Mitten ins Schwarze

Liebe LeserInnen, ich möchte mich zunächst kurz vorstellen. Ich heiße Serena Vecchietti und komme aus Trient eine Stadt im Norden Italiens. Dort habe ich Soziologie und Internationale Beziehungen studiert und mein Studium im März 2013 mit dem Masterabschluss beendet. Danach habe ich für 1,5 Jahre in einem Ausbildungszentrum für Internationale Zusammenarbeit und im Studierendensekretariat der Universität Trient gearbeitet. Jetzt mache ich ein Praktikum beim „Netzwerk Friedenskooperative“ in Bonn im Rahmen des MoVE Programms (Mobilitŕ verso l´Europa = Mobilität nach Europa). Als ich das erste Mal von diesem Programm gehört habe, wusste ich sofort, dass dies genau das Richtige für mich ist.

MoVE ist ein EU-Mobilitätsprojekt, das von der Provinz Trient – Servizio Europa – Ufficio Fondo Sociale Europeo – organisiert und mit Mitteln des Europäischen Sozialfonds finanziert wird. Ziel des Projektes ist es, die italienischen Teilnehmenden in die Lage zu versetzen, neue Perspektiven für ihre berufliche Zukunft in der Europäischen Union zu entwickeln ihre Mobilität innerhalb der EU zu unterstützen, sowie erlernte Fähigkeiten, Fach- und Sprachkenntnisse zu festigen. Dadurch, dass man einen Blick über den „Tellerrand“ hinaus wirft und andere Länder, Kulturen und Arbeitswelten kennenlernt, wird man vom gegenseitigen Austausch bereichert und kann diese Erfahrungen in die heimische Arbeitswelt integrieren. Die Autonome Provinz von Trient bietet jedes Jahr 300 jungen Leuten die Möglichkeit, einen Sprachkurs oder ein Praktikum in Ländern der Europäischen Union zu machen. Die Teilnehmer des Projektes werden durch strenge Kriterien bei einer Sprachprüfung und einem Kolloquium ausgewählt. Die Plätze im Programm sind sehr begehrt: ein Praktikum in Ausland, und vor allem in Deutschland, wird von Unternehmern in Italien sehr hoch gewertet.

Der Projektpartner ist die Akademie für Internationale Bildung (AIB) in Bonn. In diesem Jahr erstreckt sich das Programm über 16 Wochen, vom August bis Dezember 2014. Insgesamt haben zehn junge ItalienerInnen daran teilgenommen. Nach 2 Wochen intensiven Sprachunterrichts in multinationalen Klassen in einer Bonner Sprachschule, absolvieren die Teilnehmerinnen ein 13-wöchiges Praktikum. Exkursionen und auch die Besichtigung von kulturell bedeutenden Schauplätzen in der Umgebung, eröffnen den Teilnehmenden die Möglichkeit, Land und Leute aus einer anderen Perspektive kennenzulernen. Die TeilnehmerInnen sind in deutschen Gastfamilien in Bonn und Umgebung untergebracht. Während der ganzen Zeit werden regelmäßige Praktikumstreffen durchgeführt, in denen Erfahrungen, Erfolge, aber auch Probleme angesprochen werden. Am Anfang definieren alle TeilnehmerInnen ihre Ziele für das Praktikum. Durch wöchentliche „Praktikumstagebucheinträge“ erhalten die Praktikanten die Möglichkeit, ihre Ziele zu überprüfen und zu schauen, was sie schon erreicht haben und was vielleicht noch bis zum Ende verändert werden muss, um die Ziele zu erreichen. Am Ende des Praktikums findet in einem gemeinsamen Gespräch eine Abschlussreflektion statt. Während der ganzen Zeit werden die Praktikanten durch Susanne Jansen, die Praktikumskoordinatorin der AIB, betreut. Nach erfolgreicher Teilnahme an dem Programm erhalten die Teilnehmer den „Europäischen Mobilitätspass“ und zusätzlich die Möglichkeit die offizielle Deutsch-Prüfung (Niveau C1) am Goethe Institut in Trient abzulegen.

Die 10 ItalienerInnen sind jetzt seit 14 Wochen in Bonn. Sie haben ein Stückchen des Sommers erlebt, sie sind durch einen warmen und bunten Herbst gelaufen und jetzt können sie die weihnachtliche Atmosphäre der Stadt genießen. In ihren Praktikum haben sie viel erlebt und gelernt. Nicole und Samuele, die in Italien ihr Abitur im Juli 2014 gemacht haben, arbeiten in einem Hotel. Federica und Federico, die ihren Masterabschluss in Architektur gemacht haben, arbeiten in Architekturbüros. Marco, der sein Studium mit dem Masterabschluss als Ingenieur beendet hat, in einem Ingenieurbüro. Francesca und Stefano haben einen Master in Internationale Beziehungen gemacht und arbeiten bei DVV International und der Ijgd. Alessandra, die noch studiert um Dolmetscherin zu werden, arbeitet bei einem Filmprojekt und Francesca, die eine neusprachliche Schule besucht hat, im Informationsbüro der Stadt Bonn.
Wie schon erwähnt, arbeite ich beim Netzwerk Friedenskooperative: eine große, unbekannte und interessante Welt, in einem kleinen, vollen und bunten Büro. Am Anfang meiner Zeit hier war alles noch sehr neu und unverständlich für mich. Mit der Zeit und der Hilfe meiner geduldigen Kollegen, Kristian, Philipp und Marvin, hat sich aber Vieles geklärt. In den letzten zweieinhalb Monaten habe ich viel von der Friedensbewegung in Deutschland erfahren und jeden Tag einen Stückchen mehr von der enormen Arbeitsleistung des Netzwerks Friedenskooperative verstanden. Ich hatte die Möglichkeit an Mitgliederversammlungen der Kooperation für den Frieden und der Kampagne „atomwaffenfrei.jetzt“ teilzunehmen. Ich konnte außerdem an dem interessanten Konversionsprojekt der zivilen Nutzung der Ermekeilkaserne mitarbeiten. Durch diese Erfahrung habe ich viel über Kommunikation und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit gelernt. Mit viel Unterstützung habe ich kleine, informative Filme mit Interviews gedreht sowie Logos und Plakate für Kampagnen grafisch bearbeitet.

Durch meinen Aufenthalt in Deutschland habe ich viel gelernt. Ich habe neue Fähigkeiten erworben, die ich bei meiner zukünftigen Arbeit in Italien nutzen kann, und gleichzeitig habe ich mein Deutsch verbessert. Was meine Erfahrungen jedoch am stärksten geprägt haben, sind die Menschen, die zu diesem Erleben beigetragen haben: die Gesichter meiner Zeit in Bonn 2014.

Quelle: rhein:raum - Das Bonner Internetmagazin:
http://rheinraum-online.de/2014/12/08/mitten-ins-schwarze-2/

Shooting Week

At last shooting week has arrived and ready or not, all of the students must begin the process of filming for their documentaries. For the next ten days each of us will be traveling all over Europe to capture the essential footage that will ultimately become our films. Some of the films require more legwork than others, and for these, we each have to help each other out. I went with my brother to Spain to assist him with his project.

Upon exiting the plane at the Bilboa Airport, we were greeted with an unexpected summerlike heat. Wrapped in our warm coats and scarves, we quickly shed our extra articles before jumping into a taxi that would bring us to our first hotel. Along with us came one of the AIB student workers, Maren, who was thankfully fluent in Spanish. The subject of my brother’s documentary, a Basque artist and sculpture, would not be greeting us on our first day which left us some time to scout around. The most popular of the artist’s work is in the Bosque de Oma, a nearby forest, and involves a series of living paintings that appear to take form as you walk through the colorful trees. Unfortunately, to get to these paintings, you first had to hike for at least 40 minutes. This may seem like a small feat, but throw 50 lbs. of camera equipment on top of it and it becomes quite a challenge. On the brighter side, we managed to scout our location with sunny skies and very few technical problems.



The second day we met our subject. His three assistants picked us up at our hotel and brought us to the beautiful countryside where the artist and his wife lived. He invited us inside for coffee and after talking for about an hour, we began to prepare the interview. It was difficult to find the perfect spot. At first we thought it’d be best to film it in his studio, but we decided that the art would distract too much from the artists words. We settled to film it in his living room instead. It was clear that the artist and his wife were not so used to being filmed. In the middle of the interview his wife insisted on turning the lights off in the background. Because I couldn’t speak Spanish, I could only hope that my frantic flailing was not so distracting while the subject recounted one of his stories to the interpreter. There were always going to be unforeseen problems while filming, but I had never expected the interviewee to remove his microphone while we were filming.

Despite some issues, our kind hosts were nice enough to take us to din-ner afterwards. They insisted that we try the traditional foods in the region which included squid soaked in “ink” sauce and the “fresh” cod that you had to chew for at least a minute before you could even consider swallowing it. Luckily for us, the Basque wine proved to be just as delicious as its creators boast.



Our last day was spent hiking once again through the forest. Which meant, after waking up at 6 am, another 40 minute hike with all of our camera gear. This proved to be a very good idea because after we had finished filming amongst the quiet, peaceful trees with pleasant weath-er, torrents of crowds began to arrive and along with them steady drops of rain. Of course, not everything went as we had planned, but things went well enough that a strong documentary will come out of it.

Written by Casey Chavarria

Let’s Talk about the DOK!

Despite the fact that we spent the majority of our four days in Leipzig inside movie theaters, I feel our group left Leipzig feeling like they’d gained a whole lot of life experience. For me the Leipzig DOK festival revealed many eye opening stories to me, while also helping me improve as a documentary filmmaker. Through out the course of the three days most of us watched a total of around eight films. All of the films I saw were amazing, and they showed me that a story can be shown in many different ways.
In order for a documentary to be good, the cinematography does not have to be stunning with shallow depth of field and fiery sunsets in every shot. In fact most of the really good documentaries I saw, were shot with hand held cameras, that didn’t make the subjects look like Victoria’s Secret Models, but rather showed them as they actually are, which is human. Another thing I learned is that its much more interesting to watch someone doing something or living the story rather than watching an interview where they recap a story.
So trying to make our documentaries so they are happening as much as possible in the present, we learned, is very important.
A lot of what I learned at the DOK festival helped me with the actual filming of my doc. After each film played, we could hear the directors talk. All of the directors talked about their personal relationships with their documentary subjects, and how before filming it is important to have trust with your subject. However, during the filming process it is also important to make yourself seemingly not there when the camera is on so as to really capture the moment. This helped me a lot during the filming of my documentary about the Vegetable Orchestra.



I spent a lot of time just hanging out with them and talking to them before turning the camera on. However, once the camera was on I tried to make myself invisible.

One of my favorite films, that most of our group also watched was called Toto and his Sisters. Toto and his sisters was a phenomenal film about an impoverished family that lives in Romania and whose lives have been destroyed by heroine. In particular the film follows the charismatic, optimistic and adorable eight-year-old boy Toto. Toto and his sisters have a father who left them years before and their mother is in prison serving time for drug trafficking. The family lives in a one room apartment, if it can even be called an apartment. They have no bathroom, no running water, no shower, no kitchen and one couch that is used as a bed by all three of the siblings. The film covers their struggle to survive in the mess that is their life.
This documentary was done wonderfully, the film maker was able to capture the endearing childhood hope of Toto who remained positive despite his growing up in adversity. The filmmaker was asked how he was able to sit back and watch things like Anna suffering, and Toto playing with needles without interfering. He said that as a film maker it was more important for him to tell the story than put down his camera and help because in the grand scheme of things his documentary would help more by raising awareness about the subject. Being able to sit back and not interfere is a very important skill in documentary film making.


My other favorite film was a lot less tragic and dark. It was about the theory of six degrees of separation. A Polish film crew had random people select random numbers and letters from a bingo ball roller. They asked six people to carry out very specific tasks that would lead them to their ultimate goal of creating a web separated only by six degrees.

The filmmakers spent two weeks with each one of the six people they met and then at the end of each two weeks they would have that person call another person that might lead them closer to their goal. The movie was not just about the theory but also about the personal relationships and details of the lives of each one of the six people. What was even more fascinating were the stories of each one of the six people that were revealed in this documentary.
Not only were we extremely inspired by the Leipzig DOK festival, and filled with ideas for our own documentaries, but we also got experience mingling and talking to producers and directors at the lounge parties each night. We were able to meet some of the directors of the films we had seen, and ask them for advice about our own documentaries. It also didn’t hurt that the treats they served there were delicious!

Written by Kendall Milton

Speed Dating or Composer Pitch?

“Fill out your bio’s and at the end of this you guys can’t leave this room until each of you has been matched.” Sounds like a speed dating event or something right? Wrong… A vi-tal part of our documentary process is the music that is going to back our stories. Music can create the mood of a film, shape the audiences attention and feelings, establish the time and space of a story, reveal character, create tension or a plot twist… So many crucial and important things come from the music of a film; that it makes perfect sense when going to pick a composer for our documentaries it was treated like a match.com date night. Two weeks before this event, the film group and students from the Musicube Academy met to hear each of us film student’s documentary pitches. Musicube is a film score composition production academy, based here in Bonn and actually at the AIB too. This first meeting was a piece of cake for us. We have been pitching these documentaries since our first weekend in Eifel. It was our second meeting, the pairing, that really got us nervous. On this day each composer from Musicube played three minutes of his or her work along with visual images they thought their music would match well to. Adven-turous music to mountain ranges, epic music to churches, and even hip hop beats to city skylines were shown.

Going into the pitch, many of us were nervous and thinking “how is someone going to make music that’s going to match my topic of Burlesque dancing… or Swordsmithing… or Animal Shelters… or even a Vegetable Orchestra?” But much to our surprise the composers showed an incredible range of music that could be paired to each of our unique stories. After the composers showed their talents, the awkward part came. Feelings from our first high school dance started lurking beneath us. “Do I go talk to that guy? I really liked his songs. I think he wants to work with someone else though… I should just go over there. Shouldn’t I? No… I don’t know…” All of these thoughts came rushing when our directors announced it was time to find a match. But eventually the nerves subdued and connections were made. The communication between the composers and us was really enlightening; as for the first time someone really understood the message we’re trying to portray and even knows how to do so through music. At the end of the meeting each of us walked away with something. We gained experience in net-working and a very important newly created partnership that will be shown in our final documentaries.

Written by Jocelyn Cooper

Light Me Up

“Let’s make it a noir!”
“Let’s make it a western!”
Let’s make it this, let’s make it that. We had lights, and we had an expensive camera. All we had to do was create the scene. Personally, this was my first experience lighting a set with the amount of equipment we had my excitement fed off of the other’s. Our equally excited cinematography professor, Jens arrived early to Cologne rented, picked up the gear and trucked it south to Bonn. All for us! I will admit, the opening lecture was complicated. It covered the most technical components of lighting, down to the equation to calculate the correct wattage one will need for lighting. In spite of the confusion, he motivated us right from the start. The first lecture started to make sense as he urged us to figure out which light to use where.
Sam Zook and myself decided to share the role of key grip. We reported to our Director of Photography, who in this case was also Jens. He mostly gave us pointers that allowed for more creativity on our part. It was a ton of fun deciding how to light the scene. Collectively we decided to set up a noir scene. Using the passion Jens imbued us with, we created a beautifully moonlit scene using 100 Watt Fresnel Lens light. Essentially it was the best light we had that could sufficiently mimic moonlight sneaking into a window. Next, we were charged with lighting the interior. The key grip role shifted to another pair of students who decided to give the room a midday feel. Far different that what Sam and I set up, but an invaluable learning experience none the less.



After a day of lighting a scene multiple ways we were ready to take the fresh skills and apply them on the set of an actual shoot. With our C300 camera and myriad of lights, filters, and stingers we set to work building up a fancy set inside an elevator. The coolest thing about this shoot is we all had an opportunity to pick a job and try it. I got to direct, act as assistant camera, and your good old best boy. Directing a full crew was certainly a challenge, but Jens had great vision and was able to help me and the other students along the way. I had never been an AC before, but always thought of it as such an unsung hero, or underdog-y type of job. The key responsibilities I had as AC was two fold: I was St. Peter of the camera. The DP was God and she hired me to guard the pearly gate that was the very, very expensive camera. Second, I had to maintain the focus of the camera. That job itself included little miniature jobs like racking in and out of focus from focal point to the next.

Everyone got the chance to try brand new things and we all learned so much. The confidence I got from those two days alone was truly immense. Two days of total immersion into totally new crew positions really pays off. And, we have a great little product to show for it.

Written by Nick Logsdon

Mainz Excursion, New Europe Program

On November 13th, the students of the New Europe Program traveled to Mainz, Germany.

First, we visited the New Synagogue to marvel the unique architecture inspired by Leibeskind and to learn about Jewish-German history. Its unique form is ultra modern yet the individual letter components are ancient. The Sanctuary faces East towards Jerusalem and the dawning of a new day, thus symbolizing a new beginning and faith in the future.The new Jewish synagogue and community center exemplifies the revivification of Jewish life in Mainz.





Then, we went on a walking city tour to see the Cathedral and learn more about the history of Mainz, the second oldest city in Germany. The Cathedral represents the high point of Romanesque cathedral architecture in Germany. During World War ll, Allied bombing of Mainz destoryed 80% of the city, but the cathedral was left almost entirely unharmed.

   

After the city tour, we were guided through the Gutenberg Museum, one of the oldest museums of printing in the world, to learn about the beginning of the mass production of books and the printing press.

Having delicious sandwiches were a perfect way to end a fantastic excursion to Mainz!

AIB student film showing at Berlin International Short Film festival!

Here is what AIB 2013 film alumni Christopher Helkey had to say about his week at the Berlin International Short Film Festival:

"The Berlin International Short Film Festival was an amazing experience. It was right in the heart of down town Berlin at the Babylon Cinema. It was awesome and inspiring to watch some of the best short films from around the world. The festival ran for one week and there was 10 blocks of films that all together totaled around 50 short films. I was lucky enough to have been able to attend every block of films. The talented German composer Steven Settinger who created the music for my film was able to meet me in Berlin and attend the screening with me. The films ranged from short documentaries all the way to intense mystery dramas and horror films. The only limitation for these films was they had to be under the 50 minute time limit.
I felt very honored that my short documentary “The Magic Moment” was selected as one of the films for the Berlin Short Film festival! I made the film well studying abroad in Germany and I felt very blessed to be able to go back to Germany and attend the festival.
It was amazing to see my film play on screen in Berlin. The film was received very well by the audience in the screening. Meeting the other directors and filmmakers who had produced such great films was a very important part of the festival. I met many great filmmakers and made many great connections through the festival. The screenings would happen at night from around 6pm to 9pm. And afterwards I would go out into the city with some of the other filmmakers. It was interesting and fun to meet and talk about filmmaking with filmmakers from other countries. The whole experience was both amazing and professionally rewarding."

Here is a link to some photos from Berlin:
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s126/sh/5440a961-7ace-4bef-b8bf-c884714708c7/d81858b401a0337558e39fa1969d888b

After making the video public a week ago right before Christopher left Bonn it had gotten over 90 thousands views online. Many major online sites have done articles about it. Here is one of those articles:
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/11/spectacular-paper-pop-up-sculptures-designed-by-peter-dahmen
 
and here is the link to his film:
https://vimeo.com/98760774
 
Christopher was also contacted by a producer at WGN-TV Morning News in Chicago who is going to air part of the film!!

Rhine and Dine

The Rhine Cruise morning began like all mornings seem to begin here in Germany: frigid and early. Our bus dropped us off in a tiny village along the Rhine River that resembled the Eiffel in a lot of ways with its medieval style buildings and cobble stone streets. We stopped at a little bakery before embarking on the boat, and our Professor Mikael Kreuzriegler generously bought our group a bunch of jelly filled donuts, that we gorged on. By the time we stepped on the boat we looked like a group of jelly donuts ourselves with the amount of sugar we had coating our clothing and faces.

The Rhine cruise, was worth it despite the torrid weather and provided us with a picturesque view of the rustic castles, vineyards, churches, and medieval homes dotting the hills along the river. Our group sat in lawn chairs on the deck of the cruise and taught each other how to use the different settings of our camera to achieve the ultimate photo. We talked about our documentary plans and the amount of unexpected cultural differences we had experienced in Germany so far. Everything felt surreal as we glided past castles and archaic buildings on the Rhine, which looked like a ribbon of sky next to the green hills. We got off at our “port” in another little village, where we ate lunch. We enjoyed a traditional German meal of Schnitzel and fries, which we’ve all grown quite accustomed to. We were feeling rather lethargic after the relaxing meal and amiable conversation. However, this feeling lasted only a short while, after all what is a German excursion without a treacherous hike up to the top of a castle?

After lunch Olaf Brodersen rounded us up and marched us up an endless set up steep stone stairs. When I say marched, I do mean he marched to the top, while others of us dwindled along and used the “picture taking excuse” to catch our breath along the way. When we got to the top of the hill, the castle very much resembled the castle from our excursion to the Eiffel except this one was particularly striking because you could look over the wall of the castle and see a view of the Rhine River and all the buildings scattered around it. Our group took this opportunity to take a plethora of Gopro selfies with the epic background behind us, which made for some like worthy profile pictures later. We then toured the castle lead by our very knowledgeable tour guide who once again reaffirmed us in our belief that living in 2014 is far better than living in 1514. We were taken to the torture chamber where we learned about some of the atrocious torture and punishment techniques used on people who broke laws in and around the castle. One punishment, for example, was when a woman was caught committing adultery she would have to wear a metal mask that resembled the snout of a pig. When she would put it on it would pull her head down forcing her to crawl on all fours like a pig would. Ironically after most of the girls in our group heard this form of punishment we snorted, like pigs, with disgust. After browsing the gift shop we made our way back down to the bus, feeling a bit conflicted about our next activity, which involved cheese tasting. It felt a little strange to be on our way to celebrate Germany’s cheese after seeing images of people being stretched to death.



Nevertheless we made our way back down and loaded back on to the bus. To a couple of the students dismay, myself and some other girls in our group decided to convert our bus into a musical theater production on wheels by singing the entire soundtrack from Wicked all the way to the cheese dairy.
When we reached the cheese dairy we got off the bus buzzing with noise, half of us humming to Wicked, the other half groaning at the humming. Our tour of the cheese dariy was very interesting we were lead through the basement past barrels and barrels filled with cheese that was far older than us. We learned about the tradition of German Cheese Princesses.
This is a German tradition similar to Miss America, only the Cheese Princesses actually knows how to find Africa on a map and not only that but they have to be extremely educated on the subject of their region’s cheese. Once a Cheese Princess is elected from each one of the regions along the Rhine River, one will become the German Cheese Queen through a series of competitions. If a princess is crowned Queen she will travel all over the world and try and educate people about German cheese, so lets hope she can find Africa on a map! We learned about the process of making cheese and that German cheese is so unique, because the soil by the Rhine contains certain nutrients that give German cheese its exclusive flavor. German cheese making and German cheese festivals are a huge part of the German culture and have been prevalent in Germany since the days of castles and metal pig masks as a form of torture. People used to eat more cheese than water back in the early centuries because the water was dirty and the cheese was delicious. They would go through several kilos per person a day. We left the cheese diary and got back on the bus and made our way down the street to another cheese diary.

Here we enjoyed a delicious, and romantically lit meal, surrounded by candles in a quaint stone room. Laughing and conversing was a great way to end the day.

On the bus ride home we were a full-fledged Broadway musical.
We arrived back in Bonn slightly buzzed and exhausted, but it was the good kind of tired, the kind of tired one feels after a productive day.

By Kendall Milton

The IBC in Amsterdam

On Saturday September 13th, the group woke, met at the Bonn Hauptbahnhof and boarded an early train to Amsterdam - all in the name of film.
While this city is known as the party capital of Europe, our group had much more important intentions. We were there to see, “the essential global meeting place for everyone engaged in creating, managing and delivering the future of electronic media and entertainment technology and content,” or the IBC.

This quote, taken directly from the International Broadcasting Convention website is the best way to compass the tradeshow that IBC is. Companies, businessmen, students, and technology lovers from all over the world flock to the RAI convention center to showcase and learn about the latest and greatest technology, and we were a part of the crowd! Specializing in technology ranging from cameras, to video chat services, to software, to projections, to satellites and everything in between, the IBC is extremely popular and brings very well known companies like GoPro, Cannon, Red, Sony, Adobe and many, many more together. This was an absolute heaven for us film lovers and industry aspirers.



At the convention we were able to attend seminars on things like the latest editing software, learn from the company’s representatives themselves in detail about the technology, and hands on try out and experiment with all of the products!

The last aspect was probably the most exciting part about the entire visit. We were able to explore the tradeshow, find exhibits of some of our favorite technologies and then actually use them. We got to try on steady cams, operate drones, and even practice on Red and ARRI cameras that movies like The Social Network, Gravity, and Gone Girl have all been shot on.
One of the most memorable experiences was after the ARRI presentation, we ran into guest speaker Phedon Papamichael. Now to many people, a name like “Papamichael” sounds like a fictional character; however, to us he is very, a very important person! Papamichael is an incredibly talented and renowned cinematographer known for films like “The Pursuit of Happiness” and “Sideways.” This was the cherry on top of an already amazing experience! We were completely starstruck when we got to meet him, but he was a really awesome guy and took some time to talk to us about his methods for lighting, setting up shots and his opinions on cinematography related topics. We even got some pictures with him, too!



Attending the IBC was a once in a lifetime experience and it really let all of us “nerd out” about the equipment that makes our passions come to life. We came back to Bonn the next evening with so much experience and knowledge about the industry, the products, and the direction the future of technology is heading; also with a great story of meeting one of the top cinematographers of our time.
Not only did we have an unforgettable experience that made us realize how incredibly lucky we are, but it made us very excited for our futures in the film field.

By Jocelyn Cooper

The Narratives

The first major keystone of our experience here in Bonn is without a doubt the Narrative Projects.
Within the first weeks in Germany, we as a group decided on four scripts, written by four of our own students to be made into films. After several weeks of instruction on directing, lighting, cinematography, we were ready to begin the process of turning these screenplays into reality.
Castings were exciting days for everyone. Dozens of German actors revel at the fact that they have the chance to be in a film made by a “Los Angeles Filmmaker”.
As the casting calls were set up, the four separate teams of filmmakers ready themselves for a series of auditions. One performer after another gave their rendition of the characters that we had laid out on paper. An experience that would normally be very stressful was surprisingly exciting and educational. Most of us had never experienced a casting call with so many options and with actors so motivated to become the character you created. By the end of the week, the choices were made, and it was time to move on to shooting.
The next few weeks were stressful. The various group’s producers were frantically trying to organize call sheets, props, and transportation for the shooting days. Meanwhile, the directors and cinematographers worked out a shot list and style for the film. Everyone’s job was important. Some people were prepared for their duties; others had never done them before.



I was the director of the film called “Sight Seeing”. This was a charming story about a clever food stand owner who beguiles a group of tourists into buying his food. The objective was simple enough, but the actuality of shooting this film was astounding. There are always going to be problems that you can never predict will happen on a film shoot, and this project was no exception. We had only one filming location, but this may have already been a grave mistake. The Bonn University building, our establishing shot, had a beautiful cinematic look to it; however, the amount of foot traffic it received was infuriating to say the least. While I struggled to get the shots I needed, my sound guy was getting a headache from all the bikes, planes and sirens ruining our takes. My script supervisor was acting as a human barrier to prevent people from walking into the scene, and my very pale actor was beginning to look like a lobster in the scorching sun. Some people were saying that it was the hottest day Germany ever had in September. By the end of the first shooting day, everyone was exhausted. Personally, I thought it went rather well.

The second day proved to be more efficient. The “first day jitters” were gone and the crew was much more acclimated to their roles. The hard part was over, now we could start being real filmmakers. Despite completely different lighting conditions, broken props, and a lack of extras, the crew was able to pull together and get the shots we needed. At one point, we had the producers, the cameraman, and even the director acting as extras in the film.
Perhaps we could have done things a little differently or planned a little better, but everyone there that day learned what it takes to be on a film set and the challenges you face. Now all that’s left was to bring the film to the big screen.

By Casey Chavarria

MY BERLIN

Berlin. A city so dense with history it worried most of us. How were we to take in all of the information that was about to be presented?
In a short period of four days we would learn more about the Nazi era, Cold War Germany, and Reunification than we thought we ever could. The nature of our trip to Berlin was based on independence. Rather than sit in a class room and listen to a professor drone on and on about seemingly the same thing it was on us to go out and learn something. Thankfully, the AIB gave us the tools we needed to get the best possible learning experience.
There were many wonderful pieces to our Berlin excursion, but the keystone day was our individual cultural learning days. We divided into four groups and were given a location, a person, and a time. We just had to get there. The four categories all combine to create a portrait of Berlin. The first was a multicultural tour. Here students met with a Turkish guide who lent her knowledge of immigration to Germany and the issues surrounding the influx of Turkish and other Arabic men, women and children. Next was the Cold War and the division of Germany after the second World War. One group had the opportunity to learn about Berlin street art and how influential those pieces are in the culture not only of the present but of the past. However, the group I was a part of was tasked with finding out about what life was like in the GDR. Our instructions were few: find place, visit place, meet guide, present what we learned.



Ultimately, it was on us to rally our minds and focus on what we were witnessing because each of the places we visited and each of the guides we talked with had very important places in German history.
Fast forward past the bus and public transport mishaps and you find us staring up at the daunting sign “You are now leaving the American Sector.” This imposing symbol marks the border of West Berlin to East Berlin where various United States and Allied guards, diplomats, and of course a strapping John F. Kennedy were all received into East Germany. The remains of the actual checkpoint are few. McDonalds, department stores, and Pommes stands dot the site where Allied and Soviet tanks met at a standstill. Some Germans dressed as Americans posed with tourists in front of the lone checkpoint. That was a little strange. Our day was beginning to look like a tourist’s dream, until we met Rolf.
A wild-eyed toothless man waddles up to our group of four. Startling us with his enthusiasm, he ushers inside, assuring us that we are about to get the inside tour. Little did we know... Rolf began by giving us an explanation of the GDR and the history of the division of Germany; largely information we already knew. His speech begins to turn into a ran about current German politics. Oh brother. How long will this last? Fortunately, he casually throws in a bit of information that throws off the group.






“I smuggled 129 East Germans into West Germany.”
Woah, woah, Rolf. Hold on a second. Our group of four simultaneously dropped our jaws. We ask him to repeat that. And sure enough, he leads us to his photo inside the museum confirming exactly what he had just said. Following that, he talks about how he was imprisoned by the secret police, the Stasi. For nine years, they beat him and interrogated him. His teeth now made perfect sense. Rolf explains that his wife always asks him to fix up his mouth. But he refuses. His gums are a symbol for the trials of East Germans. He was sentenced to fifteen years, but fortunately for him and everyone the wall came down sooner rather than later.
The tour went on, and Rolf continued to wow us with the amount of political heroes he knew and his seemingly endless knowledge of not just the GDR, but the whole of Germany and its history.
Our time with Rolf sped by. But, I can say with a cross on my heart, that I have never learned more at a museum that day. We were forced to engage and learn. We were given the hammer, all that was left was hitting the nail on the head.

By Nick Logsdon

Cologne day Trip

At the beginning of our third week in Bonn, we traveled about thirty miles down the Rhine to the city of Cologne. During our day trip in Germany’s fourth biggest metropolis we learned that it comprises a distinct city culture, remarkable Roman remains, and lots of Schnitzel.

However, the most prominent feature, undoubtedly, is the Dom Cathedral. Towering over 157 meters into Cologne’s skyline, the Cathedral was once the tallest building in the world. When we arrived at the front of the grand structure, with our backs almost in a full bend just to see the top, we all looked at each other in worry.

Were we really going to climb all the way to the top of that!?

Inner fears of heights, elevators, and even exhaustion from stair climbing kicked in. The carefully crafted, black stained stone, fairytale land gargoyles looked down at us, captivating our interest. How could we not take advantage of an exclusive tour of one of the most beautiful, magical looking, artistic creations of all time?



Our fears and apprehensions simmered, and we all jumped on the elevator to the first tier above ground. The initial step onto concrete after exiting the glass box riding the outside of the building cued a sighs of relief. The Cathedral might have withstood two world wars, but that elevator definitely would not have. We followed our tour guide, as his long black hair and jacket blew behind him, and boots clicked with every step down the tiny hallways through the archways, and around the organ.

Suddenly, we transformed into students at Hogwarts following Professor Snape throughout the castle many of us fantasized about as adolescents. Every component of the Cathedral reminded us of the novel, from the spooky black stone, to the tall ceilings, obscure doorways and tiny stairwells.



As film majors, we tend to let our imagination take over sometimes- and this is what probably was happening - but there was just a Hogwarts aura that we couldn’t shake off. We exited, what in our minds looked like a secret door, to the outside of the first level roof - and our magical wizardry powers quickly disappeared. The railings seemed to disappear as we looked down to the people below us, and our fears became very real again. Embellished stonework and spires surrounded us; and as we learned the time and skill that goes into creating them, our beliefs returned. The statues and stone structures had to have been created with magic. The detail and complexity was so incredible, that we came to the conclusion there is no other way they could have been made.

Feeling more confident and secured in the powers of the Dom, we left the outside and entered a very tight winding stairwell. With each step resembling the way to Dumbledore’s office, we climbed on, and on, and on… Each time we were convinced we had climbed long enough, Professor Snape - I mean our tour guide - would shake his head and signal us to keep going.



When we thought we would collapse if we had to climb one more stair, the real powers of the Dom were revealed. The bright light struck the stairwell as the doors overhead opened and we slowly climbed out onto the highest standing point of the building. A crystal clear view of the two towers in the front of the Cathedral, the Rhine, the Roman Empire arch, the apartment buildings, the street performers, the protesters, the city shoppers… every inch of Cologne was finally in sight. While the Dom is an incredibly striking, massive structure that belongs in a fantasy novel, the true magic of the place is the understanding of the city it gives. Not only could we physically see all of the city, but the Dom has also been apart of the majority of its history. This gave us a full spectrum insight to Cologne.

Although we had to leave our magical fantasy at the Cathedral, we left Cologne with a powerful understanding of the city and an experience we will always remember.

By Jocelyn Cooper

Editing Week

Fresh and energized from the Monday excursion to Cologne, the film program quickly got down to business for their first week of editing class. This week, with the addition of a film screening Tuesday night and two days of casting that ran after hours at the new AIB, proved to be an intense test of academic endurance. On Tuesday morning, the program was introduced to Andreas Frowein, who will be instructing editing classes for the entirety of the semester. Andreas has taught film at various universities across Eu-rope and the world and is especially knowledgeable with editing software and the tech-nical side of post production.

Shortly after Professor Frowein’s introduction, he began teaching the basics of Avid Media Composer, the primary editing software being instructed to the film group from Los Angeles. Avid, along with Final Cut 7 and Adobe Premiere Pro, is a top-of-the-line “industry standard” software that many professional filmmakers prefer. He taught the foundational techniques of editing with Avid to enhance our filmmaking tool belt and help us maintain a well rounded background as we move forward in our film education. To get a hands-on experience, each student received some video files transferred to cut together on their own. It was difficult to get used to the flow of a software program like Avid, but once we got into it, things started moving more smoothly. This little scene we had to edit, would be the class’s first project that would be due at the end of the week.

After spending the first day in the editing lab, the class had more lecture-style instruction the second day, learning more of the theory and conceptual purpose of editing for film. In the second portion of day two, and in order to do a hands-on experiment students shot a scene with two cameras and three actors from the class. Jocelyn Cooper, Nick Logsdon and John Capone acted and improvised a scene. Following the three actors improvising for the class, Andreas decided it would be worth shooting for real and not just experimenting with physical demonstration. Kendall Milton took the helm as director of the scene along with Sam Zook and Victoria McCurrie as camera operators. The content of the scene progressed in a light-hearted and comedic manner with Logsdon and Capone developing an interesting chemistry. But perhaps the most important thing, we learned difficult shooting and editing techniques.

Overall, it was an intense week of work both in the editing lab and in overall discussion and planning for the nearing shoot dates of the narrative projects. The students put many hours in the editing labs not only to familiarize themselves with Avid but to also put together a smooth and polished cut of their scenes.

It’s shaping up to be an exciting semester with Professor Frowein!

By John Capone

Once Upon a Time in Germany

On August 23rd our Bonn Film 2014 group, still strangers to one another, heaved ourselves into a bus rubbing sleep our eyes at 7:45 am, and returned late afternoon on August 25th no longer strangers. Through the course of the weekend we were brought together through a series of interesting activities. We sagged against the bus seats and dozed off as we started our 45 minute voyage to the Eifel. Our first stop was a monastery which was a beautiful church surrounded by remote stretches of grass dotted with various farm animals. Some of us sought entertainment in the monastery in dubbing voices for the rooster and his fifty hen mistresses that were in a pen near our bus, while the majority of the group attended a Catholic service at the monastery lead by the monks who reside there. It was very formal and the entire service was carried out in Latin. Most of us were extremely fascinated by the level of devotion to their faith these men had. We learned that they are rarely allowed to leave the monastery once they agree to be a monk for life, and that during meal times they are not allowed to speak to one another. Judging by the animated conversation going on at all our meals on this trip, I don’t think any of us would make successful monks. Our class loaded back up into our bus, and some of us were engaged in deep conversations about the idea of religion and where we were personally in our levels of faith.

At our next location we shuffled out of the bus and looked up in awe at the rustic castle looming over us. The castle looked so magical I half expected a dragon to come soaring over our heads. Rainer, who served as our own personal tour guide, led the group up to the castle while we all eagerly snapped “artsy” pictures. Rainer proceeded to take us through the castle and gave as an extremely interesting and informative tour. I am not sure if our group was more horrified to learn about the deadly battles that occurred in the castle hundreds of years before, or the fact that people used to have to sleep sitting up right because their hair styles were too complex to lay flat on. We all came to the conclusion that we are thankful not to have been born in the 1500s because of several reasons, including the brutal torture techniques that were used as forms of punishment, the fact that people used to climb through the toilet hole to attack the castle, but mostly because none of us would have wanted to date any of the creepy people gazing back at us from the portraits on the walls.



We loaded back into the bus and continued on our journey. We enjoyed a delicious lunch, and most of us ordered authentic German Schnitzel. After lunch we arrived in Monreal, a quaint little town with a population close to fifty people. The town is a cluster of little houses that appear frozen in medieval times. Glistening rivers flow under little canals and vibrant flower boxes hang in front of every window sill. It’s a quiet little town with only one hotel, and the entire distance can be walked in a matter of minutes. Rolling hills loom over Monreal and the majestic ruins of some castles sit on top of the hills. Rumors told me the Germans are active people and they weren’t lying. Our group endured three vigorous hikes over the course of our next two days at the Eiffel, and one began right when we arrived. Our youth proved little assistance to our hiking abilities, in contrast to Rainer who whizzed straight up to the top of the mountain. On the way up there was lots of stopping to “take pictures”, which really meant stopping to “catch our breath before passing out while keeping up the facade that we are actually, in fact, in good in shape.” However, when we reached the top our trek proved to be completely worth it. The view of the town was incredible and we must have brought some California sunshine with us because the weather was perfect. Some of us were not satisfied with just being on top of the hill, and we climbed up a winding stair case in one of the castle towers so we could be as high up as possible; proving we do have the mentality it takes to be film makers in Hollywood.

Later that night we hiked up another mountain. During our night hike we carried lighted torches. It proved for a very entertaining experience accompanied by lots of off key singing and myself nearly lighting my friend Kiana’s hair on fire. The hike following that one was not as carefree. It was a sunrise hike at six am the next morning, and despite the fact that we had to be up before the sun, the hike was extremely worth it. Rainer led us through a mystical forest and past fields of corn and little farm houses. We saw lots of sheep lounging in little pens, and sampled lots of sweet raspberries growing on the bushes. When we returned and had our morning eggs and coffee they tasted extra tasty after our morning workout.

We spent our days at a quaint little wine house that also doubled as a hotel for the duration of the weekend. The girls slept there, while the boys had houses to themselves. We ate most our meals at this wine house and all of the meals were delectable. We enjoyed a variety of delicious German foods including roasted pig with a delicious sauce, fresh eggs, fresh ham, some of the best bread I have ever tasted, Crčme Brulé with berries, homemade soup and more. All of our directing classes were also held in this place, and by the end of the weekend it felt like home.



We had several classes and exercises which included pitching the top eight narrative script choices and selecting the four the class wanted to make into movies. We also learned a lot about how to tell a story and convey emotions through visual images. One exercise we had to do was all about conveying an emotion just through pictures. In groups of two we had to draw a slip of paper from a pile of others and on these pieces of paper were written two separate emotions most of which were opposites of each other. Some examples of these emotions included bored to excited, naive to mature, and indifferent to excited. We then had to go out into the town with our partner and photograph images that captured these emotions and then juxtapose them next to one another to create a story. After lunch we presented the images on a projector in front of the class. People came up with all kinds of creative and clever ways to tell their stories utilizing nature, animals, buildings and inanimate objects. Our conversations over everyone’s projects became very philosophical and carried out for quite some time.

This project was also a great experience because it seemed to bring together partners who initially had not known each other very well and overall proved to be a great activity for our group.

After classes, and mandatory activities each night included sharing meals with our professors and having heart to hearts with one another about politics, our personal lives, our futures and what constitutes a good Tinder profile picture.
Overall the Eiffel was a success: the views were spectacular, the castles were pretty, the food was appetizing, we learned a lot, experienced a lot and most of all formed bonds with one another and our teachers.

By Kendall Milton

My Host Family

Arrival time at the AIB in Bonn: six in the morning. It’s closed until eight. Fantastic. Michael Hibbs and myself have two hefty packs filled with the stuff we’d been wearing and using for a week during our pre-program trips to Stockholm and Copenhagen. Surely there was a stench, but our trained noses had gotten used to it by our arrival.

It’s closed. Okay. We decided to take a cat nap in a park, not sure of the legality, and not sure how much we’d stand out. I don’t know if two kids toting backpacks and setting up hammocks in a public park describes the locals. Regardless, we slept. And it was a well deserved nap, although not nearly long enough. By 7:30 we were awake again, and packed. We returned to the AIB in hopes of the door being unlocked, but alas! It wasn’t. We were ready to cry. Our week previously had taken it’s toll on us. We’d been unprepared for everything Stockholm, Copenhagen, and the rest of Europe had to offer and there we were stranded outside of our school craving a long nap on anything softer than a park bench.

As we start toward our park encampment, we are called out to by someone from behind. And wouldn’t you know it, he lets us in! Although I promptly forgot his name, we thanked him profusely and immediately fell asleep on one of the many supremely comfortable couches. Finally, the routine had begun; we made it inside the AIB.

The next couple of weeks would require more adjustment but our host families made the adjustment bearable and actually enjoyable. My host mother arrived with an enormous smile. She stretched her arms out for a hug as if we were the prodigal sons returned. It was perhaps the warmest welcome from someone I didn’t know. She helped us load our bags, and drove us through Bonn for a quick tour. Along the way she told us she really just picked up English, about a year and a half ago. That says dedication to the kids she hosts. She emphasized how her and her husband worked hard to learn English not only for the students but for themselves as well. The students get something out of it, and so do the families.

Our home for the semester is fantastic. It’s nice, but it never overwhelmed. Cozy is the best word to describe the place. From pickup at the AIB, I felt at home. I was not nearly as nervous as I was initially.



Because we had just arrived, our host parents prepared a traditional German dinner for us. It was the simplest thing, but every part of the meal felt just right. We met one other student they were hosting for a month and us three immediately connected. Natalia, is her name. She was friendly and cordial right from the start. I really believe it’s my host parents’ desire to respect and care for other kids as if they were their own, that can bring people from multiple countries together. At the dinner table that night, there were two Americans, three Germans and one Grecian. The conversations we had were beautiful, profound, silly, sometimes meaningless but always wonderful.
First nights so often go terribly, but that night was absolutely one of the best first nights I have ever had. I can’t wait for the rest of the semester with this wonderful family.

By Nicholas Logsdon

Former AIB Student Launches Career

One of our film students from 2013, Christopher Helkey, has been doing very well in LA, after he returned from Germany. He is finishing up school and running a small film production company that he just started in LA.

„I used my "The Magic Moment Film" I made in Bonn as a portfolio video which helped me get two huge contracts from two very big clients. I still work with Steven, my composer and I have been able to hire him to create music for several of my clients which is very cool.
I want to thank the AIB for putting on such an amazing program. It really helped me launch my career and jump ahead in my professional film life.“ 

Christopher Helkey

AIB Welcome Party 2014

Shortly following the intense soccer tournament, all AIB students and host families gathered together for fun and merriment. The event was started off right with an introduction from the mayor of Bonn, which included a short history of Bonn and a welcome to all the students. There were mountains of delicious foods and great live music from the local band, Steal a Taxi. Each AIB program had the opportunity to introduce themselves to all the host families and fellow study-abroaders.



The LMU groups opted for just a simple introduction, while the students from Penn State and Texas A&M showed the crowd some famous football chants. The Italian students had the entire audience involved with their crossword that eventually spelled out the opening lines to their national anthem. The AIB did a great job putting together this event where all the students and host families were able to make connections and spread the international love.

Written by Janette Danielson

AIB Soccer Cup 2014

Saturday morning, hoards of American AIB students gathered together in Hofgarten for a friendly and sweaty game of German Fußball, or American soccer. The students were divided into twelve teams of five or six players, each team consisting of a variety of students from the LMU programs: Film, Engineering, New Europe and the Penn State and Texas A&M Landscape and Architecture Programs.

The first games started at 11 a.m. sharp and it was soon clear which teams were going to champion over the rest. Each group was able to take the field to play at least five games while the other students hung by the playing fields, cheering on their friends. Even though the games only lasted a total of four minutes, each one was packed with plenty of action, heart-stopping goals, and amazing saves.

“I really enjoyed the fun competitive nature of the Fußball tournament,” says film student Nick Logsdon. “And it was great meeting students from other schools.”

As the hours passed and the weaker teams were eliminated, only two teams remained, the “Keystone Chillers” and “Team Einstein.” After a nail-biting final match the victor team, the “Keystone Chillers”, was crowned and awarded a bucket of a Bonn specialty, Haribo gummy bears. At the end of the day, all participants learned the value of friendship and the value of wearing cleats.
Written by Janette Danielson

German and American educational system - PPP workshop with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung

BONN – Germany or the United States? Theory or practice? Vocational or academic? Similarities and differences exist between both countries and when it comes to education, there is no exception.
Students of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, a political foundation in Sankt Augustin, came to the AIB last Monday to meet with the 25 CBYX/PPP students and participate in a workshop comparing the German and American educational systems.



In order to get to know each other better, the students were divided into smaller groups and were given 10 different topics to discuss. The topics ranged from homeschooling in the United States to the three-school system in Germany and the role of testing in preparation for the future.
The groups of students then presented their findings to the rest. Some topics were received with strong agreement while others not so much and even stirred minor controversy.

   

Even though the themes of discussion were quite serious, the students got to learn more about them through each other's point of view and first hand experience.
After the discussion, all of the students teamed up with the AIB staff and divided the chores preparing dinner. Cheeseburgers along with currywurst ketchup were more than fitting for the occasion.
Written by Hecko Flores

PPP meeting their Area Reps at the AIB

© Lina Jakobs (Open Door International e.V.)

BONN – Sausages, beer, and a great atmosphere: a typical and borderline-stereotypical German party except for the guests, 25 American students.
The 25 Americans are all participants of the Congress Bundestag Exchange Program, a program supported, as well as funded, by the German Bundestag and United States Congress through a partnership between Open Door International (www.opendoorinternational.de) and the AIB.

The CBYX program provides the students an opportunity to live in Germany for a year to learn about culture, language and participate in internships in their field of interest, ranging from engineering and medicine to business and arts.
For the first seven weeks, the students partake in an intensive language course at the AIB while living with diverse host families all across Bonn. The AIB not only provides German classes but welcomes the students to Germany while easing the transition into everyday life.

On Friday, the AIB hosted a “Wurst Fest” or Bratwurst tasting party for the CBYX participants and their Area Reps with over 8 different types of meats along with the traditional sauerkraut and mustard.


© Lina Jakobs (Open Door International e.V.)

After their time in Bonn, the participants will live in different parts of Germany for the remaining months where they will be assisted by “Area Reps” who are in charge of finding host families and possible internships for the students.
Along with the opportunity to test from a large selection of bratwursts, the party gave the students and their respective Area Reps the first chance to personally interact with one another and talk face to face about their future expectations in their upcoming locations across Germany.

Out of the varied assortments of bratwurst, the students and Area Reps alike chose the Munich Weisswurst and the Rheinische Bratwurst among their favorites, consequently deeming the party at the AIB a great success.


Written by Hecko Flores

25 young Americans visiting

Mayor Reinhard Limbach welcomes exchange students in the old townhall.

“Minsk?”
You can see the question marks on the faces of the 25 American students—most had not heard of the Belarusian capital before.
“What do you love about your work particularly?” Alexandria Bassett asked of the recently elected mayor, Reinhard Limbach. “Things like today,” he answered and explained that he had previously had the pleasure to greet six students from Minsk in a similar appointment. With a short speech, Limbach had first greeted the students in the great hall of the old town hall, and afterwards, there was an opportunity for the students to ask questions. The teenagers are taking part in the CBYX program, which was established by the Congress of the United States and the German Bundestag in 1983 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the beginning of German immigration to the US, and has taken place every year since. All of the participants have graduated from high schools or vocational schools in the United States. They are all qualified for an internship in a field in which they want to gain further experience. The candidates had to undergo a rigorous selection process and are full of expectations. “I’ve always had fun learning languages. I started learning Spanish in school, and later started with German,” says 18-year old Alexandria Bassett, explaining her motivation. All participants are between 17 and 19 years old and are now partaking in an intensive, seven-week language and orientation seminar, which is organized by the Academy for International Education. During this time, they are staying with host families in Bonn.
At the end of this program, the students will visit a German school for up to four months and then will complete an internship with a company. Each of the participants is taken under the wing of a member of German parliament, for example, Ulrich Kelber in Bonn.

The Academy for International Education is always looking for openminded families in Bonn and the surrounding area to take in American students. Interested families can contact the housing coordinator Hilde Koch.

Translated from a "General Anzeiger" newspaper article published in Bonn on July 24th 2014.

BONN NIGHT RUN – Raising money for a good cause!

Every year, the Academy for International Education encourages students to participate in one of the numerous city runs in Bonn to raise money for charities through runner sponsorship.
The Bonn Marathon in April is a firmly established event in our semester long programs.

This summer AIB students participated in the BONN NIGHT RUN (10k) for the first time, and raised a total of € 137,00 (approx. $ 185,00) for our affiliated NGO, the Marol Academy in South Sudan.
What a fantastic night!

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE LMU SUMMER STUDENTS & PROFESSORS FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS YEAR'S BONN NIGHT RUN!

AND A BIG THANKS TO THE DONORS!!!

Exploring German Society

The Students from Wesley Theological Seminary successfully completed an immersion trip throughout Germany. During their 2-week stay in Germany, the students and their professor, Scott Kisker, had the chance to explore German society, culture, and theology at various sites and places. Their excursions took them to Bonn, Worms, Mainz, Aachen, Maastricht, Cologne, the Eifel region, Heidelberg, Reutlingen, Tübingen, Munich, and many more places. One of the various highlights of the trip was to the Methodist Annual Conference in Heilbronn, where the students got the opportunity to join a church service with about 2000 German Methodists. The students additionally visited the School of Theology, a Methodist Seminary, in Reutlingen. During their visit, they spent two nights on campus, participated in a lecture by Prof. Dr. Ulrike Schuler, and had a chance to exchange their experiences with German theology students at a social get-together with traditional German food. The Wesley students also enjoyed touring the roof top of the Cologne Cathedral, seeing the tomb of the Three-Wise Men, and exploring the Cathedral of Charlemagne.

Overall, the program was a great success!

Visiting IBIT

On Tuesday 27th, 2014, a group of AIB students of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, visited the IBIT (International Training Centre for Crowd Safety Management). The students are studying "Recreation, Sport Leadership and Tourism Management" at the AiB at the moment.

The IBIT (based in Bonn, Germany) aims to provide standards, education and professional training to all involved in planning, organizing and managing crowd safety. An interdisciplinary team of experts develops the practical content of the IBIT education program and is available for consulting services covering all challenges concerning crowd management.

IBIT is involved in various national research projects and member of various associations related to crowd safety management.

The students had a great time learning about the basics of crowd and safety management, and the IBIT GmbH enjoyed their visit.

Attention! AIB Charity Weekend VIDEO!

Dear AIB friends,
faculty, students and colleagues,

as you have heard, the AIB charity weekend was a great success.
You can now see what more than 80 AIB students were able to accomplish that weekend by watching a short video (4.38 min.)
(Posted on our Youtube-channel: http://youtu.be/NPOs36hhZtA)

Here is an article on it from Texas A&M University's website:
http://one.arch.tamu.edu/news/2014/4/15/big-event-tradition-europe

Many thanks again to everyone for supporting the AIB charity weekend!

The AIB Team