see my proud collection of college paraphernalia! in contrast to germany, it`s not the first graders in the usa who receive a cornucopia of tools, treats, and sweets upon entering school. it`s the college kids who rake in utensils and free gadgets during the first days of the school year. it doesn't matter if you're undergrad or grad. the convenient abbreviations, by the way, refer to students seeking a bachelors degree on one hand and master and phd titles on the other.
in germany so called Einschulung [the very first day of school in your life] is celebrated just once ever. in the us of a, every year in college seems to start with a celebration. there's free food, little gifts, parties.
my photo mostly just presents the common collection of pens every club, crowd, and college distributes for practical propaganda: the lgbt(q) office [= advocates for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer community - i learnt it's not okay to say homosexual anymore], the sexucal assault response and prevention program, the student union, the graduate school, info experts 24/7, the univesity health center, you name it. well, except for the somewhat transparent bigger pen toward the right. take a guess! of course, you can't sanitaze hands often enough. a spritz here and there from this magic pen will keep every turtle [the mascot of the university of maryland] healthy.
there was not enough room on my table but my collection also includes a big black and green bag, a travel mug, a plastic pouch with hankerchiefs to go, a yo-yo, coasters, adhesive window stickers, and booklets over brochures.
perishable items included sandwiches, wraps, potato chips, chicken legs, cookies, bagels, muffins, orange juice, water, and coffee. all hosts offered vegetarian versions, too.
so after a first week of celebrations & scattered cornucupia contents is was just appropriate that with labor day a three-day weekend came along to digest the goodies!
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2 comments:
an attentive reader of german news brought an article from Sept. 3, 2010 to my attention detailing the German tradition of the Schulüte i.e. school cone on the first day of school. The contribution was published as part of the newsletter "This Week in Germany" distributed by the German embassy:
"Enter the Schultüte, a festive tradition first introduced by 19th-century German parents to sweeten their kids' first day at school and mark it as a major rite of passage. A giant paper cone stuffed with candy and little presents almost as big as the child who receives it, the Schultüte is uncommon outside of Germany.
An unscientific sampling of online discussion forums among German parents based across the globe, for instance at "Rund ums Baby.de", confirms that first graders in the rest of the world generally do not benefit from the "Schultüte" tradition."
Read the entire article:
http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/newsletter/The__Week__in__Germany/TWIG__100903,variant=issue.html
the same attentive reader of german (odd) news also forwarded this reuters article of sept. 3, 2010. be careful, it might be r-rated ;-)
"Children attending the Adolf Reichwein School in the northwestern German city were handed cones containing the pens by members of the German Communist Party, according to the school's headmaster."
More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6823EY20100903
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