So, today, I start classes, and I have to admit, I am a little bit terrified. All of my courses will be in German, with the exception of Spanisch I . (Yes, I am taking a Spanish class in Germany... I figure it may end up being the most relaxing class, plus, it should help my fundamental German.) Here are the courses I will be taking this semester:
• Deutschlandbilder in Film und Literatur (Mo 14-16h) Pictures of Germany in Film and Literature
• Spanisch I (Mo, We 16-18h)
• Das amerikanische Spanish: Ein regionaler und historischer Überblick (Tu 10-12h) The American Spanish: A regional and historical overview
• Geschichte der Juden im Mittelalter (Tu 14-16h) Jewish History in the Middle Ages
• Mittelkurs II (Tu, Th 16-18h, We 14-16h) A speaking course for German learners: high-mid level
• Landeskunde: aktuell-historisch (Tu 18-20h) Regional Studies: today-historical
• Literatur und Kultur der Weimarer Republik (We 12-14h) Literature and Culture of the Weimar Republic
As you can see, there's a lot on my plate, but it's actually not as much as most of the other international students attending Uni Trier. Instead of the credit system used in America, most of Europe seems to operate on an ECTS point system (European Credit Transfer System). In a given semester, study abroad students are typically expected to take on 30 ECTS-points-worth of classes. For me, I would find this nearly impossible... it would be completely overwhelming. Check it out:
Granted, I've got what I consider to be a great schedule (perhaps minus Tuesday), with courses from 14-18h on Mondays, 10-20h on Tuesdays (with a lunch break between 12-14h), 12-18h on Wednesdays, only one course from 16-18h on Thursdays, and NOTHING on Fridays (woohoo!). However, this is a total of 20 hours of courses per week. Yes, perhaps not as much as a full-time job, but these courses also require work outside of class, not to mention the fact that I will also have to deal with keeping up with new vocabulary in foreign language. Thus, I fully expect the total hourage of my workload to be in the area of 40 hours per week. Yet, for all of my courses, the total amount of ECTS points I would receive is a mere 21. My american Spanish and Weimar Republic courses do not have ECTS points attached. Thank goodness my home university is one of the few who will directly transfer hours in class per week into credits, and not just rely on the ECTS system.
My other worry right now is the fact that three of my courses hinge on how well I performed on a placement test on Friday. If I did not make the B2 level (which was the level I was in for our orientation), I will have to take a different speaking course (the Mittelkurs), and I will be unable to take part in Deutschlandbilder and Landeskunde. However, results are supposed to be available today or tomorrow, and if I don't make B2, that just means I will have to completely rearrange parts of my schedule and find a couple of other courses to take... which will then make ALL of my courses complete integration into the normal student population here.
...Scary.
However, I am feeling very confident about my German comprehension level, and I am excited to see how much I can handle.
In other news, I will begin my job very soon, with a short meeting on Wednesday with the two other newbies from America (both girls, one from Ole Miss and one from Truman State in Missouri) and then a meeting with all of the TCAS interns on Thursday. I'm guessing I'll be jumping right into fun, as our first big event is an American election day celebration... which is coming up altogether too fast!
In fact, on that note, in 8 days, I will have lived in Germany for 3 months. Unbelievable. I really can't get over how insanely quickly time is passing here... I'm 1/4 of the way through my study abroad experience! I get a bit homesick at times, but on the whole, I am not ready to go home yet... though it will be interesting to see how those feelings evolve as more time passes.
Thus, I leave you now to eat soup and shower. I will attempt to post again soon, with a synopsis of the last few months, during which it was so busy, it felt impossible to keep up with blogger life.
Hope all is well wherever you are!
lg, Amanda
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