Politically Correct in Cologne

I just got back (yesterday) from a seminar in Cologne. It was all about integration in German schools, which is a hot topic right now. Participants included the twenty Diversity Initiative grantees (myself included), some teachers and administrators from around Germany, a group of minority education students, and some random bureaucrats. After arriving Tuesday afternoon, we went to visit the Cologne Cathedral, allegedly the most perfect example of Gothic architecture in Europe. Apparently, this is because it wasn't completed until the end of the 19th century, when various technological advances made the work a lot easier. Also, the time which had elapsed since the height of the Gothic period had allowed art historians to agree on the meaning of Gothic. This is the cathedral (Dom) at night:
I'm pretty excited about the night function on my camera. Anyways, after visiting the Dom, we went to a local mosque, which was quite a contrast. It's one of the largest in Cologne, which literally thousands of members, but it's in an old factory. Very industrial. We had tea and cookies and a really interesting discussion with one of the outreach specialists, a female theologist, about the services provided there, the community structure, and the whole integration thing. The mosque helps people with all kinds of things that I would either try to manage alone or turn to a school or government center for, including extracurricular activities and sports, tutoring, scholarship information, language classes, music, help with visas, etc.
Then we went to another semi-industrial building for a buffett. But even Fulbrighters have to sing for their supper, so first we had to sit through speeches, including one by the Consulate General of Duesseldorf, Mr. Matthew Boyse. This man (and his silly speech) make me wonder why I'm not already Consulate General somewhere. I've got to be at least as qualified as him, and my German is certainly better. Seriously, I just can't understand it. Oh, wait! I lack powerful friends. Would one of you please hurry up and become president?
The next day, we went to the America Haus to workshop about integration. I would have taken some pictures, but the America Haus has tighter security than several airports I could name, which strikes me as quite vain, and I wasn't allowed to take my camera in. It took close to an hour to get all the participants in the door. Maybe it was just on my mind from the speech the night before, but again, no wonder America has image problems. There are tons of wonderful English language, American culture resources there, but they're all so well protected that no one uses them.
The focus in my workshop group was mostly differences between American and German schools, and what could be adopted into the German system to foster successful integration. It was a little strange for me, because I never really considered NCHS (my high school) to be a model of successful integration, to say nothing of America in general....but a few things, like the central role high school can play in an American community, bilingual/immersion elementary schools, and literacy initiatives and libraries (many German schools, including mine, don't have libraries at all!), really interested the Germans and probably would help the situation. There wasn't enough time to cover everything we wanted to discuss, which was sad. Being politically correct in German takes a long time; the PC expression for immigrants or minorities is "Personen mit Migrationshintergrund." The other problem was that although we hit on some interesting ideas, at no point did anyone clarify what sucessful integration means, and it seems like different people imagine it to take very different forms.
At any rate, it was nice to get away for a few days. Not much changed while I was gone, though. Julian is still in the hospital; our phone's been dead for a week, so that's really just an assumption based on the fact that he's not here. Inga's still pregnant and still not sure if, when, or where she and Patrick will move in together. On the upside, she's over her morning sickness. I am making the best of it.