Sommersemester Part 2

As you all may know from my previous blog posts, I have decided to stay in Berlin for the Freie Universitat's regular Sommersemester. In Germany, they have a rather bizarre semester schedule, that is divided into two semesters - the summer and the winter. The winter semester goes from around October to around February and the summer semester goes from around April to around August. However, most classes only last for three and a half to four months, giving students a month (or until the beginning of the next semester) to complete exams and papers.

The students from FU BEST that chose to stay for the Sommersemester are just like any other international students. This means that we all had to take a language placement exam, and enroll for a German class based on that level. We also have the option to take classes with only foreign students (Erasmus classes) in German, classes with German students in German, and classes with German students in English.

Since I don't actually need any of these credits and am just staying to improve my German, I have decided to take two American History classes at the J.F. Kennedy Institute of American Studies, which are both in German.

One class is about American foreign relations during the 20th century and the rise of the US as a world power. With about 30 or 35 students, this class is basically only a lecture that meets once a week for two hours, with no reading, and an essay exam at the end of the course. It is really interesting to see how the teacher, a German, presents events in American History in comparison to how I have learned them and how the German students react to what is being taught.

The other history class I am taking is about the relationship between the Americas and Europe in the Age of Discovery. I am one of only 6 students in the class, with only one other foreign student. The relationship between the colonies and Europe, and seeing a European perspective on this relationship is something that in all the times I have studied colonial history has not really been a topic of discussion. It is good to have such a small class to be able to discuss and take part in the class. I also have to write a 5-15 page paper as our final, which comically enough isn't due until September.

My German class is much less interesting. Meeting only once a week for three hours, we don't seem to be learning or accomplishing that much. But I'm already in too deep to leave, and it isn't so bad.

The last class I am taking is purely for fun. Since the FU is so large (claims 40,000 students), there are a lot of classes that could never be offered at UMBC. One of which is introductory Turkish. Turkish has a gaining importance in Europe, with the number of immigrants in various European nations and the debate about whether they will be able to join the European Union. In Berlin, there is very large Turkish population, and so it really is no surprise that they would offer it. I have been wanting to learn Turkish for a while, for no other reason than that I like languages and it is so different, and am really excited to be taking it.

So those are the classes that I am taking, which aren't taking up a lot of my time at all. But I figure that it is still my summer vacation, and I should be enjoying it too!