Looking at Life in Germany
Click here to see pictures of Germany
After landing at the Zurich, Switzerland Airport on June 5, three other students from Utah State University and I went to find our luggage and the train terminal ticket booth. We would all be studying with the USU German departments’ study abroad program fo rthe next several weeks.
Somehow, we had to arrive in Freiburg, Germany sometime that afternoon. I had never been to Germany or any other German-speaking country before. So when I went to attempt using the bits of German I had learned studying at USU to buy a train ticket, I proceeded a bit apprehensively.
I had practiced in my head the whole flight, “Bitte ein fahrkarte nach Freiburg, Deutschland.” (One ticket to Freiburg, Germany, please.)
No problem! They spoke English and accepted credit cards, I didn’t even have to exchange money.
After a short stop over in Basel, Switzerland, we made our way to Freiburg, the city we would call home for the next two months while studying at the Goethe Institute.
The Goethe Institute has locations around the world that teach German language and culture. Classes were taught entirely in German and we had to interact in German, too. This was sometimes hard, not only because I don’t speak German that well, but because most people knew English.
Classes started the morning after I arrived at what seemed to me very early – 8:30 a.m. – which was just after midnight, Mountain Standard Time.
The classes went until 1 p.m. Monday through Friday with a 15-minute morning break and half hour lunch during which many students would run to the bakery up the street or to the market for a wurst.
The Freiburg market was set up every morning from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. (unfortunately, the same time as school) except Sundays, with booths and tables of flowers, fruits and vegetables from local growers, olives, spices and herbs, wooden toys, cheese, honey, meat and anything else you would need for dinner, lunch or breakfast.
My favorite dinner consisted of either a doener kebap, a pita filled with lamb or chicken the special cream sauce, and cabage, onions and other vegetables depending on each individual shop, or a yufka which is the same as a Doener only in a wrap. Germany has an abundance of these Turkish restaurants and stands.
I personally preferred the vegetarian doener even though a Turkish girl we studied with said the it wasn’t very authentic, or Falafel – a spiced lentil bean paste.
Our classes had students from all over the world. My class had students from Spain, Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Switzerland, Brazil and a couple others from the United States. Students of all ages studied German, some to become lawyers, others to prepare for the tourism industry, some to teach and some just for fun.
Though western European countries aren’t as different culturally from the United States as others, there are differences just like those found between different states and people in the United States.
During my time in Germany, I was able to gain 12 credits toward a German major and, more importantly, expand myself by becoming engulfed in another culture and learning how to understand and accept differences in other’s opinions and ways of doing things. Michael Sharp is a senior majoring in German and photography.He is the senior photographer for the Utah StatesmanComments may sent to michaelsharp@cc.usu.edu