Trying to find a shorter way home I decided to take the U7 all the way to Berliner strasse and catch the U9 to Birken strasse just a few stops down, but I miscounted swapping trains, jumped on the U6 when I should have stayed course on the U7, and had to jump back on the U6 to the Mehringdam stop.Waiting for the U7 to Rudow to catch the U8 at Hermannplatz then ride that to the U9 would have had a shorter wait time, but one more train. It is also what I usually do. But now, as I’m waiting and additional 7 minutes which drag on like hours for the U7 to Rathaus Spandeu, I’m quickly becoming impatient, and it’s become apparent that my Berliner strasse might be pat my street. I grit my teeth, waiting for the train. Upon checking the map, Berliner strasse is on the way, and while it may have less transfers, because of the wait, it could be just as long. The only difference it makes is if I want to take an extra train or not.

Sprache und Wissen symposium
Haus der Kulturen der Welt
Between Ear & Mouth
Berlin 2016

Terézia Mora, a fiction writer and translator, moderated an hour’s conversation with Lilian Astrid Geese and Günther Orth, both interpreters, on the craft of Simultaneous Interpretation. I found this symposium while quickly scanning through the offerings of Sprache und Wissen, and I had smushed the concept of interpretation into my understanding of translation and therefore was surprised by the track of the talk.

There were two interpreters in a booth above me, activating exactly what the talk was about by interpreting the German into English. English speakers like me wore headphones that received the English at a very slight delay to the German, laughing/responding seconds behind the direct listeners. Clearly, the talk was highlighting the job and it seemed, or maybe I was projecting, that the interpreters would stumble when they were translating concepts that discussed THEM doing their job. That task would be mind bending, finding yourself the subject of your interpretation has to be a brain twister.

Orth described the process as the act interpreting the concepts from the speech into images that form a whole from the original language, a conceptual image, and interpreting that back into language. Spoken word–>concept image–>spoken word. Spoken language is semi-automatic and the interpreter can rely on that mode, with no time to process or pick apart the concepts while benefitting from the entire sensuous experience of the conversation in real time, atmosphere and tension.

Top left is the interpreters booth. With a clear view of speakers, screens and some audience for interpretation of the entire atmosphere.

Trust me, there will be more. Pictured: A döner and some excellent beer. Not pictured: The face they’re getting stuffed into.

The man in the background is a very nice bartender. Didn’t get his name or too much of what he said, my German isn’t that good, but he’s friendly in a quiet, Oscar the Grouch way.

Meine Gasteltern heissen Stefanie und Carl Schultz. Stefanie ist ein Stadtsociologe, und Carl ist ein Architekt. Sie haben ein Buch über das Hansaviertel zusammen geschrieben. Ihr Buch scheint sehr interessant, aber es ist nur auf deutsch, so kann ich nur wenig zu verstehen. So weiter! Sie haben zwei kinder, aber beide sind Erwachsene.  Ihre Tochter heisst Yana, und sie ist eine Yoga-Lehrerin. Ihr Sohn heisst Ole, und er ist ein Journalist. Ole hat auch eine Tochter heisst Luisa. Luisa ist acht Jahre alt. So sind sie älter, aber sie sind sehr lustig und nett.

Ausserdem! Sie hatten eine Katze (heisst Katze) seit siebzehn Jahre, aber er ist jetz tot.

Hier ist ein Foto (von einem Foto) von Katze (die Katze):

Und hier ist ein Foto von der Spree, wo ich jeden Morgen überqueren:

As a class we went on a tour through downtown Berlin and saw some of the more famous landmarks. Today we visited the urban development exhibit. Take a look.

This abandoned park by the river was surrounded by a gate with a sign warning all to stay out and beware of guard dogs presenting danger to life and limb. You can see most of the park from a distance through the gate, and you can even catch the guards, some of whom were napping on duty.

We saw four models of what Berlin was, is, and is becoming on this trip orally translated by a woman named Ursula.

On one of the models we discussed we were able to see three different colors of buildings that represent the architecture since 1945, since 1990 and the new things that are popping up. Our discussions surrounded the idea of what it means to change the space in Berlin architecturally or otherwise and where those ideas and projects come out of. An incredible matrix of culture, history, government, economics, etc that become driving forces for new interpretations of what is important to keep and what is useful to add on.

There is of course so much more to be said about the possibilities of this model and incredible anecdotal compilations that are just as important. My intention is to leave some space for this model city to breathe in the images I have to represent it here.

A touch model for the blind.

A model with the old, the current, and the aspirations.

A model of east Berlin under The GDR.

Since the beginning of time, Germans have been masters of the game of football. With names like Muller and Beckenbauer, and their most recent World Cup victory to boot, I find myself asking the age old question yet again, what do they know that we don’t? I, like most football fans in America, have always wondered why we, a huge country with vast resources and a plethora of athletes are time and time again simply unable to compete at the international level. Arguments range from ‘our best athletes play real American football’ to ‘the game is too slow’. I can personally understand where these arguments come from, even if I don’t agree with them. However, I believe it goes deeper than that. I believe football is so deeply embedded in the German culture on a scale that we can’t comprehend. I’ve played football all my life and honestly it is one of the most important things in the world to me. I consider myself a student of the game. I will use what resources and knowledge I have of the game as well as the German culture to see if I can infiltrate my way into this inner circle and uncover the secret.