Blogabroad
by Mary Pinckney Waters

January 24, 2006 - The time is now

I feel like it’s the first time this semester I’ve seen German students actually studying. And by now, there’s only a few weeks left.

Most of the courses at the University of Bamberg do not spread out required essays or tests throughout the term, as many American college students are accustomed to. Instead, a single large paper and/or project usually suffice(s) for each non-introductory course. Students’ work is not collected until the end of the current semester or the start of the next.

This adds up to an almost-full semester of wild nights, blurry mornings and lazy afternoons … followed by a final few weeks of cardiac arrest and heavenly summoning.

The school calendar in Bamberg includes two core semesters: winter semester, from mid October to mid February, and summer semester, mid April to mid August. “Wow, they get a whole two months in between semesters? Lucky bastards.” I know, I thought so, too. The reality is that students typically spend this break writing “Hausarbeiten” (in-depth papers) from the previous semester. Why didn’t they finish those essays during the semester, itself? Theoretically, they were busy learning the material. Actually, they were busy emptying bottles.

I have also found that the structure of class time can be a change from back home. I am taking a psychology seminar, for example, for which each student is required to give a presentation in a group and write a 10-page paper on their topic. The project topics were assigned the first day of class, and presentations began the next. Students work in groups of three or four, are given a list of resources, and are expected to teach their theme to their peers in a presentation spanning the entire class period – an hour and a half. Each group is responsible for making sure everyone understand its topic.

So when does the professor actually teach? Never, assuming that every group does A+ work. In reality, the professor interrupts a presentation if she feels the material is not being taught well enough. Essentially, when the professor says anything at all, a wave of fear sweeps the presenters’ faces; they know they’ve messed up somewhere. I was quite surprised by this teaching strategy, but when I asked my classmates if this was typical for German universities, they nodded.

I’ve learned I can handle the way the courses are set up at the university here. No problem. What I’ve discovered I have trouble with in Germany is the consequent student-life setup. Generally, most students I know in the United States try to stay focused on their classes during the week and then spend the greater part of their weekends intoxicated. U.S. students who enjoy receiving class credit have no choice but to stay sober on weekdays since any given business day could be a university due date.

Germans students, on the other hand, do not know the meaning of the word deadline until the end of the semester, and because many of them like to go home on the weekends, they prioritize their weekdays by partying on them as much as possible. As a result, local clubs offer the best drink specials during the week, encouraging it as the designated drinking time. I’ve also heard that another reason German college students tend to avoid clubs on the weekends is that high school students invade them then, as they’re allowed to drink at age 16.

The result of all these differences: aspirin bottles are passed around early-morning lectures in Germany and an American exchange student is thankful that her home professors won’t let her procrastinate when she gets back.

Mary Pinckney Waters welcomes your comments and feedback: marypwaters@yahoo.com