So its about quarter after seven in the evening here right now, and I suppose around 1:15 back in the States. I had day number three of German today and its still going very nicely. It appears as though we will get two additional teachers next week taking different days of the week. I hope the other two are as good as Renata. We also had a new student transfer in today. She is from Istanbul.
I had a long interesting conversation with Chris last night. He's the German-Hungarian guy. He is a law major and typically studies in the library from 9:00-6:00 even though its in between "semesters" here right now for the regular students. He tells me that its not uncommon for students to have large projects and papers to work on in preparation for upcoming classes. That means that he hasn't really had a break in the last six months. Yikes! It seems like everyone here is an ultra scholar. Karl is studying to be a doctor, Rudi is about to get the equivalent of a phD in cardiology and Ricardo is a physics major.
The school system here is much more socialized, so its free or cheap for everyone. Apparently, here at the University of Marburg, it cost about 500 Euros for tuition per semester for a German resident. It recently went up from 230.
So I laughed pretty hard when he told me that before he visited Wisconsin, he had major stereotypes of Americans because he had friends who came back and said that Americans asked them questions like: "How long does it take to drive from the US to Germany?" and "Do they have chewing gum in Hungary?" He also showed me a clip of 'Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" on YouTube. A woman was asked what country Budapest was capital of. She thought they might speak French there but wasn't quite sure if France was a country. Ahhh... proud to be an American. Chris was cool with it though.
- Jared
7 comments:
Hey Jared,
It's so good to hear what you've been up to in Germany and to see the pictures. I really like the door in the first picture. We should have more doors like that in America...
Haha, yeah I saw that Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader clip. Hilarious!
God bless,
~* Kiera
Hey there Jared,
I like the pictures, the place looks so beautiful. I agree with Kiera, we should have more doors like that in America..
Glad you're doing well.
God Bless,
Nicole
Nice photos!
You are learning a language in the best way…. Emersion. I know that you will look at Lancaster in a different way when you return…. Hey maybe you will be able to understand the Amish… you’d look cool in the hat and suspenders!!!!
Seriously I am jealous of you… enjoy your time and learn as much as you.
We will be checking on the blog regularly,
G. S. Wilhelm.
she was an american idol finalist...yeeah. anyways. j-rod, represent man!! i have no problems with you representing america what so ever. actually youre probably so cool, that you end up misrepresenting it anyways! ha. have a good one
Hi Jared,
I'm glad you're enjoying it over in Germany, your pictures are really neat, I can't wait to see more of them! :) Thanks for keeping everyone back here up to date on how you're doing. Take lots more pictures! :) Sounds like you're having tons of fun!
Take care,
~Becca
France is a country?! Jared, Keep being bold with the people you meant and representing your true home land. (aka Gods kingdom)
-Vinson
Hmmm it is interesting that so many people around the world besides Americans seem to be across the board more scholarly and ambitious. What in our society/upbringing that makes Americans lose their work ethic? Media?-Well Europeans seem to have similar media. Upbringing? Do you think that they have better family upbringing? Perhaps it is the system of having the government in charge of schools- Does Germany's government control their schools? Well maybe their is something I overlooked in Media, or something I did not even think of. It would be cool to hear your thoughts (once they solidify from culture shock) and you say what you think is the problem with America besides leaving God out of everything like every other country.
Brant Driedger
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