertisement to a local charity. Recent organisations featured in this way include: Tür an Tür (Miteinander Wohnen und Leben), KlinikClowns e.V., Kinderhospiz St. Nikolaus, Memmingen and Die Junge Werkstatt (berufsbezogene Jugendhilfe). Did you know that....? … the price of eMAG has been reduced from €2 to €1, thanks to the university´s generous financial support? This term the university has supported us so generously we´re able to print and distribute several thousand copies of eMAG20 free? A big thank you to the university! … the tenth-birthday party on Thursday July 5th 2012 is not the first eMAG party? Having a party to launch the magazine was a tradition in the early years; on June 28th 2007, for example, we helped to organise a party which was attended by over 800 paying students!
pictures: editor Katharina Seidl is proud of the first three issues of eMAG (above middle) team picture summer semester 2007 (above right) team of summer semester 2007 at a creative workshop (right) flyer for the semester ending party with 800 guests (left)
Finally, we hope that you enjoy the 2012 party, that you enjoy eMAG20 and that you continue to support the magazine in the coming years!
Who did eMAG interview, then?
Happy Birthday eMAG!
Did you know that eMAG has interviewed the following personalities? Sumaya Farhat-Naser (Augsburg Peace Prize winner), Claudia Roth (needs no introduction), Robert Conn (Director of Augsburg Ballet Ensemble), Gibril Sankoh (English-speaking FCA central defender), Wendy Cope (British Gastpoetin), Franz Ferdinand (much-celebrated British band), Rufus Wainwright (if you´re young, you know who he is), Andy Glass (Director of the British Council, Germany), etc.
author: Peter James layout: Isabel Rackow pictures: Peter James, Isabel Rackow 24
138 eMAG members to date Thank you to all of you!
Adina Mutter
Alex Fiedler Alexa Rauscher Alexander Mey Alexander Vos Aleksandra Cierpinska Alexandra Neumeier Alina Ludwig Alma Duran-Merk Andrea Reichart Andreas Greiser Anja Neumaier Anna Sapronenko Anne Neuschwander Annekathrin Ruhose Annemarie Köhler Annika Sickinger Ann-Kristin Brockmann
Barbara Dotterweich Barbara Schrettle Barbara Walter Benedikt Kindler Birgit Pfeiffer Birgit Popp
Carmen Risini
Carolin Strehlein Catrin Eberhard Christian Hoffmann Christian Protzel Christina Rinberger Christine Kürzinger Christoph Eder Clare Fielder
Daniela Brüning Daniela Sailer Danyela Demir
Eva-Maria Wunder
Elisabeth Burkhardt Elisabeth Schmitt
Fabienne Grau
Felicitas Schilling Florian Walter Friederike Beins
Gianmarco Suomi Giulia Reverberi
Hanna Boßmann Hanna Klötzer Helena Müller
Iris Zimmermann Isabel Rackow Isabella Hopp
Jacqueline Wörner
Janika Meschi Janina Fleischhaker Jessica Hoffmann Jessica Friedline Jennie Zhou Jens Gräber Jia Li Johann Rhee Johanna Hartmann Johanna Schulz Judith Barnscheidt Julia Bergmeister Julia Erb Julia Reddmann Juliane Politz Julia-Nicole Rössler
Katharina Seidl
Kathrin Langer Katrin Dierig Kellie Hirsch Kerstin Bachmeier
Larissa Deindl Laura Feyer Laura Türk Luisa Stoll Lukas Masuch Lukas Stettner
Manfred Schoch
Maraike Schulz Marcelina Tkocz Maria Lang Maria Schels Marie Corbet Mario Haim Marta Antonova Max Becker Maximilian Grundler Meeta Mansukhani Melanie Webb Michael Albl Michael Birnstiel Michael Sauter Michaela Grötzinger Min Shujie Monica Kinzer Monika Eder
Nathalie Bauer
Nicola Kossakowski Nicole Gifi Nikolai Banev
Sandy Pfeiffer
Sarah Noske Saskia Klenk Saskia Wegner Sebastian Dietz Sebastian Schwaigert Sebastian Süße Silka Weidlich Simon Tynior Simone Bader Simone Maier Stefanie Dintner Stefanie Le Roy Stefanie Storch Stéphanie Taubenberger Susanne Ortega Susanne Steinacher Sybille Ehing Sylvie Legath
Terry Meyer
Thomas Gruber Tianli Xia
Verena Kriz
Vivien Fischer
Wibke Weilacher Yasmin Partovi Yaminah Askia
Paulina Rakowski Pawel Gorn Peggy Beschnitt Peter Müller
Ramona Pradella
Rebecca Schneider Rebekka Kehlenbrink Richard Leinstein Ron Hörmann 25
Author: Isabel Rackow Layout: Hanna Boßmann Pictures: Dieter Schütz/ pixelio
“eMAG was a big part of why university was fun for me back then” Former members talk about their time on the eMAG team For our special birthday section, we asked former eMAG members about what they learned and their fondest memories of their time on the eMAG team. All these guys and girls (or should I say young men and women?) have already graduated from our wonderful university and are part of the workforce now. I think they’re longing to turn back the hands of time, but read for yourself.
Katharina Seidl:
Michael Birnstiel:
Simone Eder (maiden name: Maier):
When I started with eMAG, I didn’t really know what to expect. I was in my third semester of American Literature and the idea of a magazine just sounded interesting and above all fun. It took us a lot of time to figure things out, but it was definitely worth it - I had a great time with eMAG and learned a lot, working with different personalities, holding meetings, organizing schedules, deadlines, sponsors, a whole party... During my time with eMAG, I learned important things about teamwork. My fondest memories are of working on the layout for the mag all through the night. Need I say that I didn’t get a lot of sleep? Fun times ;)
The most fulfilling and at the same time taxing job for me was working on the layout, but I loved the design team’s night shifts - so I’d say apart from just being part of such a great group of people and having fun while working hard, that’s my fondest memory of my time on the team.
26
I first became an eMAG member with issue #7 and was editor-in-chief for issues (I think) #9 - #13. eMAG helped me to improve my English and I learned to manage many an issue and how to kick people in the butt without doing so literally. And of course I met many fantastic people such as other students, authors and of course members of the university‘s teaching staff (special thanks to Peter James and Prof. Götz). However, my fondest memory is having eMAG‘s creative weekends in the Allgäu, spending 48 hours together with the entire team discussing the next issue while our thoughts kept flying with BBQs and even the odd bottle of Rioja (donated by Peter). Best of luck to you and here‘s to the next ten years!
Janina Dicke (maiden name: Fleischhaker):
Isabella Hopp:
Sebastian Süße:
During my time at eMAG, I realised that I enjoy writing and doing something creative, so, that’s what I’m doing now: being creative. In fact I write for websites and brochures, develop slogans and concepts for marketing mailers and customer loyalty-measures, and, once in a while, translate websites or magazines into English. As part of eMAG I learned a lot about how to get the reader’s attention (attractive headlines, short but informative statements, etc.). As the person responsible for the ads I quite enjoyed talking to different shop owners and asking them to buy advertising space in our magazine.
I always enjoyed working on eMAG. I learned a lot about planning a magazine and writing articles. As “content manager”, I also learned to improvise to complete the magazine on time. My fondest memories are of weekend seminars in the Allgäu and launch parties.
When I started with eMAG I had no idea what I was doing. There was nobody I knew, I hadn’t written an article in my life, and the meetings were confusing at first. And yet I had the feeling that these people were passionate about the magazine. Ultimately, that’s the glue that has always held eMAG together.
Barbara Schrettle:
By the time I became Editor-in-Chimp, our weekly meetings, barbecue evenings and get-togethers defined a big part of why university was fun for me back then. I tip my hat and raise my Guinness Kilkenny to you guys. I would love to have a drink with Peter James and his current gang of witty writers. Maybe you can give me some tips about the business. I still don’t know what I’m doing.
What I liked best about my time at eMAG, however, was that I got to know some of my student mates in a different environment and developed friendships which have lasted until today. My fondest memory is the creative writing weekend with the “Blickpunkt Campus” crew, and the cooperation with them. Ask Peter about his interview on Augsburg TV! ;-)
My favourite part of my entire time with eMAG was always writing articles. I was very lucky that a good friend of mine, who’s a native speaker, helped me revise and edit my texts and I learned a lot in the process. One of my best memories is our eMAG weekend in the Allgäu. A very productive and fun two days. 27
Anecdote: Me and my editor-in-chief Michael Birnstiel did an interview with American author Marc Estrin for issue 13 (Jan 09). What was supposed to be a nice little chat about literature and the man himself instantly turned into a debate about 9/11, conspiracy and US-American history. Aptly entitled „God, Hitler and the world‘s biggest terrorists“, the article laid out Estrin‘s political and perso-
nal views in a drastic fashion - including Republican fear-mongering, the N-word and God cutting himself into pieces. Consequently, for the first time in its history, eMAG included a disclaimer: “The content of individual articles does not necessarily reflect the team‘s view and opinions.“ I met Marc a few months ago. He‘s still a man of extremes and I‘m still fond of our interview. You should read up on Estrin - his books are just as colorful and intense as the man himself. Worth a disclaimer, to be sure.
Michael Albl:
Birgit Pfeiffer:
I was an eMAG member from 20042008. The work for eMAG gave me a feeling for the English language as well as for working together with different people. There is one thing I still remember: We went to a members’ house in the Allgäu to be creative and to work on the mag and in the evenings we usually sat together until late and had a lot of fun. Peter had already gone to bed and when we woke up in the morning, he had already washed all the dishes and put them back where they belonged. The funny thing was that we forgot to tell him that there was a dishwasher and he had washed all the dishes by hand.
I was a part of eMAG for a couple of semesters and it still graces my CV. There are loads of things that I learned back at eMAG, especially about the dynamics of a larger group of people who are on par with each other, about approaching potential advertising partners (including talking to strangers, which is something I used to absolutely abhor) and about the fact that Peter gets really distressed when students of English call inverted commas “geese feet“. All the best for the next ten years of eMAG!
28
Author: Susanne Steinacher Layout: Nathalie Bauer Pictures: Susanne Steinacher
Looking back Twenty issues of eMAG 1/2003: eMAG
2/2003: eMAG reloaded
1/2004: Broadening Horizons
2/2004: PopCulture
1/2005: The Xtreme Issue
2/2005: Nostalgia
1/2006: Issue 007
2/2006: Destination Canada
1/2007: Revolution
2/2007: Heroes and Villains
1/2008: The Oz Issue
2/2008: On Stage
1/2009: Pop Culture
2/2009: The Senses
1/2010: Travel
2/2010: Behave Yourself
1/2011: Humour
2/2011: (Not) Growing Up
1/2012: Be Creative!
2/2012: Stories
Cover-pictures: Isabel Rackow Layout: Adina Mutter
29
to be continued...
We’re not Carrie Bradshaw! But we wish it were that easy...
A lot of people imagine that producing a magazine compares to what , for example, Carrie Bradshaw in the Sex and the City series does: sitting in a pretty amazing apartment, looking awesome even in comfy pants and without hesitation typing a couple of lines that will immediately be some kind of society guidelines for everybody living in New York. It looks easy, but in real life, it´s not! Producing a magazine is a challenge and probably not always fun. So, read on - see what it takes to get eMAG ready for sale!
Layouters helping each other out
Creativity rules OK The first steps are all about fabulous ideas and brain-racking brainstorming. Good ideas take a long time coming, but eventually we have a title for the issue in question. Usually our titles are kept rather general and therefore cover a wide field. This is when creativity has to prove itself. On their own or in groups everybody starts working on their ideas. They’re mainly from different perspectives. This is why we always end up having such a variety of articles, which is just great! And yes, at eMAG every participant may get at least one article in the magazine.
The parallelism of producing a magazine (Un)fortunately, a magazine doesn’t only live from good articles. So while everybody tries hard to get some good lines down on paper, they’ll have to manage several other duties, too, in order for the magazine to get published. These other duties are split up between our four teams: advertising, layout, promotion and website. The advertising people start to knock at doors looking for new clients; the layouters have to work on the cover, flyer and poster drafts; the promotion team runs around on campus booking rooms or looking for cheap printing deals; and the website team is busy posting all the articles online and keeping the pages up to date. In addition to these teams’ work, the team leaders and both editors meet once a week. Important decisions are discussed in advance of the weekly meeting and the progress of every team is checked. Being a team Working as a team only works when people know and understand each other. That’s why we try to have some fun together. For example, we’ve been to an Irish Pub, participating successfully in a pub quiz (third place – gotcha!!), went to the movies on Monday for the original version of Edgar J. Hoover and a barbeque at the end of the term is planned, too. And sometimes we sit and chat at the cafeteria trying to solve upcoming problems.
Working promotion team
30
Busy website team
The world is upside down After approximately five weeks of the university term, most eMAG editors don’t really know what has happened to their leisure time. Their things-to-do checklist explodes with eMAG stuff that has to be done, as all of what we do has to happen alongside what we have to do for university. So eMAG members try the “salto mortale” of finishing articles, getting them proofread, looking for pictures, representing eMAG at various events, doing the layout for about 60 pages of articles, layouting flyers, posters and our cover, liaising with advertisers, working on a new website appearance, … Even if we thought we wouldn´t be able to cope this time, we finally do FINISH! The pleasure of success The end always comes out of nowhere. One day we’re all still extremely busy and out of breath, and the next we know we´ve done it. Our magazine is at the printer´s and we´re all impatiently waiting to hold the magazine in our hands. And although there’ve always been moments when we thought about quitting or cursing about the amount of work, in the end, we feel elated. Every term we know that we deserve to be proud, because we rose to the challenge as a team! I hope you guys love our twentieth issue and celebrate our tenth birthday with us!
Author: Isabel Rackow Layout: Isabel Rackow Pictures: Isabel Rackow Susi Steinacher Juliane Politz 31
Keep It Local Inside a writer’s mind Once upon a time in Augsburg How a prostitute became a martyr Working with children is fun... What’s under your bed? An evening in One Minute Top places to ... on campus BoyMiezGirl
32
lacoL tI peeK “It‘s always a little different, racing on your hometown track. It makes it more special.“ Buddy Rice
Insert
33 3
Picture: pixelio.de/ Christoph Anzenhofer
Inside a writer’s mind Interview with the local author Willy Werner
An artist’s contradictory mind
An artist’s inspiration
The twenty-seven-year old local writer Willy Werner is a person full of inconsistencies: he grew up in the hectic city of Berlin, but then moved to the more tranquil region of Augsburg; he claims to be just the opposite of a philanthropist, and yet works as a pedagogical care worker. This ambiguity runs like a common thread through his life, and seems to be part of his contradictory character. When asked about his personality, he described himself as a loveable but arrogant person with a moody and sensitive nature, who is constantly seeking more.
He refers to writing as his greatest passion, which has fascinated him since early childhood: “As a child, I always believed that every person had exactly the same feelings I had, and so I felt the need to express my feelings on behalf of those others”. Thus, the source of his inspiration is as multifaceted as his stories themselves. “I draw my inspiration from my own personal experiences as well as from my work in a child care facility for children with behavioral problems. Most of my short stories are, to a certain extent, autobiographical, but the most honest stories aren’t the ones you write about yourself”, explains the young author.
At first glance, he seems to write about common topics any writer deals with: love, life and the various problems that both bring along. Yet, he does this with such a haunting, precise and honest voice that you easily believe the fragile balance between the anxiety of a troubling situation and the easy-going attitude of his protagonists. “I try to distance myself from clichés, but certainly it is not always possible. Love, egoism, and the human being itself are what move me the most, after all”, explains the author. Using simple words, he tries to illustrate life’s complexity, and in doing so, doesn’t refrain from painting weak-minded protagonists, who at times even breakdown. Most of his surreal short stories deal with this specific sort of men: a reckless and ungrateful antihero, who stumbles his way through life while blaming everybody but himself.
His style and language are especially influenced by the literature of the Beat Generation, an American literary movement of the 1950’s. Similarities to the works of Allen Ginsberg, Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs, and Rolf D. Brinkmann are intended: “‘I’ve always been fascinated by the central elements of the Beat culture. Sex, drugs, music and alcohol- my protagonists also practice life to its most excessive”. He readily admits that it’s sometimes difficult not to lose one’s grip on reality when you write about misanthropy and life’s escapades, while working as a care worker at the same time. “I don’t expect everyone to like my stories; they simply reveal the sober truth and, therefore, bring the reader down to earth, just by holding a mirror up to them. I’m convinced, that everybody can relate to my stories. We all sometimes complain and despair of our luxury problems. My protagonists do nothing else”.
34
How about a little taste? Here an extract from his short story “Die Frau, für die ich zu groß war” Sie log so ungenau, dass man alles schon erahnen konnte. Später log sie gezielter und malte sich hinreißende Geschichten aus, um mich zu beschwichtigen. Da dachte ich: Wer sich soviel mühe mit dem Lügen gibt, der muss es ernst meinen. Sie sagte oft: “Ich bin durch die Hölle gegangen, um mit dir zusammen zu sein.!” “Sei froh”, erwiderte ich, “andere müssen ihr Leben darauf warten. Du hast es hinter dir.” Sie fand es nicht besonders witzig und ich musste mir dann etwas über die Liebe anhören und danach mit ihr ins Bett. Nach diversen Streitigkeiten wollte ich mich immer in ihr verkriechen, doch jede Öffnung schien zu verborgen für mich zu sein. Meistens weinte sie, versuchte ich, mich in sie hinein zu quetschen. Doch es waren nicht die Schmerzen. Sie sagte nur: “Bleib hier, bleib bei mir. Ich will dich!” Author: Anja Neumaier Layout: Anja Neumaier Pictures: Christoph Neumaier
Info-Box: Willy Werner’s multifaceted collection of short stories ‘Geschichten aus dem Flaschenhals’ is available in selected bookstores. A varied mixture of thrilling and grotesque, at times humorous and surreal stories, but most of all true stories, make this collection an unforgettable reading experience.
r tschafte JANDA+ROSCHER, Die WerbeBo
online oder live: » Jetztlin enstraße 12 Karo 86150 Augsburg
2
Once upon a time in Augsburg Local myths and anecdotes
Many cities are surrounded by myths, legends and heroic, uncanny or funny tales. Usually, the older the city, the more stories its walls and buildings have to tell. The city of Augsburg, founded back in Roman times, is certainly no exception to this rule. Usually, though, we’re not even aware of the multitude of forgotten and not-so-forgotten tales that cross our paths every day. Curious to explore some of them? Just read on to find out about some of the more prominent myths and anecdotes of your city.
impression the citizens still had plenty of food left, and, therefore, the siege was unsuccessful. Furious, the attackers shot arrows over the wall, one of which lead to the loss of Konrad’s arm. Or so the legend says. Oh, and by the
Of course, these were only a few examples of Augsburg’s numerous tales. When you think about it, every single place has its story. Each building we pass, each street we cross and each flickering image of someone behind a windowpane can tell its very own tale. We might never know them, but we’re walking through a maze of stories each and every day, even if we aren’t aware of it. And, to be honest, I really like the sound of that.
The Angel of Augsburg This beautiful title refers to one of the more tragic figures in our history, namely Agnes Bernauer, a young woman born and raised in Augsburg during the fifteenth century. During a tournament she caught the eye of Albert III, the son of the Duke of Bavaria, who made her his fiancée. Although this may seem like the beginning of a Cinderella story, it wasn’t meant to be. Because she wasn’t of noble blood but the daughter of a commoner, Albert’s father disapproved of their engagement. So, he pulled the strings in order to have Agnes condemned for witchcraft and drowned in the Danube. Thus, Albert and Agnes’ story found its tragic ending. Even now, Agnes isn’t associated with a specific place in Augsburg but rather with the city itself. Maybe, in some way, this allows her to live on as the Angel of Augsburg, a name given to her because of beauty and kind nature. The Stone Man (see photo) If you wander along the Eastern city wall, you’ll sooner or later pass the statue of a one-armed baker. According to legend, this statue – which is, quite creatively, called the man of stone – represents Konrad Hackher, a baker who, during a siege on the city of Augsburg, threw bread over the city wall to give the enemy the
roof and . . . how can I put this nicely . . . did something you would usually need a toilet for. Since nothing touched the walls, he had his evidence. We can only hope no unsuspecting citizens walked beneath the gate that day.
Author: Nicole Gifi Layout: Nicole Gifi PIctures: Nicole Gifi Wikipedia/Mike Schilli
way: it’s said good luck is bestowed on anyone (especially couples) who touch the nose of the statue – for reasons I really don’t get. The ‘Vogeltor’ anecdote Now let’s move on to a more light-hearted (and perhaps slightly more disgusting) tale. Did you pass the ‘Vogeltor’ today? It’s said that when the building was just finished, a representative of the city claimed that the tower wasn’t standing in a straight line but leaning slightly sideways. The builder devised a rather questionable plan to prove the contrary. He went to the highest window just below the 36
How a prostitute became a martyr The legend of St Afra
As an atheist I never gave much thought to the fact that the Catholic Church reveres saints. Neither had I ever heard of St Afra before I moved to Augsburg. When her name came up in a seminar, I got curious and looked her up. Guess what I found out? She’s not only one of the Augsburg’s saints, but she’s also the patroness of prostitutes. Born as a princess… Afra was born the daughter of the king of Cyprus. After the king was murdered, her mother Hilaria had to flee to Rome with her little daughter, who was already exceptionally pretty. Because they had to make a living, Hilaria opened a brothel and designated her daughter to be a servant of Venus, the Roman goddess of beauty and sexual desire. And that’s how Afra ended up working as a whore, even though she was a princess. … she was forced to live as a prostitute. In Rome, Afra had a vision in which God told her to go to Augusta Videlicorum, as Augsburg was called during the days of the Roman Empire. There she was supposed to help people and to lead a respectable life. But her mother had other plans: she took several of her prostitutes along on the journey to Augsburg and on her arrival opened two new whorehouses.
Afra became a Christian…
… and died as a martyr.
In the fourth century the Roman Emperor Diocletian ordered the hunting down of any Christian or Jew who refused to participate in the imperial cult. The punishment for not worshipping the Emperor was death. Among the persecutees was a bishop named Narcissus. He hid himself in Afra’s house, and taught her about his faith when she showed interest. Afra became a Christian and was baptised by the bishop. Her mother Hilaria and the other prostitutes, impressed by Afra’s strong faith, then followed her example.
The church “Sankt Afra im Felde” in Friedberg is said to have been built on the place where she died. In the eighth century Afra’s remains were relocated to an abbey at the end of today’s Maximilianstraße, which became the “St. Ulrich und Afra” church after Bishop Ulrich was buried there in 993. Afra was canonised for her martyrdom in 1064 and became a part of Augsburg’s history as the patroness of repentant prostitutes and people threatened by fire.
… but she was arrested… Unfortunately for Afra, the Romans found out that she was no longer a servant of Venus. She was brought before a judge in the year 304. She refused to sacrifice offerings for the Roman gods and was sentenced to death by fire. According to another version of the legend, Afra was tied to a tree and beheaded on an island in the River Lech. Her mother Hilaria was burned alive in one of her brothels soon afterwards.
Author: Sybille Ehing Layout: Sybille Ehing Pictures: Sybille Ehing 37
Statue of St Afra in front of Augsburg Cathedral
Working with children, fun or . . . 5D project with Könnigsbrunn-South middle school 5D project by Tom Vogt is a combination of theory and practice through cooperation with local schools in Augsburg. As Tom Vogt explained, “Etymologically, the ‘fifth dimension’ refers to the simultaneously social, historical, ethical, aesthetic, and innovative aspects of human learning and development, i.e. dimensions and aspects which transform the four dimensions of space- time into something human, inhabitable, and meaningful.”
about the future, their hopes and dreams, but they hid their opinions, and one of them even answered, “I’ll never have the chance to go to university.” It seems that the school type (it was a vocational school, where most of them have to decide about their future jobs this year.) has already stopped them from believing that they can go to the university. In order to encour-
Most of the project members are students from Augsburg University. Last semester, we, Florian Saule, Anne Huff, and other five students worked together with the children at KönnigsbrunnSouth middle school for half a year and made the movie “A Never-Ending Story”. In the film, Tom, a character in the play, was new in school and was bullied by the other pupils, especially by a girl called Chiara. But Tom still tried to be nice to her, and gradually she saw his merits and became his good friend. It was a surprise for us why the children decided on the topic of bullying. As their tutors, we all thought that it would be heavy for the kids, but they insisted on it because most of them had been bullied once and they wanted to play a part in tackling this problem. So, we tried our best to inspire them and wrote the movie script together. But the atmosphere was still rather depressed. For example, we talked with them
fessional child stars and the funny moments are hard to count on two hands. But one of our funny moments was about our hero Tom. The first time we met him, he had curly hair dangling down to his neck - just like every cool child at the school. After driving to the school several times to shoot the film, we went one Thursday and to our amusement discovered that Tom’s hair had gone, which interfered with the continuity of the film! He had had his hair cut so short without telling anyone about it, which was both funny and annoying. We quickly brain stormed solutions and came up with the idea that we should add one more bullying scene, in which Tom was bullied because of his new haircut. It worked well, but we’ll never forget this lesson because it’s important to have an agreement with the actors about changing their appearance during the shooting!
age them, we organized a trip to the university and Florian, our team leader, made a speech about different ways of going to university, and this seemed to improve the children’s mood.
After we had finished editing the film, we also held an “Oscar Award” for the children. The project finished with the premiere of our movie, with the “Chocolate Oscars”, with the applause of the teachers, other pupils, and even the journalist from Augsburg Allgemein, a tremendous success!
So, let’s consider for a moment: what comes to mind if you think of how Hollywood directors humor child stars when they don’t cooperate? But the children we worked with aren’t pro-
Author: Tianli Xia Layout: Nicole Gifi Pictures: Tianli Xia
38
What’s under your bed? Random people – random questions Do you ever have the urge to just walk up to someone and ask them something completely random? Just to see how they’ll react? I do. And now that I joined eMAG I found a platform and an audience for my crazy urges. And at the end of the day this is what a creative outlet is all about, isn’t it? To unleash the crazy within on the outside world bit by bit and see how they’ll deal with it. I’ll start with asking random people random questions and document the results here. Social Studies people listen up – this should be interesting for you. First I made a sign: “ANSWER A RANDOM QUESTION”
When was the last time you watched Sesame Street?
People didn’t react to that. I didn’t even get a sideways glance. Nothing. So I made a little adjustment. I took my sign “ANSWER A RANDOM QUESTION” and added a little extra sign that said “(I HAVE CANDY)”. Now things were getting interesting. Students respond to candy. I wonder how many people have stumbled onto that. What is more important: Students will accept candy from strangers. Hope that information doesn’t get into the wrong hands. For safety reasons let me emphasize the following (please share to raise awareness): If a strange guy in a van offers you candy, just walk away. If a nice old lady offers you candy, always ask yourself, is there a cult she wants me to join or a nephew/niece she wants me to marry. If a nice fellow student throws random questions and candy your way, just thank the lord for the candy and take a second to answer a question.
If someone with a split personality threatens to commit suicide, is it a hostage situation?
Can you make cake? No. (Alex,22)
Do you sing in the shower? No. (Carola, 24) Sometimes! (Janina, 24)
Are you only here because my sign said I have candy?
I never watched Sesame Street. (Carola, 24) About 15 years ago. (Janina,24)
(laughs) Yes.
Do you brush your teeth before or after breakfast? After breakfast. (Felix, 21)
A lot. (hastily) Not everything, don’t get me wrong. But a lot. (Helen, 23)
Are you afraid of heights? No. (Julian, 22)
Three questions for three girls
(Katti, 22, Kerstin, 22, Saskia, 24):
What would you do for candy?
Do you have a tattoo? Yes.
Can I see it? No.
Where is it?
(walks away) Hey! Hey don’t go! I... I have candy! (Chris, 26)
To be continued...
No… is it? (they’re thinking) No. Just have him kill the other one too.
Did you ever laugh so hard you peed a little? NO + NO + Actually I think I did.
When you’re driving in your car and have to look for a specific address, do you turn down your radio? 26 yes I do. I also do it when I’m backing Yes, into a parking space (the others agree).
Can you touch your nose with your tongue?
No I can’t. But my boyfriend can. (Saskia, 24) Of course I can! (tries but fails) (Won’t tell me his name, I’m guessing around 25; didn’t even accept my candy)
What’s under your bed?
Bed linen, bags, backpacks… and trash. Wait! No! No trash. Bags and backpacks.
39
Author: Jessica Friedline Layout: Nathalie Bauer Pictures: Jessica Friedline
An evening in One Minute The AnglistenTheater is back with a new play
By the time you read this article the AnglistenTheater of the University Augsburg will already have performed “One Minute” by Simon Stephens. You missed it? You didn’t even know that we have an English Theatre Group at our university? Here you can find out all you need to know about the AnglistenTheater. The History The AnglistenTheater was founded in 1980 by Rudolf Beck, then a lecturer at the English Literature department. Until 1990, Beck and student actors performed up to two plays a year, but he stopped - for personal reasons. From then on Ute Legner stepped in, but in 2006, she also quit and no one wanted to continue the project. After Beck retired in 2010, he was looking for an activity and thought about the AnglistenTheater… The Cast
“I have learned that it’s much harder to find students willing to invest a lot of time,” Beck says about the present situation. He tells me that it’s hard to coordinate all the different things students have to do, like hobbies, university courses and jobs. But some
students still found time to rehearse once or twice a week for the play which they performed in mid-June, and before Easter they even went to Sion, Switzerland, for a week of rehearsals. In addition to the time the students had to be willing to invest, other important factors for the cast were their English skills and, of course, a talent for acting. The play they chose demands great acting talent because the important things are communicated between the lines. In order to find the right actors for the parts, Beck and his friends organised auditions. But there was another problem with the cast: there were too few men among the candidates. In the end, it was decided to put on a play that’s for five actors: two men and three women. The play Besides the cast, the most important question was which play the group wanted to perform. In the end, they chose “One Minute” by Simon Stephens, one of the most important modern British playwrights: in 2008 he was even Playwright of theYear. “One Minute” is about a missing child and the effect this disappearance has on five people: the mother of the missing child, two police officers, a student working in one of the police officer’s favourite café and a young woman who thinks she has seen the missing child. Other characters are mentioned during the play, yet they never appear on stage. Instead, they influence the way the other characters act.
40
Stephens himself described his play as follows: “If One Minute was a detective story, though, it was a detective story with its centre removed, with its heart taken out.[…] There was never a body revealed on stage. No suspect was identified. No one was arrested or interrogated. There was no confession. No one was ever charged or sentenced. The case remained open.”
At the heart of the drama is the theme of loss. Everybody in the play has lost something or someone. One character has lost a child, others have “only” lost their home, but they all need to get over this loss. In addition, children are an important motif in the drama; children appear in every character’s life and influence their behaviour. The story itself doesn’t have a typical dramatic form. Beck describes it like this: “It’s constructed like a piece of fabric: many threads cross, some get cut off, but there’s no end.” He goes on to explain that the language in the play is extremely colloquial, but because of the characters‘ indirect communication, the actors have to pay great attention to the intonation and the volume of their voices. “The production has come a long way and will go a long way,” Beck said during a meeting in April. The process was going well, and all those involved were looking forward to the performances. The future It’s already certain that the AnglistenTheater will continue. Either Beck himself or someone else will do it, but it’s certain that it will. Beck says that a university English department also needs an English theatre.
Author: Hanna Bossmann Layout: Hanna Bossmann Pictures: AnglistenTheater Uwe Steinbrich/ pixelio,de
For further information visit the AnglistenTheater on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnglistenTheaterAugsburg
41
Top places to …... on campus eMAG asked students about their favourite places in and around Uni Augsburg to eat: - Lukas The Sportler Cafete, because it’s where all the sport students hang out, plus they offer things you don’t get at the Mensa. - Lydia Not directly on campus, but so close that it almost counts as campus: the Unikum. Friendly service, cozy atmosphere and great food.
- Kim: Just get a cappuccino at the Alte Cafete, sit in front of the Jura/WiWi library and simply watch people pass by.
to flirt:
- Ervis: The Alte Cafete because they have beer. (Although Augustiner would be better!)
- Tammy. If you forgot to charge your Mensacard and desperately look for s.o. to invite you. - Katja: In each lecture when there’s that empty seat right next to you… - Isabel: At the library. Once you get lost or aren’t able to find the book you’re looking for, you just have to find s.o. that’s able to help you ;)
- Uli Definitely the ESG Cafete! Freshly prepared quality food in a warm and great atmosphere. Forget about the crap at the Mensa.
- Marie: If the copier broke down and you’re looking for s.o. to help you fix it;)
- Michelle The little kebab place. It’s simply yummy.
- Max: In general: just try any of the sport classes they offer!
to drink: - Lukas The Sportler Cafete because they have a wider range of drinks and it’s cheaper than the rest at university - Lydia: Coffee bar in front of the Alte Cafete because they have many different flavors that go with your coffee, an Italian coffee maker and you get the 11th coffee for free.
- Lukas: All over campus. Just talk to people! That’s it!
- Uli: Unlike the Hochschule Augsburg we’re still allowed to drink everywhere. Cheers to that. If I had to choose one single place it would be the Alte Cafete. Best people in the world, beer and always a blast. Anyone who has been there in spring or summer knows what I’m talking about.
42
- Uli: Love can be found everywhere. But I was told that a beer or two could be helpful, so maybe again Alte Cafete. Or why not Archäologie für Langhaarige? - Domo: Basically everywhere, but especially outside the Alte Cafete and at university parties:)
to socialize:
to chill:
to study:
- Anja You meet new people pretty much everywhere at campus, especially during your first week of studies. There is always small-talk such as “Do you know where room blabla is?”.
- Lukas The beach volleyball court at the Sportzentrum because it’s a mixture of sun, shadow and sand. You can watch people play or you just enjoy the weather.
- Eli I prefer studying in front of the Alte Cafete. For me it’s the best atmosphere to concentrate.
- Tammy Well there are a few. For example the Cafete and the Mensa are top places to socialize. When you’re sitting round a big table, maybe there are still some seats left so everyone can take that free chair. Another place would be the library, when you’re the one who’s helping out one of those confused guys that managed to avoid going to the library until their 6th semester. :)
- Eli The little lake and especially the little railing opposite the HS 1. Here you can chill in the sun and the railing is perfect, when your friend doesn’t want to get a cystitis. :)
- Lydia Lectures, because there are so many people that are interested in the same stuff at one place. You can easily start a chat with someone you just met and have the nice side effect of passing time.
- Uli The library because it has such a unique atmosphere and you literally can feel all the knowledge around you. Make sure you have a friend around while writing a paper! - Ervis Teilbibliothek Geisteswissenschaften, section of administrative law because it’s quiet and you have access to data bases that usually are feebased.
- Uli Pretty much everywhere. -Again: beer eases conversation so Alte Cafete! For Erstis, I highly recommend the Erstihütten and the O-Phase. - Paul Cafete or in seminars. In the Cafete you can get coffee, which goes hand in hand with meeting up, chatting and getting to know each other.
- Lukas Nowhere, I just can’t study at campus. :)
- Lydia TB Sozialwissenschaften. Because I like the relatively new facilities and the modern building.
- Ervis Teilbibliothek Geisteswissenschaften on the top floor. Here you have comfy chairs that are just waiting for you to take a nap. :) - Michelle I like the meadow below WiWi because it’s the perfect place to enjoy a sunny day.
43
Author: Juliane Politz; Laura Türk Layout: Thomas Gruber Pictures: Juliane Politz
Boy Miez Girl Saying it all without words
Y
ou only need two words when it comes to describing Boy Miez Girl: blind chance (maybe fate had its hands in there, as well). Back in 2007, a girl and a boy met by coincidence. Soon, they discovered that they shared the same passion for music, and began to play together; sometimes he played the guitar and she sang, and sometimes, it was the other way round.
Miriam and Joe, you write all your lyrics on your own. Can you tell who‘s the better writer: the one in love or the one being left?
But all too soon they realized that a two-member band could simply not compete against their great role models such as Mumford&Sons, Bon Iver or Arcade Fire. So once again, chance introduced the girl, Miriam, and the boy, Johannes, to Tom and his melodica. Shortly after that – as luck would have it they met Jakob and Daniel. Boy Miez Girl was officially complete.
You got second place in the ‘Band des Jahres’-Contest. Does pride outweigh disappointment? 44
Anyone who’s had the pleasure of seeing them perform live on stage, knows what makes their folk music so unique: the music itself varies from energetic rhythms to subtle acoustic brilliance and is full of playful melodies, while the lyrical content creates poetic songs full of emotional intensity. But ultimately, with their refreshing naturalness and joy that they reach out and excite many people.
Is there anybody you always wanted to be like on stage?
If you had to describe your music as a picture, what would it look like?
Do you have a typical “stage face” ?
You‘ve been playing as a group for years now. Have you grown fond of each other over time?
How do you see the future for Boy Miez Girl?
How do you deal with negative criticism?
Would you choose career over music? 45
Author: Anja Neumaier, Layout: Sebastian Knittel, Pictures: Andreas Antoni
Whole Wide World “A life that nobody in America has” “Cows are my passion” Norwich is great, innit? Spreading the word
46
dlroW ediW elohW “I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” André Gide
Insert
3 47
Picture: everystockphoto.com/ diloz
“A life that nobody in America has” Interview with an American who immigrated to Germany
Megan (30) from Denver, Colorado, came to Germany as an au pair girl. She fell in love with my brother Bernd and moved to Germany for him in 2007. They’re going to get married in September. I met her for an interview to talk about how she came to live in Germany. eMAG: Did you plan to go abroad when you were at school? Megan: Yes. I definitely knew that I wanted to go abroad. I think that was kind of fed to me by my father. He always pushed me to take a year abroad or to study somewhere abroad to see new countries and new cultures. eMAG: Was Germany the first European country you visited? Megan: No. When I was in college I went to the University of Alicante in Spain for a whole semester. After that I travelled around Europe. I went to Germany and basically did the “See all of Europe in two months” that many Americans seem to do. eMAG: Did you like Germany when you first came here? Megan: I did. I must admit I was very very impressed with Munich, because it was so clean and the people were pretty nice. Everybody spoke English and I didn’t speak any German when I was here as a tourist. During my trip I also went to Leipzig and Berlin.
eMAG: Why did you decide to come back to Germany? Megan: After I graduated I thought that I would just go to Europe for a year and try and figure out what I wanted to do. On the internet I found an au pair website for nannying and I entered all of my information and uploaded a picture. Within two or three weeks I started getting emails from the families who were interested in hiring me. Some of them were rich families where you’d live in the pool house and I thought that was kind of weird. Then I got an email from the Probst family and they seemed to be a super-normal, regular family. We talked on the phone and seemed to get along really well. I came over and it worked out. eMAG: What made you stay here in Germany? Megan: I would like to say that it was not only because of your brother (laughs). Originally I really really liked Germany just because it’s different than America, but it’s not so different that I feel lost here. I had only been here as a tourist and had no idea what to expect. The family I came to was incredible. They always had family time together. eMAG: Are there any other stereotypes that you had? Like people running around in Lederhosen? Megan: One big stereotype is that you wear Lederhosen and stuff, but the fact that we’re in Bavaria, people do wear them. So I can’t say that that’s a stereoptype that’s been broken, but you only see it during Oktoberfest or at weddings.
48
eMAG: How often do you visit the US? Megan: I try to go home once a year. This year won’t happen because we’re getting married. The previous year I was there twice. But sometime during 2013 we’ll go back. eMAG: Is there something that you especially miss? Megan: My friends and my family. You notice that you do not have as much contact with them as when you were in high school. I have contact with my friends, but I never really see them. It’s hard to deal with some things… like the wedding. It’s really hard for me that I can’t go with my best friend and look for dresses or talk about flowers or do all the planning. I miss my family also, but my family is pretty much all over America. My brother is in L.A., Mom is in Denver and Dad is in Centennial. eMAG: What German food do you love or hate? Megan: I remember once we had Blutwurst at your house and that was really strange. Or one time we had Ochsenmaulsalat and that was really gross for me, but now I like it. The stereotypes that Germans eat sausages a lot, well, that’s true. One thing that totally amazed me when I first came here to Germany is that everything is freshly made or made from scratch. Your mom would always make rolls every week and she would always make that super-yummy Hefezopf. She spends so much time in the kitchen; it’s so amazing.
eMAG: Well, pretend that I don’t know. Megan: We’re getting married in September. Kids will come sometime. I don’t know what my job futur holds. I’ve started going in a direction at work that I actually enjoy. It’s a kind of programming. I’m kind of a system administrator. eMAG: Did you ever expect that you could live abroad for the rest of your life? Or live abroad for as long as you have now? Megan: No… I tell Bernd that I wanna go back sometime. My friends in the beginning always asked me, when are you coming back? I was like, “I’ll spend two or three years in Germany and then I’m gonna go home.” Three to five years has come and gone and I’m still here. It’s kind of a sad thing that I miss all the biggest, most important events that are going on in my friends’ and parents’ lives. But I live a life that nobody in America has or the least amount of people in America are able to experience. You come here not speaking the language, not knowing the people. To arrive and get a job and find friends, a family – I think that I have accomplished a lot. eMAG: You have. It takes a lot of courage to live abroad and to stay abroad. Thank you for the interview, Megan!
Author: Sybille Ehing Layout: Sybille Ehing Pictures: Sybille Ehing, © gh0styman / PIXELIO
49
“Cows are my passion” How well do you know Charles Dickens?
Most people know that Charles Dickens wrote a lot of great stories. Thanks to Google, some people might even know that it would be his 200th birthday this year. But I’m not sure if any of you know that cows were his passion and that he wanted to live entirely surrounded by them one day. Find out what you know about one of the geniuses of the 19th century and mark the statements about Charles Dickens! Chose the “true” checkbox if all facts of one statement are right, the “false” checkbox if there’s something wrong.
Number 4 Dickens had a secret door in his study which was designed to look like a bookcase. This is nothing special, but a closer look at the books inside the case would reveal Dickens’ great sense of humour: it included titles like Noah’s Architecture and a nine-volume set called Cat’s Lives.
□
□
true
false In 1865, Dickens survived the Staplehurst rail crash which led to the death or injury of about 50 people. As one of the few passengers not to end up in the river with his carriage, he helped rescue many passengers and took care of the injured ones. Despite this very noble gesture, Dickens never wanted this episode to be made public. The reason for this was that he was travelling with his young mistress Ellen. He had had a relationship for seven years with her and it was quite a scandal.
Number 1 Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England, and had to start working in a factory at the age of 12, as his father was imprisoned for debt.
□
true
□
false
□
Number 2 This experience helped him write some of his best titles, including Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
□
true
□
false
Number 3 Dickens had a pet donkey called Boz, whose name he used as a pseudonym for his first collection of short stories, Sketches by Boz.
□
true
□
Number 5
Dickens in May 1852
false
□
false
Number 7 Charles Dickens often used an ironic and sarcastic style in his writing which he applied in real life as well. It is said that his friend (the famous Danish fairytale-teller Hans Christian Andersen), who had been living in Dickens’ house for some weeks, woke up one day to find the following message written on the mirror: “Hans Andersen slept in this room for five weeks, which seemed to the family like AGES.” Despite this, Andersen later dedicated his book to Dickens.
□ 50
true
true
□
false
true true
□ □
false false
51
Text: Adina Mutter Layout: Adina Mutter Pictures: Margot Kessler / PIXELIO Wikipedia /Flominator Wikipedia/ Jimbobrimaud False: Number 2: Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were written by Mark Twain. Other famous books by Charles Dickens include Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations. Number 3: The first part is true, but the title came from the short form of his little brother’s nickname, Boses. Also, instead of the donkey Dickens had a pet raven he loved so much that he had it stuffed and kept it after it died. Number 6: Although it’s true that he spent most of his life in London, he actually hated it. He told his son that he would have loved to have been a Frenchman. He even learnt to speak French fluently to be able to watch theatrical plays in France. Number 8: It’s true that he met Queen Victoria, but of course he was too much of a gentleman to have said something like that in the presence of the queen. The quote actually comes from his book Martin Chuzzlewit and is spoken by Mrs. Gamp, whose job it is to prepare dead bodies for burial. She says it to a man who is still alive, but very sick. True: Numbers 1, 4, 5, 7
If you didn’t: Congrats! Now you can impress others with your vast knowledge! If you’ve got all questions right: Congrats! You really know Charles Dickens! To read the solutions properly, put them in front of a mirror!
□
Number 8 In his later years, he was invited to Buckingham Palace by Queen Victoria, who was a frequent reader of his books. When Dickens arrived, he spotted a man among the other guests and is said to have exclaimed: “He would make a lovely corpse!”
□
Number 6 Dickens loved London. He lived there most of his life and spent hours and hours taking walks through the city. As a boy, he knew the city like the back of his hand. This also contributed to his detailed descriptions of London’s inhabitants and their habits in most of his books.
Solution:
Norwich is great, innit? Sabrina writes about her experiences on the second Norwich Cultural Studies course, held March 12th-16th 2012
When we arrived at Stansted Airport on March 11, we were a bit sceptical, but everything worked out well in the end; one of the first things we learned on the train from London to Norwich was that Norfolk people are used to greeting each other with the phrase “cheers”, which made us laugh a lot, as we´d never heard the salutation before. Having finally arrived in Norwich, the staff at the Norwich Institute for Language Education (NILE) gave us a warm welcome and told us not to hesitate to ask for help if we had the slightest problem – and they kept their promise. The contents and the organisation of the whole course were just fantastic; it really enabled us to gain insights into British society and the way of life, beyond books and “exciting” cultural studies courses at university.
One of the main elements of the course was going out on the streets in small groups and interviewing people about the different topics we´d already chosen in Augsburg (our topic was the monarchy, for example). By doing this, we learned and explored new things every day. Throughout the week, we came across expressions we´d never heard before, such as “eavesdropping”, which means ‘listening to people who are not aware of it’, or “chugger”, a blend of “charity” and “mugger”, “feelgood movies”, the expression “to cross the Rubicon”, which means ‘crossing a border’ in a figurative sense… the difference between broad-sheets, the mid-market papers and the tabloids, or simply the fact that people in Norwich frequently use “innit?” instead of “isn’t it?” All of this was so interesting, broadened our horizons and helped us develop a feeling for the English language and British culture.
What fascinated us most, though, about this beautiful city was how friendly people are – everybody we spoke to was super-friendly and willing to answer our questions patiently. But for people interested in history and architecture, Norwich also has plenty to offer – more than 40 impressing medieval churches and two cathedrals! And the evenings were anything but boring! Alan, the course director, had put together a great social programme for the evenings – for example, puppet theatre at the Norwich Playhouse, which featured a puppet living on a table! Sounds strange? Well, it was fantastic. If you should ever have the opportunity to watch the “Blind Summit” theatre group – go for it! For more information, see http://www.blindsummit.com/The%20Table.htm Of course, it’s not necessary to mention that after the “official part” of the evenings, we just went to one of the numerous pubs in Norwich to enjoy a pint or two. If you´re in Norwich, maybe try the Golden Star on Colegate? http://www.goldenstarnorwich.co.uk/drink. html All in all, our Norwich days were full of interesting experiences, interviews, relaxing lunches at the market, enjoying coffee together with our teacher Mr James, “people-watching” and above all: having lots of fun. We had an excellent time which simply passed by too fast, but we enjoyed every bit of it. So... Norwich is great, innit? Author: Sabrina Zettl Layout: Hanna Bossmann Pictures: Sabrina Zettl Gerd Altmann/ pixelio.de
52
Interested in a course in Norwich? One is being planned for March 2013. Contact Peter James, the Language Centre. Interested in reading about other students´ experiences on the Norwich Cultural Studies Course? Go to http://emag-augsburg.de, and type in ´Norwich´ in the search engine. See also: http://www.nile-elt.com/ http://www.visitnorwich.co.uk/
53
Spreading the words Interview with Finlay McCall
And these days you´ve got the internet and airplanes; it´s easy to get around and stay in touch with everybody. I don´t see it as such a big change to a normal lifestyle. It would be a different story if I had done this 20 years ago, when international phone calls cost you $20/minute. My mother would definitely not be happy with that situation. eMAG: Isn´t it hard to leave everthing you built in all those places, like friendships, behind, time and time again?
Finlay McCall started teaching at the Language Center last semester. Born in England and raised in Australia he taught in South Korea, Australia, England, France and Vietnam before coming to Germany. eMAG asked him about the ups and downs of teaching in so many different places.
eMAG: What’s your motivation for teaching all over the world? I like traveling and I´m not much of a tourist. I like living in other countries. That way I learn about their way of life and teaching is basically one of the best opportunities to do that because I get to choose where to go, how long to stay and even who I want to teach.
Well, a lot the of people I´ve met since I´ve been teaching are similar to me in their life-style choices. I get along well with the expatriate community wherever I go; I guess it is hard but the people I meet along the way can always come and visit me, which they have done in the past, or I can go back and visit them. For example, I went to the wedding of my old flatmates in Lyon and was a signatory to their wedding vows. So, I don´t find it that limiting and people generally understand that I want to go out and expand my boundaries and see the world. eMAG: Do you see yourself going back to Australia to settle down some day? Or settle down anywhere for that matter? I haven´t made any decisions about that yet. I suppose it would be harder if I had kids, dragging them all over the world, but as I´m not planning on having kids any time soon that really isn´t a big issue. But if I do one day, I´d probably go back to Australia. It´s a good place to settle down, a good education system, free healthcare, an egalitarian society and great weather. I think Europe´s nice too but I guess it´s a bit harder to get 54
by here. There are a lot more people, more competition and there are linguistic and cultural differences that I wouldn´t have to deal with in Australia. But for now I´m not planning on settling down. eMAG: A lot of Germans go to Australia, so did you have a lot of contact with Germans before you came here? I met a crazy Austrian once. He gave me a lift from Byron Bay back down to Sydney. We got stopped by the police because he thought it was the `Autobahn´ and so was driving at 140 km/h. It turned out his car was unregistered and uninsured, so we were told to walk the rest of the way, which of course he didn´t do. This is my only experience and he was Austrian, so I guess this doesn´t count. I´ve always liked Germany, I was here as a kid, as well as a young adult, so I´ve traveled around these parts a fair bit. I once stayed in a tipi somewhere in southern Germany. It was winter and really cold but we got to hang out with a bunch of German hippies. Alternative German lifestyle. They did drive combies though.
eMAG: Has it gotten easier for you to adjust to new cultures, as you do it quite often? Definitely. It´s like breathing for me now. I guess the only problem, if there is one, would be that you get so used to moving all the time that it´s easy to get bored sitting in one place . You get settled and you think you´ve got it figured out, which of course you never really do, and then you go ´Oh, I want to see something different` which I can do, generally very easily.
The language can be a bit of a struggle, especially the Asian ones, but as an English speaker most people want to try out their English on you anyway so it´s not that big of a problem. I learned quite a bit of Korean in my two years there and I know some basic Vietnamese but that´s a very hard language to speak. eMAG: Is there anything German you just can´t get used to? Maybe not German but Bavarian. Pedestrians waiting at red lights when there are no cars anywhere. It might be 3 o´clock in the morning and there is no chance any car´s approaching but it´s a red light so you just have to wait there. Apart from that; not much, Germany´s cool. It´s very well organized and everything works, which is quite unlike Vietnam in both cases. And people do respect the rules, the important ones as well, like me. Maybe not every red light though... eMAG: Do you ever get homesick? Yeah, in the winter just passed I got very homesick. I miss the sun and the heat. I like temperatures above zero degrees. I miss my family a lot but I talk to them every couple of weeks and, of course, I miss my cat. eMAG: This edition of eMag is about stories. Care to share one more? When living in Vietnam my brother took me to a place called the Snake Village for my thirtieth birthday. It´s a Vietnamese tradition where a king cobra is cut open and the live beating heart is served to the guest of honor, which was me in that case. So you swallow the still beating heart right after it´s cut out and you can feel it beating as it goes down your throat and then the snake is taken away and whipped up into a magnificent meal. That was pretty cool; I´d never seen or done anything like that before. But, sadly, I found out afterwards from some animal conservationist friends that this is actually a terrible
practice because these poor snakes are an endangered species. If I had known that I probably wouldn´t have done it. Thank you, Finlay, for the interview
Finlay teaches British and Australian Cultural Studies, Effective Writing courses and Integrated Language Skills and will be around for another semester, so join one of his courses. Maybe you´ll even get to hear some more stories! 55
Author: Thomas Gruber Layout: Thomas Gruber Pictures: Thomas Gruber
You've Taken amazing black and white photos yourself?!
Stay tuned for our photography contest next term!!! The topic will be announced on our website and Facebook by the End of this term. www.emag-augsburg.de
Am Wochenende nach
22. - 24.06.2012 27. - 29.07.2012 24. - 26.08.2012 Reiseverlauf:
Abfahrt am Freitagabend 22.00 Uhr Augsburg, Plärrergelände, Aufenthalt in Paris von Samstagvormittag bis 24.00 Uhr, Rückankunft am Sonntagvormittag
21. - 23.09.2012 26. - 28.10.2012 23. - 25.11.2012 nur €
für Busreise im Fernre isebus mit Bordtoilette, Re iseleitung
Option:
Stadtrundfahrt für nur € 15,–
Infos und Anmeldung: 0821 / 31 31 66
xheadline Touristik GmbH • Jesuitengasse 7 • 86152 Augsburg
®
www.headlinetouristik.de
Same Procedure Charity: Kette und Kurbel Into the wild (Fiction Contest Winner) Love it or Hate it Staff‘s favourites
58
Title Subtitle
erudecorP emaS
Text
Miss Sophie: I think we‘ll have champagne with the bird! James: Champagne, ya...SSSSSame, same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie? Miss Sophie: The same procedure as every year, James! Dinner for one
59 2
Picture: Elisabeth Schmitt: Dinner for One
On your bike! Charity organisation “Kette und Kurbel” ‘’Life´s like riding a bicycle – in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.’’ Some of the participants of the Augsburg-based ‘’Kette und Kurbel’’ project – where everything is about recycling, reintegration, professional development and, of course, about bicycles – might have lost this balance in their earlier life. Having been unemployed for a long time or looking for an apprenticeship without success, the young participants of ‘’Kette und Kurbel’’ are not just striving for a new balance in life, but also a new direction. So, ‘’Kette und Kurbel’’, which is right next to the ‘’Alte Universität’’campus, provides them with muchneeded support.
a qualification, such as a bike mechanic, and develop professionally. Some of them are reintegrated into the labour market, while others are prepared for an apprenticeship. Apart from the professional skills, participants also obtain a general education, personality training and professional coaching which will help them get back into the labour market.
A bit of history
Creating new bikes and perspectives ‘’Kette und Kurbel’’ is a non-profit project that tries to reintegrate and educate people vocationally by getting them to recycle bikes. The idea is simple, but ingenious: collect old secondhand bikes, do them up into new ones and sell them at a reasonable price. Thanks to ‘’Kette und Kurbel’’, people in trouble get the opportunity to participate in the whole process of creating a new bike. More importantly, they´re creating new perspectives for themselves. Because there´s a general interest in bikes these days, the participants are meaningfully employed and are able to obtain
and eventually find a new owner. From heaps of old frames, wheels and all kind of supplies, as well as new parts, if necessary, the workshop team then re-constructs new roadworthy bikes. Once the bike´s finished and has been checked by a master, it goes to the showroom, where it´s sold at a reasonable price, from about € 30 to € 80. ‘’People in need will get a discount,’’ says Mr. Heuchele, one of the project advisors.
New from old Once old bikes have been picked up from recycling depots, scrapheaps or private individuals by the company’s van, they go into ‘’Kette und Kurbel’s’’ cellar to be assessed, professionally exploited and stored. At the moment, there are about 300 bikes waiting to be transformed
60
‘’Kette und Kurbel’’ was initiated in 2008 by B.I.B Augsburg – the association for education, integration and profession – and the project developed rapidly. It began with only a few participants, but now occupies about 30 people. Participants are employed along and specialized for the whole line of production: from acquisition at one end, to sales at the other. Apart from the professional skills – bike assembly, metal related professions, warehousing and sales – ‘’Kette und Kurbel’’ offers participants and possible future employers special seminars. Professionals in fields such as bike mechanics and commerce are also engaged as instructors in order to provide support for personal development. In addition, participants can take part in seminars in order to acquire different certificates and in some cases also full professional qualification.
A success story ‘’Kette und Kurbel’’ has proved to be a big success. In the last three years the company has managed to successfully and permanently reintegrate 23 participants out of 62 on the labour market. At the moment, such is the demand, the project coordinators have had to draw up a waiting list for their jobs, and, as bikes are selling like hot cakes, the project has a bright future. VELO – Intercultural Workshop The lastest project by ‘’Kette und Kurbel’’ – called VELO – tries to bring people from different cultures together and help them to get to know each other by working on bikes. Occupants from the Augsburg hostels which house asylum-seekers can thus meet locals by re-assembling bikes, which in the end will be given to a person in need for free. ‘’Sociability doesn´t go short,’’ stresses Mrs. Thoma, the VELO project coordinator. On a regular basis, refugees and locals meet at ‘’Kette und Kurbel’s’’ workshop to construct bikes, have a barbecue, chat and learn about other cultures. According to Mr. Gruber, the head of B.I.B. Augsburg, the idea is ‘’to get people together who would’t meet in normal life.’’
How to support and participate? Curious and like to support the project? You could donate an old bike, or buy one of their new ones. Apart from that, ‘’Kette und Kurbel’’ offers internships in all kinds of voluntary work. Plus, the VELO project takes place over several weekends, where you can clean up your own bike for a small donation, as well as meet people from countries and regions you wouldn´t know a lot about.
Have a look at these websites for more information about "Kette und Kurbel"!
http://www.bibaugsburg.de/website/cms/ front_content.php www.facebook.com/velo.augsburg http://velo-augsburg.de/about/
So… on your bike! Why not participate in some way!
61
Author: Lukas Stettner Layout: Adina Mutter Pictures: Christian Oliar
Into the wild A Rocky Mountain adventure of man and bear Heather Bradley, winner of the eMAG Fiction Contest It’s not every day that you look down the path you’re on and feel like you are about to die. My mouth was parched from dehydration, my breath came in short raspy gulps, punctuated occasionally by desperate shouting, and my heart thundered heavily in my chest. None of these discomforts registered; my feet just continued to pound down the barely-visible trail we were following. The only instinct that mattered was the urgent need to keep moving… we had to get out, we couldn’t go back, and we couldn’t stop.
The sun was hot that day and hiking in the canyon meant that the heat radiated around us like a furnace. Hiking in, we had been careless and drunk too much water; now only halfway finished with our hike, we had no water for the trail back.
derness, when you step off that beaten path, you’re an idiot. We moved quickly, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I became vaguely aware that the day was ending, gradually reaching that place of half-light: dusk, the time when all of the animals come out to eat.
I was thirsty when we came to the fork in the trail. We stood at the crossroads and discussed our options: we could go out the same longer way we came in, or, we could take the trail to our left, a faint dotted line marked on our map as a shortcut and “popular” horse trail. We decided on the new trail and quickly set off toward an unknown area of the mountain… In life, when a person deviates from the wellworn path, they set themselves up for either great achievement or epic failure; in the wil-
We didn’t care that the bushes were getting thicker, or that the path was nearly as faint as the thin dotted line on our maps; our throats were dry and we needed to get back to camp.
The Grand Tetons National Park is made up of a beautifully wild and remote section of the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming, USA. A long slow river snakes around the base of the mountain range and the peaks jut majestically skyward from the flat meadows and river far below. This is wild country. So far, we’d hiked 11km into the mountains along a crystal-clear river fed by melting snow. It was midsummer in the alpine country, and the season’s late snow melt meant that flowers everywhere painted the ground with spectacular reds, yellows, and blues. Everything was new and growing; summer is the time of new life in the alpine country, and animals everywhere care for their babies, only a few months old. This time of year is dangerous; mother animals will fiercely defend any perceived threat to their children, but these dangers were far from our minds. We finally reached our destination: a secluded spot tucked away beneath the shadow of the snowcapped mountains. After enjoying the view, it was time to head back to our campsite 11km in the opposite direction.
62
We knew the unused trail would lead us home, but something just wasn’t right. I felt like we were being watched. We kept going, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling. Every trailhead in this area is marked by
“Bear Aware” signs that give survival tips; I knew the rules by heart, and gradually started noticing my surroundings. “Never Surprise a Bear! Make noise to let them know you are coming,” the signs said. “DON’T HIKE: in a place with thick bushes (where bears live and eat), next to a river (where a bear can’t hear or smell you approaching), at dusk (the time of day when they eat), or on a trail with blind corners (where you risk surprising a bear)”. The list of “don’ts” read like a description of our current location. If I wanted to find a grizzly bear, I would hike this trail. We needed to get out! Hiking as fast as we dared, I scanned the trail for fresh bear marks - anything to indicate danger. Around the next corner, I found it: a favorite bear “scratching tree” covered in claw marks and fur; there was a bear living here. We raced on, both of us shouting at the top of our lungs, straining to be heard over the sound of the nearby river. My legs felt like rubber, as I tried not to trip over the branches and rocks that grabbed at my feet. Our voices sounded small and desperate against the raging river. I was so thirsty. A frightened animal is a dangerous animal, and we were so focused on warning a bear that we didn’t consider the other animals in the area that we might frighten with our shouts. We ran on, crashing through the bushes, our hearts thundering in our chests, trying to get home. Suddenly, my partner stopped dead on the trail, frozen. He was looking in the bushes, and as I followed his stare, I saw a huge, angry bull moose. The moose was just 10 meters away from us, a distance he could cover in a few seconds, and suddenly, I remembered another fact: Moose, weighing up to 800kg and standing about 3m tall with antlers, charge and kill more people in a year than bears and wolves combined!
The big bull moose snorted loudly and pawed at the ground, clearly displeased by our presence; he meant to stand his ground and wanted to know our intentions. We inched slowly backward, never turning our backs, and he, in turn, never lowered his eyes. It was a full 5 minutes after our scary encounter before I could breathe, let alone speak. I will never in my life forget the intensity of that moment, when my eyes locked with his, and he challenged me to test his dominance. The beauty of America is found in those wild places where animals reign. There, the rules of man have no importance; there, it is the law of tooth and claw.
Author: Heather Bradley Layout: Sybille Ehing Pictures: Heather Bradley, Alan D. Wilson 63
Love it or hate it Going abroad with AIESEC
The first close encounter with Росси́я Claudia Schürmann teaches German in Russia with AIESEC
Last winter Claudia Schürmann, a student of Global Business Management at the University of Augsburg, went to Russia on a six-week internship with AIESEC, an organization which helps students to find internships abroad. She took the decision to apply quickly, and fortunately, her application was successful. AIESEC helped her to get all the documentation needed for going to Russia, but what was even more amazing was that the organization suggested which scholarships she needed and helped her to find a suitable one. After taking several AIESEC seminars in Augsburg about life in Russia, she flew to Kazan, the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan Russia, which is about 450 miles east from Moscow. At the airport, her host mom and AIESEC buddy picked her up, which made her feel welcome. Soon after arriving, Claudia began to work as a teacher of German at Kazan Federal University; she also organized a “Night of German Language and Culture”. As a native speaker of German, she found both tasks very interesting and at first spent a lot of time planning the classes. “For me, it wasn’t difficult to get used to life in Russia. I had so much support from the beginning, which helped me to fit in as soon as possible,” she explains. However, the only difficulty she had was teaching German, but in the end it all worked out. The students were really nice, although sometimes they were also hard to motivate - just like students anywhere in the world. After a few weeks, she was pleased to meet students and her life became much more fun. She was also invited to many AIESEC events;
for example, trips to small Russian villages, iceskating and visiting a special Russian sauna. She also says, “I think this kind of internship not only helps students to improve their language skills, but also helps them to participate in the spontaneity of Russian life.“ For example, one day she and some others were invited to dinner. But before they left her house, they were told that the dinner was off and that they would have to visit their friend on another occasion, which was a big surprise for Claudia, but the Russian friends were not particularly disappointed. They simply changed their plans and went somewhere else to have fun. Another trait, 64
which impressed her, was the hospitality of Russia people who she didn´t even know well, but who invited her to dinner. And if she went to dinner, she wasn´t allowed to leave till she´d tried everything on the table! The six weeks were amazing! Sure, there were some problems too, but compared with what she gained, the problems were a piece of cake. In her words, “In my opinion, you need to be open and flexible if you want an internship in a foreign country. Sure, there´ll be problems, maybe culture shock even. Maybe work doesn’t go well, but just keep a positive attitude and be open to what´s coming.”
Lost in Recife hate [transitive not in progressive] to dislike something very much [≠ love] Improving your language skills, gaining an insight into a foreign culture, making new friends, brushing up your CV and and all this being organised by an organisation which functions as a safety net when things get difficult. That‘s how I always imagined going abroad with AIESEC. So it came as quite a shock to me when my friend Verena told me about her stay in Brazil. The first application process with AIESEC Augsburg went smoothly but when her original employer in Brazil told her she can‘t come work for him a few weeks before take off, things started getting complicated. Fortunately she found another firm willing to employ her at the last minute. But still, she didn‘t know where to live when she boarded her plane to Sao Paulo (as the firm was located in another city, AIESEC searched for another family). It turned out
AIESEC Recife hadn‘t informed her new host family about her coming and staying for 7 weeks either... But, fortunately they agreed to host her upon her arrival. After settling in, Verena discovered that her bosses didn‘t even know what tasks to assign to her so she ended up doing a dance program for kids in the neighbourhood. This work occupied her for only 6 hours a week, so what to do with all the free time? Easy, you might say: explore the city, visit cultural attractions, enjoy the beaches and just live your life. But being in a state with a high crime rate, not knowing any part of the city, getting lost in the bus system...? That‘s where the AIESEC staff is supposed to take action by organising tours or get togethers over a coffee, right? Well, in this case they were what is known as virtual friends. Friends over facebook? Yes please! Meeting in person and helping out? Hell no! With nerves of steel and friends she met by chance Verena made it through 4 weeks before returning home early. But despite the difficulties she went through she still cherishes the experiences gained during the stay.
Just a few words of advice though: - try to find people who have been to the city you wanna live in for a while - ask about the AIESEC committees there - last but not least: don‘t let this article discourage you from going abroad. The experiences, the language skills and the friends are worth it either way! PS: Thinking about it, this article is really not about hating it, but rather a reminder to be careful. care∙ful paying a lot of attention to details, so that something is done correctly and thoroughly
AIESEC = Association International des Etudiants en Sciences Economique et Commerce contact: aiesec.de/augsburg
Author: Tianli Xia, Christine Kürzinger Layout: Laura Feyrer Pictures: Claudia Schürmann, Verena Koske
65
Elisabeth
Staff’s favourites
One of my most treasured personal items is a pendant which is a tiny silver watch. My grandfather gave his wife a golden watch and each of his daughters a silver one. As a little girl I was always fascinated by my mother‘s watch because you can wind it up and it almost magically starts ticking. My mother passed her watch on to me when I was a teenager, and since then it has become one of my favourite pieces of jewellery.
Sybille
My headphones are my favorite object because they cancel out all the noises around me and then I can give the world my own sound track. They make the world a better place.
66
Laura
My boyfriend gave me this cute self made pearl mouse as a gift for our anniversary. Since then, it has set on my desk and looks at me with its little red button eyes. I just love the little creature!
Thomas
Every morning has to start with a good cup of coffee.
One of my favourite objects is my Wake-Up Light. It’s actually an alarm clock, but it wakes you up by faking a sunrise and playing the sound of the sea, of a lake in the morning or of birds singing. I got so used to it that I don’t get up if I use a “normal” alarm clock.
Laura F.
Adina
My guardian angel and St. Christopher pendants. I was given them to keep me safe on all my travels.
Juliane
Tenakee Springs is a tiny little fishing town on the coast of Alaska with about 100 residents. It‘s so remote, the closest city is a 7 hours ferry ride away. The only grocery store in town sold wonderful homemade pottery from a local artist, one of which is now my favorite coffee mug!
I got this necklace for my Christening and have kept it as a lucky charm since.
Susanne
Manfred
What’s your favourite personal object?
Beer + soccer = :) (regardless of what division...)
Fabienne
Steffi
Max
My favourite personal object is a flower cushion i bought druing my last holiday. It made the flight back to Germany so much more comfortable and it‘s a spot of colour on my black couch at home.
Probably the first thing I do every morning is grab my Jane Austen mug and make myself a nice cup of coffee or green tea. Even if I have to get up really early, reading that quote from Pride & Prejudice always makes me smile. What a great quote to start off your day!
Isa
Hanna Nathalie
Nicole
My favourite “object“ is my labrador Lilly. She is 6 years old and I‘m so happy every time I see her when I come back home. It‘s always quite sad when I have to come to Augsburg again to study.
My friend painted this for me for my eighteenth birthday. This was almost five years ago and I love it almost as much as I love her.
My favourite object is my window seat! Whenever the sun shines into my room and I can drink a cup of coffee sitting there... it makes me feel sooo good!
A pendant my mother gave to me when I was child in order to chase away bad dreams. It still works.
67
Tianli
Jessica
Lukas
This little fellow brightens up my mornings. Once it is filled with coffee powder and put on the oven, it starts bubbling and spreading a nice smell of coffee all over the kitchen. It‘s never on strike and always ready to help me out with a bit of caffeine. Lovely!
My favorite thing now is the small vase (with abulb) for a green plant.
My favorite object is my wardrobe - it‘s a simple version from IKEA, but I love its appearance. It reminds me a bit of an ancient princesses‘ piece of furniture and gives my apartment a special look.
This little dresser is one of my favorite things. As a little girl I wanted to have one of these princess dressers. Since I never had enough space to put up a real one, my brother got me this cute little version for Christmas. To get it he drove all the way from Nürnberg to Augsburg during a snowstorm.
Title Subtitle
Text
2
Team SS2012
Subtitle
Responsibilities editor-in-chief: Isabel Rackow deputy editor: Susi Steinacher course coordinator: Peter James layout: Alina Ludwig (team leader), Nathalie Bauer, Hanna
Bossmann, Sybille Ehing, Laura Feyrer, Nicole Gifi, Fabienne Grau, Thomas Gruber, Adina Mutter, Johann Rhee promotion: Anja Neumaier, Juliane Politz, Laura Türk, Tianli Xia advertising: Max Becker (team leader), Stefanie Dintner, Christine Kürzinger, Lisa Schmitt, Lukas Stettner website: Susi Steinacher (team leader), Jessica Friedline, Mannfred Schoch
cover pictures: pixelio.de: Angela Chudoba/ Andreas Dengs/ M. Großmann/ Birgit H/ Andreas Laue/ Luise/ Martin Ostheimer/ Rainer Sturm
Special Thanks:
Klaus Prem Michaela Kottmayr - treasury
Begleitstudium coordinator: Hanna Bossmann
Join
us!
Title Subtitle
Text
2