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Published: November 14th 2009
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Well, it's been a while since I had time to sit down and write another blog entry, and 4 weeks have passed since my 21st. So instead of the usual in depth rambling of what I've been up to, I've decided to make this one a comparison of student life in Germany and student life in the UK. After 6 weeks of being here, I've experienced a fair amount and after a nice trip back to York last weekend, it's made me think a lot about the differences between the two.
Lectures (Vorlesungen)
It's been 4 weeks since the official start of term, and the commencement of lectures. I was very confused with when lectures actually started as there is no centralised organisation for the department. The department is split up into the various areas of mathematics, so they all control themselves. I had one lecture starting the first week of term and the other two starting the following week, yet to find this out I had to trawl the mathematics website or go to lectures which didn't happen. Also due to this disjoint organisation, they all post things online different: analysis uses various webpages whereas statistics uses the
university moodle. For me this is a huge change as at York we have moodle for the whole department, all news and information for modules is centralised and all start dates are the same. Also with choosing modules, you are left to your own devices, which in a way is nice, but then again, a bit or guidance is nice to have, especially with a new system to use online. York (when we do have choices) it's a matter of filling in a form and handing it in after having a discussion with your supervisor.
Studying in Germany is a lot more independent, which is ok, but after the support you get in the UK, it is a bit strange. You can see what a difference having university league tables makes, as they don't exist in Germany. This is probably why we have the greater support in the UK to try and reduce drop out rates, which are unknown in Germany. For once, I actually miss the barage of e-mails from moodle every day (or the very long email digest once a day) knowing that they are always there guiding you along. But what I seem to find is
that, the Germans assume that their way of running a university (which in itself varies from county to county, and even uni to uni) is how it is around the world. Strangely enough, it is them who do it differently from the rest of us! So yes, it is different, and in a way I am glad I am experiencing it, but it does make me appreciate York a lot more.
Social Life
I find life here a lot quieter than back home, but then due to sports either being when I have late lectures or too late for me to get home at a decent time makes it difficult. Societies don't really exist, you will notice the odd poster round campus for one but nothing again is centralised in that respect. Nights out really are the main thing to do, but even then the home students don't seem to go out much during the week, and often go home at the weekends. There are plenty of 'student nights' with the university and a couple of higher education institutes in the area, but even then it's not the same as back home when you might not even be able to get into the student night for that evening. But then again, with the higher level of work here it's not such a bad thing as you feel encouraged to work more, and the odd quiet night out is just what you want.
University Life Overall
When I think of the university lifestyle, I think of, not just the work side of things, but also the social side, something which seems to lack among the home students here. The Erasmus students do work but we are also experiencing everything that the city and country has to offer us. Sure, we don't necessarily expect the Germans to be out exploring the country, as back in the UK it's very rare I do that when I'm back home, but we do expect them to spend weekends at university and spend time with their peers. If I went home every weekend when I'm at York, I would feel as if I was missing out on spending time with people. With accomodation here being so different, I think that is also a factor. With many people living individually or just one or 2 other people, makes a massive difference. After living on a corridor of 16 and a house of 6, the odd occasion when I did go home for a weekend, I felt as if I was missing out but if you are by yourself or if there is only one or two other people, then you probably wouldn't miss out on much.
UK or Germany?
To have this chance to experience a different country is brilliant. Yes it has its ups and its downs but I wouldn't change it. But if I was given the option to switch to Germany completely I would say no. Why? Cos despite how much I moan about how busy I am when back in the UK with uni, work, karate and having a busy social life, I prefer that way of university living (although a quieter year is quite nice!) Here the motto is 'Work Hard' whereas in the UK it's 'Work Hard, Play Harder' which is something us Erasmus students bring with us when we do out year abroads. And sure, even in the UK, the further we get through uni the amount of time we go out decreases, but when we do go out, we have a good time, which is something I wouldn't change at all.
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