The End

Fifteen months ago, I started something crazy: I enrolled in two consecutive Study Abroad programs and spent the time between them with my brother in Egypt, who was also studying abroad. I figured it was an opportunity too good to pass up.

Now I'm back in the United States, and the status quo has almost returned to normal. The environment is the same, but I'm certainly not the same person who flew to Austria fifteen months ago. How could I remain unchanged, after everything I saw and did? I lived with a new family, learned a new language, and stayed abroad for over a year. I observed the extremes of the human condition, from absurd German festival traditions to the quiet horrors of Vinzidorf and Auschwitz. All of these experiences were so unique that I remember them as individual episodes that stand out against the others, not with them. That's what my plan turned out to be - hundreds of moments, each of which could have been the highlight of a student's time abroad but which instead formed the basis of my everyday life. I took a huge leap by being abroad for fifteen months, and I am a better person for it.

I wanted to be a big picture person, and I believe I have arrived.

-Jared Boze

Last Post from Germany

Kommando Rhino is gone. After reinforcing the wooden wall surrounding their community and piling shopping carts in front of the main gate, the "Rhinos" set up barricades on the streets leading to their settlement in order to slow down the police's progress. The police easily got rid of the barricades and bulldozed the whole place, leaving nothing but a fenced-off pit full of rocks and garbage. During the demolition, the Rhinos blasted melodramatic music across the police-protected zone, leaving the spectators in a scene that would have been cinematic had I not known that the Rhinos didn't pay taxes for a single day of their residency. 

It's tough to talk about this, especially since my inner satirist wants to express itself yet I know the outcome of that would be brutal and unfair. I'm not happy with 30 people being sent away with no alternative living space in sight, but what is the state going to do? The city's representatives have already done a great job of wearing their timidity and ineffectiveness on their collective sleeve while giving the Rhinos enough grief to let them invoke the ever-popular "we're living in a police state" accusations. It's been a ridiculous comedy of political errors, and to see it end is a relief, although what will happen to the Rhinos remains a mystery that I would like to see solved.

Hung upon the fence are handwritten signs from former Rhinos and their supporters. They say things like  "First the culture dies... and then the freedom!" and "this rose marks the spot where a beautiful example of individuality was violently destroyed by the power of the State." On these signs are hilarious comebacks and debates written on the posters by passersby. I'm glad to see that other people agree with me - this rhetoric is too dramatic to take seriously. Even in its aftermath, this whole thing is just too weird.

So that's that. This week has seen the end of a number of things: I'm done with all of my academic responsibilities, the program is technically over, and I've said my goodbyes at the approximately six hundred thousand farewell parties that have been going on for the past ten days. I organized a farewell party, too, and let's just be honest: my party was by far the best one. Let me tell you a story:

 In October 2010, a few friends and I were chilling at a restaurant that was to become one of our regular hangouts. While we waited for our food, we noticed a special offer on the menu: a 20-pound roast pig with stuffing and sides for 210 euro. At the time we thought it would be cool and funny to order one, and we brought it up from time to time during the months since then, but it was always regarded as a purely hypothetical idea - after all, who would put in the effort to make sure an at-least-20-person commitment to an expensive reservation would go smoothly?

I thought it would be interesting to do just that. I got 20 carnivores together (counting the vegetarians the final count was around 30 people), collected money in advance, and ordered a roast pig for a very unique and unforgettable going-away party. How do I even describe something like this?

"Gah!" comes to mind.

I'll admit that the pig looked terrifying, but that didn't keep us from eating it because it was delicious. The rest of the night went really well, with a prevailing attitude of excess. The only word that does justice to whole event is grandiose. There was an abundance of decadent food, constant conversation, and at one point I was even asked to give a speech for the first toast of the night, which I delivered with the grace and eloquence of someone who just so happened to have prepared a toast for that night. Even splitting the check went without a hitch. I honestly can't think of a way my farewell party could have been any better. 

The rest of this week is difficult to describe. I can't give a play-by-play of each and every event that happened, because to an outsider it would just look like a bunch of talking and eating. The profound sense of finality that has been present during this week wouldn't come across well in the written word, so suffice it to say that I had a good time. I'll embed a short photo album of my trip to Lake Schluchsee and the calorically perverse hamburgers I helped cook for a last-time-grilling-in-Germany party, but I will post it later since my internet access became kind of limited after I moved out of my room.

So, yeah. I've officially finished IU's IES-sponsored Freiburg Academic Year program. My American and international friends have already left the country and I've seen most of my German friends for the last time. I don't really feel sentimental but there are a few things I have here that I will regret leaving behind. In no particular order, they are the active street music scene, pub with the crew, efficient public transportation, and all the restaurants and cafes that offer student discounts for coffee and ice cream. I'll miss the real sausages, too. I concede that there are some great American hot dogs out there, but American bratwursts and German Bratwürste don't even belong in the same sentence. I'll miss an academic environment in which students ask their professors "what will we be learning in this course and what will you do to make that happen" instead of "what's on the final?". One thing I won't miss is European travel, since I went to every place I wanted to see in Europe, and the USA has plenty left to offer.

I will remember Freiburg fondly, but I don't think I will pine for the "Good old Days." What can I say - I've done what I wanted to do; I've accomplished my goals and I'm looking forward to moving on and living in Bloomington again. Even after going to so many places, I still rank Bloomington right up there with my favorite cities. I'm also looking forward to transitioning back into my American life, albeit with fourteen months of incredible experiences. Jared 2.0, so to speak.

And seeing my dog.  

That's where I draw the line.

I'm not going to say goodbye to this blog yet because there's still much to be done. I've got to hike in the Black Forest one last time, get a train ticket to Zurich, and figure out how to exchange my 6 euros' worth of 1 and 2 cent coins. I'll let you know about my final thoughts about the program and my cultural reintegration after I land in the States.

Cheers,
-Jared Boze