Since Monday, I am in Lübeck. It is an old town, former member of the Hansa and famous for its Holstentor and marzipan. But for me it is basically a big town, positioned at a former national border, with a small neighbouring village on the other side of the border. So my analysis focuses on the small but quite beautiful village of Herrnburg.
The task of the first few days was getting access to people living in Herrnburg and convincing them to support my study by giving me the opportunity to talk to them about their everyday life. I had already made an appointment with the headmaster of the local school who promised me his support. I met him yesterday and we talked about half an hour about living in Lüdersdorf (of which Herrnburg is a part) and school reform in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Finally, he agreed to hand out letters to those pupils of his school who live in Herrnburg so their parents would know about my project. Thus, I printed those letters yesterday afternoon and brought them to the school this morning.
Now I am sitting in my room – well, while posting this, actually in an internet cafe – and am anxiously waiting for my telephone to ring. The children should have gotten home by now and, if everything went according to plan, have given the letters to their parents. All I can do now is wait and grow nervous more and more.
