Classes Begin

Well, I would have posted more recently were it not for the fact that my laptop screen has died, or "gone kaput," as they say here. Great timing, right? Thankfully, my family is shipping me a new one from the States... which will take far longer than I would like.

In any event, the last week has been nonstop! As the week has progressed, I have taken part in an international food tasting evening (quite tasty... Erasmus students brought dishes from their home country), an end-of-erasmus-orientation party (which, although on campus, was shut down by police by 2am... yet to figure out why), seen a rugby game, and partaken in various grilling excursions to the beautiful Palace Garden. I have taken more pictures than Carter has pills, but I say it's for the best. It's truly a "college experience" now; being that I do not have to work, I can engage in what college is all about: socializing!

Aside from the fun and games, my German is coming about so-so as well. I am up to about 300 vocabulary words, but I am best at recognizing words (reading) rather than saying them. I still cannot understand a lick of what anyone says, but once again... the Germans are far more intelligent in that their education system is set-up to teach English to most people at a very young age. I feel quite dumb when 6 year olds want to talk to me in English on the bus, while giggling with their friends in German. While I can obviously not be sure, I feel that this bilingual way of life will soon begin to show up as far superior to American [and most other nations'] monolingualism in international relations, business, and culture.

But, what do I know. Actually, what I know is that  I can relatively successfully get about in Germany, but if a German knowing no English were to try to do likewise in America, it would be a difficult experience indeed.

Moving on, I've finally signed up for classes and began them today. In order to meet US requirements for "full time" (12 hours), I must take 24 ETCS points. Don't ask me what they are; all I know is that they equate to some kind of credit based on the degree you seek. I also know that 2 ETCS points equal roughly 1 US hour. The fact that many courses here offer 3 points then greatly disappoints an American student; whereas in Savannah I would take 4 classes to be considered "full time" for Uncle Sam, here I must take at least 6 for the credits to transfer correctly.

On the plus side, though, Germany offers far more options in terms of classes; over 75 classes are taught in English here at the University of Trier, and among them are subject areas ranging from business to economics to science to literature. Within those areas, there are also distinctions between lecture classes, seminars, and participation classes, all offering differing numbers of credits and responsibilities. It's quite difficult to get it all straight, but the presence of options makes me much happier than what I am used to in America.

And what's more, school is basically free for Europeans! Of courseyou must keep in mind the fact that they pay anywhere from 40-50% of their income in taxes... but for that, they get what we would call "universal healthcare," free secondary and post secondary education (for the most part), and a variety of other services that we must pay out of pocket in America. It all boils down to the age-old question of whether or not "bigger government" is worth it or not.

My class load is thus:
British Sociological Linguistics
German Phonetics (beginner)
English Business Presentations
Industrial Organization
Corporate Finance
American Speechmaking and Rhetoric

They sound like a mouthfull, but luckily each class meets only one day a week for about 2 hours, with the exception of my Industrial Organization class which meets twice. I have no classes on Wednesday or Friday, and only one on Thursday morning, giving me ample time to travel [hopefully]! These classes together will yield me 29 ETCS points upon completion, so if need be I can still drop a class and fulfill my US requirements.

Now that I have my classes, I have a better idea of when I can travel about Europe. It would be far easier if I had my laptop with internet in my dorm, though, as travel searching requires massive amounts of internet time if a good deal is to be found. While many have offered for me to use their laptops, it takes a bit longer to research... most of the keyboards are not laid out in US English format.

Oh well, hopefully HP will ship quickly, and my problems resolved!