Classes done, only a few days left

So I passed all my finals. What a relief after all those months of thinking to myself "What if I'm not smart enough to do this?" Apparently I am. Personally, I think they did take it a bit easy on me, but that's understandable because, let's face it, although my German is good, it's not fluent to the point where language is not an issue when I'm talking about the law. I showed them all I learned something here, and for them (and for me, honestly) that was good enough to pass.

So now there's only a few days left. That's right -- it is now Monday and our flight back to the U.S. leaves from Munich on Saturday morning. After a brief layover in London we will be rounding the last turn, so to speak. Whoo, baby. A lot of emotions all wrapped up in this, some surprising, some not.

Before we go, however, SP are taking the opportunity to spend some time together. We went to Nuremburg on Saturday, which is north of Augsburg but still in Bavaria. To be perfectly honest, I didn't care for it much. Quite possibly, our biggest mistake had to have been going to the Nazi rallying grounds and Nazi Documentation Center Museum before actually having a look at the city. I would not recommend going about it this way. The Documentation Center is a very well-done and informative museum that mainly educates people about the National Socialists' rise to power through their sickeningly clever use of propoganda. It serves a very important purpose. But it made me absoutely sick to walk through there and hear the pictures, see the video, and hear the audio of the Nazi rallies that happened in Nuremburg.

Hitler loved Nuremburg because to him it seemed like a quintessentially German city. I could understand that. But I don't see how anyone who really knows and has thought about its past could really live there. All I could think about as we walked through the town (it was a warm Saturday afternoon, Karstadt was having a huge sale, and there were bands playing and booths set up stelling stuff --- essentially, everyone was in a good mood and spending money) was about how the Hitler Youth and the SS and all the other Nazis used to have their parades through those wide streets. I honestly felt nauseous most of the time I was there walking around there.

There were some things that were nice, including the St. Lawrence Church. But all in all Nuremburg was a sad place to me, and, honestly, a disappointment. I just felt tired and worn out when I left there.

Sunday was a little better. We went to the Augsburg Zoo and the Botanical Garden. Having grown up in San Diego, I know something about world-class zoos. While the Augsburg version is not near the class of San Diego's, it was very nice. They had a lot of different types of animals, including elephants, giraffes, lions, etc. What was really cool was how close visitors could stand to the exhibits. In American zoos you are kept so far back from the animals you sometimes need binoculars. Not here. I could practically reach out and touch the monkeys (but I didn't --- they're dirty and have sharp teeth).

I have mixed feelings about zoos. Are we exploiting animals by having them, and is it cruel to keep them locked up like that? Possibly yes. But there were a ton of little German kids there yesterday, seeing the animals up close and learning about their lives as real creatures. To me, an experience like that is a lot more likely to make kids care about animals and ensure that they're treated humanely than any TV show. That's human nature for you. So I think well-managed zoos are very important (although I still don't like seeing the animals locked up like that).

The gardens were also nice and quite large. It was nice to sit in the shade under some trees because it was very hot and we had a long day of walking around in the sun.

So now I'm wrapping up a few last things here in Augsburg. On Thursday night we move out of our apartment here at the university and into the luxury of the Kempinski Munich Airport Hotel. I am very excited about this. SP and I have been sleeping in a tiny twin bed in this miniscule un-air-conditioned student apartment, and I haven't had a decent night's sleep in weeks. This hotel is supposed to be very nice and luxurious. The best thing about it is that we will be right there to catch our 7am flight on Saturday.

We will have some time to see a few more things in Munich before we leave, but mainly it will just be preparing to go back home. I will be somewhat sad to leave Augsburg when it's all said and done. I had some good times here --- I met some nice people, I learned some interesting stuff, I spoke a lot of German, etc. But that is outweighed by this overwhelming need to just get out of here and go back home. It's time to get back to real life.

A day of highs and lows

Good news = I passed my CISG exam this morning without a problem, and I attended my absolute final class here in Augsburg (even though I already has my Transnational Litigation final, I wanted to know more about recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, so I went to the lecture). It's really hit me. All I have left is some studying and a 15-minute oral exam in International Criminal Law tomorrow and then I'm done here. What a relief. After all the worrying I think I'm actually going to survive and pass all my classes. This meant I was feeling pretty good this afternoon. I even took a nap to celebrate (it was 90 degrees in Augsburg at 2pm today -- too hot for studying, just right for napping).

Bad news = Floyd Landis. As you can probably tell from my earlier posts, I am a big sports junkie, and I love European sports like soccer and the Tour de France especially. I was so proud of Floyd in that weird way patriotic people can be -- I don't know the guy, but he's American and he made America look good that day. And now it looks like he failed a drug test taken on the day he made his monumental comeback in the Alps in Stage 17. I felt physically sick when I read about this, just gutted. I hope to God it is just an analysis error and he wasn't on something that day. I guess we won't know the full story until later. But what a disappointment.

Exam Update

Well, I have done three exams so far. Here are the basics:

1. Monday = EUROPEAN AND WTO LAW. This was done in a group of 9 altogether -- eight Americans and one Italian. We answered questions one at a time for about 45 minutes in a room that must have been over 100 degrees F. Oh, by the way, there's no A/C in Germany, and they have had a heat wave here over the last few weeks, which makes studying practically impossible. Anyway, everyone passed. I had to answer two questions, both about cases we'd read for class, and I did so successfully. Good thing I'd done the reading.

2. Tuesday = LEGAL PHILOSOPHY AND THEORY. This was my first law exam ever in German and I was very nervous. I did a crapload of work for this class, trying to be prepared as possible. Even though it was only 15 minutes, it was just me and the professor one-on-one, so there was nowhere to hide. To my utter amazement, it went very well. Only at the end (when the professor was trying to get the difference between rules and principles out of me) did I falter even a little bit because I never really understood the whole thing about principles. But I hung in there, answered everything in German, and did my best, and it worked out very well. I think he was surprised at some of the stuff I knew, honestly. It gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of this week.

3. Wednesday (today) = INTERNATIONAL CIVIL PROCEDURE (AKA TRANSNATIONAL LITIGATION) AND INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE LAW. These courses are related, and taught by the same professor, so I had a combined exam that covered both of them. I was alone since I was the only person taking both classes (as far as I knew). I expected to have a half hour exam that covered a number of topics fairly thoroughly. This did not happen. The professor was surprised to see me when I arrived in his office, and after I reminded him that I was there to have my exam (which we'd scheduled a few weeks ago...he is one of the busiest people I have ever met so it's understandable he didn't remember right away), we got started. He asked me a few questions, a couple of which were so general that I didn't understand what he was asking and had to ask him to clarify (that was embarrassing and a bit demoralizing for me). His questions covered the basics of the procedure determining international jurisdiction (if the accused is a resident of the EU, this is covered in an EU regulation 44/2001), and of evaluating which law is applicable under Germany's international private law rules (which are covered in the Einfuehrungsgesetz des Bundesgesetzbuchs, or EGBGB, for those keeping score at home). And then, all of a sudden, he announced it was over and I'd passed. I was quite surprised by this because I'd studied a lot for this class and was prepared for it to be more difficult and in-depth. Oh well, I guess I would be the biggest dork in the world if I complained about an exam being too easy.

So three exams down and two to go. Tomorrow is a group exam for the Convention for the International Sale of Goods, and then on Friday I have my last exam in International Criminal Law.

It is very difficult for me to motivate myself to keep studying at this point because it is so hot and I'm so tired of studying. But I'm more than halfway done, and I only have 10 days left in Germany, so I'm determined to make the rest of my time here really count.

Of course I am also very homesick right now, even though SP is here. I'm just missing home and its familiarity. I am so tired of everything being so different all the time and having to deal with it, analyze it, and figure out what it all means. I have never been a roll-with-the-punches type of person, and being here in Germany really challenges me in that way all the time.

I am also missing my cats, Gah-Boy and Katie. I have not seen them in over four months and my heart is heavy. It's time to go home.

Legal Philosophy and the Hurricane Katrina "Murders"

I wrote the following as a way to solidify my understanding of certain legal philosophy rules in preparation for my exam in that class tomorrow. Yes, it is in German (and probably not very good German). I will try to get around to translating it at some point because I have some strong opnions on the case of the murder charges related to medical care rendered during Hurricane Katrina....

To sum it up, I think it presents some very interesting issues of what law is, what it should be, and how it should be enforced.

More later on what's been going on. I had my first exam today and it went okay. It's about 90 degrees in my apartment every day, which makes it very hard to study. Less than two weeks and I'm home!!!


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Ein Artz und zwei Krankenschwester wurden letzte Woche in Louisiana verhaftet und von Mord angeklagt. Letztes Jahr, während des Hurricans Katrina, sind die drei hintergeblieben in einem Krankenhaus, um für die Patienten, die nicht evakuiert werden könnten, zu sorgen. Jetzt sagt der Generalbundesanwalt von Louisiana, daß die drei vorsätzlich und methodisch vier Patienten von einer Überdosis von Morphin getötet (ermordert) haben.

Dieser Fall erhebt interessante rechtsphilosophische Fragen. In America, wie überall, Mort ist widerrrechtlich (und, würde jeder sagen, soll es so sein). Aber soll diese Handlung wirklich Mord sein? Wollen wir wirklich solche Leute, die sich selber entschlossen haben, hinter in einer Katastrophe zu bleiben, um für kranke, bedürftige, schwäche Leute zu sorgen, bestreiben?

Die Naturrechtlichetheorie sagt, daß naturliche menschliche Vernunft bestimmte rechtliche Werturteile vorgibt. Solche Werturteile sind allgemeingültig, unwandelbar, und erkennbar. Naturrecht sagt, daß ansichtbar ungerechtes Recht nicht gefolgt werden muß, und, daß Richer solchen Recht nicht anwenden müssen.

Direkt dagegen steht Positivismus, der sagt, daß das Recht, das von der Regierung gegeben wird, muß auf jedenfall gefolgt wird, egal wie Leute sich über das Recht fühlen. In einem Positivismusrechtssystem, dürfen Leute nicht widerstandlich gegen unrechtliches Recht stehen, und Richter müssen alle Rechte anwenden, sogar “ungerechte” Rechte.

Der Hauptvorteil von Positivismus ist Rechtssicherheit. Man weißt ganz genau, was das Recht ist und was nicht. Durch diese Trennung von “Recht” und “Moral,” kommen keine subjektive Gefühle, entweder von Richtern selbtst oder von anderen, die das Recht anwenden müssen, im Frage, als sie rechtliche Frage beantworten.

Ein größes Problem mit Positivismus ist aber, daß es kein bestimmtes Recht für jede mögliche Handlung geben kann. Ich weiß nicht, wie genau Mord rechtlicht beschreibt und bestimmt in Louisiana ist, aber in den meisten Gesellschaften, Mord ist, im großen ganzen, eine vorsäztliche Tötung. Wenn es wirklich wahr ist, daß die Angeklagten vorsätzlich Patienten Überdosen von Morphin gegeben haben, um sie zu töten, dann es kann auch rechtlich gesagt werden können, daß sie Mörderinnen sind.

Ist solche Entscheidung aber allerdings “gerechtlich”? Gerechtigkeit ist die Gesamtheit der moralischen Rechte und Pflichen, die Menschen gegeneinander haben. Naturrechtliche Maßstäbe (die von Vernünft etwickeln sind) können tatsächlich benutzt werden, um zu bestimmen, was “gerechtlich” ist. Werden, oder wollen, vernünftigte Leute diese Handlung “Mord” nennen? Oder gibt es in diesem Fall einfach zuviele abschwächende Umstände, die diese Handlung entschuldigung können? Es kann sein, daß viele “vernünftige” Leute sagen würden, daß was in New Orleans in diesem Fall passiert ist, kein “Mord” genannt werden soll.

Es soll gesagt werden, daß viele andere Ärtze gesagt haben, daß was da gemacht worden ist, obwohl medizinisch-ethisch nicht total richtig war, in den Umständen vollig verstandbar ist. Für mehr als fünf Tagen hatte das Krankenhaus keinen Strom und wenig frisches Wasser. Es war unheimlich heiß und schwül. Einige Teilen von dem Krankenhaus waren überflutet. Die Leute im Krankenhaus könnten nicht leicht irgendwo anders transportiert werden könnten, und leider sind wenige Rettungsleute angekommen, um die Patienten weg zu liefern. Insgesamt, es war ein Unglück der größten Proportionen. Die Angeklagtinnen, meinen die Kommentatoren, haben sicher alles mögliches gemacht, was sie machen können, um die Patienten so bequem wie möglich zu machen. In vielen medizinischen Fällen soll das auch heißen, daß Patienten Medikation gegen Schmerz bekommen.

Einige Leuten haben auch spekuliert, daß der Bundesanwalt in Louisiana, der politisch konservativ ist, wollte die Drei anklagen, um Solidarität mit konservativen Wählern zu zeigen, um wiedergewählt werden.

Die Tatsachen hier sind aber ganz klar...vier kranke Leute, nach die Nachwirkungen des Hurrikans Katrina, sind im Krankenhaus tot gefunden worden, und eine Ärtzin und zwei Krankenschwester sind für ihre Mord angeklagt. Diese Situation ist viel zu schwer, um einfache Lösungen finden zu können. Mit sicherhiet sollen Rechten gefolgt werden (unsere Gesellschaft erwartet und braucht das), aber einige Handlung sollen auch tiefer analyziert werden, um wirklich herauszufinden, ob sie eigentlich anders sind, als sie in Erscheinung treten.

Why law school is like hockey....

Bear with me.....

I have been playing ice hockey for about 10 years. Whenever beginner hockey players ask me what they can do to get better, I always tell them it's all about the skating. In hockey, you have to get to the point in your skill level in which skating is basically a non-issue. I'm not talking about NHL-level skill.....I'm talking about knowing how to do basic skating moves without having to think about them. Once skating is a non-issue for you, then you can focus all your energy on playing the game itself.

It just came to me, but law school is just like this. I have been thinking a lot about how I'm going to tackle law school when I get home in the fall. I want to leave that place knowing that, in at least one class, I did as much as I could possibly do (and more than just about anyone would be willing to do). In other words, I gave everything I had and left it all on the ice (to expand on the hockey metaphor).

Even in the classes I have enjoyed the most and worked hardest in in the past (Constitutional Law Individual Rights, Constitutional Law Fed/State, Criminal Procedure), I never felt at the end like I did absolutely as much as I could have done.

Even for those classes, in which I knew the law pretty well, knowledge of the law was not, for me, an absolute non-issue. I still had to think hard to recall rules while I was sitting there in the exam. That is a waste of time, and it affects your ability to get the most out of the legal rules when conducting your analysis.

It's just like hockey. The bottom line is if you're still struggling with skating, it's just too hard to do other stuff during the game. All you can focus on is getting from one end of the ice to another when you need to, and getting to the bench when you need to come off. You don't have any energy left to focus on strategy, working together with teammates to set up plays, positioning, passing, shooting, etc. This makes your arsenal severly limited, and it means that unless everyone else is a beginner too, it will be hard for you to come out a winner.

The problem with law school is that it's filled with smart people who do as much as they can as quickly as they can to overcome their "rookie" status. The top people already figure out the "skating" element of the class (the law) long before they actually sit down and take the exam.

Learning how to skate effectively enough to make it a non-issue takes a long time. That's why time management, and doing steady work on learning the law throughout the semester is so necessary. This is very hard when you're tired, or when the law is difficult, or you want to go out for drinks. But it's necessary.

Maybe I'll have more luck next year if I approach learning the law like learning how to skate. Nothing else I've tried has produced the results I'm looking for so far.

Wrap-Up Thoughts REALLY Starting...

So in less than three weeks from now I will be sitting on my patio with the paper, drinking wine and enjoying SO MUCH being back on my own turf. It has been incredibly hot in Los Angeles over the last little while apparently, but since I have been in the land of no-air-conditioning and 80% humidity lately, I think I'll be ready.

I have been working on my outlines for my classes but to be honest I am very unmotivated. I will have one written exam (European and WTO law), three oral exams (Legal Philosophy and Theory, International Criminal Law, and a combined International Civil Procedure and International Private Law exam). The written exam will be in English, while all of the oral exams will be in German. I still do not know what the exam format will be for my Convention for the International Sale of Goods class.

I know SP hates it when I talk about going home and being DONE with here, but it's how I feel and he always wants me to be honest with him.

We had a little scare earlier this week -- to make a long story short, it was widely presumed at home that one of our two cats (not Gah-Boy, but our little tiny Katie) was missing. Full panic set in, and we spent a sleepless night worrying about her, until our niece (who is housesitting for us) called and told us that Katie had finally made an appearance. Apparently Katie had hidden herself so well that no one could find her. This seems to be par for the course with Katie (she has always been skittish and wary of strangers, to me it's part of her charm), but it made my heart sick to think about losing her. Now more than ever, I just want to go home and see both my little buddies.

So now I'm off to the gym and then I will come back and finish my Legal Philosophy outline. I will do another post later that summarizes what we've learned in that class so far. Even though I am working on the outline right now, all it seems to be a far-flung collection of ideas and principles. I'll need a more focused understanding of it to do well on the exam.

Germany 3 -- Portgual 1 ... Germany Wins 3rd Place

So we went to the Irish Pub last night to see the Germany-Portugal game. It was so much fun. The beleaguered goalie Oliver Kahn played last night in goal for Germany, and it was nice that he got the victory.

(See my original post about the German team's goalie selection process for more information about this gut-wrenching event that happened in April.)

So now Germany is in 3rd place, and the final game tonight between Italy and France will signal the end of the World Cup. Thank goodness.

We had a lot of fun at the pub last night. I hadn't had any beer in a while. SP doesn't drink, so I don't drink much when I'm with him. But I had quite a lot last night. German beer is just so outstanding.

Now I am editing a paper for my friend AB. It's about the "Weisse Rose" student political movement that took place during World War II. I've learned a lot by reading it. I'm not sure if I'm the right person to review a paper in German, because I know that I'm missing some of the grammar and other stuff. But it was nice that she asked me to look at it, and I'm spending a lot of time on it to make sure that I catch as much as possible. That is my way generally with editing. It always takes me twice as long as I think it will. I have looked at a few English papers for people since I've been here as well, and I always try to be thorough. There can be a point where you're just being an a-hole, rather than being helpful, I think. I'm never sure if I've crossed that line. That makes editing tough for me, because I don't want to be an a-hole.

Of course this means that I'm not doing my own work, but all in good time. I want to get started today on my outline for European Union law. There's a whole analysis schematic for what they call "the four freedoms" that I really want to memorize today if possible. Once I get it all down on paper I'll write more about it here. The EU class is very interesting because I didn't know anything about it before I started it. They have some good and nice ideas about how to govern a union of culturally, politically, and socially disparate entities over here. It makes me want to learn more about it.

I also have been having some ideas about American jurisprudence lately and I'm thinking I might want to write something about it. After seeing how judges are selected to serve on the high court over here in Germany, I am thinking that we in America could learn a thing or two from their system. I have been reading all the post-mortem type articles about the Roberts Court's first official term, and what has been striking to me is the decidedly strict alliances that are developing among the justices. I think it's weird that the justices, who I thought were supposed to view each case from a neutral perspective, so often vote along lines of political ideology, and that there's essentially only one "swing justice" left on the Court anymore. I am a liberal but even the fact that the "liberals" on the Court do this really bugs me. Anyway, I have more to say about this than time permits at the moment, but I will talk more about this later once I've formed my ideas and opinions about it more fully.

Back to work. Only a little while left!!!!

Four Weeks Left

Sorry, it's been a while now. Germany plays tonight in the 3rd place game. I have never seen so many long faces as I did after their loss to Italy on July 4th. As of right now, the Americans are the only team in the tournament who did not lose to Italy. How's that for irony?

So, yes, there are only 4 weeks left for me over here. SP arrived Monday and I was so happy to see him. It's a bit crowded with the two of us in my tiny room but we work together so well that it certainly can't be considered to be inconvenient to have him here. Mainly it's just been nice. Just like at home, now I have someone on my side all the time, here with me to talk about stuff with, get ideas and opinions from, and just share the day-to-day. To me, that's the nicest part about marriage.

Anyway, my classes are ramping up. I only have three weeks left before my exams. I will have a written exam (in English) in European and WTO Law. Three of the others will, I know, be oral (and in German) -- Legal Philosophy, International Criminal Law, and a combined exam for International Civil Procedure and International Private Law. I still don't know about my Convention for the International Sale of Goods class. I will write more about what each of those classes have entailed later. It has been immensely interesting and rewarding for me to be in these classes -- I have learned a lot, my German has improved immensely, and it is a big accomplishment for me to be able to say that I'm not hopelessly lost in any of the classes. As part of preparing for the exams themselves, I will be writing about each of the subjects here later, explaining what we've covered in each.

And after all that is done, it will be time to go home. Whohoo! I have been thinking about my house so much, and all the work I want to do there. I have a ton of projects that I want to accomplish at home, and some interesting ideas about how I can make it nicer there for us. I miss my house a lot and am ready to get back and enjoy living there again. But first things first -- I need to study enough for my exams to pass. Not a given, but not impossible either.

There's light at the end of the tunnel.