The E-Mail Flood

Does this make you nervous? How do you feel about this?

It may be different for those who have law-firm experience. But if you have worked at a university, working on your PhD, lost in contemplation thinking about some fancy theories of public international law, at least 61 (sixty-one!!) e-mails a day overwhelm you.

It is important though to read them all, each single word, with great care. If you blink, you miss it. Talks, parties, law firm events, announcements, deadlines... Or just the best free non-pizza lunch.

Still, after six month of experience, it is not easy to really know who is sending all these e-mails. To illustrate, just a short excerpt from my mail box: I received mails from:

Nhk. Easls. Esl. Sirr. Cbla. Cisl. lfWhenHow. SPIN. Crel. Nsls. Hri. Apalsa. Dvp. Pilf. Lcsss. Cjan.

Yes, Americans love acronyms. No, nobody will tell you what they mean. And no, nobody will bother to reveal the organizations’ name or what they do in the mail. And no, there is no introductory information session on this. It is up to you.

Ok, as I just remembered: it is not true: don’t read every e-mail. Why? Because there will be a reminder-e-mail. “Don’t forget – tomorrow!”, “Don’t forget – today!” “Starting soon – 10 Minutes” “Happening Now – still food left!”

And last but not least: what you will enjoy most, are these kind of e-mails:

Seriously? Could somebody please proofread the mail before sending? And even worse: three exclamation marks??? ... Maybe, you learn from our fatal silent surrender, making us drown in the e-mail flood, and you will try to push for an internal Columbia Law School E-mail Code. Generations will thank you. But, on the other hand, it is true – these e-mails also contribute to the feeling that there is so much going on at law school. 61 e-mails….at least…Maybe it is strategy...

As all this sounds frightening, two "insider"-tips:
1. Pay close attention to CLS Calendar.  It is hidden in the Friday-e-mail-flood. Good luck not missing it!
2. Use the unsubscribe function - if you can deal with the fear of missing out.

Graduation is nearing

There will come the moment when you realize that the year you have planed for so long draws to a close. Soon, way too soon.

The moment, which makes you realize this, when graduation mails arrive. This is probably late February. February, when there are still three month to go… I do not yet know how graduation will be, but judging all the effort (and mails) which are put into this, it will be a highlight in the LLM for sure.

There is so much to organize. And so many deadlines you can miss. Taking a graduation photo (already taken). Renting a gown. Organizing tickets. Voting for the class speaker – this is actually fun. Anyone can run for it and is asked to prepare a two minute video to explain to the fellow classmates why it should be him or her representing the class ’17 at graduation. All videos were impressive as regards professionalism, rhetoric, skill and creativity: some sang songs, some promised to rhyme the speech, some created professional advertisement clips. And already then two month before graduation, the class speaker is already announced. The keynote speaker is announced. The Graduate Legal Studies Team invites the LLM class for get-togethers.

Graduation season has started. It means that the LLM unfortunately will end soon. But it also means, it has not yet ended. It is not too late, to tick of everything you have planed to do in New York…

Subway - Your Friend and Enemy

The time has come. It is time to finally dedicate a blog post to New York’s best friend and enemy: the subway.

On the one hand, New York’s subway can jangle your nerves. It is old and loud. It is never on time, but comes whenever it wants. Either too early. Or too late. Without any system. It is just luck if you catch it.

It is slow. And why is there no fast-train-stop at Columbia? It is confusing – every of your guest will at least once make you wait, because he or she went to Brooklyn. By accident. It is super crowded, allowing you only to board backwards pushing – it is always interesting to realize how different the feeling of necessary distance can be. The train always gets stuck – track fires, construction or whatever reason there might be. The stations are too warm, too dirty, too…whatever – add what you like. I hate the subway.

On the one hand, I don’t want to miss it. It is part of my life, an everyday partner, bringing you everywhere for little money in a quick manner. It is not old, but retro and stylish. Fast-trains are fast. In the early morning it can be pleasant to ride. Lots of great and entertaining trips downtown will always be remembered in red line 1. Neither will be forgotten the awkward moments of life, you can only experience in New York’s subways: for instance the astonishment when I boarded still semi-somnolent at 5:30 in the morning the first wagon uptown to go to Columbia Master’s swim and found three guys sleeping in an otherwise empty wagon.

Or the more, less brilliant speeches on world problems you have never have heard about and never have wanted to hear about. Or the friendly, but crazy guy asking the passengers riddles, and promising to kiss the guy with grey jacket and the laptop (…me writing a post…) if somebody knows the answer (fortunately, the passengers were so kind not to know the solution…). Definitely, the subway brings you to get to know New York and to not loose touch with the world outside the ivory tower at Columbia. (Maybe that explains Columbia’s location up-north – only educational purposes…). Thinking of education, the subway gives you the great alternative to seriously discuss all-you-can-think-of religions and beliefs with qualified people. The subway stations are nice, cozy and warm. Who needs Broadway, the Met, or Carnegie Hall, if you can have brilliant concerts on the way to these places – a brass band, singers, violinists, drummers – whatever you wish? What can be better than a cheerful performance of Joplin’s “Entertainer”, when you are on your way to work? The subway stations are sometimes decorated with great details. And you have free WIFI. Sometimes.

To use our new world language: @subway: <3

P.S. As you may realize, today (another blizzard, shutting down entire New York – yes, the subway was also affected) I did not take the subway…