The German Club has only been around for a few months, but it has already had the chance to provided its members with a major cultural experience.
Last month, the group traveled to our nation’s capital to visit the German Embassy, where they discussed culture, architecture and international relations with diplomatic officials.
Club president Irmanrad Iranbomy, sophomore, said in an email that he and fellow member Alex Meuser, junior, “worked extremely hard for this field trip.”
The group was finally able to visit on Feb. 14. Among the officials the members met with was Stefan Messerer, the embassy’s deputy spokesman, with whom they were able to explore political topics.
One topic included in a Q&A session held at the embassy was Germany’s involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
Messerer also discussed the current goals of the German Embassy.
“I wish that one day there [are] many Americans that go to Germany, that study there, that learn German, that understand better the way that Germans think, so that in the long run we can even further improve our already excellent cooperation,” Messerer said to the group.
The deputy spokesman had a positive reaction to the experience, telling club members that the embassy would be “more than happy” to participate in celebrations and conferences again.
Club members also expressed their satisfaction with the trip, which concluded with a dinner in Washington, D.C.
“I would say that we learned a lot about Germany, international policy and Russian aggression,” Iranbomy said. “We would definitely do it again next year if we could.”
Club members shared these sentiments.
“The trip was awesome,” said sophomore Bruce Stewart. “Although I have lived overseas and been to many embassies, the flair and style of the German Embassy was very inspiring.”
–German Club member and R&F staff writer Janan Iranbomy contributed to this report.