First Week of Classes

I find it a bit comical that as I am beginning my semester here in Germany, all of my friends in the states are ending their semesters and entering finals. To you I say "Good luck". This past week was my first week of school at the University of Tuebingen. I know you are thinking that I am a huge bum. Maybe so.

My classes are really intimidating, especially the seminars. There are two basic categories of class in Germany. The seminars and lectures. In the lecture classes everyone just listens to a professor lecture for an hour once a week. You take notes and that is the end for most people. The lectures just serve to provide background information that you may need later on in your studies. There are no tests, except in my case. Normally, you don't get a Schein, a certificate of completion, for the lecture courses. I have to have one to take back with me so I will have to take a test of some sort. Normally, it isn't too terrible. Professors often choose to have an oral exam where you talk about what you learned in the class.

The seminars are a bit of a different story though. They meet for two hours once a week and are small discussion based classes. You have to do a presentation, write a ten to twelve page paper, and take a test to pass the class and get a Schein. I have two Seminars that I am taking. One is a german literature Seminar over the book "Wahlverwandtschaften" or "Elective Affinities" in English by Goethe. The other Seminare is a sociology course called Gender and Biography. I haven't said much due to the fact that the Germans talk really fast and I have to think too much just to keep up. By the time I have figured out how to say my opinion in German they have moved on to another point.

I am kind of happy to have work to do again, I know strange. I am a little stressed right now, just because of the new system and I am unsure of what the expectations of the professors are. But the atmosphere seems to be much more relaxed than at WashU, something that is an extremely welcome change.