I’m writing this blog post on the semester’s final day of classes. Tonight is the quadrennial end-of-term Harry Potter dinner, held in the Great Hall (photos at the end of the post!). I’ve already taken my German listening and speaking exams, but before I fly home I have to taken the German written exam and also finish final papers for my Spanish senior seminar and Transatlantic Childhoods. I’ll probably be spending the next eight days curled up like a gremlin in my increasingly-messy room.
Almost every finals periods that I’ve spent at Bryn Mawr, I have signed up to proctor self-schedule exams. As you might know, many professors allow students the opportunity to schedule their own exams—this means that you go to Guild Hall on the day and time that you choose, collect the test, and then go to a designated classroom to take it. The exams are proctored by student volunteers, which is an easy way for me to support Bryn Mawr’s culture of self-government and academic integrity. Student proctors just have to hand out the tests and then remain in the testing area during the exam period, so I’ve often been able to get quite a lot of my own work done during that time.
It’s been a busy and interesting semester, and I’m very ready for the break. I plan to work on my thesis and start applying for jobs, but mostly to just relax and enjoy being home.
With only two weeks until finals, the mood has been somewhat grim on campus. This past weekend I was glad to take a study break for the German Department’s field trip to Brauhaus Schmitz and the Christmas Village. Brauhaus Schmitz is a German restaurant near South Street. We were told that one can find very authentic German food here, and we were not disappointed. Seated at family-style wooden tables, we passed around platters of cheesy spätzle and various wursts. For us vegetarians, there were also potato pancakes with sour cream, chives, and applesauce.
After lunch, we filed back onto the Blue Bus—which looked quite out of place in the city—and drove to Love Park, where we found the annual Christmas Village, an open-air German market full of twinkling lights and inviting stalls. A group of five of us waited patiently to be let into the closed-off tent belonging to Käthe Wohlfahrt, a German company that sells handcrafted ornamented, carvings, and other beautiful trinkets. Photography was not permitted inside the tent, but my favorite thing to look at was the shelves of nutcrackers in all different guises: saints, shepherds, soldiers, even a fisherman nutcracker holding a string of fish!
Next week I will have to start thinking seriously about my final papers and exam, and many of my classmates have already begun their final preparations. Good luck to all who are studying, and I hope that everyone is able to find a bit of rest and peace in the weeks ahead!