Fulbright Associate from Austria Has Arrived!

Mein Name ist Ralph Kristl und ich komme aus dem wunderschönen Herzen Europas inmitten der Alpen- aus Österreich (Austria). Vor einem Jahr habe ich meinen Master in Teacher Education für höhere Schulen in Österreich abgeschlossen, wobei Lehrer in unserem Land üblicherweise zwei Fächer unterrichten- ich habe die beiden Fächer Englisch als Fremdsprache und Geographie/ Wirtschaft studiert. Unmittelbar nach meinem Studium absolvierte ich mit großer Freude mein vorgeschriebenes Praktikumsjahr an einem Gymnasium in Graz. Mindestens so sehr freue ich mich auf meine Tätigkeit als Tutor an der St. John’s University hier in Minnesota, wo ich vor allem Herrn Fr. Mark Thamert als Deutschassistent zur Seite stehen, das eine oder andere Mal aber auch in anderen Klassen assistieren werde.

Ich liebe es zu reisen, neue Leute kennen zu lernen und unterschiedlichste Erfahrungen zu sammeln. Während meines Studiums verbrachte ich ein Semester in Tennessee und profitierte nicht nur akademisch, sondern auch persönlich enorm davon. Schon damals fasste ich den Entschluss, nach meinem Studium als Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant nach Amerika zurückzukehren und meine Fähigkeiten als Lehrer und nicht zuletzt meinen Horizont zu erweitern. Fremde Bildungssysteme, vor allem Unterricht an einer Hochschule bringt viele neue Inputs mit sich und ist eine enorme Bereicherung für jeden Lehrer. Natürlich bin ich nicht nur gespannt auf die vielen neuen Eindrücke und Erfahrungen, sondern auch darauf, meine eigenen Erfahrungen aus dem Studium und meinem Jahr als Lehrer hier umzusetzen. Somit freue ich mich sehr auf das kommende Jahr und auf eine tolle Zusammenarbeit an der SJU/CSB.

Note:  Ralph will help arrange great German Club activities, do conversation groups and individual tutoring and will assist in teaching German classes.  Welcome Ralph! 

A Message from our Austrian Fulbright Scholar/TA, Chris Jakits

Chris will be with us until May, helping students with their speaking and writing, helping plan German Club events, and adding to the international character of our department and campus.  Welcome to CSB/SJU, Chris!  Here is Chris'note to us:  

Servus liebe Studentinnen und Studenten,

es freut mich sehr, dass ihr euch dazu entschieden habt, Deutsch zu studieren, insbesondere da es keine einfache Sprache ist. Was es jedoch einfacher macht, sind die vielen Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen Englisch und Deutsch.

Am besten stelle ich mich jedoch einmal vor: Mein Name ist Christoph, ich bin 23 Jahre alt und komme aus einem kleinen Dorf in der Nähe von Wien. Vor vier Jahren habe ich begonnen, Deutsch und Englisch an der Universität Wien zu studieren.

Universität Wien

Ein Jahr habe ich in Birmingham, Großbritannien studiert, wo ich Menschen aus aller Welt kennenlernen durfte. So besuchte mich letztes Jahr meine vietnamesische Freundin Ming Ha in Wien, wo wir eine berühmte Sehenswürdigkeit besuchten. Könnt ihr erraten, welche es war?

Welches berühmte Gebäude steht im Hintergrund? 

Ein anderer Ort, den ich auch besonders gerne besuche, ist der Wiener Prater, berühmt für sein Riesenrad. Man kann dort einen wundervollen Ausblick über Wien genießen, traditionelle Köstlichkeiten wie Langos probieren oder mit seinen Freunden in einer der vielen Attraktionen Spaß haben.

Das Wiener Riesenrad und der Stefansdom

Das war jedoch nur eine kleine Auswahl der Plätze, die man in Wien besuchen sollte.

Ich freue mich auf ein tolles Jahr mit euch!
Liebe Grüße,
Christoph

Adventszeit: German Club Creates Gifts for Friends and Family

Last Sunday, the CSB/SJU German Club hosted the annual gingerbread house night in the McKeown Center. An estimated 20 people attended, and students were able to build their own gingerbread houses using homemade Lebkuchen (gingerbread). Paula Doebel, a local supplied the gingerbread and other necessary supplies, as she has in the past. Students engaged in a friendly atmosphere while building their houses and listening to Christmas music.  Everyone enjoyed being able to take a short study break to de-stress before diving into finals week. The event began at 7:15pm and most students stayed until around 8:30 when they had finished building their houses. After the event, students were able to take their completed houses home with them. The event was an overall success and we continuing this German tradition here at CSB/SJU.

Oktoberfest 2014 a Great Success

The German Club was proud to host our fifth annual Oktoberfest in Bro. Willie’s Pub on Saturday, Oct. 18th. As in past years, the event included music, dancing, good food and drink, and games with prizes. Campus DJs did a great job of DJing the event, playing a combination of popular German and Austrian songs, electronic music, and even a small amount of Polka to get people dancing. Food served included hot Brezen and Würstl. Beer was served upstairs, including Paulaner Weißbier, the world-famous wheat beer brewed in Munich. Games included Steinheben, a game where contestants attempt to hold a liter of water with an outstretched arm for as long as possible, a costume contest with prizes for the best dressed Mädel and Bursche, and a guessing game where contestants had to estimate the number of gummy bears in a liter Stein. We had an estimated 200 people attend, and it was all in all a great event!

     Congratulations, German Club Members, on organizing such a fine event.

German and French Club Students Take in the Guthrie's Tristan and Yyseult

The CSB/SJU French and German clubs combined their efforts to organize a trip to the nationally famous Guthrie theater on Friday evening, March 21, 2014 to see a modern adaptation of the medieval love story of Tristan and Yseult.  

Martin Spendlhofer, Fulbright TA from Austria, Gives His Impressions

It has now been almost half a year since I got to CSB/SJU. Wow. Time really flies. To make you understand more what my life here is like, I would like to describe five things that I enjoy(ed).

    Every semester, there is something called the 24 hour play festival at CSB/SJU. A group of incredibly talented students get together and write, direct, rehearse and perform a total of 8 plays play in 24 hours. In January, I got to write an 8 minute play and then act in it as well. Even though I was on about an hour of sleep and there was more blood in my caffeine than caffeine in my blood, I enjoyed every second of it and it was a total blast. Teaching theater in Austria, I could gather some valuable experiences as well.

One of my German club related highlights last semester was Oktoberfest. We served authentic pretzels, danced the polka and had a gummy-bear guessing game. We put a lot of work and effort into it and I think it paid off well. For advertising it we had a great flash mob with traditional Austrian music at the Gorecki dining center and we also handed out hot cider at the bus stop. All in all, I enjoyed working together with an ambitious team of German club officers.

Another highlight was definitely winter break. I left freezing Minnesota mid-December and traveled for about a month. After a fantastic Fulbright Conference in DC where I got to meet all of the other Fulbright teaching assistants, I went to Hawaii, San Francisco, drove up to Vancouver, then met up with some fellow Fulbrights again in New Orleans and ended winter break with a road trip to Boston. I met amazing people, saw different landscapes, cities, cultures, weather, you name it.

Related to this is the establishment of an unofficial cooking club. Every Sunday, some friends from German club and I get together and cook something. The menu is usually very international -- we’ve had Japanese Maki or Gumbo from New Orleans for example. It is a lot of fun recreating various recipes and getting a taste of different countries and cultures. While cooking, we also share stories about our trips all over the world.

Finally, I would like to talk about how teaching German and studying at CSB/SJU helps me professionalize my teaching skills. I am a teaching assistant for two German courses and I enjoy working with the students as well as with the German professors. This semester, I am taking two classes on ESL and last semester, I took a class on how to teach theater to children and a “Public Speaking for Teachers” seminar. It feels like those are the classes that I’ve been looking forward to for a very long time. What I appreciate most about them is that they are hands-on. Furthermore, the professors are very knowledgeable and have great insights into pedagogical theory. 

The only thing that I will never adapt to is the temperature here in Minnesota. I have to say that I was relieved that when there had been a low of 30 degrees below zero, I had been sitting in a cozy hotel room in New Orleans and hoping for it to pass before I got back.

All in all, I am having a good Fulbright experience here at CSB/SJU, teaching and learning, cooking and eating, performing and watching and freezing and getting warmed up again. I would like to end with a quote from Mark Twain, summing up what I've learned so far, encouraging everybody to set out on a journey and outlining the benefits:

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. 

Oktoberfest a Wild Success! -- Click on Link for 125 photos!

The German Club's fourth annual Oktoberfest was hosted on the 26^th of October.  This year was by far the most attended of years previous, making the German Club excited for the years to come.  This year the German Club was able to do a lot more in terms of getting the campus excited for the event, the highlight being a flash mob of the popular German song, Rock Mi, by VoXXclub, done in the Gorecki Dinging Center.  Games at the event included the popular Steinheben, or Stein hoist, and a costume contest of the most Germanic costume, giving students the opportunity to be creative and show off their Trachten.    
 
Click here to view photos ...
           http://www.flickr.com/photos/106949438@N06/

Oktoberfest Flashmob on Youtube!

Gorecki dining room ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V87eQ7Qnkc&feature=youtu.be

OKTOBERFEST in the Reef on October 1st ~~ Come with a Hearty Apetite!

Join us at the SJU Dining Service Refectory for OKTOBERFEST on Tuesday, October 1st. German Pot Roast, Spatzle, Pork Schnitzel, Jumbo Pretzels with Aged Cheddar and Beer Sauce, Red Cabbage with Caraway, and more! German specialties will be available at dinner. Meals may be paid for using punch or DiningBucks. Cash and credit also accepted. Auf Wiedersehen!

Dessert Night -- Kaiserschmarrn! The Emporer's Watchamacallit!

 

Good food. Good friends. Good fun!

Einen kulinarischen Abend im Zeichen Österreichs verbrachten 25 Studenten letzten Donnerstag. Es wurde Kaiserschmarrn gemacht, deutsche Musik gehört und natürlich auch Deutsch gesprochen. Alles in allem, eine „riesen Hetz“ (ein großer Spaß)!

Last Thursday, 25 students gathered together at the McKeown Center to experience an  Austrian cultural evening. They cooked Kaiserschmarrn (a traditional Austrian dessert), listened to German music and practiced their German speaking skills. All in all, it was a blast!

 

 

 

 

Karneval Celebration a Big Success

Karneval at Gorecki this year featured mask making, games, German music, musical chairs, and trivia about German speaking countries.  At the end of the night, the winner of the best mask contest won a $5 Local Blend gift card, as did the winner of music chairs.  We had a lot of fun and thank you to the 60 students who participated in this great event. 

Thank you too to all who helped plan this event: Kristine Bornus, Steve Pignato, Katie Tillman, Martin Leimser, Rebecca Bilbro, and Jessica Raboin. 

German Club Presents Film TRISTAN UND ISOLDE

This magnificent masterpiece among the medieval love legends is coming to third quad.

This one is a must-see.  See you there!

The German Tradition of Gingerbread Houses Comes to CSB/SJU

Weihnachten 2012

With the help of Paula Doebel, a local Gingerbread connoisseur, around 20 students assembled and decorated Gingerbread houses to what some considered the perfection of a master. Students enjoyed the change from their studious atmosphere and brought out their creative sides to craft houses to their liking.   Building houses from the foundation up can prove difficult, but the students met the challenge with gusto and ultimately overwhelming success. With the roofs attached and sturdy, the artwork flowed from the icing bags. The end result showed a wide variety of houses, some with candy-shingled roofs, trees made of pretzels, snowed in porches, backyard swing sets, functioning chimneys, and cobblestone pathways.

Thank you Paula!

Movie Night! Das Leben der Anderen -- Homemade Apfelstrudel!

Greeting Friends in GERMAN!!!!

Tonight the German Club is showing

Das Leben der Anderen
(The lives of others)

(with English subtitles) in the

Quad Little Theater (346).

tonight at 7pm.

AWARD –WINNING  SUSPENSE … LOVE STORY …  CIA TYPE PLOT.

Academy Award Winner

We have ordered

HOMEMADE Apple Strudel...
which will be delicious.

And if you come your teacher will give extra-credit

(and the semester end is right around (gahhhhhhh)

the corner so extra credit is kinda a big deal...).

I hope to see all of you tonight!!!!!!!

 Katie  German Club

Oktoberfest at Brother Willi's Pub

Cooking Workshop -- KÄSESPÄTZLE!

Do you want to have as much fun as she's having?

Come to German Club's
 Käse Spätzle cooking workshop....Scroll down!
 What is spätzle you ask?  "Dumpling" isn't quite right,
though they do sometimes wind up in soups and stews.
 But in terms of how they're made and what they're made of,
they are more like fresh pasta than anything else. In fact,
you'll find various recipe sources that translate spätzle as
 "noodles" or "little dumplings."
So come and enjoy good company and good food!

When: Tuesday, October 9th at 5:00pm
Where: Flynntown community center

See you there :)

German Club



Movie Night! Das Wunder von Bern

    Movie Description: The title is in reference to the unexpected German victory over the Hungarians at the 1954 World Cup in Bern, Switzerland. The Lubanski family eagerly awaits husband and father Richard to be released from the Soviet POW camp. During his absence, son Matthias has developed an interest in soccer. He idolizes local player Helmut Rahn, but his father doesn't approve of it.

Sustainapolkability!

A maginificent event brought to you by the German Club and the Sustainability Club.

This is a must-go event!

See you there!

German Club Is all about Wienerschnitzel and Bretzn!

German Club Karneval 2012 Features Three Bands at O'Connell's Pub

 

Thanks to the German Club for making this event such a success!