Today I went and talked to the adviser for Germany. It's come to my attention that it may not be the easiest thing in the world to prove that I've fulfilled the prerequisites for studying in Germany, thanks to the whole class skipping thing. Also, my German teacher last semester, who was awesome and would totally write me a letter of recommendation, is IN Germany this year, so it may be hard for me to get a hold of her if I need such a letter.
But those are relatively minor issues. Otherwise it looks pretty good. The German adviser is nice, although I got the feeling that she deals with a lot of students who don't know what they're getting themselves in for with Study Abroad. (Probably a direct result of strongly encouraging everyone to do so. They'll learn a lot, yes, but they'll probably have some rough times adjusting to doing things by themselves, meeting deadlines, etc)
Also, she doesn't speak German, which means that it's very much up to me to figure out all the fancy German on the University of Bonn's websites. Probably a good thing - I can't hope to pass a class if I can't even decipher it's name. Still, they pretty much use the fanciest words they can, which makes it an interesting exercise in breaking down compound words.
https://basis.uni-bonn.de/qisserver/rds?state=wtree&search=1&category=veranstaltung.browse&topitem=lectures&subitem=lectureindex&breadcrumb=lectureindex&k_semester.semid=20092&idcol=k_semester.semid&idval=20092&purge=n&getglobal=semester&text=Wintersemester+2009%2F09
When I am in Pamplona, I will be studying Journalism. I should have a class or two of availability left after I max out my Journalism abroad credits, though, and I'm filling those with Spanish. On the other hand, in Germany and Norway, I really can't take any classes for Journalism or Spanish. If I see an opportunity to knock out a Spanish credit, I'll take it, regardless of the weirdness of studying Spanish in Norway, but still, it's only one credit.
Which means I'm pretty much free to drool at the other course offerings. This is my chance to take Anthropology, Art History, Psychology, even... OTHER LANGUAGES!!
This wildly exciting thought first occurred to me when, still trying to get my bearings, I stumbled upon an Italian class. I've always wanted to actually study Italian, I thought! And Russian too! I also clicked on the Asian studies section to look into that Japanese class I've always wanted to actually take. And... Wow.
Just Wow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Want want want want.
Especially Tibetan. I mean come on.
And suddenly I have this image of myself in Bonn, the former capital of Germany, eating Brötchen every day, and studying German (natürlig) alongside Art History, Italian, and Tibetan. It could happen.
Five Other Reasons why Universität Bonn is awesome:
1.) It Saves my Eurocentric Dignity
By some awful twist of fate, University of Navarra (Pamplona) and University of Bergen are both very young schools. Disturbingly young, actually, for European countries. After all, they're supposed to be thousands of years old, the site of dozens of historical events, and the alma mater of all of history's greats, right?
Add to that the interesting fact that University of Missouri Columbia is the oldest University this side of the Mississippi, and you have the threat of an irony that just cannot be allowed to happen. "Yes, I've studied in three European Universities, and my Midwestern University was older than any of them! Plus Brad Pitt went there!"
But lo! The day is saved by Bonn! Founded in 1818, it is a whole 21 years older than my University of Missouri-Columbia.
And Forget about Brad Pitt - he didn't even graduate!
Let's talk real notable alumni:
2.) Nietzsche
The Famous Philosopher!
3.) Goebbels
The Famous Nazi!
4.) Karl Marx
The Famous Communist!
5.) The Pope
Enough Said.
No comments:
Post a Comment