Nordrhein Westfalen

 I spent this weekend exploring Nordrhein Westfalen, my home state here in Germany. I did it because it seemed like it would be more relaxing, and it was cheaper, and In's tentative Romantische Strasse plans fell through. I'm so glad I did. We saw Essen and Dusseldorf and Wuppertal and Munster, abandoned coal mines and fields of new green wheat. I think I associate with this part of Germany in a strange way. I'm from Missouri. We've got the Arch and they've got the Cologne Cathedral. Otherwise it's a lot of agriculture and industry that might have passed it's heydey. A surprising amount of nice nature and a few really good universities. The Rhine and the Mississippi.

I find myself defending it with surprising vigor. And then, I'm not sure if there's any connection, I read a month's worth of back issues of my friend Tina's blog. Missouri is part of me. But it's a long long way away now. I don't know how it's going to feel to go home...

Thin Walls

My Arabic roommates music sounds like it would be great in like... a soundtrack. But hearing it coming through the walls, devoid of context, when I just want some relaxation or concentration... it just stresses me out. >.>

Addendum

I'm putting the last touches on a blog post about Finland. On the official MU Study Abroad blog I couldn't find a natural way to fit it in, but basically among all my fond memories and lists of things I like about Finland, this shouldn't be forgotten - that Finland ranks so highly in my heart first and foremost because of Liisa. If it wasn't for her, I'd mostly likely have never even been to Finland. And the most important reasons why both of my visits there have been wonderful is also because of her. It's as my mom always says, "It's who you're with, not where you are." Sometimes a place doesn't need a thousand lakes and islands to be beautiful (even if it has them) if you can find there one true friend.

Inspiring?

In today: "Miranda, I feel like you inspire me so much. Not only to travel and eat a lot, but also just to be free... and brave."

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

The Bird and the Spider

The spider outside my window was eaten suddenly by a bird, that flew by while my window was open. Quick as a flash, but I remember thinking, "what's he doing here? Is he here for the spider?" And suddenly the spider was there in his mouth, for a single frame... and then both were gone.

Random

To Do:

- Skype with Liisa about visit
- Email Spanish professors about exams
- Email Ansgar re: auditing
- Book Venice hostel
- Plan game for the kids tomorrow
- Do German homework

An Evening

Climbing down five flights of stairs down to the courtyard, every floor has its own unique scent. The distinct aromas of middle eastern, Balkan, and German cuisine, among others, mingle. Once outside there's a sort of hazy barbecue smell and the sky is grey like smoke. It's warm and damp and very still. It makes me nostalgic for Missouri summers. But I'm in Germany and soon enough I'll be in Missouri feeling nostalgic about Bonn.

The sky is a little orange. When I told the Askatasuna kids that a green sky meant a coming tornado back home, they exchanged a look and a comment in Basque that I just understood - that in the Pyrenees the sky turns orange just before it snows. Back inside after a slow bike-ride to Lidl that seemed to go outside of time, the leaves are rustling and the spiderweb woven into my window-frame is lighting up at far-off lightning.

It suddenly starts to rain. Gently. Such a subtle phenomenon - invisible, for example, on film - that you wonder how it is exactly that you see it. There is thunder. The air is fresh. The spiderweb starts to unravel in the wind. I'll close the window soon. Not yet.

Reflections on Osama

From my Facebook Feed:

• Go USA! That only took ten years!
  
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• ...................................................................................................................
  
  
• Yesterday, the world did not find out that a man was killed. Rather, a monster was slain and the world SHOULD rejoice at the fact. Osama bin Laden had lost every shred of decency, every ounce of humanity that could possibly be contained inside a person. Somewhere, there is a line between human and less-than-human. bin Laden, the physical embodiment of evil that has plagued the world since at least 1998, was so far over this line that it almost disgusts me that people are upset at others for being overcome with joy. It's impossible for me to celebrate the death of another human being. bin Laden was no human. Humans feel remorse, regret, decency. Osama had none of these. So I, for one, choose to celebrate the death of such great evil and hatred, and the renewal of the common phrase "justice for all," and I will do so proudly.
  
  9/11 has now come full circle, and it's about damn time. Mission, motherfucking, accomplished.
   
  

  • Hmmmmm, I would love to discuss this further, but would prefer in person. But I will say a few things.
    
    1) Evil has plagued the world for centuries. I'm not sure what the 1998 bit is about.
    
    2) As evil as he was, he was still human. There are... hundreds, thousands of evil people in this world. That's the reality of humanity, but it doesn't make them inhuman. They can do inhumane things, but they are still people.
    
    3) We cannot and will not ever know if Osama felt remorse or regret over what he has done -- anymore than anyone else can vouch for or verify the thoughts of any human being.
    
    4) I understand completely the emotional response many people had of relief and a feeling of "justice" (whatever that really complex and difficult concept means). I don't, however, understand some of what I saw. Some of what I saw is exactly what we condemn in the Middle East -- the jeering and cheering over the death of their professed "enemies". It didn't sit well with me last night, didn't all today, and probably never will.
    
    5) My comments are not meant to condemn or chastize those who did celebrate, but I think reflection on why we celebrated, and how we celebrated is reasonable. After all, aren't feelings of remorse, regret, and decency human, as you said?
  • Dude, he is dead... so be it, life carries on. I don't see the point in celebrating the death of anybody. If that "may" turn the world into a better place, cool, but lets not turn that into a party... afterall, who knows... I think my life..., the lives of the people in the US and the lives of the majority of the people in the Planet would have been the same despite Osama is dead or alive. Besides that, I don't think Al-Qaeda is death or anything with his death... in fact, it may become worse. I know a lot of people lost loved ones in 9-11, Irak and Afghanistan, and their desire of "justice"... but at least I will never consider an "eye for an eye" real justice. Death will remain death. That is my humble opinion, peace.See more
  • Osama was a monster; he ruthlessly murdered thousands of people from different countries, religions, etc. That said, he was a human. He believed that what he was doing was right, and that it would change the world for the better. He saw the... murder of thousands as a religious movement, so he wouldn't feel any kind of remorse or regret. In no way am I justifying his acts, but in order to fully comprehend this, we have to look at his mindset and understand that our views cannot be the only views in the world.
    Think of it this way: Osama hated western imperialism, the imposition of our ways upon their world. He probably thought that we should have some kind of remorse or regret about how we go about our lives and how we push our culture onto others, much like we believe that he should feel remorse about the ruthless murder of thousands of people. The push of western civilization by no means is on the same scale as the death of innocent civilians, but it is analogous to some degree.
    Personally, I am glad that he is dead, and it gives me some kind of closure, but I believe that his death should bring in a time of remembrance rather than a time of celebration.
    
    There should be candlelight vigils at Ground Zero, the White House/Pentagon, Shanksville PA, rather than parties that, like Alana said, make us look like what we so often criticize about other countries in that region (take for example the jubilant reaction in Afghanistan to the 9/11 attacks and how we hated that with every fiber of our collective being). I do NOT believe that we should be rejoicing about his death, but rather we should use it as a stepping stone to further peace in the Middle East as much as we can (which can involve us backing out of the region altogether).
    I believe that there are just better ways to handle and comprehend his death. Furthermore, I don't think it's fair to demonize people who choose not to rejoice (which you're not), just like you don't think it's fair for people to get upset at others for rejoicing. I'm not un-American or unpatriotic for not rejoicing, I just think we should go about his death in a different way.
    
    Finally, I don't agree that 9/11 has come full circle. Yes, the organizer of the attacks is dead, but Al Qaeda still exists, and outside of that, there are still scores of terrorist attacks in the Middle East and elsewhere all the time. The death of bin Laden is going to have significant ramifications in the world, because there are others that believe what he did. Until all the unrest ends over there (probably never), 9/11 and all that it represents will not be full circle. Our mission to kill Osama bin Laden may be accomplished, but there is a far greater mission that needs to be accomplished before our true safety can be assured.See more
  • Unfortunately I do not have the time to formulate a response that this deserves at the moment so I am just going to leave this hoping that it brings additional light to the topic: http://www.npr.org/2011/05/02/135927693/is-it-wrong-to-celebrate-bin-ladens-death
  • It's times like these when Margaret Thatcher quotes are appropriate:
    
    "Gentlemen, there is nothing sweeter than success, and you boys have got it!" - Speaking to SAS commandos following their rescue of hostages in the Iranian embassy, 1980
    
    "Ou...r necks have been protected by a military personnel who were more rugged than slave-man boots." - On the liberation of South Georgia from the Argentine military, 1982
    
    "Don't allow tyrants and aggressors to get away with it And when you fight -- fight to win."See more
  • Americans were not just celebrating the death of Osama, but the huge weight that he and 9/11 has put on this country for the past decade. We have been forced into living in fear and our country has forever been change because of September 1...1. I understand that at first glance some of the celebration seems much like what they do in the middle east to celebrate a successful killing of American's, but those are innocent lives they are celebrating the death of. We are celebrating the end of an era of terror that has weighed heavy on our country for the past 10 years and the death of Osama marks the beginning of that end.
  • I also don't see how the celebrations that happened were much different than the celebrations of the end of WWI and WWII. People ran through the streets, set off fireworks, held parades. It is what you do when a war is over. I know killing ...Osama does not mark the end of the war, but it is the closest thing that we have had to an end in 10 years and probably for 10 more. Finally there is a sense that all the fighting we have been doing for the past decade has not been for naught.
  • Osama's death hardly marks the "beginning of the end" of terrorism...
  • no the end our war in the middle east (hopefully) and the culture of fear that our country has been living in for the past 10 years
  • I personally didn't feel the need to run through the streets and celebrate, but I understand why people did. And the way things are today there has been very little for Americans to be happy about lately so I support the need a release and go a little crazy when something does come along.
  • But that's ridiculous. Osama dying isn't going to end the war in the middle east, or the culture of fear in our country. The culture of fear in our country has not been exclusively tied to terrorism in the first place. We have created a cul...ture of fear in this country over a lot of things, and I doubt that changes anytime soon.
    
    To me, the scene at Ground Zero of somber reflection and a sort of cathartic release seemed more appropriate than drunken raging on the streets as if our favorite team just won the Superbowl. Remembering the people we lost, and the tragedy of that day. Those two things are very different in my mind. I fully believe Osama needed to die: I'm not sad he was killed. But partying in the streets? I was old enough to know about September 11th just like everyone else; I had family members, a teacher, and a classmate in New York on that day. I understand the emotional aspect of wanting him dead. But I don't understand what I saw as over-the-top, blood-thirsty cheering and jeering. I felt awkward about it all day yesterday, and I'm glad to find out that I was not alone in being embarrassed, or feeling that it was somehow "un-American" to not understand.See more
  • And along with that, do you really believe that people are no longer going to be terrified of Muslims, or that all of Islam is out to kill all Americans just because he is gone? That's a pipe dream yo.

    
    
  • http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/world/asia/03terror.html
  • I never said it ends the war, al queda, or terrorism. I am just say that he personally put a lot of pressure on this county with 9/11 and his death in a way is a release of that pressure. It marks an end of an era that has not been good for america and I think many people feel that this can be a turning point for us to go on to a more positive future.
  • You have officially confused me, because that's exactly what you said...but then you flipped back and forth.
    
    "We are celebrating the end of an era of terror..."
    
    "It is what you do when a war is over."
    ...
    But then you said,
    
    "I know killing Osama does not mark the end of the war, but it is the closest thing that we have had to an end in 10 years and probably for 10 more."
    
    And then you flipped back again,
    
    "No the end our war in the middle east (hopefully) and the culture of fear that our country has been living in for the past 10 years".
    
    Soooo...??
  • And I'm not saying his death isn't a release of a sort of "pressure" (although it may be short-lived). My issue was the way that release was expressed...
  • the era of terror being centered around Osama... it is what you do when a war is over in reference to WWI and WWII ceelbrations and then I followed with saying that quote on I know it doesn't end the war...and I said I hoped it marked a begenning of the end of the war in the middle east. Osama has been a huge focus and is a huge milestone which I think won't be surpassed for the rest of our occupation there.
  • I see. I don't doubt the gravity of his death as a milestone in the "war on terrorism" (while I don't believe it will have such significant implications that al queda will disband). Again, my issue isn't with Osama being killed, or whether ...it was necessary, etc. My issue was with what I perceive as excessive and strange celebration after his death. I think this discussion has divulged into an argument over something I wasn't really debating.

Mizzou burning Osama at the stake (crutch)

toshcommunity.comedycentral.com

MU students raged on the streets of the school's greek town to celebrate the death of Osama with American flags, fireworks, blow horns, booze, toilet paper, a poster of Osama, a crutch used as a stake, and a deathly lighter.... sorry we party Osama

• •  I feel sorry for them.
    

    
    

    
    
  • lol I wonder if they finally know where Pakistan and Afghanistan are on the map!
    

    
    

    
    
  • Just like Steve Colbert said these students weren't even teenagers during 9/11....
    

    I don't think they realize what it means to kill or to be killed.
    

    
    
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    Roya I was in my second year of undegrad. when 9/11 happened and I clearly remember that day because I left the university since I feared that some moron would attack me. Never underestimate someone when they are angry. Anyway, it's been almost 10 years and I still feel the same, this feeling of being considered second class even though I was born here.
    

    
    
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    Sigh...although I was very young, (I wasn't even in high school!) when 9/11 happened, but I still remember the fear of dying under the possible American attack, and eventually living through it. Do you know how horrible it was to live minut...e by minute thinking it will be the last minute of your life? Do you know how frightening the noise of American bombs were? I could never understand why me, and my family had to go through all those frightening attacks? What was our fault? But now looking back I know that it changed me and the way I think about war and killing forever. And I am happy that at least I don't rejoice when someone is killed. I am happy it changed me.

    
    

    
    

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    A little historical comparison: This photo was taken directly after the Japanese surrendered to the U.S. thus ending WWII. Americans celebrated and rejoiced at the victory prompting this couple to kiss, giving us this iconic photo.

    

    
    

    
    

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      4 people like this.
    • • However, the celebrations arose out the distruction of Nagasaki and Hiroshima by the atomic bomb. Hundreds of thousands of innocent Japanese were killed in an nightmarish, apocoloyptic, wave of fire and radition the world had not previously seen.
      • So, was it wrong for Americans to celebrate such massacre? Yes and no. If someone was celebrating the mass death of the Japanese, that would be morally wrong. However, Americans weren't celebrating that. They would in fact go on to spend millions of dollars to help the Japanese rebuild their country in an attempt for forgiveness.
      • Americans were celebrating an end of a war, a chapter. Of course the surrender of the Japanese didn't mean an end of war in general or that our responsibilites of WWII were over, but it meant that we could move on.
      • So when we saw Americans rejoicing in the streets after the news that Osama bin Laden was dead, I would argue that they were not rejoicing because of the death of a man, but for the same reasons that the couple above were rejoicing and cele...brating. Whether we had capture bin Laden alive or dead, would have still brought about the same feelings. The last ten years have been long, confusing, and turmoilous and now tt singles an end of a chapter, a mission accomplished. We still have much to do and the wars aren't over, but now Americans can focus on moving on and how we are going to go forward in our military missions abroad.