A memorial for Dresden

Yes, I have to read all of them for my Internal Assessment in History. If possible, in the next two weeks, so that I can then start my Extended Essay on an again different topic. With the International Baccalaureate, work is never too far off. With spending my afternoon yesterday in the library I started working on my history essay this morning. That means: reading, reading, reading. And taking notes, of course. 2000 words doesn’t seem to be too much, but if you start trying to fit all your information into this word limit, it becomes difficult. My topic is the bombing of Dresden in February 1945 and I want to evaluate, if it can be justified in terms of military necessity.

The center Dresden was fully destroyed by two anglo-american bomber attacks. More than 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices had been dropped on the Baroque city that night, the final firestorm destroyed 15 squarekilometers of the city. Estimated 25.000 people died and the famous Frauenkirche of Dresden (“Church of our lady”) wasn’t rebuilt till 2005.  Till today, there are annual commemoration ceremonies, which are however regularly disturbed by Neonazi marches, who abuse the memorial for their purpose. Dresden shows clear signs against Neonazism every year again: 2012 not only less Neonazis came to support the demonstration – the march itself had to be aborted after 1,5 kilometers due to the high civil resistance. Dresden and the organization “Dresden nazifrei”, which means as much as “Dresden – free of Nazis”, can be proud of such a success and will surely not end their resistance in the following years.

German Countryside

Back into the Green

The weather for this year’s Pentecost is just perfect: 21°C, warm sunshine on my skin, a small breeze in the rye fields. As the monday of Pentecost is free in Germany, I drove with my family to a nearby village to the Pentecost-Garden-Days in the castle of Batzdorf. 

What is left of the castle is built in the romanic style of the 16th and 17th century – small windows, big rooms, everything made of cold stone. In summer it is surely enjoyable and refreshing to spend the night behind such big and old walls, that keep the heat outside, but I can imagine that it becomes quite uncomfortable in winter! However, the castle was already mentioned in documents in the early 13th century, so it must have been worse back then.

In the twentieth century the building suffered much: after world war two it was intact, however it was left to fall apart from itself – used as children’s and holiday camp and as village club and broken open at one side to fit in the village store, the castle was abused for long time. In the 80′s finally the current users and owners of the castle started an initiative to save the building. With the help of the organization for monument protection and the local commune the castle is slowly restored. The owners “combine living, restoration and cultural events” in the castle (for example: since 1993 the castle is annually host of the Batzdorf Baroque Festival). 

For the garden-days, many artists had come to the Batzdorf castle. There were stalls with products made of linen, pearls, colorful felt – as hair accessorizes, soap bags etc. -. porcelain and more. The Café Aha, known for its sustainable, fair and ecologic products and its healthy, biological food, took care of the hungry visitors: with cake, fresh strawberries, spinach lasagna (everything is vegetarian!) and ice cream. Everywhere there were beautiful flowers blooming, and the birds sang in the trees. We walked around the castle area and later I left for the surrounding area with my brother. We hiked a bit through the nearby woods, chasing butterflies and collecting flowers for our mother :) To be back in plain nature is really a delight after five months in a city like Hong Kong – of course, nature is present in Hong Kong, and especially in places like the Ma On Shan mountain or Sai Kung you can spend wonderful hours at the fresh air … but this was and felt just so very different. I guess, that is the fascination of being home.

Love, Passion, Drama: Forsythe Review

The American dancer and choreographer William Forsythe is one of the representers of modern ballet and dance. His work is always experimenting with “body and space”. His Forsythe Company, founded in 2005, is his omnipresent environment – with the 17 dancers involved, Forsythe constantly works on new productions in terms of art exhibitions, installations, filming and – of course – dance. The company is “company-in-residence” in Hellerau, the European Center of Arts in Dresden, where a revival of a piece from 2003, was recently performed: Decreation. I was amongst the audience. 

“What if you would love another more than you love me? What if I would love another more than I love you? What if another would love me more than you love me?” Those three questions are the center of all events in Forsythes “Decreation” and the dancers examine them in any possible way: with bizarre sound, extreme body tension, disturbing moves, romantic love songs … The dancers constantly create and break new atmospheres, while exploring all aspects and relations between love and communication.

The performance starts with a combination of monologue and dialogue – a female dancer pulls her shirt from one side to the other, imitating an arguing couple. Trust, love, belief – it is clear, that this argument is about an affair; loyalty are misconceptions of each other are discussed in an aggressive and shrieking manner … an argument, which should be familiar to all that have been in a relationship. One could say, Forsythe picks up a very universal theme – love, and the misunderstandings and miscommunication in relationships – and transforms it in his own way. Decreation may seem like a grotesque caricature of the evilness and complications of a thing, that is otherwise considered so sweet, beautiful and innocent. Especially when later a male dancer joins in the argument and the dialogue evolves into a “Spiel” – a play – as one of the dancers says, a hysterical drama – and love is equally described as such. Decreation goes on without a clear story line. The single phrases repeat themselves constantly throughout the piece, but even though one could try to bring them into order, as a dialogue, an argument, a conversation – one simply has to fail, as arguments perpetually turn and contradict themselves: “I believe. – In what? – In us. – There is no us. But I believe! – In what? – In us! – There is no us.”  Anger, jealously, passion and loneliness are expressed in alternately big, raging, aggressive and disturbing movements or complete silence, with bodies over-stretching to the shrieking music on the black stage floor – in addition to the provocative language and masturbatory scenes. Forsythe also explores the aspect of triangular relationships in his piece – gender doesn’t play a role though, so either two men and one woman or one woman and two men are exposed to the spectators in their fight for passion, attention and love. The piece ends after a scene full of pain and bitterness: a female dancer rolls around desperately on a black table, smearing black paint into her face in a movement of agony and suffering, while the other dancers sit around the table, watching alternately in silence or with loud shouting and screaming. This scene was supposed to reflect, how the pain in relationships are often viewed by others like a theatre play, a drama one goes to watch and leaves when it is over. It shows, how the participation and involvement of others in our own emotions changes us and our own conception of such- and when the others loose interest in our torn soul we realize, that after all, life goes on.

Pieces and performances by Forsythe are never easy to describe and the atmosphere of Decreation was so abstract, so experimenting, absurd and grotesque, that it is even harder. Forsythe is definitely one of the big artists of our time. In my eyes his work is simply brilliant.

City in Black: Wave-Gothic-Festival in Leipzig

The Wave-Gothic-Meeting in Leipzig (short: WGT) attracts around 20’000 visitors from all around the world each year. As festival for the “dark arts” and “black music” it is one of the largest Goth-and-Steam-Punk-Events worldwide. Even though I just arrived in Germany two days ago, I decided yesterday to visit the festival. With big black plateau-boots, black leather-pants, a short green velvet dress and an elegant black gothic hat I was already on my way to the festival at 9 am – excited about my day among the “black and beautiful mass” in Leipzig. 

The WGT was first established in Potsdam, near Berlin, in 1987. However, under the rule of the GDR, who was generally against any subcultures in East-Germany, the WGT was an illegal event and therefore was only visited by few people. Till today, the festival has grown to an enormous dimension and the variety of events offered attracts more people every year: fetish parties, viking markets, movie nights (this year with Nosferatu), literature readings and of course music concerts are offered all over the city. The music ranges from mid-age classics over modern bands like Project Pitchfork to opera stars – this year the famous Spanish opera singer Monserat Caballé sang in the opera of Leipzig. Many WGT-visitors went to listen to her, and you could see a big black mass of people standing in front of the opera, waiting to get in. 

The biggest attraction for the locals of Leipzig is still the pure appearance of the Goths and Steam-Punks, wandering around in the streets of their city. Despite 25°C, latex and leather, gigantic black skirts and black umbrellas are worn with pride, and even though some, who consider themselves “pure Goths”, criticize the ones, who obviously only dress up to be photographed in the streets, it is a pleasure for everyone to see the black mass occupying the city. In the biggest shopping street in Leipzig one can actually see grandmas and grandpas with their grandchildren, with their mobile phones and cameras at hand, taking pictures of the bizarre people walking by. The variety of outfits is indescribable – but of course all is black ;) 

What everybody – Goths and grandmas – found incredibly cute, were the Goth children. Not few parents had brought their kids to the WGT, and so miniature Goths with black tulle skirts, studded collars and dark mascara were walking around – always close to their parents though.

As I was not only interested in the people walking around, I also visited the headquarter of the former “Ministry for State Security” (short: Stasi) in Leipzig, which I needed to do for my Extended Essay anyway – therefore I could combine the WGT and my EE very well ;) The Stasi had spied upon the citizens of the GDR in a manner, that is today considered and described as “disgusting” – basically they wanted to know everything about everything, and in order to achieve that, every method was fine for them. Today, several Stasi criminals have been prosecuted. We walked around the main quarter for a while, always surrounded by “black people”. Most of them were old, and had already been part of the Goth scene back in the 1980s, as students. Many were surprised at how the Stasi had infiltrated their subculture with spies, and how the Stasi described their appearance and behaviour. As our guide read out, what kind of music they were supposed to listen to, and how they did their make-up, many of the attending goths laughed out loud, finding such description utmost hilarious.

The city of Leipzig and its citizens welcome the visitors of WGT every year in the warmest possible way: everything is dedicated to the black color. And if I say everything, I mean it: the store windows are full of black shoes, black dresses, the sale tables are full of dark and long clothes – even black ice-cream, with a “bloody kiss” of raspberries is sold at the most popular street in Leipzig, and stores like Douglas have tables with “dark perfumes” extra close to their entrances.

The day was a full success, and lots of fun. Before we drove home, we visited the “Graveyard of the South” of Leipzig – a beautiful, old and big graveyard quite far from the hustle in the city center. Wonderful, old graves stood between big pink and purple rhododendron bushes, benches, that must have stood there for decades, slowly lost their color in the sun, and at the grave halls, there was an assembly of Goths, enjoying a picnic at the stairs to the grave halls. We sat down between the trees and listened to the singing of the birds, and after the hectic rush through Leipzig all day it now seemed that the world had sunken into silence. The people at the grave halls were happily dining, and a man dressed in steam-punk fought with wooden swords with a small boy, dressed-up in a mid-age costume, who seemed to be his son. Further at the stairs, a young women in black looked around the graveyard area, enjoying the coolness of the shadow of the grave hall building. It was a nice and calm ending for an amazing day.

The WGT is in Leipzig every year, at around this time and its number of international visitors grows every year. In the streets I met goths from Japan, Australia, Latinamerica and Asia! – Whoever is fascinated by the Goth subculture, is welcome to join the “black mass” in the streets of Leipzig. Many people camp outside the city during the four days and some events are open to the public and therefore even accessible without a four-day-ticket. More information about the WGT 2012 can be found here: http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/english/

Happy Birthday! – to the most beautiful woman in the world

Her image is printed on cups, t-shirts, books and post cards, and even in LPC I had a Christmas-calendar of her picture hanging above my bed. The „Sistine Madonna“ by Raffael is considered one of the most beautiful and most famous paintings in the world and I am very proud to announce, that her beauty belongs to my home city Dresden in my home state Saxony in East-Germany. This year we celebrate the 500th birthday of the Sistine Madonna – a quite important anniversary, which one cannot celebrate very often. In her honour, the „Saxon Arts Collection“ built up a whole new exhibition, in which the spectator is supposed to explore the fascination of the „Sistine Madonna“, her origin and of course the development of her creator, Raffael, himself. I myself had the honour to visit the exhibition opening.

My mother and me entered the „Albertinum“, which is normally an exhibition for antique sculptures right when the church struck seven. We snuck in and stood behind the 1200 filled seats next to the bar, and waited for the speeches to start. As the elderly women beside us did not stop chatting, we stepped aside, closer to the seats in front of us – a very good decision. Not much later, a woman in black, with a cable hanging from behind her ear, addressed us and asked, if we would like to sit. „If that is possible…“, we responded and, obviously happy to have found us, the woman replied that she „would like to guide us to our seats“. Quite surprised we followed her down the middle aisle, while the general director of the Saxon Arts Collection“ began his speech and all the men and ladies sitting around in frocks and suits watched us. It was indeed a bit awkward feeling, but a small price for the opportunity we gained: the woman in black led us to two seats in the front row, among the politicians of our state! I must admit, that I couldn‘t stop grinning an the faces of these middle-aged men and women, when me, a sixteen-year-old girl in a simple black dress, high-heels and open hair got to sit amongst them, in their wrinkled faces full of make-up. I must have been at least 20 years below the average age of the participants. However, I was not here to realise that, and concentrated on the speeches.

The first speech was given from the new general director, Dr. Fischer, as I said previously. He talked a lot about the general meaning of the image of „Madonna and her child“ and explained, how the child is „brought out from the safety of heaven towards his fate“. He told us, how the „Sistine Madonna“ had been nearly hidden in a monastery for 240 years, till she was opened for the public in 1754 in Dresden. He also thanked many people, who had made the exhibition possible and who had helped with its realisation.

The second speech was by Mr Maaz, the director of the Old Masters Gallery, where the Sistine Madonna is presented, who gave a detailed introduction into the structure of the special exhibition. „Many people will say: why do we need to give the Sistine Madonna a new exhibition, we know everything about her! Well, ladies and gentlemen, even Faust can be shown in theatres over and over again and there are always new details to explore.“ To give the spectator exactly this opportunity to „explore the details“, the Madonna had been presented in a completely new way: the glass in front of the image had been changed and now revealed the colours of the painting in a clearer, more true and more colourful way. Also, the dark-red, elegant background had been changed to a neutral grey tone, which aloud the spectator to concentrate fully in the fascinating effect of the Sistine Madonna. Last, but not least, the frame, originally a simple, golden frame, had been changed and now the picture was, similar to its original place, presented in an altar-like frame, slightly above the spectator, revealing its mighty beauty in an even more extraordinary way than before. Mr Maaz called this new presentation a “revival of the aesthetics“ of the Sistine Madonna.

After this, our minister president, Mr Tillich, gave a speech about the relationship and similarities between the Sistine Madonna and the state of Saxony. „240 years the Madonna was hidden from the public, till she was bought by August III,“ he said and went on: „The state of Saxony had been hidden 40 years behind the wall of Germany, and after its fall, it had to fight its way back into the consciousness of the public.“ Tillich also explained, that the Sistine Madonna had originally been supposed to be August III‘s second choice of a painting – till scientists found out, that the opposite had been the case and the Sistine Madonna had influenced the decision of August III with her emotional and fascinating charisma – similar to Saxony, who‘s „importance is often only recognised at second glance“. Eventually, Tillich claimed, that of both Saxony and the Sistine Madonna the details are more famous, than the whole: while of Saxony mostly the language, the Saxon Switzerland (a group of sandstone mountains), the Dresden Frauenkirche (engl: Church of our Lady) and the Quarkkäulchen (delicious quark pancakes) are known, the most famous detail of the Sistine Madonna are not Madonna holding her child, but the two angels sitting on the lower part of the picture. Tillich concluded his speech with the point, that the „fascination of picture and state can only be recognised in the original“. 

Many other speeches followed, each one analysing the „fascination“, „charisma“, „gift“ and „beauty“ of the Sistine Madonna. Italian and German music, 500 years old, played in between. Eventually, we quickly joined the mass of people and walked to the rooms of the Arts Collection, where the Sistine Madonna was presented in exactly the way as presented in the previous speech and her new frame, the new painted wall and even the new glass did indeed reveal a completely new side of her. However, I got quickly annoyed by the many people blocking the way to the pictures, talking wisely about art and culture and repeating each other, everyone with a glass of the new edition of sparkling wine, „Dresden‘s Angel“ in their hand. So we left the exhibition rather early – who should be near Dresden this summer can still admire the Sistine Madonna in her new environment till the end of August.

English Summer in Germany

Now that I am home, have unpacked and finally eaten tons of cheese and rye bread, I decided not to let my readers – who apparently sit in nearly 50 countries by now! – wait for three months, but to write about my experience back here till I go back to LPC! I hope you enjoy these stories about life in Germany! As I think, that mostly overseas would be interested in such, I also decided to write in English during summer, so that you don’t always have to translate, what I write. In August I will switch back to German. Have an amazing summer! :) 

Picture: Small details of the beauty of my home city Dresden and the castle in Moritzburg

Der lange Weg nach Hause

Der Weg nach Hause schien mir diesmal eine Ewigkeit lang. Alles begann gegen acht Uhr abends am Tor von LPC. Gut zwanzig Second- und Firstyears warteten am Tor auf Michi und mich, um sich zu verabschieden. Ich würde ja gerne sagen, dass diesmal nicht geweint wurde, aber das wäre dann eine Lüge. Allerdings gab es auch die größten und längsten Bärenumarmungen, die man sich vorstellen kann. Michi und ich hatten wirklich gut daran getan, eine halbe Stunde vor unserer eigentlichen Abfahrtszeit ans Tor zu kommen – dadurch hatten wir genug Zeit für Abschied. Als endlich das Taxi kam, musste es ganz schnell gehen: Gepäck in den Kofferraum, die hintere Klappe mit Seilen zusammengehalten, auf die Rückbank gesetzt und los gefahren. José, aus Spanien, rannte dem Taxi noch so weit wie es ging hinterher, andere standen dahinter und winkten wild. Sie würden noch Stunden oder Tage in Hongkong bleiben – aber wir … wir waren auf dem Weg nach Hause :) 

Am Hongkonger Flughafen lief alles wie am Schnürchen: die Geige und Trompete durften ohne Probleme mit ins Handgepäck (Michi und ich haben das Gefühl, das das derselbe Flughafenmitarbeiter hinter dem Schalter war, wie schon beim letzten Mal), mit unserer Hongkong-ID durften wir an der Touristenschlange vorbei, und ehe wir uns versahen, saßen wir schon an unserem Gate. Letzte große Überraschung: Grace und Paul (aus Ghana), und Tara (aus dem Libanon) saßen mit uns im selben Flieger! Für mich hat das den Kreis des Schuljahres irgendwie noch mehr geschlossen: am Anfang des Jahres hatte Paul mich ja mit Felicia am Flughafen abgeholt – und nun verließen wir Hongkong gemeinsam. Ein schöner Schlusspunkt für das bisher beste Jahr meines Lebens.

Auf dem ersten Flug konnte ich sogar ein wenig schlafen – vielleicht war ich von den letzten anstrengenden und emotionalen Tagen einfach so müde, dass es nicht anders ging. Dennoch vergingen die ersten sieben Stunden im Schneckentempo, und auch die drei Stunden in Dubai waren irgendwie von größtmöglicher Apathie geprägt … Michi und ich schauten uns immer wieder unsere Jahrbücher an, oder passten auf die Sachen auf, während der andere gerade schlief oder Wasser kaufte. Für mehr waren wir entweder zu k.o. oder zu sehr in Erinnerungen an LPC versunken. Unser sechs-stündiger Flug nach Frankfurt verspätete sich ein wenig, und so wartete, als wir endlich mit unserem Gepäck aus der Sicherheitszone heraus traten, Michis Mama schon ganz aufgeregt auf uns. Ich musste mich beeilen, um meinen Zug zurück nach Dresden nicht zu verpassen, also gab ich Michi eine rasche Umarmung, bedankte mich für die Brezel, die mir seine Mutter noch “als Proviant” gekauft hatte und flitzte los. 40 Minuten braucht man angeblich von Terminal 2 bis zum Fernbahnhof – ich schaffte es in gut zehn Minuten :) Je näher ich mit dem Zug nach Hause kam, desto nervöser und aufgeregter wurde ich. Mein Jahrbuch kannte ich inzwischen in- und auswendig, meine Bücher hatte ich ausgelesen oder ich konnte mich nicht mehr auf sie konzentrieren … die Landschaft draußen, mit ihren kleinen Musterhäusern, großen Weiden, Dampflokomotiven auf abgestellten Gleisen und herumstehenden Kühen war mir nicht mehr so vertraut, wie ich sie in Erinnerung hatte, und die Menschen, die draußen an den Bahnhöfen vorbei eilten, oder im Zug saßen, schienen mir alle sehr merkwürdig: Kurzhaarfrisuren, platinblond und blau gefärbte Haare und “Atomkraft-Nein-Danke”-Anstecker habe ich lange nicht mehr gesehen, und die Mürrischkeit der Deutschen fällt einem wohl erst auf, wenn man eine Weile nicht mehr hier war. Und Sächsisch klingt am Anfang auch fast willkommen-heißend in der Heimat.

Ja, ich bin zurück in Deutschland. Nach den letzten zwei Stunden im Zug, die wegen Langeweile und Vorfreude fast unerträglich waren, kam ich abends um acht endlich, nach einer gut 24-stündigen Reise, am Dresdner Hauptbahnhof an. Ein Bundeswehrsoldat, der auch gerade nach Hause gekommen war, hob mir noch meinen Koffer aus dem Zug, dann konnte ich endlich meine Familie wieder in die Arme schließen.

Stars für eine Nacht

http://www.ustream.tv/embed/recorded/22832816
- Video der Absolventenzeremonie in LPC für den Jahrgang 2010-2012. Aufgenommen von ustream.tv – Viel Spaß beim Ansehen! :)

UWC-Abschluss mit Dr. Seuss

Zwei Jahre haben sie hinter sich, nun müssen sie für die neuen Firstyears Platz machen und ihren Lebensweg weitergehen: unsere Secondyears, vom LPCUWC Jahrgang 2010-2012, sind jetzt offiziell UWC-Absolventen und haben ihr Diplom in der Hand. Die 100-minütige Abschlusszeremonie wurde von Schülern, Eltern und Lehrern besucht, viele schauten auch im Internet zu. Am Ende flossen reichlich Tränen – doch begonnen hat es mit motivierenden und aufmunternden Worten des LPCUWC-Vorstandsmitglieds Anthony Tong:

“Die Stars dieser Nacht sind unsere Absolventen. Ich gratuliere euch allen zum Abschluss von zwei sehr herausfordernden Jahren. Ihr habt Spuren hinterlassen, in der Kultur und der Geschichte des Li Po Chun United World Colleges. Ihr seid nun veränderte Persönlichkeiten, und habt vor allem die Wichtigkeit von persönlicher Verantwortung, gegenseitigem Respekt und Idealismus verstanden.  […] Jetzt geht dort hinaus. Verändert etwas, schlagt Wellen. Kämpft für gewisse Dinge: für die Armen, für die Bedürftigen, für die Obdachlosen, für die Hungrigen. Macht etwas anders. Verändert eure Träume, seid anders. Ich hoffe, ihr kommt eines Tages zurück und erzählt nicht von den Millionen, die ihr verdient habt, oder von den teuren Sachen, die ihr euch gekauft habt, sondern von dem was ihr erreicht habt. Denn darauf kommt es der Menschheit an.“

Auch wir Firstyears wollten natürlich zu unseren Secondyears sprechen. Dafür war Leila (Frankreich/Großbritannien) ausgewählt worden – eine gute Wahl. Ihre Rede rührte nicht nur Secondyears, sondern auch einige Firstyears zu Tränen. Was auch immer jemand von uns vermutlich hätte sagen wollen – sie fasste es alles in die passenden Worte:

Dieses letzte Halbjahr war ein stetiger Countdown. Die letzten Monate, die letzten Wochen, der letzte Schultag […] und ich habe realisiert, dass die Hälfte unserer Gemeinschaft – ein Großteil unserer Firstyear-Erlebnisse und eine Unmenge an Freunden – sehr bald nicht mehr hier sein werden. Als wir hierher kamen, zeigtet ihr uns Fotos von unseren Thirdyears, habt von ihnen erzählt – […] bald werdet ihr diese vermissten Thirdyears sein, die unser erstes Jahr so sehr beeinflusst haben; und wir sind Fast-Secondyears, die diese Fotos hegen und pflegen werden.” Leila brachte den Gedanken auf den Punkt, der vielen von uns in den letzten Tagen und Wochen in Kopf und Herz herumgegeistert war: “Es ist unsere einzige Chance, Firstyears zu sein, und eure einzige Möglichkeit, Secondyears zu sein. Und dies war unsere erste, letzte, und einzige Chance, ein Jahr zusammen hier zu verbringen. […] Unser Zyklus ist beinahe vorüber. Dieses Jahr war gerade lang genug, um Freundschaften einzuleiten, die viel länger halten werden, als diese kurze Zeit, die wir zusammen waren. […] Ab heute Abend seid ihr nicht mehr Secondyears, sondern offiziell Thirdyears und UWC-Absolventen. Aber behaltet in Erinnerung, dass ihr immer unsere Secondyears sein werdet. Ihr habt in unserem ersten Jahr in LPC eine fundamentale Rolle eingenommen und uns große Fußstapfen hinterlassen, in die wir nun treten müssen. Aber das zeigt nur noch einmal, was für fabelhafte Secondyears ihr uns gewesen seid, und dafür wollen wir euch wirklich danken. Obwohl es traurig ist, eine Seite umblättern zu müssen – mehr Abenteuer warten schon. […] Auf Wiedersehen zu sagen, ist nie einfach, und besonders nicht nach einem solch intensiven Jahr, wie man es an LPC erlebt. Anstatt also zu versuchen, Worte des Danks oder des Abschieds zu finden, werde ich euch mit einem Zitat von Dr. Seuss verabschieden: Weint nicht, weil es vorbei ist. Lächelt, weil es geschehen ist. Danke.” 

Bewegende und zugleich durchaus angebrachte Worte … Nach diesen beiden Reden wurden den UWC-Absolventen ihre Zertifikate überreicht. Der Auftritt jedes Schülers war dabei etwas Besonderes: manche hatten sich ihre nationalen Kostüme angezogen, so wie Khaled aus dem Jemen, Mavjigul aus Tadschikistan oder Rahael aus Indien. Andere, wie Felicia, hatten die nationalen Kostüme von anderen an, oder gingen einfach in schönen Kleidern und Anzug. Die Secondyears wurden in ihren Blöcken und dann nach Alphabet aufgerufen. In der Zeit, in der der jeweilige Absolvent von seinem Platz zur Bühne ging, hatten die Zuschauer meist ausgiebig Zeit, um sich das Absolventenfoto anzusehen, das jeder Secondyear eingereicht hatte und welches nun groß an der Aulawand leuchtete – Kinderfotos lagen besonders im Trend ;) Als schließlich alle Secondyears ihr Diploma hatten, gab es eine letzte Rede – und dann wurde gefeiert. Auf der Bühne fielen sich die Secondyears nach dem Gruppenfoto in die Arme, sie jubelten und schrien, lachten und weinten. Eltern kletterten mühsam auf die Bühne, umarmten ihre Kinder, die ja eigentlich keine mehr sind, und auch eine Flutwelle von Firstyears brauste über die Secondyears herein. Tränen der Freunde und der Trauer, Jubel über das bestandene IB und überhaupt Freude über die vorüber gegangene Schulzeit – es war der Höhepunkt einer aufregenden und unglaublich emotionalen Woche. 

Der Abend endete mit einem Festessen, viele blieben noch die ganze Nacht wach. Ich ging früh ins Bett, um am Donnerstagmorgen noch zeitig pack zu können und den Nachmittag für Abschied Zeit hatte. An diesem Abend ging ich fast schon als Secondyear zu Bett – glücklich über den Erfolg meiner Secondyears, traurig darüber, dass sie nun gehen würden, und in freudiger Erwartung meiner Sommerferien. Leila und Dr. Seuss hatten schon Recht: ich sollte nicht weinen, weil es zu Ende ist – sondern lächeln, eigentlich laut loslachen, weil ich so ein wunderbares Jahr mit unglaublichen Secondyears hinter mir habe – und noch ein Jahr voller Abenteuer und Erlebnisse folgen wird. Die Secondyears – nun Thirdyears – haben uns gezeigt, wie man ein guter Secondyear ist – und nächstes Jahr können wir unser eigenes Talent dafür unter Beweis setzen :) Erstmal geht’s aber endlich nach Hause …