Alec, Göttingen 2015/16

Alec Parry is originally from Anchorage, Alaska, which might be one reason why he has gotten so obsessed with Germany and the German weather, yet, as I know for sure, this is not the only one. Alec is a German and Political Science double major and I had the pleasure to have him in two of my classes: “Multiethnic Germany” and “German and Italian Culture through Film,” both in the 2014/15 academic year. Alec has also participated in our Lüneburg semester program (blocks 7 and 8, 2014), but his relationship to German goes much further back. He has had German in high school, traveled to Germany for spring break during his seventh-grade year of school, and spent a summer in Germany with a host family, an exchange that was also organized by his high school. Before he started college, he went on an eight-week bicycle trip across Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, which is certainly more biking than I have ever done in my whole life. He is a big fan of German cake and yet I hope he won’t spend all of his time and money at Cron und Lanz in Göttingen, even though they do have really good cake, I admit that. Alec is also really good at approaching life from alternative perspectives and often assumes a contrarian position. So I especially look forward to hearing about new adventures of “public shaming” which, apparently, happens a lot to Americans over there, as well as other peculiarities and distinct German customs he will discover. I know he’ll have a fabulous time!