(I can't edit my thoughts about Merkel's talk; have to include it all:)Attending Merkel's talk at Stanford yesterday will probably go down in my book as one of the highlights of the year. When she entered the Dinkelspiel auditorium, I even got teary as we stood in her honor. She is such a down-to-earth, principled leader, and it was such a nice surprise to see how funny she is in person.
The current university president gave the first welcome to "Murkel" and then introduced the previous president of Stanford, who--I hadn't realized--was GERMAN! I'm always so surprised that these people with German accents are in such high, such typically American positions (think CA governor, think Ivy of the West president), and yet there he was. Can't imagine Goethe-Universität being run by a man with an American accent! What also surprised me was that Stanford's official motto is "Die Luft der Freiheit weht." Ex-president Gerhard Casper joked, after 8 presidents, Stanford wanted one who could pronounce the motto correctly.
It was one of those events where you had to be there. The atmosphere was so "herzlich." The president emeritus said after he gave Merkel a cheek kiss of welcome, "I have met other German chancellors, but this is the first time I've been able to kiss one." She responded coyly, "after we're finished, we can do it again." She was so cute, and yet of course so "vernunftig."
I was thinking she was going to speak in English, which piqued my curiosity, but as we entered Dinkelspiel auditorium, they handed out head-phones, so clearly she'd be speaking in German. In the end, the German man next to me (big fellow who reminded me of Uncle Richard) and I agreed, the speech had to be given in German. It was so German in nature--all about "Freiheit," "Solidarität," and "Verantwortung"--although it did make a concession to the Anglo-American discourse style of three main points with organizational markers and transitions! Her final remarks were in English about how she first came to California with her husband when the Wall fell, but presenting her big ideas in German was the right decision.
You can read about her talk in general in a newspaper article, but I have to share the funny ad lib bits. A couple were really funny because they were due to cultural misunderstandings of laughter, in my opinion. The first was when she mentioned a number of German inventions--the car, fax machine, MP3 player, and computer--and the audience laughed. I laughed too because it was just so cute how she was listing them with such pride (talking about how Germany and the Silicon Valley share an innovative spirit), and also because I think sometimes countries each have their own myths re: the invention of the car like Mercedes in Germany and Ford in the U.S. But she interpreted the laughter as laughter because we didn't believe that the Germans invented those things. She stopped her speech right there, looked slightly incensed and said, "It's true, we invented the computer, whether you like it or not." Everyone laughed again, and she said smilingly, "Don't think the Americans invented everything" and went on to tell us how we can see some Technikmuseum in Berlin if we didn't believe her. It was all so very funny.
Another fun exchange was when she mentioned how decisions take a long time in the EU with its 27 countries, and the audience laughed appreciatively--again, in my opinion, because we can all relate to how long it can take a big group of people to make a decision. But again, she interpreted the laughter defensively as our laughing at Europe's sluggishness (I think she doesn't yet realize that Americans often laugh in enjoyment not in derision), and she teased that decisions aren't made that quickly by the US congress either. Of course, we all had to laugh again! It really felt like we were bantering with the chancellor. What a woman to make a talk in a big auditorium an experience where you really feel like you are connecting with each other.
I am so grateful that Mary got me that ticket. It was wonderful seeing Chancellor Merkel in person. I am sure I'll remember it to the end of my days. For me, she became another human being, not just a figure on the German nightly news. Smart, principled, and funny! Germany is in good hands.
(Disclaimer: I had no pen with me during Merkel's talk, so my quotes may not be exact, but you get the gist!)
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