Yesterday I was invited by the Saarbruecken German-American Institute (DAI) to attend a short meeting with the Consul General Kevin Milas. The DAI exists to promote and be a resource for American culture and history within Germany, as well facilitate interactions between the two countries within Saarland. The Consulate exists to do the same thing. Therefore, they meet every once in awhile to coordinate efforts.
The DAI got a new boss, and Kevin Milas came by to speak with him before attending a Christmas party by a local politician. Three germans, another american, and I were invited to sit in on the meeting and brainstorming session, which was a nice experience. Kevin Milas was an interesting speaker and I feel great about him being a representative of America, which is the most you can hope for! He is big into history and was able to talk about American values and goals in a way that wasn't off-putting or America-centric. He has served in a number of countries (recently Kabul, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Russia) and can speak several languages.
The Consulate is interested in trying to foster relationships and transatlantic interest within Germany and the US whilst on a low budget (as Milas put it, there are a lot of countries that the US desperately needs to find shared values and promote interests with -more so than with Germany-, which takes money (e.g. sponsoring students and young people's exchanges). He mentioned Egypt and Indonesia). He asked us for experiences we had and how we came to be interested in each other's respective country, and what our generation's awareness was of events like the Berlin wall falling, etc.
All and all, it was a good experience. I wasn't able to contribute very much (I don't have any experience with social media campaigns) but enjoyed the opportunity to learn from the other people in the room.
PS also photos from DAI Facebook page, which I believe were supplied by Consulate photographer.
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