Apr
17
The First week of Classes
April 17, 2009 | by Thomas Flannery | |
So just as everyone back home is getting ready to wrap up with classes for the semester I have just started for the semester. I am currently taking 7 classes and will probably end up adding an 8th class. Now I know that sounds like A LOT of classes but actually it is quite an easy course load compared to what the average German student takes which is 12 classes. The reason why they take so many classes is because classes over here only meet once a week for two hours instead of the MWF and TTH scheme that we use back in the states. Another slightly peculiar… actually no REALLY peculiar thing is that for most classes you don’t register for them ahead of time. Instead you just show up to the class and attend a few sessions. Three sessions later if you like the class THEN you register for it and if you don’t like the class you just stop going to it. So anyways the classes I have gone to so far (and plan to register for) are: US Cultural History, Intro to the History of the Middle Ages, German Government in a Comparative Perspective, East German Political Parties, German History in the 15th Century, Introduction to Modern and Contemporary German History, and Chinese IV. All of these classes are taught in German with the exception of US Cultural History, and German Government which are taught in English. However many of the textbooks that we use are in English even if the course is taught in German, which I find kind of strange. Also all of my Professors have been extremely nice. All of my professors from the classes taught have been really nice and accommodating. For example in three of my classes the professors are going to allow me to take the final exam in English. Then in my East German Politics class our final is to do a 30-40 min group presentation on a Political Party, and since my group consists of me and two of my Russian friends the professor is going to meet with us every week to guide us along and make sure we are going in the right direction. He is also going to provide us with some materials in both English and Russian. I also should say it is quite the experience attending a class that’s not taught in your native language. As long as the professor speaks slow and clear I can usually catch anywhere from 60-70% of what is being said and then I can fill in the gaps based on context. However if the professor speaks fast, which they often do, I can at best catch 20-30% of whats being said. But again the professors have all said to me that if they start to speak to fast to just raise my hand and ask them to slow down. But for the most part the week went by with out incident with the exception of one slightly embarrassing moment in my Modern German History class. So I was sitting near the front of the classroom so I could hear the professor better and I had my German-English dictionary sitting on my desk in case I needed it (BIG MISTAKE). After the professor gave his introduction and went over the basics he then puts a copy of the Virgina Bill of Rights on the overhead and asks the class to define what a bill of rights is. Well after a few moments of silence he looks down and immediately sees my German-English dictionary and asks “Kommst du aus Englad oder Amerika” and I replied America to which he said something along the lines of “Ah then you are an expert on this” and then proceeded to speak really quickly and was apparently asking me a question. I just sat there stiff with my mouth open and I replied in English “I have no idea what just went on” and then I realized that I probably should have said that In German. In hind sight it was pretty funny but in a room with 50 other Germans all staring at the lone American who is confused as hell about an American document it was rather embarrassing. But all in all this was a pretty successful first week of school and now I get to enjoy a three day weekend as I don’t have classes on Fridays, a first for me. However as Murphy’s law would have It is going to rain all weekend thus spoiling my plans to take a trip east of here on the Train with a friend. That and the 5 pages of Chinese homework that due Monday (Apparently it is a Universal phenomenon that Chinese Professors like to give obscene amounts of home work). Well I wish everyone back home the best and have a great weekend!
Till Next Time,
Tom
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Yeah! I hate Chinese as well. They give a whole lot of homework for sure.
Oh the joys of those first classes! Tom, just hang in there, by the end of the semester you will be understanding nearly everything your German professors say. Oh and try to take classes for 6 pts if you can, otherwise it will be difficult to get them to count for a full 3 hours. Hopefully you already know this. Also, if you have some time, go introduce yourself to Philipp Mueller in the Erfurt School of Public Policy. He is a wonderful professor and an inspirational academic. (And tell him I say hi!)
Give Josi my love too!
~Rebecca