What I think is quite unique about my experiences is that I have no set schedule or program outlining my days. Sorry to be repetitive for those of you who’ve already heard this story, but here is the background: I received money from UChicago to study German in Germany for two months. It’s called a ‘Flag grant’; the deal is that I must take a minimum of 20 hours of language courses a week and that I must bring some sort of certification back to Chicago to prove that I did in fact participate in classes. Beyond that, my time here is my own. Whether I attend an all-inclusive language course, sort of like the Ferienkurs I was in last year, or I take night classes at a University, it’s all up to me where I live and how I want to go about doing things. This gives me a strange sense of normalcy. I am a student with a student schedule just like I am in Chicago. Of course, the Frisbee practices and other extra stuff hasn’t really started yet since I’m still in the process of settling in and feeling around for what is out there to do. So it’s really not like Chicago since my days are much more relaxed.
In my case I shall fax the certificates back to Chicago at the end of these two months. I will then enroll in the BCGS program, or for the more pretentious name, the ‘Berlin Consortium for German Studies’. Through this program I will enroll directly into the Freie Universitat and the Humboldt Universitat in Berlin, depending on how I do on the German exams. The BCGS program provides us with a 6-week language course in September and October to prepare us for the ominous DSH-exam (Deutsche-Sprache-something), which I am getting more nervous for by the day. According to my current German teacher (more about him later), if 100 Germans took the test then roughly 10-percent would pass. Scheisse. It’s comparable to how a bunch of Americans would rank with the TOEFL English exams…lots of antiquated grammar and listening comprehension that nobody actually learns in elementary school like we’re supposed to. But back to the BCGS… we do a home-stay during that time in September while we look around and interview with people to find an apartment. Then we take one class with BCGS per semester – taught in German by a professor from one of those haughty American universities (this year is Cornell, I believe…?). We also can bug them for tutors when we are overwhelmed by those 15-page term papers we must write entirely in German. I plan to do this often.
The breakdown is 2 months in Heidelberg and the following 11 in Berlin. Since the DAAD (the German government’s exchange services) is helping me financially, I will also hopefully be able to travel in between. My goals as of yet (a bit ambitious, I warn you) are St-Petersburg, Paris, Budapest and eventually Istanbul. There are many friends in the area to visit… The Deutsche-Bahn will surely become a very close companion of mine… EB, from your blog it sounds like Russia is keeping you busy and treating you well (now that you found an umbrella)!
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