I’m presently sitting in the only class taught in English I’ll be taking this term. It’s called “Looking at e-society from an international perspective.” I’m the only native English speaker in the class, and the professor is pretty psyched about having me here for that reason, let alone the fact that I study Anthropology and Information Systems. Pretty sure I’m getting an A in this class.
The prof just stressed the fact that English is in this day and age a global lingua franca–if not the global lingua franca–and so people everywhere now have a kind of social obligation to learn at least basic communication skills in English. I’ve haven’t yet met a single student in Germany who can’t get around in English, and I’ve of course met many who are completely fluent, even never having traveled to the States or the U.K.
To start off the class, the prof had everyone make a nametag and set it on the table in front of them, so she can refer to us by name. I was quickly encouraged include my name on the reverse side of my nametag, too, so the other students could see how my name was spelled (and thus pronounced–I’ve realized it’s so much easier to just tell people my name is “Corner,” because that’s much easier for most Germans to say, plus it’s mnemonic, because it’s a word they already know).
After that, she had each student complete the sentence “E-society is…” My response was typically narcissistically verbose:
E-society is awesome. It’s trendy, yet holds long-lasting implications for the ways culture is transmitted and experienced. E-society has become a vital component in most industrialized societies, providing both affordances and constraints on how ideas and beliefs are shared.
I know, that’s more than one sentence. But I figured I could change all the periods to semicolons if I had to, and that would still be badass. However, the prof revealed her plan to have us tape our answers to the board to stimulate discussion, and of course my scrawl was way too tiny. So I flipped over my colorful oval of construction paper, grabbed a fat red marker, and wrote:
awesome.
’nuff said. That was of course the first response the prof picked out, and I had to defend my viewpoint. After my defense, I was greeted unanimously with the question: “What is a ‘geek’?” No, not like a nerd, I said. So I explained the difference, the prof wrote it on the board, and now I’m all pro or something.
But my favorite response on the board was:
…is very important for handycapped people, because…
[another piece of paper]
so they can do more and more things in front of their computer.
There is a guy in a wheelchair in this class, who came here with his friend pushing him. The friend now has his head down on the table and is asleep. This might be my most moving memory of the whole trip.
I was just asked to explain the concept of “open access” and how it relates to free culture and copyright reform and all that. This is going to be a good term.
I’m going to post now because my battery is empty, and I want to drain it to condition it. Stupid e-society constraints.