Bericht von START-Wien Stipendiat Vuk über seinen USA-Aufenthalt im Rahmen des Benjamin Franklin Fellowship Programms. Ein besonderer Dank gilt der US – Botschaft in Wien, die diesen Austausch seit vielen Jahren in Kooperation mit dem US Department of State ermöglicht und damit unseren Stipendiat:innen die Teilnahme an diesem einzigartigen Programm ermöglicht. Homepage-de – US-Botschaft in Österreich Nun berichtet er über die zweite Woche seines Aufenthalts in den USA:
7. Day: Second Round, June 30
The second week started off strong with a great lesson on democratic citizenship, international humanitarian law (IHL) and more. I had an incredible time hearing about everything the new instructor had to say especially about IHL. I, like most others, have heard of the Geneva conventions before, but never in such detail. The instructor was also incredible, being able to answer any and all questions, which were quite complicated, proving that the man is truly well versed in his craft. The evening was incredible, I went rock climbing and bouldering with a few fellows and I was doing quite well, but then we went bowling, just as professor Rapaport promised, and I got humbled incredibly fast. We closed off the night with some truly interesting conversations about theoretical physics. All in all, a great day.
8. Day: Preparations, July 1
A very challenging assignment was on the horizon, and we had one day to prepare. Half of the lecture was spent learning more about different constitutional laws and discussing what our decisions would have been in certain court cases, mostly regarding privacy. The second part of the lecture began after lunch. First, we were divided into groups of four or five and given three questions to work on: our opinion on a statement made by Justice Louis Brandeis, which constitutions in different countries specifically state or imply a right to privacy and if there are any circumstances in which the right to privacy should be infringed upon. After finishing the assignment, we headed to the movies and I got to watch how to train your dragon, which was absolutely amazing. The day ended with a collaborative effort to better our essay as a team, which went quite well. As soon as we finished, I passed out in my bed.
9. Day: Decisive Performance, July 2
Today was the day. The different judges came to listen to what we had worked on the day before, and although I think myself to be quite confident in my abilities, I couldn’t help feeling some pressure. Six judges in total had volunteered to grant us an audience, five of which were from courts of appeal and one was the renowned Indiana Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey G. Slaughter. I had the pleasure of talking to all but one of the judges, and my team and I held our speeches in front of a pair of incredibly kind judges that were curious and helpful as can be. After every group finished their speech, a short discussion was held in order to test our knowledge, and the judges claimed that it was obvious that everyone knew what they were talking about. I think that I will forever treasure this experience. After the lesson and some free time, we celebrated the birthdays of everyone who had one during the BFTF program, which was super fun. Another great day with some incredible experiences.
10. Day: Recovery, July 3
A well-deserved break was in session after all the work we had done. It started with a one-and-a-half-hour drive to Indianapolis, specifically to the State House, where we got a guided tour and got to see Justice Slaughter once again as well as a state representative (Chris Campbell). Then, without a moment to gather ourselves, we had to rush over to the Indianapolis Zoo for the dolphin show, which was just amazing. Afterwards we hung out at the zoo for a while, until the time had come to walk over to the Eiteljorg museum, which was a bit underwhelming, but still quite fun. Now came the thing we were most excited for, the visit to the Keystone Fashion Mall. It was a real letdown, at least in my opinion. We explored it for a good two hours and drove to our final part of the program for the day, the dinner theatre. I and most others had expected it to be a bit boring, but it was one of the most well-done performances I ever had the pleasure of viewing. The highlight of my day. Finally, we headed back to our dorms and went straight to sleep.
11. Day: FREEDOM, July 4
Independence Day had arrived. A day to celebrate the liberation of the British colonies, which are all part of the great United States of America that we know and love today. It started off with a nice picnic, the American way. A whole lot of plates of KFC and a lot of western accents were present. Then we rested and met up for Dominos, which was only to hype up the trip to Lafayette. Lafayette was quite interesting and the parades, dances and atmosphere were had my jaw drop to the floor. And of course, the fireworks. A true spectacle, resembling new year in Austria. We danced, sung and watched them from the top floor of a parking building. Then we headed back to the dorms, and as soon as I had blinked after laying down, the next day had begun.
12. Day: Community, July 5
Alumni are highly respected in this program, that’s why we were all excited to meet the Hungarian fellow from 2019, who had come over to show us his community project which had become quite successful on an international basis over the course of the last 5 years. It was delightful to hear how passionate he was about his work and his community. Then, after lunch, we met up with Asta in the study hall, to discuss what our projects would look like, which was quite an interesting experience. During our free time we headed to a fast-food chain called Culver’s, which had some amazing burgers. Skipping past an hour walk back to the dorms, we met in the common room and watched a movie called Greece, which had nothing to do with Greece. I headed to bed as the credits rolled and got some much-needed sleep.
13. Day: Rest, July 6
I finally got to wake up with peaceful and happy thoughts instead of the screech of terror that my alarm clock produces, happy as can be. Today was a day for me to recover, as we only had one place to visit according to the program, which was the Tippecanoe mall. It was much better than the last mall, which was a nice surprise and I got to buy some cool stuff that I actually liked. After returning I went to boulder with an American fellow called Austin. We spontaneously decided that the most fun course of action would be to visit a hippie book store, which was incredibly huge and cool. Then we got some food with the group and played some liar’s dice. The last thing I did was read a book I had taken with me from Vienna and with it came the end of the week.
