Part 2 – post-exams
Today I’m back in my old stomping grounds, taking a
well-earned break to chill in the sunshine and write a little. The winter
semester finally ended today, after 3 weeks of assignments, revision, exams and
general stress! It’s great to finally be able to unwind. I have the feeling
that my exams either went extremely well or extremely badly. All the classes
from the SLI (Sprachlehrinstitut) were fine, as those classes are almost
entirely made up of international students, and thus set a
slightly lower level. My other lectures though were a whole other kettle of
fish. Absolutely horrendous. The language level was frankly beyond my ability.
I probably spent most of my lectures looking in my dictionary and unable to
take many notes, although I did eventually improve. My history test was a nightmare. I thought I might do well as it was multiple-choice and I had done a
lot of revision, including reading a 300 page book on the subject.
Unfortunately the questions were obscure and the options incredibly difficult
to decipher. I think I spent the first 10 minutes on the first question alone,
looking up what each word meant. What was most cruel were the questions
designed to confuse the German students (so the other 98% of the class). These
were usually four near-identical definitions which to me looked the same.
Complete stab in the dark. I have no idea how, but I somehow managed to pass,
though I’m not happy with the grade so I’m planning on taking an extra class or
two next semester. At least I got straight A’s in German, which although great
does not seem like much of an achievement right now considering how much
difficulty I had understanding my exams. Clearly I have a much better chance of
surviving if I remain a big fish in a little pond, than a small fish in an
ocean of sharks.
On that note, something I’ve really noticed lately is that
my spoken German has gotten much worse recently. I’m finding it much more
difficult to find the right words, and I’ve pretty much lost my accent
entirely. So much for being fluent by the end of the year! I guess the reason
for this is that I’m still speaking English too often, rather than immersing
myself completely. It’s a big problem as, although we might have every good
intention of only speaking German with each other, as soon as someone is unable
to express themselves clearly, they get frustrated and give up (myself
included). Next semester I will endeavour to be stricter about this, as it’s a
shame to waste such a good opportunity and I really do enjoy speaking German.
The semester break is looking to be a really exciting time.
I’m off to Budapest
on Sunday with some friends for 5 days. We did a blind-booking, so our
destination was a complete surprise. I have no idea what we are actually going
to do when we get there but I’m looking forward to the adventure.
I’m also going to spending some time organising a history
project I’m working on with someone in Dundee
about the First World War. I’m the project leader for Freiburg, so I need to
organise volunteers to help with a survey, and do some research about the
impacts that the war had on Freiburg . All
being well, we’re going to be running a workshop in May, in Berlin, at the
History Campus there, where we’ll compare and present our results. I’m really
excited about it, although I’m aware I need to be a little more careful about
my time management, as I’m also headed to Northern Ireland, Thailand and most
likely Scotland over the break.
I think Erasmus often gets a bad reputation as just a chance
for students to party abroad, and well, I guess there is a grain of truth in
that, but personally I have found that it’s a lot of hard work. It’s not
exactly easy to take so many classes, and in a language that you aren’t
completely proficient in. Perhaps I’m also taking it more seriously as my
grades here actually count towards my degree, so I want to put more effort in.
If I just had to pass, it might be different. I guess it all comes down to
personal preference and what you want to achieve from a year abroad. It’s good
to take a moment to reflect on your goals, to find some sort of motivation to
keep you focused. It’s not easy to keep pushing yourself when you
have no reason to do so. I guess what I’m saying, in a rather rambling fashion,
is that you should be prepared to challenge yourself.
