IN THE LIBRARY - REPORT FROM WITTENBERG (V)

One of the highlights of the local university (apart from the cafeteria, but the food unfortunately started to be somewhat monotonous) is the library. Spacious and quiet, it’s located on the attic and offers a calm, pleasant refugee from the business of daily life. It is not exactly overwhelming with the number of books but the amount is high enough to do some decent research. And since big part of the collection comes from withdrawals from American bases, the ubiquitous Property of the U.S. Army stamp gives a somewhat ominous feeling about the constant military presence of our great ally on this side of the Atlantic.

But probably the most attracting feature of the library is the huge refrigerator in the corner, full of bottles of beer and wine. These bottles are available for a decent fee and offer a good opportunity to free one’s mind and perhaps find new and inspiring way of research. Together with a TV set (exceptionally useful because of the Olympics) and few tables and sofas the place offers the amount of entertainment incomparable in any matter to its Polish counterparts.

The day was perhaps not as intellectually inspiring as the previous ones, because no lectures were held but still the group work gave us the sufficient dose of challenge to our brain cells. Sometimes the emotions had to be tamed – for instance, group consisting of one soon-to-be Polish air force pilot, one Dutch infantryman, one pacifist and a guy from Afghanistan, discussing the role of the U.S. president as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, experienced some very lively debates.

The organizers want also to make us happy by screening movies connected with the topic of the conference but both Thirteen Days and Oliver Stone’s Nixon appear to be too heavy for a summer evening to gather much enthusiasm. Instead we prefer to contribute to the local economy, buying souvenirs with the omnipresent Luther or visiting the pub across the street, in which the waitress is really confounded when she sees more than five persons simultaneously. Unfortunately, no nightclub has been as yet found.