Insides Into Seattle

Seattle's Coffee Culture Examined



For my latest audio story for the Communications class I am taking, I have explored Seattle's coffee culture.
My goal was initially to tell the story of struggling coffee shops in the economic situation. While I worked on the story the focus shifted. I found it more interesting to focus on the the different kinds of coffee culture (global-commercial v. local-communal) and to show why people prefer "The Local" over Starbucks.

TOPS Visit (Updated)

On Friday we went to a Seattle elementary to have our long anticipated TOPS visit.



FIUTS students were invited by the school to present their home country to small groups of elementary kids.


The "German" Group

Lissy had borrowed a Dirndl for the occasion and we had prepared lots of material for the kids.
We led them on a little trip flying over from Seattle to Frankfurt and then took the train to finally end up hiking through the Black Forest.
After a short break we played "Ochs am Berg" with the kids, drew the German flag and taught them some basic German.

The event was a lot of fun for both the kids and the international students.


Update: See the FIUTS Photo Gallery of the German TOPS team

Summer in the City

Summer in Seattle

After a long application process, Thursday finally brought a turn in my quest for an internship this summer.

Filmateria Studios had invited me for a second interview on Wednesday and it went really well. They liked my technical skills, my international profile and my knowledge of social networking sites.



Hermina gave me the honor of capturing the moment when I got the Email offering me an intern position. We were working in the law library of UW.

The next step will be the application for a visa extension. If the extension is approved, I will stay in Seattle until October as an editing intern on a project called Team Marco Polo - a travel show for kids! Cross your fingers for my summer in Seattle!!

PNASA Conference

Stories and histories of the Pacific Northwest...

... was the themeat the annual conference of the Pacific Northwest's local chapter of the National American Studies Association this year.

In Lincol City, Oregon, scholars from the Pacific Northwest and beyond gathered to present their papers.

And I was one of them!

In fall, I had prepared a paper on Native American representation on 19th century maps in the greater Washington State area (a project I dubbed "Getting the Natives off the Map") in which I identified the use of maps as a political tool used by white settlers to decrease Native lands.

Luckily, my paper was accepted for the conference and so Andy,

a fellow grad student at UW and I, made our way down to Lincoln City

- right on the Oregon coast. the conference itself was very interesting - but what really made the weekend was the ocean! There is nothing better than watching the ocean mist move into the bay when the sun shines on it. Of course these are the moments when you are without camera!

Springtime

Spring is here!!!

It is now official! Spring has reached Seattle since this weekend. Time to get the warm coats out - people will start turning on the airconditioning everywhere and it will rain extensively!

But for now, we are enjoying the fast that the SUN is out!

One of the greatest places to be right now in Seattle is right on the campus of the University of Washington. "The Quad" is an area surrounded by school buildings with nice patches of green and this time of year, blessed with the cherry blossoms!



Since the cherries bloom for only about two weeks, everyone and their grandmother tries to take advantage of it. The Quad becomes the Beach!



Students come to sit and read, to play frisbee with their friends, hang out, chat, burn their white bodies in the sun.



Some really do try to get the beach feeling going. Even if they have to climb trees for that.



Which is not that uncommon of an activity. Kamil enjoys a good read in a tree.



Although Hermina is a little more grounded...



Kamil and I oculd convince her to get up the trunk and so we took a couple of pictures in the bloom.



We hadn't had a chance to hang out like this in at least two months and climbing the cherry trees together was an awesome activity to get us back together and in tune!

Digital Journalism - A course on the pulse of news!

Leaving the trodden path

Yes, I'm here in the US as a grad student. Yes, I'm supposed to take grad courses. No, the grad courses offered this quarter were not inviting. Yes, I'm taking undergrad stuff! No, I don't give a damn about what Fulbright might have to say about this.

This quarter (my last here in Seattle) I have decided to doff all the thoughts about requirements, credits and expectations professors, sponsors, family and all the other people who might want to have a say in my life might have.

I am taking three undergraduate courses in totally new fields this quarter. Well, not quite. They really all aren't that new - only rediscovered.

Two of the courses are closely related and tie in with my previous studies of mainly immigration to the US.

• "Forced Migration" will give me an overview of the theme itself rather than the sample of migration-related minority issues. If I am lucky, I might even get credit for this at home. For my analysis of a refugee interview - conducted by myself
  
• "US-Mexican Border in Literature and Film", a 300-level course is one of these samples that I have wanted to get a piece of. It ties the migration issue with my interest in film.
• "Digital Journalism" is probably the most exciting of them so far (although they are all cool!). Take a peek of what it is like:
  

Journalism Reloaded

Traditional models of journalism as in newspapers are in distress (to read more about this, see here)
This class (tought in a horribly dark classroom that doesn't make for good spontaneous pictures) is designed to bring journalist students into the digital age.


Some of my fellow students thinking about the future of Journalism

Since I have so far had experience mostly with traditional journalism, it is quite exciting for me. Over the course of the quarter, we will learn how to use facebook, twitter, podcasts, photo slideshows, digital video etc. etc. for journalistic purposes and will produce content in these media ourself!

On Monday, Kathy Gill introduced us to Twitter


Kathy's shirt says: "I'm tweeting this" Kathy's face says: "I'm lovin' it"

As a twitter addict, she knows the site like her own pocket and this is how she explains twitter: Twitter is a messaging system over the internet. Like text messaging (SMS), people can write short messages (140 signs) to other users over the internet or the phone. The difference is that Twitter is not limited to phones. It amplifies the message sent out (like Kathy visualizes below).


amplify your message: "Shout. Shout, let it all out" - but with the right manners!

Twitter is a useful tool for Journalists and businesses. It is a way to get business information out to a mass of people and it is great to get information and have your finger on the "pulse" of what is happening.

I have spent two days on Twitter now and I think I am already hooked. The world of web 2.0 and Journalism 2.0 is fascinating. I'm curious what else it has in store for me.

Part of the course is our own Journalism Blog. Check out both the course blog and MY BLOG for the course

Face to Face With a 35mm

Shooting in Spokane

On Thursday I got the chance to visit North by Northwest Film Productions and witness a commercial film shooting in Spokane, Eastern Washington. When amateurs meet big shots:

The commercial was shot on 35mm in high speed on an Arriflex. Although film is more expensive, it is also higher qualilty than HD. We shot on three different locations. A clockshop, a doctor's office and a yoga studio. I ruled the set within minutes. Of course I was the big shot and so I took it upon myself to help the guys with their shoot. ;-)

After I had told the (wannabe) director Dan to set up the camera, Thomas and Dug followed my instructions on lighting the scenes. I was watching each of their steps closely so everything would be in order and the clients would be pleased with the result. It took forever for them to get it right, but eventually I had managed to set the scene.

After dealing with the actors and getting them in position, Dan made another check on the light and we were almost ready.

I gave some last-minute instructions to cameraman Thomas so he wouldn't mess up the shot. Good thing the camera could do most of the work by itself. He soon improved after a few instructions, however.

When we were finally set I gave the Production Assistant a little boost of confidence and let her use the flap.

then it was "camera, action!" and the film roll started rolling rolling rolling. When I left the guys and their set, I felt great. I knew I had greatly improved their skills and understanding of what needs to be happening at a set! Well... or maybe the other way around :-)