Today marks one year from when I first came back to Germany. So I should take a break from my exam preparation and reflect on the last year.
Well lets see, I did not write as much as I planned to. Interesting to look at how I was writing weekly, and then monthly, and then sometimes.
I have changed of course, though much of it is too gradual for me to really notice. Everyone keeps telling me I have progressed so much in my language ability, yet I mostly see how small it is in comparison to the distance left to cover. Yet, when I really think back to last year when I opened a bank account, at that time I was mostly nodding, smiling, and relying on the honest and helpfulness of the Germans, hoping they understood I wanted a student account, versus last month when I went into get my credit limit increased enough to purchase plane tickets, at which time I was able to conduct and understand the process entirely in German, I can note a growth in ability. I am certain my thoughts and ideas have been impacted by the interaction with students from so many different cultures, but I think that may become most apparent when I visit home for Christmas.
Other things I have become quite adjusted to: the trains and transportation network ("you just need to get anywhere in Germany and you're good"), walking everywhere, the "grocery" stores, the main market street in the city center, the attitude towards alcohol, the atmosphere for Fußball, running up four flights of stairs to my apartment, sound of traffic outside the window, hearing Turkish and Spanish and Russian...
I have not traveled as much as I would have liked, or maybe just not to the places I have thought of going. Paris, Madrid, London, Dublin, Galway, Maastricht, Leige, Amsterdam, not to mention the towns or cities in Germany. Well I have probably traveled more around Europe than I did in the USA in a year.
The entire education system is setup differently, and it has been interesting to learn about it. The University and my Masters program have accordingly been different from what I have expected. The attitude of students being responsible (not Professors or other teachers) for learning in all levels of University study, I like, and I wish there was a good way to channel it back to the USA. The difference in the structure and expectation of a Masters degree is also different. This largely stems from Germany's switch only recently from a Diplom system to the Bachelors-Masters system. In Germany, a Diplom was a five year degree and was the basic University degree. It carries with it a certain level of respect. Companies have had years of work with the Diplom and are expecting new graduates with equivalent qualifications. The basic three or four year Bachelors degree, just does not come close. So, in order to be able to get a job, everyone has to pursue a Masters. So the large number of students, and things that come along with it, is not limited to my program, as I may have thought at first.
Yet for many of the things I have grown accustomed to or come to like, there are other things I do not. The weather was wonderful in August, but now I expect a rather bleak and rainy winter. I just do not think there is enough sunlight here for me to remain permanently. Some freedoms are not as broad here as in the USA.
The cuisine is... actually I have not had that much German food. The Mensa serves food that is a large step up from Chartwells, but is still mass produced cafeteria food. I have not cooked German meals myself, having stuck to making my family favorites for which I constantly hunt through the stores trying to think where they would put such-and-such an ingredient if they had it. Though now that I think about it, for this next year I can get a German cookbook to make meals myself. The beer is good, but the beer is held to strict purity laws which creates a lack of variety. And nobody knows what green chile or pecans are. ;-(
Hmmm...
Of course! I have not mentioned the friends I have made. Many wonderful people. I hope I can maintain my connections wherever life takes me.
Nic
