Ünnëcëssärÿ Ümläüts
Certainly, many things happened in the Spring of 2005. But to call these other events “significant” would be a mockery, in the light of what would become the defining event of the year, and possibly even the decade: The formation of the Ünnëcëssärÿ Ümläüts. The Ünnëcëssärÿ Ümläüts was, is, and ever will be the soccer team of the Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures department. As founder and Emperor of the team, Ryan Sitzman was faced with the arduous task of narrowing the team down to a size allowed by the CU Intramural department, and this certainly wasn’t easy. As applicants formed a line that stretched from the front doors of McKenna all the way to the base of the third Flatiron, the dream team gradually took shape.
This rag-tag team of misfits seemed to be pulled directly from a feel-good Disney movie, except that in the end, we didn’t win the crucial game against the rich kids from across town. Instead, we lost. And when I say we “lost,” I mean we REALLY lost. For example, our leading (and only) scorer for the season was Vice-Emperor Julien Katchinoff, who scored two goals. Unfortunately, they were on our own team. He made up for it later, though, when he was ejected from a game for throwing a shoe.
Even though our team failed dismally at the modest task put before it, we surely won the Miss Congeniality award when we shared our oranges with competing teams at half-time. Also, by not forfeiting a single game due to under-attendance, we showed some real hustle, grit, and gumption (and other things that sound nice but don’t win games).
So, let me warn you: we will return next year, even stronger and more motivated. We’ll be looking for a few players (preferably not good ones, though) come February, so if you think you’ve got what it takes to fail, we’ll see you on the playing field! With your help next season we might even score a goal…
The Ünnëcëssärÿ Ümläüts in all theri magnificent glory
Galina Siarheichyk on Dogmas
In the land of deep lush green I rode my horse, Dogmas, listened to his breath, followed his leaps, tore the reins, wore out the saddles, beat the wind and refused to halt. I looked straight ahead through the guarding poles of his alert ears, and feared nothing… He taught me breathing before seeing; trusting his feet and my feet; trusting his and my senses; he taught me life. A dear friend, he spoke to me, his nostrils, burning, flickering red, his hooves thundering and his tail proudly raised. One day he invited me onto his back for a ride in the fields. I did not ask. I came to greet him from a distance, and he came close to greet me. With a single, sharp nod of his head, he reversed his direction. He stretched his long, powerful neck towards the pastures in what I knew was an invitation to ride. Bare of harness, we rode across long grass. He chose the way this time, I followed. He showed me what it meant to understand him. I held onto his mane and swallowed air as if breathing for the first time. It was a sublime moment, a moment of instant happiness and sadness, a glimpse of Nature’s force and heart. It was a wonder.
If there is anything I call trust, it is this gift of welcoming he offered. This song is for you, Dogmas the Dragon’s son, my friend …Your lesson prepared me for the long road that awaited me ... a road I had never seen in my dreams; from the dust and dirt of communal horse farm, narrow tree-lined streets of historical Grodno, a town on the Western border of Belarus, to the distant waters and foreign lands of America.
I first came to this far-off shore as a fifteen-year old for a conference. I guess it was meant to be. I can still vividly recall those grey squirrels that ran within inches of my feet, the smell of the first trees in bloom in April, my fear of writing something wrong in daily reports for which I was responsible before the entire school-Gimnasia #30. I will never forget seeing the statue of Liberty, or the thrill of riding a bicycle through the lit and bustling streets of New York at night, or my first taste of Chinese food …
It was not long before the wind of seekers brought me here again. Today, a CU-graduate, a mountain walker and a bookworm, I sing my song of gratitude to a dear friend, the horse that taught me fearlessness and courage when leaping into the unknown.
Report:
Since spring 2004 I served as an officer at United Government of Graduate and Professional Students on CU-campus, advocating the interests of international students, standing tall for the student groups that promote diversity and cultural awareness.
In April of 2005 I initiated a conference sponsored and supported by UGGS as well as GSLL devoted to the subject of the Chernobyl Disaster in Belarus.
Later that same month I led a group of my students of Russian 1020 on their first public performance under the name of the Russian Club at the International Festival, an outstandingly colorful and jubilant celebration of our multi-cultural CU-population, that gathered more than 2,500 people. We served vegetarian Borscht, and, after several hours, I finally gathered just enough courage to sing Katiusha onstage.
This year, in addition to all of the exciting ventures the Russian Club has already undertaken (i.e. rollerblading, hiking and lamenting the absence of mushrooms, meeting for the traditional Russian tea hour on Tuesdays, and more), I have met with some of my students to play tennis, and with substantial help from my colleagues Meghan and Karla, as well as heartfelt patronage of our faculty film experts — Prof. Rimgaila Salys, and, in the last minute, Prof. Mark Leiderman — enjoyed the vital force of Russian Film. It was our first night of Russian Film Screenings this year. Never without adventures (trouble with the machinery), the night was nevertheless a success! Our students and guests shared fresh pizza and eagerly offered their interpretations of the film’s main ideas. We all are planning on seeing it evolve into an annual event.
Donna Stockton
"The Motif": A Short Story in the Anthology The Norwegian Feeling for Real
Donna Stockton's translation from the Norwegian of the short story titled the "The Motif" will be published in the United Kingdom later this month. The story was written by Herbjørg Wassmo, a prominent Norwegian author, under the original title "Motivet." Wassmo is best known for her novels which explore the difficult relationships between children and their parents. She has also written poems and short stories on the same theme.
"The Motif" tells of the journey into her unconscious by a young woman artist who cannot grieve when her father dies. Dreams reflect images of forgotten memories in this text where there is no representation of the spoken word. Speech and dialogue take place only in the thoughts of this artist as she explores the behavior of her father and of the women around him within a patriarchal family structure. The protagonist's drawing of a portrait in color will end the silent submission to male dominance by generations of women.
"The Motif" is included in an anthology of Norwegian short stories titled The Norwegian Feeling for Real, soon to be published by The Harvill Press, a subsidiary of The Random House Group Ltd. The anthology is an important contribution to the limited number of translations into English of late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century Norwegian literature.
The Norwegian Feeling for Real will be presented to the public by Her Majesty Queen Sonja of Norway on the occasion of The King and Queen of Norway's State Visit to the United Kingdom from October 25th to 27th.
Donna Stockton is a doctoral candidate in The Comparative Literature Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and she is currently teaching Norwegian in the Scandinavian Studies Program in The Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures Department. The translation project was directed by Dr. J. E. Rivers as a part of the work completed in Prof. Rivers' graduate-level course "Theories and Practices of Literary Translation."
Patrick Hege
Patrick Hege received a DAAD scholarship this past summer to study literature and film at the Fruie Universitat, Berlin
