Classes, My Room, New Friends, Plaerrer
Well, I finally started class on Tuesday. So far I have been to two lectures:
1. Rechtsphilosophie und Rechtstheorie (Legal Philosophy and Theory) -- I think in this class we will attempt to answer such high-level questions as "What is law?" and "What makes a law good?" This is not going to be an easy class because the concepts are fairly complicated, and the professor speaks incredibly quickly. But I think the ideas are interesting, and I think it will be a good challenge for me. I have yet to come across a class in American law school where we think about law in this way, so I am glad I am able to take this here.
2. Internationales Strafrecht (International Criminal Law) -- I did not do very well in Criminal Law during my first year of law school (although Criminal Procedure was one of my best classes -- it all has to do with the professor, I think). So I'm really looking forward to getting another crack at it. The professor made it clear that we have to know something about German criminal law in order to answer questions in the class, so I bought a copy of the Strafgesetzbuch (Criminal Code) and I also found an English translation of it online. This should be very helpful. I am very excited about this class, and I've already started familiarizing myself with the code. It's interesting to see the differences between what's a crime in Germany and what's a crime in America. The professor was pretty funny and engaging, and I talked to him after and he was really nice. He even said I could come and see him if I was having any problems. That is interesting to me because I think generally that German law professors are less willing to meet with students than American law professors (although I might be wrong about that).
So I have one more class this week -- Internationales Zivilfahrensrecht (International Civil Procedure). I already know the professor for this class (I met him a few weeks ago) and he seems really nice and funny so I'm definitely looking forward to this one.
I wanted to take a translation class (translating legal texts from English to German). But I somehow get the feeling that the professor may not want me in there because when I emailed him he replied wondering why I would want to take his class, which (in his view) for me would be like taking a class for foreign students at home. I kind of disagree with this because I think translating from English to German would be a very valuable exercise for me. The professor also made it clear that I would not get credit for it because there would be no exam at the end. Ugh. Seems like more work/hassle than it's worth.
My room is becoming a nice little space. I got my internet and landline connection today, and I'm listening to the radio from home now (and of course writing this at my own desk). I am SOOO HAPPY about this. I also have decorated it a little. I originally didn't want to spend any $$ to decorate it, but I figured that I will be here for a few months, and I'll probably be spending a lot of time here. So I bought a nice little rug and tablecloth, and I'm enjoying hanging out here more and more.
I met some people who live in my apartment building -- some nice American girls and a Polish guy. The Polish guy looks like a young Morrissey, who, if you don't know, is a British singer who was the frontman for the band the Smiths. If you grew up in Southern California in the late '80's, as I did, you will know who the Smiths are.
Anyway, it is nice to have friends. One of the American girls, AB, and I have been getting along really well and doing a lot of fun stuff together, including going to the Augsburg Plaerrer festival. Plaerrer is like a county fair, Bavarian-style. It is not big, but it includes a couple of huge beer garden tents where you can drink a lot of beer and watch the Germans jump up and down on the benches and sing. It's a ton of fun. AB is from Vermont, and it's fun to hear about her life there.
It's late and time for bed.
1. Rechtsphilosophie und Rechtstheorie (Legal Philosophy and Theory) -- I think in this class we will attempt to answer such high-level questions as "What is law?" and "What makes a law good?" This is not going to be an easy class because the concepts are fairly complicated, and the professor speaks incredibly quickly. But I think the ideas are interesting, and I think it will be a good challenge for me. I have yet to come across a class in American law school where we think about law in this way, so I am glad I am able to take this here.
2. Internationales Strafrecht (International Criminal Law) -- I did not do very well in Criminal Law during my first year of law school (although Criminal Procedure was one of my best classes -- it all has to do with the professor, I think). So I'm really looking forward to getting another crack at it. The professor made it clear that we have to know something about German criminal law in order to answer questions in the class, so I bought a copy of the Strafgesetzbuch (Criminal Code) and I also found an English translation of it online. This should be very helpful. I am very excited about this class, and I've already started familiarizing myself with the code. It's interesting to see the differences between what's a crime in Germany and what's a crime in America. The professor was pretty funny and engaging, and I talked to him after and he was really nice. He even said I could come and see him if I was having any problems. That is interesting to me because I think generally that German law professors are less willing to meet with students than American law professors (although I might be wrong about that).
So I have one more class this week -- Internationales Zivilfahrensrecht (International Civil Procedure). I already know the professor for this class (I met him a few weeks ago) and he seems really nice and funny so I'm definitely looking forward to this one.
I wanted to take a translation class (translating legal texts from English to German). But I somehow get the feeling that the professor may not want me in there because when I emailed him he replied wondering why I would want to take his class, which (in his view) for me would be like taking a class for foreign students at home. I kind of disagree with this because I think translating from English to German would be a very valuable exercise for me. The professor also made it clear that I would not get credit for it because there would be no exam at the end. Ugh. Seems like more work/hassle than it's worth.
My room is becoming a nice little space. I got my internet and landline connection today, and I'm listening to the radio from home now (and of course writing this at my own desk). I am SOOO HAPPY about this. I also have decorated it a little. I originally didn't want to spend any $$ to decorate it, but I figured that I will be here for a few months, and I'll probably be spending a lot of time here. So I bought a nice little rug and tablecloth, and I'm enjoying hanging out here more and more.
I met some people who live in my apartment building -- some nice American girls and a Polish guy. The Polish guy looks like a young Morrissey, who, if you don't know, is a British singer who was the frontman for the band the Smiths. If you grew up in Southern California in the late '80's, as I did, you will know who the Smiths are.
Anyway, it is nice to have friends. One of the American girls, AB, and I have been getting along really well and doing a lot of fun stuff together, including going to the Augsburg Plaerrer festival. Plaerrer is like a county fair, Bavarian-style. It is not big, but it includes a couple of huge beer garden tents where you can drink a lot of beer and watch the Germans jump up and down on the benches and sing. It's a ton of fun. AB is from Vermont, and it's fun to hear about her life there.
It's late and time for bed.
posted by Jennifer at 12:29
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