Germany
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Worth the wait!
Mitch, second year, studying English Literature at Freie Universitaet Berlin So. It’s definitely been a while. Like, a really, really decent while. Everything’s been quiet on the blog front while everything’s been hectic and busy on the ‘year abroad life’ front. I’ll start not by making excuses, but making a plan: this blog will be a general (hopefully interesting) ramble on things that have gone on for me recently on this period of time abroad – because it really is amazing in its own unique way. Then, there’ll be two blogs on all the fun things/hard things that have happened, all the stuff I’ve enjoyed (or not) and why/what I…
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My post-Brazil, pre-Berlin (positive!) post-mortem
By Mitch Mainstone, English Literature (Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany) So. Berlin is now a thing in my life. A big, leafy, musical, beautiful thing that up until a week ago I’ll admit I had no real conception of. I think that if I write that I feel that same way about myself, but reflecting back on myself as I am at the moment, in some future ‘conclusion of study abroad’ blog, then I think this year will have been a successful one! I’ll start this by saying that both my uni-home of Manchester and my home-home city of Bristol have an incredible amount to learn from Berlin’s public transport system. Study…
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Tourist Tips
By Colton Hill (University of Heidelberg, Germany). In this post I want to talk more generally for people who may be coming to visit or planning on staying in Heidelberg for a relatively short period of time. Instead of mentioning the major tourist attractions (which I may get to later), this will be slightly more practical. Food may not be on everyone’s list when they come to Germany, aside from maybe a Currywurst (Bratwurst with spicy curry/ketchup sauce), and unfortunately when people have “eat Wiener Schnitzel” on their list for Germany, they may be slightly confused to find out the dish is Austrian. Do not be dismayed, however, there is…
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Auf Wiedersehen (Pet!)
By Joanna Harris (Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany). The time has finally arrived for me to move to Berlin. When I applied to go on exchange over a year ago it almost seemed like it would never really happen… But now it feels like time has flown by! So here I am. As I sit in the airport writing this I have such a strange mixture of feelings… a fuzzy flutter of excitement mixed with a small (but definitely noticeable) twinge of nerves. Firstly though, the excitement: I am so looking forward to being in Berlin again – I visited for a few days last year and loved it, despite the…
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Question 1: Did you study for this exam?
By Colton Hill (University of Heidelberg, Germany). When the University Library is your home and the Mensa (Cafeteria) your kitchen, exams must be getting close. As I’m writing this I am excited to say that this time is over. In many ways it is immediately noticeable how the exam system in Heidelberg contrasts the exam system in Manchester. And yet, exams are meant to be a universal differentiation method, separating the students from one another. Perhaps internally, exams serve as a benchmark, however even year to year the difficulty of an exam can vary or the syllabus can change. For those unfamiliar, Manchester gives students roughly four weeks of preparation…
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Heidelberg Housing Crunch
By Colton Hill (University of Heidelberg, Germany). This time I want to dive into two annual Autumn/Winter occurrences in Heidelberg: The Winter Term Housing Crunch and the Heidelberg Christmas Market. My personal experience with this Housing Crunch was much too close for comfort. I actually started looking for accommodation slightly more than 1 month before the start of term, hoping to avoid serious competition. Unfortunately, I had no success. Rather concerned about spending several weeks in a hostel, I turned to my only hope – university accommodation. However, this is before I truly understood the nature of finding a place to live in Heidelberg in autumn. The first clue about…
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The Heidelberg Exclusion Principle
By Colton Hill. “The Heidelberg Exclusion Principle: No Heidelberg Physics student can study and explore Germany simultaneously” – I’m expecting my Nobel Prize next year once this blog is published. Term actually started about 6 weeks ago, so I suppose first impressions are long passed. Unfortunately my initial impressions were not the most positive, with most things being complicated in the way only German beauraucracy can be. For those who don’t know, it involves a lot of paperwork and different offices sending you to get someone’s stamp in a building across town, only for them to tell you they can’t stamp your sheet, because you have the wrong coloured form.…
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“Roll Me Away”
By Colton Hill (University of Heidelberg, Germany). First of all, for those of you who are familiar with the lyrics, I didn’t actually ride a motorcycle this summer. And for those of you who are unfamiliar with Bob Seger, you’re missing out. Anyway, some students already abroad or local students reading my entry may be slightly confused when looking at the date of this post. To clarify, the University of Heidelberg officially starts lectures on the 14th of October this year. However, before anyone feels envious, this also means that the Summer Term finishes on the 24th of July. For me, this just means an exchange – gaining time this summer and…
