The following is the humble opinion of the writer and is not intended to defame any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual.

The views of the writer are her own, and do not in any way reflect the views of the site they are posted on, other sites affiliated with this site, the staff involved with the site, or any other members of this site. Furthermore, they do not necessarily reflect the views of the the people who live in the author’s neighbourhood, city, county, country, continent, hemisphere, planet, star system, galaxy, or universe of orign.

Please also note that the fact the piece is written in English is in no way meant to marginalize other languages or linguistic entities, nor to marginalize  those who are illiterate or visually impaired and thus are unable to read the piece. Furthermore, the individual letters, words, and punctuation marks involved had no option but to be placed into the narratives, and should not be held accountable for the writer’s statments.

Any spelling or grammatical errors are the responsibility the writer alone; as any erroneous syntactical, grammatical or tautological style sustained as a result of the schools the author attended, the teachers the author was taught by, the regional governments who did or did not fund the author’s educational system, or anyone else involved in the author’s education were all acting with the author's best interests in mind.

In point of fact, the author takes full responsibility for her actions and opinions and does not hold parents, siblings, other relations, friends, neighbors, acquaintances, people in any proximity, not least that character she conversed with on the bus three weeks ago, responsible for anything in the following work, or for anything else the author may or may not have done. The author freely admits that her views may not be the same as those of her religious group, ethnic group, book club, orchestra or any other association.

Clear as crystal, right.

P.S

Formatting Promlems

For some unknown and unidentifiable reason the font stye and size of my posts have gone completely haywire. Please excuse random paragraphs of blue, italics, in inappropriate place or large print - there's nothing that I can do about the situation.

As probably know by now, I’m ‘Reading English’ but aside from picking apart great works of Literature, I’ve been taking a course entitled ‘Introduction to Linguistics’. And it has been in here Germany, in a class where I was the only native English speaker, that I think I’ve finally nailed a few basic principals of the English language.

Can you remember how Auxiliary Verbs flummoxed me in Brazil? Well now, I’m finally able to give a semblance of an intelligent answer if ever asked about them again. These, my friends, are the little words that appear in front of verbs to indicate the tense, voice, mood etc, of another verb.

In English there are twenty-three of them:

May, might, must

be, being, been,

am, are, is, was, where

do, does, did

should, could, would

have, had, has

will, can

shall

(They fit to the tune of Jingle Bells nicely. Ha-ha)

“Got that down, man!”

Second of all: I have come to dread receiving marked essays as there’re always covered with expostulations in Red Pen chastising me for erroneous grammar and incomprehensible syntax. Apparently the checker on Microsoft Word has not one single inkling of how a ‘correct’ sentence is constructed. As linguists we are required to draw complex tree structures and ‘identify constraints’ which scientifically tells us whether a sentence is ‘correct’ or not.

The Red Pen Brigade has had me, up to now, quaking in my boots with the statement “Never Split an Infinitive!” Splitting an infinitive? Splitting an infinitive? What have I been doing wrong??? O.K so, firstly, what’s an infinitive? It’s the preposition ‘to’ and the basic form of the verb. For example, ‘To have and to hold’. Simple.

They decided to quickly devour the pie – Red Pen Offence

They decided to devour the pie quickly – Worthy of a 2:1

“Gimme some skin!”

Thirdly: Tenses. We all learnt how the subtle changes to the environment surrounding a verb can change it’s meaning, but who can name them. Thanks to Germany, I now can.

Present simple                         I danced

Present continuous                   I am dancing

Present perfect                        I have danced

Present perfect continuous         I have been dancing

Past simple                             I did dance, I danced

Imperfect                               I used to dance

Past continouous                      I was dancing

Conditional                              I would dance

Pluperfect / past perfect            I had danced

Past perfect continuous             I had been dancing

Future                                   I will dance

Future perfecr                         I will have danced

Future continuous                    I will be dancing

Future perfect continuous          I will have been dancing

“Respec’!”

The Red Pen Brigade likes to show mortifying condescension at these commonly confused noun/verb pairs

Noun                      Verb

Advice                     Advise

Practice                   Practise

Device                     Devise

Prophecy                 Prophesy

License                    License

Rule: the Noun has a c and the verb has an s.

Northerners don’t really get the concept of ‘Prepositions’. Prepositions are placed before nouns or pronouns to show where one thing is in relation to another. Down, up, by, off, around, in, through, behind etc.

I get off of the bus – Red Pen Offence

I get off the bus –     Worthy of a 2:1

Put that back down on the table – Red Pen Offence

Put that back on the table –           Worthy of a 2:1

I took a day off from work – Red Pen Offence

I took a day off work –          Worthy of a 2:1

“Thaat’s nowt, rate good!

As usual, the fact that I’ve been brought up In The North proved to be a hot talking point. My accent completely flummoxed my Linguistics class. To German ears I am obviously a British native speaker (rather than American, Australian, Canadian, Ghanaian, or whatever), but they were confused by the usual suspects: glass not gaarse, laff not laugh etc, etc. So, to conform with the German pronunciation of these words I’ve found myself reverting to my pre-school self, speaking the Standard English of my Mum and Dad (proof that school corrupts, ha-ha).

Met up with Fareeda* and some other women that she’d met at Mosque during Ramadan and headed to a Thai Restaurant. We were all giggling about how great Frankfurt is. Where else could you have five women, one Pakistani, one Turkish, one Thai, one Sudanese (all wearing the Hijab) and one Black-British (in a wig), all stuffing ourselves with spicy Thai food … chatting in a mixture of Arabic, German and English … in Germany … on the dodgiest street in the city  (Münchener Strasse, in the infamous Bahnhofsviertel) … and yet feeling completely at home.

Wonders never cease!

Friday 4th December

German words spoken - 6, Bratwursts consumed - 2, Reference to The War - 0 (excellent)

Weekend in Berlin - how exciting!

My Mates and I are students of the seriously poor variety so had to find a cheap way of getting the 545 Km from Frankfurt to Berlin. Asiatu* and Sadia* suggested that we go by Mitfahr. "Mitfahr ? Mitfahr ? What is Mitfahr ?", I hear you cry. It is basically an extremely well organised car-pooling scheme (translates as ‘with travel’) and is apparently very popular in continental Europe. Book your place by visiting any of the many of Mitfahr sites: http://www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de/ or http://www.mitfahr-center.de/ , or, Ooh, look, this one’s even in English http://www.mitfahrzentrale.de/index.php?landnr=D&lang=GB and calling the driver to see whether there’ll be space for you and your mates. S / he says “ Ja, natürlich ”, Then you have to make your way across the city to where the car is waiting (usually close to a large train station).

We took the three seats in the back row of the Toyota Sienna and laughed and napped and laughed, and laughed some more through our five and a half hour journal to the Über cool capital.

Dark by the time we arrived, but our host took us nighttime sightseeing in his souped up Subaru with the Afropop blaring. Stopped off at Berlin Hauptbahnhof to collect another of their friends. He slid into the seat next to mine and flashed me a winning smile that set my heart racing… let’s just call him ‘Guy #2’.

Saturday 5th December

Fit Afro-Germans danced (very intimately) with – 6.  West African dishes consumed- 9, References to The War- 8

The girls were confined to the kitchen cooking up various complex African dishes for the massive birthday party in the evening. My knowledge of the West African culinary tradition is sorely lacking so they sent Guy #2 and I out to amuse ourselves (get in there Maz) in the city.

Always a sucker for history so started off at the architecturally unique Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church). Was partially destroyed during a 1943 bombing raid but when it came to restoration, it was decided that the ruined tower should left as a memorial to the futility of war, and create a new church around it. So, today we have an octagonal building, the half destroyed spire and an octagonal tower unifying this place of worship.

Got back just in time to get our fancy pants on for the party. Caught a glimpse (by peering round a half closed door) of Guy #2’s naked torso – the phrase ‘Tap that?’, accompanied by a vigorous nod, came to mind.

Africans and their kids kept munching on the tasty dishes until well after midnight. Then the DJ got into his groove dropping tracks by the hottest West African artists like P-Square, D’Banj, Daddy Lumba and Emmerson (youtube them). We all got hot and sweaty shaking what our mamas gave us and  “winin’ slow” with members of the opposite sex.

“Hey Sadia, answer me something. Is Guy #2 glaring at the other guys who I’m dancing with?”

“Not sure. Nah, I don’t think so.”

“Hmmm.” Something had to be done so implemented plan ‘Flirt-as-hard-as-you-can-with-other-guys-to-made-the-guy-you-actually-like-notice-you’.

Plan was not wholly unsuccessful as managed to get Guy #2’s number and promises to keep in touch. But girls, we’ve all heard that one before haven’t we…

Sunday 6th December

German words spoken - 0, Bratwursts consumed- 1, References to The War- 0 (wars don’t crop up in day dreams)

Back from Berlin to find an empty house and a note from Mr -----

“Have gone to my villa in Spain for the rest of the Winter. Have given the spare key to a colleague, Johann, his number is 0172367563.

Have fun and hope you won’t be too lonely!

P.S Please could you put any post for me somewhere safe and give the place a thorough clean before you leave.”

Mr---- is gone, which means one thing - time to paaartay! Maybe could even invite Guy #2….

Monday 7^th December

German words understood – 7 Casino Besetzt, Präsident, Bratwursts consumed- 2, References to The War- 0 (excellent)

Tutors all extremely het up about the Bildungstreik action. Used up considerable class time holding debates (auf Deutsch so I understood virtually nothing)

Tuesday 8th December

German words understood – 4 (the words Kapitalismus, Vandalismus, Anarchie, Kommunismus, kept cropping up) Bratwursts consumed- 2, References to The War-

Read as for Monday.

Wednesday 9th December

German words understood – 7 (magister und Diplom), Bratwursts consumed- 1, References to The War- 0 (excellent)

Read as above

Travelling from Frankfurt to Berlin

• Flying – between €99 and €320 return (with Lufthansa)
• Train – between €97 and €137 return (with the ICE ‘Inter City Express’ - über cool bullet trains)
• Coach – between €83 and €87 return (with Berlin Linien Bus)

October 2009

The final quarter of 2009 brought a new term. Unfortunately my studies have occasioned lots of background reading, mostly of dry tomes that every Lit student ought to have sound knowledge of. Often these novels hold no interest for me so I skim read. I come to the last page and realise that all most nothing has gone in. Luckily there’s sparknotes.com where free study guides have saved my bacon.

Insider’s Frankfurt – Richard A. Lord

Interesting information on colourful personalities, human drama and momentous events that give Frankfurt its unique personality; easy-to-read street maps, morsels of tasty trivia in box text, and lively icons; author's personal recommendations on where to shop, eat and sightsee; easy-to-read, humorous, and full of tips for travellers and tourists.

A Short History of English Literature – B. Ifor Evans

Accessible and brief - literary criticism.

The Castle of Otranto – Horace Walpole

Generally regarded as the first gothic novel sparking a new literary genre. The main plot is focused around Prince Conrad being crushed to death by a gigantic helmet that falls on him mysteriously from above

The Turn of the Screw – Henry James

Superb ghost story. James’ steady building of psychological and physical pressure on the governess through the medium of the ghost and the children interacting with it gives the story's pressure "another turn of the screw."

Foe – J. M. Coetzee

Woven around the existing plot of Robinson Crusoe, Foe is written from the perspective of Susan Barton, a castaway who landed on the same island inhabited by "Cruso" and Friday as their adventures were already underway. Like Robinson Crusoe, it is a frame story, unfolded as Barton's narrative while in England attempting to convince the writer Daniel Foe to help transform her tale into popular fiction.

November

The Monk - Matthew Lewis

Gothic themes: supernatural agencies, murder, rape, incest, poisonings, hauntings, incarcerations and a tragic love story.

The Passion of New Eve – Angela Carter

Magical realist post-feminist novel. Lots of sex and weirdness including castrations and gender reassignments.

The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus – Christopher Marlowe (Purged and Amended by A. D. Hope)

Classic play based on the Faust story, in which a man sells his soul to the devil for power and knowledge.

The Tempest – William Shakespeare (Arden Edition, ed. by Virginia Mason Vaughan and Alden T. Vaughan)

Shakespeare does the castaway story complete with noble savage

Remembering Babylon – David Malouf

Its themes evolve into a greater narrative of an English boy, Gemmy Fairley, who is marooned on a foreign land and is raised by a group of aborigines, natives to the land. When white settlers reach the area, he attempts to move back in the world of Europeans. As Gemmy wrestles with his own identity, the community of settlers struggle to deal with their fear of the unknown.

Northanger Abbey, Lady Susan, The Watsons and Sanditon – Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey follows seventeen-year-old Gothic novel aficionado Catherine Morland and family friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen as they visit Bath.

The Pilgrim’s Progress – John Bunyan

Dry Puritan drivel. Christian an everyman character, is the protagonist of the allegory, which centers itself in his journey from his hometown, the "City of Destruction" ("this world"), to the "Celestial City" ("that which is to come": Heaven) atop Mt. Zion. Christian finds himself weighed down by a great burden, the knowledge of his sin which he believed came from his reading "the book in his hand," (the Bible).

December

Dubliners –James Joyce

Collection of 15 short stories. Naturalistic depiction of the Irish middle and working class life in and around Dublin in the early 20th century.

Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett 

Beckett’s works: All that Fall, Act without Words I, Act Without Words II, Krapp’s Last Tape, Rough for Theatre I, Rough for Theatre II, Embers, Rough for Radio I, Rough for Radio II, Words and Music, Cascando, Play, Film, The Old Tune, Come and Go, Eh Joe, Breath, Not I, That Time, Footfalls, Ghost Trio, … but for the clouds… , A Piece of Monologue, Rockaby, Ohio Impromptu, Quad, Catastrope, Nacht und Träume, What Where.

From Modern Irish Short Stories:  “The Twisting of the Rope” - W.B Yeats, “Dante and the Lobster” – Samuel Beckett,  “Cancer” – Eugene McCabe, “All sorts of Impossible Things” – John McGahern

Castaways in Paradise: The Incredible Adventures of True-Life Robinson Crusoes – James C. Simmons

Details the stories of individuals who survived on deserted islands, discussing their ingenuity, and resourcefulness, and describes their lives once they returned to civilization.

My Grammar and I (or should that be ‘Me’?): Old-school ways to sharpen your English – Caroline Taggart and J.A. Wines.

Re-read. My grammar is still shoddy.

Tim und Struppi: Der Blaue Lotos – Hergé

Set in India, China and Japan.  Sequel to ‘Cigars of the Pharoah’. Tintin continues his struggle against a major gang of drug smugglers.

Frankenstein – Mary Shelly.

A young Swiss student discovers the secret of animating lifeless matter and, by assembling body parts, creates a monster who vows revenge on his creator after being rejected from society.

As usual my New Years Resolution is to read ever more books – the target for 2010 is 60. Wish me luck!

Look, look, it’s that time where I record all of my reading matter again.

Dark Star Safari – Paul Theroux.

From Cairo to Cape Town: down the Nile, through Sudan and Ethiopia, to Kenya, Uganda, and ultimately to the tip of South Africa. Going by train, dugout canoe, "chicken bus," and cattle truck, Theroux passes through some of the most beautiful — and often life-threatening — landscapes on earth.

Media Law and Human Rights – Andrew Nicol QC. Gavin Millar QC and Andrew Sharland.

The incorporation of the European Convention of Human Rights in UK Law, has made the principle of free speech a positive right. But what is the law of freedom of expression and privacy and how does it affect the media? Provides practical coverage of the impact of human rights principles in media law.

My Grammar and I (or should that be ‘Me’?): Old-school ways to sharpen your English – Caroline Taggart and J.A. Wines

Takes you on a tour of the English language, through rules and conditions for the grammatically unaware. Highlights the common pitfalls that English language user faces on an everyday basis.

Point Counter Point – Aldous Huxley

A dozen or so characters sway in and out of the novel consisting of mainly British nouveau riche and the noblesse, we find fascists, communists, ardent Christians, social climbers and struggling artists all in a room awaiting a grand finale of sorts. Mismatched couples, political opposites, social rivals all make their point in his philosophical treatise. The novel's title is a reference to the musical technique of counterpoint. Instead of a single central plot, there are a number of interlinked storylines and recurring themes.

A History of Germany – Peter Wende

Key periods and turning points in the course of German history from the Romans up to the present, and shows that German history was actually the history of many Germanies.

The Enchantress of Florence – Salman Rushdie

Renaissance Florence's artistic zenith and Mughal India's cultural summit—reached the following century, at Emperor Akbar's court in Sikri—are the twin beacons of Rushdie's ingenious latest, a dense but sparkling return to form. The connecting link between the two cities and epochs is the magically beautiful hidden princess, Qara Köz, so gorgeous that her uncovered face makes battle-hardened warriors drop to their knees.

August

Nazi Germany – Michael Lynch

Looks at many different aspects, including the economy and working conditions, the structure of the country (politics, society, culture), Hitler's instruments of terror, treatment of Jews, the role and treatment of women, concentration camps, and, of course, Germany in the Second World War.

Culture Shock: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette – Germany – Richard A. Lord

Tips on political traditions, building business relationships, and the particular intricacies of setting up a home or office. Understanding the rules of driving and monetary systems, religious practices and making friends.

A House for Mr. Biswas – V.S. Naipaul

Story of Mr Mohun Biswas, an Indo-Trinidadian who continually strives for success and mostly fails, who marries into the Tulsi family only to find himself dominated by it, and who finally sets the goal of owning his own house. Drawing some elements from the life of Naipaul's father the work is primarily a sharply-drawn look at life that uses postcolonial perspectives to view a vanished colonial world.

September

Lord Jim – Joseph Conrad

Originally intended as a short story, the work grew to a full-length novel as Conrad explored in great depth the perplexing, ambiguous problem of lost honour and guilt, expiation and heroism. The title character is a man haunted by guilt over an act of cowardice. He becomes an agent at an isolated East Indian trading post. There his feelings of inadequacy and responsibility are played out to their logical and inevitable end.

Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe

Full title - The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, where-in all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliver'd by Pyrates. Written by Himself. Title explains all.

Wide Angle: National Geographic Greatest Places – Ferdinand Protzman

This is just a brief rant over the pathetic terms of censorship that this blog host implements – a fully presented argument on the issue of censorship will appear at a later date - at the moment I am seething about the ongoing fact that each time I come to post I have to find ways to trick the system.

I know that as far as people go, I am not one of those birds with a filthy sweary mouth. In conversation I’m quite mild mannered (although I do like to chat about ‘unsavoury’ things a lot). I use ‘swear words’ in my writing to add form and colour to characters and situations.

According to this blog host, simple anatomical terms are deemed indecent. Can’t write p-e-n-i- s or w-i-l-l-y, can’t write v-a-g-i-n-a. Can’t even write n-i-p, i.e. the word that begins with ‘n’ and rhymes with ‘zip’. Can’t write e-r-o-t-i-c’. These are words that aren’t even conventional ‘swear words’.

These are all words that I need!

In addition this blog host takes words completely out of context which means I can’t write “Adam took a quick n-i-p of his whiskey”.

Why ever not???

In a short little e-r-o-t-i-c story I wrote (you can find it in the archives: ‘Licentiousness’, July 2008) I only uses words deemed unfit by this host three rimes, and yet there on the screen is a graphic account of a man and a woman in the throes of a s-e-x-u-a-l encounter. So, what really is the point of applying censors when anybody can write filth and post it without any trouble at all, mean while I’m being blocked from writing stone cold nouns in my oh-so-intelligent discourses???

All of this is excruciatingly frustrating! I’m sorry, but I think that the time has come for me to find a more accommodating platform for my musings.

Friday 27^th November

German words spoken - 12, References to hospital dramas- 12 (still apparently obsessed, ah well. Better American hospital dramas than porn, eh)

First Korrekturlesen (proof reading) session with the ‘A Journal’ team. ‘A Journal’ is, as the website says:  Das monatliche Magazin für Studierende der Anglistik und Amerikanistik am Institut für England- und Amerikastudien der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main (The monthly magazine for students of English and American studies at the institute of English and American studies of the Goethe's university of Frankfurt am Main). The little bilingual publication is full of witty articles about Anglophile culture. Since I’m the new (and only) native English speaker on the team the articles had to pass my rigorous sub-editing eye (!?) before being sent off to print.

Here’s an extract from one of my personal favourites:

The editors’ picks for next year’s Nobel Prizes… The Nobel Prize in Medicine goesto…
…. Dr. Derek Shepherd. He is head of neurosurgery at Seattle Grace Hospital. His motto is “It’s a beautiful day to safe lives”. He has made the most important discovery within the domain of medicine: he developed “The Shepherd Method” after his series of clinical trials on previously inoperable tumours. Furthermore, he has conferred the greatest benefit on mankind by being incredibly handsome and, therefore, making many women happier and healthier. [jen]

Every so often the articles are uploaded to the website, check it out kids! http://ajournal.twoday.net/

Sunday 29th November

German words spoken - 7, Bratwursts consumed- 2, Glühwein consumed – 1 mug, References to Jesus- 7

First Sunday of Advent. Whoop, means that we can go to the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market), get into the spirit and eat to our hearts content.

Revellers can go on a guided Tour of the market where you can become acquainted with the market's many culinary specialties and its traditions while learning more about historical and modern Frankfurt.

Frankfurt’s Weihnachtsmarkt can be traced back to the days of performances of ecclesiastical mystery plays, (1393 is the date when the first reference to the Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt appears in official documentation) when the market traders pounced on the opportunity of setting up stalls around the central the Römerberg and selling their wares to revellers. 

Until the 1870s Frankfurt parents used to buy Christmas presents exclusively at the Christmas market. Wooden handcrafted toys and dolls were popular then. These days all sorts of tacky Christmas tat is sold alongside the wooden toys and hand-carved animals for nativity scenes.

Popular attractions at the market include the Nativity Scene, Zwetschgamännla (figures made of decorated dried plums), Nussknacker (carved Nutcracker Gebrannte Mandeln (candied, toasted almonds), traditional Christmas goodies such as Lebkucken and Magenbrot; both forms of soft gingerbread, Christstollen a type of cake with candied fruit, and Bratwurst (of course)! Glühwein: hot mulled wine (with or without a shot of brandy) is my personal favourite to help stave off the cold winter air.

Monday 30th November

German words spoken – 3 (let my mate do all the talking), References to The War- 2

Went with a friend to see the Goethe Haus where the Goethe family lived and where Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (one of the key figures of German literature and the movement of Weimar Classicism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Wrote the canonical Faust) was born in 1749. The house was destroyed during Allied bombing but was restored after the war as close as possible to its original condition and furnishing, giving an insight into what life was like for a reasonably wealthy resident of Frankfurt in the 18th century.

Councillor Goethe (the famed Goethe’s dad) collected books and had a library containing some 2,000 volumes covering practically every field of knowledge. Although now, even though behind protective casing, they’re a tad shabby (half mouldy). In the museum next door there’s a museum offering you a journey through the art of Age of Goethe.

Tuesday 1^st December

German words spoken - 5, References to The War- 4, Offensive banners spotted- 11

Streikwoche in full force. Many lectures cancelled as the students throughout the whole of Germany are allowed to attend special workshops and discussion sessions concerning the current ‘problems’ in the higher-educational system. Slogan is “Education is not for sale”. (Communism, anyone???)

Flyers being handed out saying “Casino Besetzt”. Translation, “Sit-in in the Casino (name of the uni building).” Hundreds of students barricaded themselves in. Things began peacefully, just a people talking about what they expect from the education system, handing out pamphlets etc. Generally peaceful. Then, as more students came (many were anarchist from all around Germany) they decided to sleep there and ‘f*ck sh!t up’. Huge banners appeared, one of them reading: “Who thinks like Germany, thinks like Auschwitz” – inflammatory stuff, especially in the light of the history of the I.G Farben building – and graffiti-ing all over the walls.

Wednesday 2^nd December

German words spoken – 32 (repeatedly saying “Scheiße” and “ficken”), References to the Streikwoche in the press- 6

Streikwoche events turned radical. Uni president, obviously angered and ashamed by the destruction, had requested the students voluntary abandon the occupied building. Anarchists are called such for a reason; they did not comply. So, he called the press and the Rozzes.

Close to a hundred baton-wielding Polizei in riot gear stormed the building and eventually removed all of the students by force. The press were crawling over the place and the evening news was full footage of the crazy events as the story unfolded. €60,000 worth of damage has been done to the building and it’s closed until further notice. All coz of talks about introducing the internationally recognised Bachelor system and a  € 500 fee (currently it’s free) per semester - seems pretty cheap to me, they should try coming to the UK, or, God forbid, the US!

Bit of Commie revolution for you there. But I wouldn’t advise it; you’ll just end up with your head being kicked in by a six foot Polizei.

History of the Westend Campus I.G Farben Building

·         1930 - built as the corporate headquarters of the I.G Farben chemical conglomerate

·         1933 – Hilter’s Nazi party took control of the company

·         1941 – Zyklon B gas invented and manufactured in the building is used in Auschwitz concentration camp

·         1945 –  became the American headquarters of General Eisenhower and the Supreme Allied Command.

·         1995 - US government saw the success of reunification, decided that the German’s weren’t likely to start another war and finally pulled out.

·         1996 - the state of Hesse bought the building and associated land for the Goethe Universität

·         2001 - grand opening of the building for the Goethe Universität, Westend Campus

·         2014 – all Goethe Universität departments will be situated at Westend Campus