It's
been two weeks now. The first week of university – called syllabus
week – is over and with it also the first weekend of partying.
I am
taking three seminars in comparative literature on Monday, Wednesday
and Friday. Each of them is a three hour course. They are called:
21st
century longings
Metaphor
Language/Translation
and Colonization
Each
of them is different and has its own appeal.
The
21st Centrury Longing course is especially interesting,
since we are supposed to keep track of the development of our
thoughts during the semester by doing a weekly assignment in any
creative way we can think of. This is new for me, since all I did in
Leipzig was write papers and now I am able to write essays or poems
or make a film or take pictures or record something on tape or even
draw. In the end we are supposed to make a portfolio that consists of
our creations. I am looking forward to this very much.
I
have to get used to the three hour length – it has some advantages:
I have two days off during the week – obviously, the seminars
itself are more intense as in the sense of one gets to work longer
and deeper on a subject in a certain amount of time. One disadvantage
I see is that I start losing my concentration after a certain amount
of time – it gets harder to follow the discussions and I tend to
lose my track of thought. Also missing a class puts you behind very
much, since the reading and writing assignments are also heavier than
those meant for a 90min class.
I
don't have any other obligatory events to attend and my classes
always start after noon. My schedule leaves enough room for preparing
for classes and I think I will be able to deal with the workload. The
level of the classes differ from each other since some classes are
only for graduates (students that are graduating soon) and in other
classes grads and undergrads study together. I don't think the level
of my classes are much easier but are also not harder (which I was a
little bit afraid of). For 4 American credit points (10CP in Germany)
I have to write a paper of 20 pages and give a presentation about a
certain topic – so it's basically the same as in Leipzig.
One
thing is very annoying though: we have to buy all the textbooks,
since the library is not that well equipped. I thought that paying
10.000$ of tuiton and fees would mean a high end collection of
textbooks – but no, it means Apple Computers (is that the right way
to call them?) in the library to work on and a brand new gym. If I'd
have to pay the tuition, like every other American student has to
(and Binghamton is one of the cheap public universities), I would be
pissed off by the fact that each teacher wants me to buy textbooks
worth 300$. Since there is now way around that muss ich wohl in den
sauren Apfel beißen. They are good books but I won't be able to take
them home since they are too heavy for my backpack.
Syllabus
week was over faster than I thought and I was already given my first
presentation due on February 15th. It's about the roots of
the Metaphor and as far as I can tell it is an interesting topic to
talk about. I am also nervous as hell but I'll try to do my best and
not stutter while talking.
The
weekend was filled with lots of new faces, names, and of course
houseparties. Soon I will be dreaming about red cups (I'd rather be
dreaming about something else and also not wake up anymore in the
middle of the night) and beer pong. On Friday we were invited to a
party given by other international students, mainly from Turkey. It
was just like a typical houseparty in Leipzig, except that we had to
take off our shoes – which did not change the fact that we had a
fun time talking to so many different students. We still have the,
what I'd like to call, foreigners-bonus: with which it's easy to
start a conversation. It usually goes something like this (all of you
who have already been abroad, know what comes next):
So,
where are you from?
Ahhhh
really? That's nice!
Why
Binghamton?
How do
you like it so far?
What
do you study?
The
weather is awful, isn't it?
People
tend to be very nice and open up quickly once you smile at them. Most
of the people just come up and talk to you because they are
interested in who you are and where you come from. (As long as they
are not drunk and scream: "Why are you not drinking beer? What
kind of German are you? All Germans love beer! Ugah ugah!" as
soon as you enter their place)
Saturday
I actually went to three different places, but the parties were all
similar to each other. Students were drinking beer, starting very
early at night, playing beer pong, get really drunk at around
midnight and pass out by one. Guys call each other bro or dude
and the girls are all like 'oh my gosh I'm like so drunk!' and
compete in who's wearing the shortest skirt. This one guy was making
really stupid jokes about all Germans being Nazis (so stereotypical).
Ah well: welcome to America. Yay!
Oh,
one thing I almost forgot: We went to Aldi which is about 10min by
bus from where we live. And it's awesome! They have real German bread
and fresh produce is really cheap. Sina and I decided to do groceries
there from now on.
So,
life is good but of course I miss every single one of you. I
developed the pictures Johanna took with her camera on my
good-bye-party. They really made my day and are now decorating my
room.
I
still haven't started doing the puzzle yet – I will keep that one
for when I'm really homesick.
Next
weekend me and Riva are planning on going to Ithaca – another small
city about an hour from Binghamton, while Sina and Katharina are
going to NYC (I still did not get my Bafög – I have to save some
money for now). Travelling by bus is really cheap and I'm excited
about getting to know the area one by one.
Oh!
Btw: tonight's the Super Bowl. Yeeeha! Beer, chicken wings and
awesome commercials – the ultimate American experience.
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