December/January:
In December, I finished out the last couple weeks of classes for the year, before taking a short trip to Jordan with some friends from school. One of them is Jordanian, so we stayed with his family in the capital city, Amman, while exploring the country. We visited several interesting sites such as the dead sea, roman ruins, and the Royal Tank Museum, giving an interesting glimpse into Jordanian culture and history. Over the Christmas holiday break I celebrated the holidays with Janina’s family while getting most of my schoolwork done. I had several papers and presentations to prepare that were due late January through the end of March and wanted to finish them as early as possible to free up the February-April semester break. I was done with most of my schoolwork by late January/early February, with two tests in February remaining for the semester. In January, I also visited Lisbon for a weekend, where I learned about Portugal’s colonial history and the experience under dictatorship in the mid-20th century.
February:
In February, I took my remaining two final exams and worked to prepare for some events later in the month and into March. I met with a researcher at the Hanns Seidel foundation, a think tank in Munich from which I had met another researcher in November and discussed the trans-Atlantic relationship and our respective backgrounds. By this time, the gathering storm of Russia’s war against Ukraine was far too apparent, and this was a major topic of our discussion.
Two organizations I’m in, the Academic Association for Security Studies (BSH) and Model United Nations TUM were also invited to organize and host a side-event at the Munich Security Conference in late February. We organized and held a two-day NATO crisis simulation centred on a hypothetical resurgence of the Cyprus conflict that drew Greece and Turkey into conflict with each other. Participants were responsible for managing the crisis and attempting to find a solution to resolve the hostilities.
I also joined an online meeting with the Munich-International Rotary Club with a professor from the University of St. Gallen who discussed the Russo-Ukrainian conflict and the history of the two countries. He, like the vast majority of the Europeans I discussed the issue with before the conflict broke out, did not think Russia would attack. Unfortunately, they were wrong, and the full-fledged Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24. I participated in a different event hosted by my university and the BSH that day, where several professors and members of the German parliament discussed the impacts of the invasion on Ukraine, Germany, and Europe. Since then, I’ve helped sort medical supplies at a donation center here in Munich, which has seen a large number of Ukrainian refugees arrive since the conflict began out of some 4 million people who have fled the country thus far.
March:
Early March, I went to Cyprus for a week with Janina and some friends (one of whom I went to Avon high school with). While we were there, Janina and I got engaged! We’re planning on getting married the summer of 2023 and are diving into the planning process. After returning from Cyprus, I joined a battalion from the 173rd Airborne Brigade for a training rotation at the Grafenwöhr Training Area 2 hours north of Munich in Germany. I was originally supposed to go to Israel for an exercise with them, but that was likely cancelled due to the unfolding crisis in eastern Europe. We spent a week in the field conducting squad live fires and several ranges, where squads from the platoon and company I stayed with trained in clearing trenches and bunkers as well as employing machine guns, anti-tank weapons, and grenade launchers. It was a great (but chilly) learning experience with a high-quality unit, and a nice opportunity to reconnect with the Army after several months away from a military environment. After finishing, I travelled to Australia for a week to see my relatives there. The last time I visited was in 2017, so it was nice having the opportunity to reconnect and see them. I made time to meet with a professor at the University of Sydney who specializes in Indo-Pacific security policy, and we had an hour-long conversation on the region where I learned a great deal!
