Thirty-three Nations at School

...In Professor Zimmern's review of the summer's work there were two outstanding thoughts...

...One, that all the detailed problems of Europe and America which the eminent specialists had so capably treated during eight weeks were overshadowed by the great question of Asia...

...The speaker was quite nonplussed and wondered what unfortunate break he had made until Professor Zimmern set things right by explaining the special connotations which surrounded this word...

...So several weeks later when another lecturer innocently used this word in an ordinary sense, a veritable storm of laughter came from the audience...

...In the Conservatory of Music, where the School had its quarters, I heard a babel of familiar and foreign languages and saw a confused parade of entirely strange faces...

...And when American-looking students with shell-rimmed glasses turned out to be Czechs and Poles and fair-haired Scandinavians became Americans, I renounced any casual attempts to distinguish nationalities...

...A tremendous ovation greeted Professor Zimmern when he appeared on the platform to make his farewell address, and when he had finished even greater demonstrations broke forth...

...Nearly everyone was puzzled by this use of the word, especially those to whom English was a foreign language, and discussions about its exact meaning took place for days...

...On Wednesday evenings the concert hall had a chance to recover from such bilingual orgies and regain a bit of its true atmosphere...

...Others of the group showed only passive traits at first, such as the Swede who merely resembled the Prince of Wales, or the young Irishman whose pleasant accent and auburn hair were his passport...

...However, from the very first several talkative individuals came to light who could not ask the simplest question without a rambling ten-minute preface of personal opinions...

...One of the geographers insisted continually in his lectures on what he termed the "momentum" of a people, that is, its traditions, history and physical environment...

...It's not true...

...We welcomed this change in our weekly program and attended the concerts more willingly than certain of the lectures...

...There is a race between the understanding of the East and a world catastrophe," he said...

...It was most amusing for me on these occasions to note the striking contrast in the different national manners of addressing the speakers...

...During the first week geography was the main topic and two outstanding professors, a Frenchman and an Englishman, explained in their respective languages the physical foundation of present-day problems...

...No matter what form of salutation was used, the accepted etiquette for the questioner at these general discussions was that he ask a question, and this as briefly and clearly as possible...

...Momentum" finished by becoming a password of the school...

...The characteristics which first brought them to my attention were sometimes more striking and amusing than fundamental...

...Another minute passed, then Professor Zimmern made his French remark about questions...

...I thought that I recognized a pure Turkish type, but he proved to be an Englishman...

...As to the English girls, one was continually putting the dominions in their proper places, while the other merely gushed about everything from howling infants to world politics...

...I just wanted to talk...

...They wished to enlarge on this refutation immediately but were finally persuaded by the chairman to resume silence...

...Thus, in the boarding-house we distinguished the two Italian students as the young men who, with slight knowledge of English and French, bowed and smiled good-naturedly to everyone and were nearly always late to meals...

...The Italian students had a great many argumentative questions to ask at a certain general discussion, but these were all very skilfully answered to the lecturer's advantage and this disgruntled the questioners, so at last their leader got up and began an energetic defense of the intellectuality of Fascist politics...

...Although on certain occasions all three hints would be needed, the inevitable result was that the erring questioner was constrained to part with his question and reluctantly give up the floor...

...Professor Zimmern's difficult task was to relate each week's work to that of the preceding one and to synthesize the detailed treatment of special problems with a broad understanding of world problems in general...

...The English students also used the third person but were slightly less formal: "Professor X said in his lecture that...

...Nous ne sommes pas innocents...

...Professor Zimmern, as presiding chairman, thus had plenty of chance to develop an admirable technique for handling these situations...

...Another amusing incident was caused by a mere word...

...This hint passed unheeded and the tirade went on with increasing vigor...

...Any lengthy commentary of personal opinions or grievances was considered entirely out of place...

...These reactions were given a public airing at what was called the general discussion, a two-hour seance held every Friday afternoon...

...At the word "Fascism" the Italian students came sharply to attention, and at "intellectual innocence" they jumped to their feet in a body shouting, "No, no...

...He said dramatically, "No, I haven't any question...

...Occasional discords did occur, though, and after a particularly unfortunate one she exhorted, "If you can't sing in harmony or feel the rhythm of a piece of music, you don't have polyphonic souls, and if you don't have polyphonic souls you can never understand world problems...

...The farewells took place amid a general exchange of addresses, photographs, and invitations to visit one another in all parts of the world: Australia, Warsaw, Rome, China, New York, Bombay, Paris, Berlin or London...

...Pro-gram of the sixth session (July-August, (1929) : Eight weeks devoted to the relation of the following subjects to the study of international affairs: geography, history, economics, law, sociology, literature and art, philosophy and politics...

...It's not true...

...One will ask expectantly, "Momentum...

...But when I saw for the first time the 120 individuals of thirty-three nationalities who composed the student body, my impressions were very complex...

...The Conservatory's accustomed sounds of vocal and instrumental efforts were replaced by reverberations from lectures, discussions, arguments and conversations on world problems...

...Zimmern a series of excellent concerts was provided for us...

...Soon after this final celebration we scattered to the thirty-three nations from which we had come...

...Once, however, when we came with the intention of listening to an evening of music, we were informed that the program consisted of chorus singing and that we were the chorus...

...If this had no effect, Zimmern would ask, depending on the individual case, either: "Mais est-ce que vous arrivez a une question...

...These were the simple facts of the prospectus...

...The two Poles were the inseparable young men who played the piano alternately all day long and enlivened the boarding-house with music and song...

...In the opening lecture we heard Professor Zimmern tell of the purpose for founding the School: how it grew out of the great war though not in a mere sentimental sense...

...Finally, he arose and demanded forcibly, "Have you a question to ask...

...Finally, with appropriate speeches in French, German and English, the students presented the Zimmerns with three gifts as tokens of their appreciation for the difficult task which they had successfully completed...

...He would wait until the supposed questioner had talked for several minutes without using any rising inflection in his voice and then would cough apologetically...

...Here the speakers of the week were put on trial and bombarded with questions...

...Professor Zimmern repeated his remark in English and then in German, but these had no more effect than the French version...

...or, "Haben sie eine frage...

...But there was one classic occasion on which events took a different turn...

...The other was a sincere wish that the qualities of equality, frankness and good manners which pervaded the School should be extended by the students to a larger field of action and that they become missionaries of the culture of true international understanding and sympathy...

...The note of seriousness and even sadness felt at this farewell assembly was dispersed later in the evening when all of us went to the famous cafe, Brasserie Bavaria, and drank good Munich beer...

...If not, please give the floor to some one else...

...The French students, and others who spoke in French, were always most formal and polite...

...Five minutes of oratory passed without any sign of a question and the audience began to stir in anticipation of excitement...

...Zimmern's capable and insistent guidance we gradually became seff-expressive...

...Through the efforts of Mrs...

...The Germans I recognized, one, by a most peculiar clicking noise which his jaw made when chewing, and the other, by prodigious snores and groans when sleeping, which accomplishment soon forced his Norwegian room-mate to petition the landlady for another room...

...and the other will eagerly reply, "Polyphonic souls I" Then both of us will shake hands warmly and chorus, "Vive Bavaria I"us, "Vive Bavaria I...

...But when an American got up he just asked bluntly, "I want to know what you meant by saying...

...At the lectures from day to day there naturally accumulated many questions and contradictions on the part of the students...

...or, "Are you going to ask a question...

...But no matter where two students of the 1929 summer session may meet in the future, we shall certainly greet each other in this manner...

...However, this conglomerate assortment of human beings was divided by dozens and fifteens among various boarding-houses in Geneva, and by dint of living and eating with one of these small groups I soon became acquainted with individuals...

...The second week was devoted to attacking these problems from the historical standpoint, and so on, week by week, for the rest of the subjects named in the prospectus...

...But I must leave here the account of studies and lectures, for no one article could do them all justice, and, furthermore, I wish to tell about the incidents and escapades which did not figure on the official program...

...One week it happened that a speaker made some passing comments about the "intellectual innocence" of the Fascisti movement...

...For example, from time to time there were interesting breaks in the customary proceedings at lectures...

...There was more consternation than enthusiasm in our ranks at first, but under Mrs...

...They never began otherwise than this, "Je voudrais demander a Monsieur le Professeur X s'il pense que...

...I should like to ask him whether he thinks that...

...The main concert hall was used for formal lectures and debates while practice rooms were invaded by small seminar and discussion groups...

...She presided at these occasions and impressed upon us her conviction that music appreciation is just as essential to world peace as is the study of international problems...

...With a hundred memorable adventures to enliven international studies, the summer passed rapidly and the final lecture of the course was soon at hand...

...Finally, there were three Americans : a girl with good looks and slight western twang in speech, a middle-aged teacher with complete ignorance of French, and I. Such was the group that sat around one big table and ate the continental breakfast of cafe au lait, bread, butter and jam before going to the School on the first day...

...The final results of the evening were that our very heterogeneous group did unite with pleasure in singing some English folk-song and the American classic, Old Black Joe...

...For, as Professor Zimmern said in closing, the greatesi difficulty in the world today is not lack of good-will but the prevalence of ignorance and stupidity...

...This time the of the ancient Romans understood but he refused the chance to justify his speech with a lame question...

...By its location in Geneva, the greatest political laboratory in the world, and by the scientific study of international affairs, it aims to create in each country an elite of students who have vision in world problems and understanding of one another...

...and sat down amid the great astonishment and delight of the audience...

...But "polyphonic souls" was destined to remain with us and, like "momentum," became a byword of the School...

...With this simple introduction, the eight weeks of international life and studies began...