By: Christie Nicks
“Stammtisch,” a German word meaning, “regular’s table,” delivers a dose of European culture to students and faculty at Shakespeare’s restaurant every other Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
In Germany, Stammtisch is a table at every bar where various members of the community can sit and discuss politics, news, or any other various topics said Olaf Schmidt, a visiting German professor from Berlin. Schmidt went on to say how Stammtisch in Germany is often negative but in Columbia the atmosphere is a more open conversation about culture, or anything else. Stammtisch is not just a MU German department event said Schmidt, but it’s one that is all across the country.
“Community building, that’s what this is,” said Will Wojtowictz, a German 1200 Teacher Assistant, “ It puts undergrads, grads, and faculty on the same level. It’s a source of common ground.”
The idea of Stammtisch in Columbia is not only to meet new people from the German department, but it’s also a way for students to delve further in their language skills outside of the classroom.
“It’s a way to learn the culture and an essential part of learning is putting yourself in that environment,” said Michael Smith, MU Senior. Smith goes to every Stammtisch and stressed how important it is, especially for beginning German students, to attend. “Not only can they learn culture and language, but you make friends,” said Smith, “It’s a way for you to stay involved and be involved, and a way for meeting people that will benefit you later on in life.”
While Stammtisch is typically an event for those involved in the German department at MU, it is not strictly limited to German-speaking students. “Anybody who’s interested in German or Germans is invited to come down, we don’t discriminate, “ said Wojtowictz.
“German has a bad reputation for being boring; being hard,” said Schmidt, “So we’re fighting against that century-old repution.” Part of doing this is drawing other people into Stammtisch and showing them that “German is cool and fun.”
“I love meeting people and this is an opportunity to do that,” said Brian Limback, a non- German MU student, “They [Germans] like to have a good time.” Limback said that while he didn’t necessarily understand the language, he enjoyed going and participating in the conversations.
In the end, whether you are a fluent, German-speaking student, or just someone who wants to learn a little more about the German culture and make new friends, Stammtisch is an event that rings true to its German definition. It brings people around the table, both strangers and long-time friends, to make conversation.
“We’re all friends here,” said Wojtowictz, “ so what’s better than hanging out with your friends and if a little German gets spoken well hey! That’s great.”
A Note From an Aspiring Journalist!
As I wrote this article, I continuously questioned whether or not it was necessarily news. But as I typed it up, I realized the article was a form of news, but one that is definitely less covered in the media. Often times we only here about political meetings, school board meetings, and others of that nature, but we fail to see the diverse and cultural meetings that show up in the most common of places, like Stammtisch at Shakespeare’s for example. These are stories that are right under our noses yet continuously are left out of the news.
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