Classes

I thought I would make a post having to do with classes, since that’s part of the reason I’m here, y’know.

In the Winter Semester I took 15 credits during the semester proper, which is technically half of what students here normally take. There’s a lot less work during the semester, so it kinda works out to be the same course load as back home…I think?

Deutsch-Intensivkurs
Okay, so this class didn’t take place during the semester itself, but it was pretty much the reason why I went abroad in early September and not in October, like I probably could have. Whatevs.

It was 9 credits (whoo) and the level was…eh. Some people in the class probably needed it; I didn’t. For those who were in Bielefeld: think about the class there…and go down a few notches. Yeah. But, I guess it was a nice thing to spend my time on while getting used to life in Karlsruhe. I met friends ‘n’ stuff, so that’s a plus. So I guess it was good for something, now that I think about it…

Got a 1.0, by the by.

Deutsch als Fremdsprache (für Fortgeschrittene)
Or not so advanced speakers, whatevs.

Yeah, well, it was nice. I learned a little bit, but a lot of it was on my own. Some more nice review, but kind of disappointed that I didn’t learn more. The teacher said next semester will add on to this one, which I don’t know how since new students are coming…but whatever. Maybe I will learn more, and she did mention she would try to find something more to my level, so that’s something to look forward to.

Another 1.0. Whee.

Introduction aux cultures francophones
Taught by probably my fav professor ever, this was not that bad of a class. It quickly got into some boring political stuff, but some of it was actually pretty interesting. I almost wrote a paper for it, which would have meant I would have been the only student to get a grade, but I got sick, then busy, and was like, “screw it.” So yeah.

Still might write that paper for fun some time, it was actually gonna be kind of interesting (the diaclects of France).

No grade.

Histoire de la civilisation française
Taught, once again, by one of my fav professors ever. Was kind of shaky at first, since it was more advance and I had completely fallen off the bucking horse that is French, but towards the end I was loving it. I finally got to learn some French history, and turns out it’s actually really interesting! Maybe not as interesting as German history, but any motivation for me to learn French is good to come across. We covered Louis XIV (≈1638) – the end of Le Regime du Vichy (≈1944).

For some reason, though, World War I was completely left out. It went from the Dreyfuss Affair right at the turn of the century straight to 1940. Uh, whut? Other than that, it was pretty cool.

Grade…still pending actually, ’cause I wrote an exam (that I totes had to cram for).

Latein 1
Was really excited for this course, and I’m very glad I took it. I’m only disappointed that it’s so annoying to learn vocabulary-wise. I loved learning the grammar though. I’m probably going to learn Latin from now on by selective learning (I don’t know if this is an acutal term). I mainly come across Latin in religious texts and songs, so I’ll just learn the vocab contained therein and call it good.

Got a 1.2 in the class. The exam was just a small translation…was so nervous about that one.

Japanisch 3
I’ve only actually taught myself Japanese before, so I was happy when I was able to comfortably skip to Japanese 3. I was really glad to, because I get two full semesters of the same teacher, Kobayashi, who was GREAT. Her German was actually pretty good, she was very knowledgeable about the language itself beyond just being a native speaker, and was really nice and funny. Was one of my fave classes.

Got a 1.3, based on an essay I wrote and attendance. Fun times.
 
 
Classes I didn’t finish:
(sounds bad, but they were dropped usually because I just didn’t have time)
Einführung in die Kirchengeschichte
Was a really good class, actually, but eventually Latin started taking up so much time, and I had no chance of getting credits for this class at home, so I dropped it eventually. Made it halfway, though, so go me.

Wissenschaftliches Deutsch
Eh, scheduling oversight on my part. Bar underneath my floor that doesn’t stop until 5 in the morning = no chance of getting up for a 10 o’clock class and actually learning anything. Turns out in three weeks we actually didn’t learn anything of substance anyway, so I just dropped it.

Phonetik für Nichtmuttersprachler
Got all the way through until like the last week, when I missed a third time and needed to cram for my French exam anyway. Was okay, but nothing special.

Day 2 + 3

Well, it just hit the new year…and I haven’t written anything in almost two months. But, hey, I’ve been really busy. And when I haven’t been busy, I’ve been lazy. I procrastinate like a pro! And no, I’m not going to actually write a description of EVERY SINGLE DAY, just the first few. And then random stuff that I feel like talking about. Yay!

Day 2
So, on my second day there (Thursday, September 8th), I finally had class! And almost immediately I figured out that it was going to be easier than the class I had the first time I was here. But nothing’s wrong with reviewing, right? Both of the teachers are nice enough and they are helpful and whatever. The other students are nice too, although I didn’t really get much of a chance to get to know them in the first week or so. But whatever.

The class was about three hours long with a fifteen minute break in the middle. The first day I used my break to go to the International Office to drop off my proof of insurance and finally get my student ID. I didn’t get to figure out where the students usually go during break, and I came back to an empty class room. I had a huge headache from jet lag anyway, so I used that time to rest.

The students themselves are a bit mixed, but nowhere near an optimal mixture (although the levels are low enough that it would be kind of annoying without using English). At first there were three Americans (a fourth came later), three English girls, one Scottish girl (I loved hanging with the Brits, just to hear their accent), a girl from Slovakia and a girl from Italy. Technically there were two other Americans, but after the first week I almost never saw them again, so they’re not important.

Anyway, after class I had to go with my Chairlady and the “Buddy” from the university I got hooked up with to the Einwohnermeldeamt to sign papers so the government know I live here now and stuff. I got some coupons (that I still haven’t used yet), copies of forms, and a guide book for Karlsruhe. Boring and stuff, yay.

Then that was the end of going out and stuff. I just went home and cooked my first meal for myself. I made spaghetti! Without meat, but it was spaghetti nonetheless. One of the girls on the floor invited me to the dorm’s bar (oh, yeah, my dorm has a bar in it, and I get to hear it every Thursday night/Friday morning) and I had a beer (which tasted horrible, but whatever). We talked a little, and from what she tells me, Europeans actually don’t dislike Americans as widely as I thought. She was actually confused when I asked her about it…she assumed it was the other way around. I also learned she had been in America and had done some au pair stuff, too (although I may be mixing her up with someone else). I was still pretty tired so I turned in not too long afterwards.

End of day 2~~!

Day 3
Ooh, my first real outing! And when still jetlagged. Awesome.

Schloss Ludwigsburg

Anyways, the castle was actually pretty cool, it’s just that the dang tour was so long, I had no chance to sit down, I was tired as all out and my feet hurt like hell. I kept fidgeting just to keep my feet from feeling like they were going to break…anyone would probably guess I had to pee or something. I don’t really remember too much about the castle itself, but I think it was originally a hunting castle that turned into some…margrave or duke’s residence or something, I dunno. Y’all can look it up if you really feel like it.

Maultaschen

Afterwards it was raining, so after waiting around for a while to see if it would stop (it didn’t), we decided to try to get to the train station. We went in the direction I thought it would be and turns out it was the wrong one (totally misunderstood one of the signs that, turns out, I’ve been misinterpreting since I was in Bielefeld…), but we ended up at the Marktplatz, where we decided to just grab a bite to eat. I had Maultaschen, which is this rolled pasta filled with vegetables and stuff…it wasn’t all that good (surprising, since I’ve been buying them from the supermarket and I LOVE the ones I get from there). But I had a Kiba for the first time in a while (banana and cherry juice), so that was nice.

Eventually we went home, and after I rested up a bit and then had supper. After that…Internet! I finally was able to get Internet, and it only took a couple of tries to get it working. A really nice guy on my floor was in charge of that. The students are in charge of things like that, which is cool. And since most of the students go to the main university (science!) or the FH (applied science!), they’re all pretty good at stuff like that. I guess.

End of day three! Day four, I just lazed about and slept a lot. It might have also actually been the day I got internet, I don’t know anymore.

Day 1

Oh, hey guys! How y’all doin’?

I know it’s been a really long time, but I just got so busy that I never thought to post something. Thankfully you’re all on Facebook so you know I’m not dead or anything, but still. I’m not sure how much I really want to cover, but I do want to go through the first few days at least and give a (semi-)short version.

When I’m Going

Yeah, I thought it might interest some of you to know when I’m actually going.

My flight is September 6 at 8:12 11:35 in the morning, which means I’ll have to actually leave to get to the aiport at like 2 5 in the morning (yay…). I’ll be flying American Airlines this time, and not Delta. Sad, because I could have amassed some major pointage there…but whatevs. I’ll be curious to see if this time around will be more or less pleasant than my first time traveling…I bet it’ll be worse. See the quick itinerary I’ve whipped up to see why!

Where I’ll Be Staying

Probably just as important as the city and the actual university I’ll be studying at is the dorm I will be sleeping, studying, and doing a whole host of other (unspeakable) things in. As I was quite recently (last Tuesday) informed, I will be spending the next year in the Studentenwohnheim Hermann-Ehlers-Kolleg (HEK), which is seven floors of yellow-buildingy goodness. I don’t really know much about the HEK, since its website seems to have run into a bit of hard drive failure(which has been fixed!), but I was able to find out a few things.

Where I’m Going

It took me a while to get any updates, so that’s why it’s been a while. I didn’t get anything until mid-April. In any case, I finally figured out where I’m going: Karlsruhe. If you actually bother to read my other posts, you can see that…that was definitely not on my list. But not to worry! It looks good ‘n’ stuff.

Update

So, lot’s of stuff happened!
Well, no, not really. Just a couple of things:

I completed my application and got everything in on time. It was about to be harrowing, but then some parts of it that I thought would be hard turned out to be really easy. The list of cities I chose is slightly different than the ones I mentioned in my last post:

     1 – Erfurt
     2 – Bamberg
     3 – Würzburg

I threw Bamberg into the mix because it seemed to have really good classes—whether or not they’ll be up for grabs if I actually go is not totally certain, but in any case, Bamberg looks good.

The only other update I have is that I was told that I most likely won’t find out which city I will be going to—and whether it’s even one of the ones I chose—until April, maybe even May. Great.

The Road to Germany, Pt. 2

Still going with the road thing, huh?
Yes, it’s a long, winding road to Germany. Now shut up or I’ll replace you with my own voice.

Jawohl, mein Herr. So…anything new?
Why, yes, actually. It’s been almost a week since I got my application—and the list of cities I can study in. While I’m not going to list thi all, I will mention my top three choices (as well as any back-ups, if my top three turn out to be not so desirable).

1. Erfurt
2. Würzburg
3. Erlangen-Nürnberg

(Backups: Düsseldorf, Stuttgart)

The Road to Germany, Pt. 1

Where does this so-called “Road to Germany” start, anyway?
Well, about a month ago I turned in my application for the Verband—

Wait, Verband? What’s that?
Okay, I guess I need to start at the very beginning.

For those of you not in the know, the word Verband can mean Federation, and in this case, is essentially short for der Verband der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Clubs (VDAC) (the Federation of German-American Clubs). If you mention der Verband at CMU, you’re most certainly talking about the awesome scholarship that the Federation offers, whose nickname obviously comes from the name of the organisation. What are the details, you say?

A student…abroad!

Hey, my name is David, but you probably already know that, since the only people who will probably read this are people I already know and in any case, I most likely referred you to here anyway. If not, I do have an about page with a little bit of info about me.

I am going to use it pretty much purely for Study Abroad—I forgot to write about my first study abroad stay in Bielefeld, which is kind of sad. I might write about certain memories that come up eventually, and I even considered just trying to fake a journal over the trip, but whatever. This time, I will rectify that! I don’t know how much I will cover or how often, but I’ll figure something out. I’ll definitely have some preliminary/prepatory stuff up before hand, since it’s going to be almost a year before I finally go over…