May 23, 2012
Today was the third day in a row that I have not been able
to sleep at night and when I finally do get to sleep, construction wakes me up
at about 4am. For some reason people have decided that it is a good idea to
start construction that early right outside our window. Not exactly the most
pleasant thing to wake up to in the morning, but at least I know I’m never
going to be late for a seminar. Today we are meeting at 9am to head to the
Bavarian Landtag, which is the building that houses the Bavarian parliament. I’m
actually pretty excited because we get to talk to one of the vice-presidents of
the parliament. This trip has given me a new perspective on different countries’
politics and how they are run. Starting think I actually chose the right major
this time with pre-law, I actually have a passion to learn this!
Of course the taxi service is running late and we have to
rush to get to the building on time. On the way there I see the building that I
ran into yesterday on my walk and I ask Dr. Copeland what that building was.
She replied that that was the Bavarian Landtag. Ummm ok, I tried to break into
that building yesterday, guess it is a good thing that my endeavors don’t
always succeed. Arriving finally in the
back of the building, where I now see security gates and guards. Guess I should’ve
walked all the way around to actually see what building I was trying to get
into. We actually make it five minutes early, but end up having to wait another
half hour because the person who is supposed to let us in is running a bit
behind. I entertain myself by playing Teeter on my phone as successfully making
it to level 17. We are escorted to a room in the back of the dining area where
we are meeting our lecturer.
Franz Maget is quite an entertaining guy and I like him
instantly. He is very friendly and engages us in a friendly conversation about
the Bavarian Landtag, some of its functions and purposes, and then we talk
about education in Germany and specifically Bavaria. Education here is much
different in the US. For example, public education is completely free, no
matter how high you want to take it. The most it would cost someone is 1,000
euros a year, and there are government programs that will subsidize that for
you. Ok, I’m moving to Europe now, too bad my education is essentially over for
an undergrad. Not that I’m ungrateful for my education, I got pretty lucky with
paying for school. After about an hour of discussing the differences in
education and what the Landtag’s role is in education, we head out for a tour
of the Landtag and the building.
The building is absolutely gorgeous and has all original
paintings from the time it was built to the current time. We make it to the
actual Landtag chambers and Franz Maget was showing us around when we got
kicked out because they had to bring in the drug sniffing dog. Apparently
parliament was having a session that afternoon and they always have to bring in
dogs to scout the room before the session starts, just to ensure the safety of
the members of the parliament.
We have a nice lunch with a couple of old friends of Dr.
Rivello and Dr. Copeland and then head back to the hotel for a short break
before we have to leave for our next seminar this afternoon. I spend the time
attempting to apply for jobs, but of course I run out of time to finish the
application, which probably means I’ll have to start it over when I get back.
Oh well, that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. So after about a 20 minute break it is back
on the road and we head to the Geschwister-Scholl-Institute. There we meet Dr.
Renner who will be talking to us about animal rights and what that means in
Europe. This lecture is by far the one that I’ve been most looking forward too,
since it is directly related to my Honors Thesis topic that I’ve been working
on all semester. I’m not disappointed and Dr. Renner gives a very interesting
lecture, I could’ve gone on asking questions for ages, but sadly we have to
leave since it is getting pretty late in the evening. However, before we leave
we get a chance to meet Dr. Renner’s dog and he is a gorgeous black lab mix
that she adopted from Croatia. I’ve officially met my first Croatian dog and he
was adorable. Anton was a little shy at first, but after a few scratches and
having four girls ooh and aah over him, he was quite friendly and enthusiastic.
After leaving Anton we head back to the hotel to grab some
laundry and get it done before we go to dinner. This is the second time I have
to do laundry and I don’t really want to pay another 13 euros, so I opt for
just a wash and decide to let all my laundry dry back in my hotel room. So
currently as I’m sitting here typing this there is bits and pieces of my
clothes strung out all over the place, including out the window. However, it
does make the room spell quite pleasant, like there was Febreze sprayed
everywhere. Now I think I’m going to head to bed while watching an episode of
Smallville, shout out to Lena for getting me addicted to that show again! J
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