Identity & Belonging

August 13, 2013 0

Reviewing the Rave: “We are the We”

We're so used to talking all the time that words tend to lose their effect. Especially when the talking is predominantly happening in one direction, as it so often does in immigration discourse. The Migrantas organization is unleashing an alternate voice within immigrant women in Germany that is arguably just as powerful: their artistic creativity... [Read More!]
July 18, 2013 0

Rave: Education Per Square (Kilo)Meter

After all this talk about Nazis, N-Words, and negative stereotypes, I think it's time we had some good news around here, don't you?

Enter Ein Quadratkilometer Bildung, or "Square Kilometer Education".

Quadratkilometer Bildung (QKB) is an educational development and learning platform that addresses education on a regional basis, with a focus on disadvantaged populations. They call it "closing gaps". I call it common sense... [Read More!]

June 29, 2013 0

Happy Weekend: “part Korean, part American, part German, all Kimchi”

If the chance of rain deters participation in any of the street events or outdoor markets this weekend, I've got a solution: stuff your face with delicious Korean-fusion. In fact, why not learn a little about Lauren Lee AKA "Fräulein Kimchi" - the proponent of the Korean taco and the Bavarian-Korean cooking course - whose appearances in Mauerpark and Markthalle 9 are bringing in the masses (even if the retelling of my Bimbibap obsession in my Seattle years elicits more often the "Bimbi - whaaa?" than an affirmative nod). This post comes from Jessica Jungbauer of Best Wishes from Berlin, who seeks out the so-called "creatives" of the city, the culinary sort among them, initiating short auto-portraits for an interesting lens into one facet of creative engagement or another... [Read More!]
June 21, 2013 0

Lens: Warm Nights are for Cricket

And who is playing? I ask. India is playing, he answers, then pauses. A slight smile, a look of knowing softens his jaw. What is happening now is that Indians are playing cricket. On the other edge of the fence women in saris, shorts, or tunics lean on strollers, lay in the grass, take photos or at least pretend to. All the men seem to be playing or waiting to be called. All are dressed in impeccable whites, high socks, pearly feet kicking up dust into the scorch. The white-washed men scurry among the dust... [Read More!]
June 18, 2013 2

Review: Become a German (in just under 650 hours)

You must clean up after your dog. You must ride your bike in the right direction of the bike lane, recites a Russian student. The audience chuckles. First work, then... chants the teacher. The audience groans. Do you know any examples of German humor? asks the teacher. Uhhh, fumbles the Japanese student. 10 seconds go by. I'm still thinking, he mutters and scratches his head. The audience roars... [Read More!]
June 9, 2013 2

Weekend Review: Germany’s ‘Brown Babies’ (how America’s good-guy image might get a run for its money)

Berlin can be a historical mine field. Escaping the fact that genocide, division, tyranny, even the colonial division of Africa began on this ground is an impossible feat. As American tourists wander through the many memorials to the lost, murdered, and persecuted that saturate the city with this remembrance of tragedy, I have to ask myself: Do we Americans think that we were always the “good guys” in this mess? [Read More!]
June 6, 2013 1

The N-Word

When I posted the Who's/Whose Normal? article a few weeks ago, I expected the "N-word" of interest to be Neger, a term that falls somewhere between "negro" and "nigger" on the translation and offensiveness spectrum. Instead, the strongest reactions came in response to another N-Word: Nazi... [Read More!]
June 1, 2013 1

Happy Weekend: A Roma (Re)Image

Your perception of the Roma is inaccurate. I apologize for the bluntness, but you and I both know it's true. And I know you and I both know it's true because it's true for me, and I've studied this stuff. Not only have I studied this stuff (e.g. migration, integration, intercultural relations), but I consider myself a beacon of political correctness, yet I've still dressed up as a gypsy for Halloween more times than I care to admit. Why? [Read More!]
1 2 3 4 5

Copyright © 2020 | Collidoscope Berlin