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Welcome to Elisha's web journal for students considering going to Goettingen,
Germany with EAP.
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Monday, February 24th, 2003
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- Internship
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It seems when you say something,it invariably becomes false. For the last two weeks I have been learning the specifics for my internship, an internship that looks to be a great opportunity. The CDS company came through and did an amazing job. My internship is for three months starting March 3rd until the end of May. It is with the Institut für Moleculare Biotechnologie in a small University town called Jena, about 40 min south of Leipzig. This Institute researches all the topics I am interested in. Unfortunately my internship is for only 3 months and I will be working with only one of their research groups. I will be working with the Genome Analysis group learning techniques in sequencing and data analysis.
CDS also found me a place to live, a small studio apartment, close to the Institute. They have taken care of all the paperwork, such as my work permit and so I have had to do very little. I am really looking forward to starting a week from now and I hope the internship is as wonderful as it looks to be.
With the internship, I do not have a two month break between winter and summer semesters like the other year students, but I will be done before the end of summer semester and therefore will have plenty of time to travel after the internship.
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| Thursday, February 6th, 2003
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- Completing Course Work
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The end of the Semester is right around the corner, next week in fact. I have talked with some of the other students and they are all busy writing papers and some,
, giving oral presentations. I must say I am very lucky this semester and am not required to write any long papers called "Hausarbeiten". In my German grammar class we have been taking regular tests so no extra work was required. One of my plant biology classes ended early so, as I already mentioned, I had a nerve racking oral exam. In my German speaking course, I had a 15 min oral presentation on how plants are genetically engineered. After the oral presentation I thought I was done with my school work. In my other plant biology class, when I talked to the Professor at the beginning of the semester, he said just to come to lecture regularly and then if he thought of anything he would let me know. Unfortunately now that the semester is almost over he has told me he would like me to do a 20 min. power point presentation on the Evolution of Algae. I recommend staying on top of your professors to make sure you know what you have to do. Now, I have a dilemma. This Professor is fluent in English and has given me the option to do my presentation in English but, the Professor would like me to do it in German because he said my German is good enough. Naturally, I would feel more comfortable speaking for 20 min. in English. I have talked with other students and they too have had the option of writing their essays in English or taking their oral exams in English. It appears the Professors here are amazingly flexible.
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- Internship frustrations
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I do not know if I mentioned it earlier but in case I did not; the second semester I am signed up to do an Internship. A company called CDS is supposed to find me a position/Internship with a German biotechnology company. They began looking in November and as of yet have still not found one. According to the last update they do not even have a company that has positively responded. In November they seemed quite confident that with my work experience they could easily find one starting as early as March. Even though it is not March I do not have high hopes they will successfully arrange one by March. I am rather uncomfortable with the uncertainness and have begun to search for an Intership on my own in Göttingen and thus far(a week of searching) have met with a greater positive result and faster than the Internship company. As of yet I would not recommend the Internship option through CDS. Though the description and possibilities seemed very appealing when I applied for the program, the application or reality is to be lacking. A couple of things to keep in mind though, is that the German unemployment rate is very high now and the fact that I am looking for a lab position might also contribute an element of difficulty. It is very likely that if CDS were not searching for such a specific position, than they might have better luck.
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- Adventures in Breakfasting
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This last weekend a fellow American and I were craving an american breakfast, so we cooked for ourselves and 8 or so Germans. A couple had been to the US and easily recognized the food on the table and new what maple syrup was and what to do with it, but most of the others had never eaten pancakes or french toast. We also made scrambled eggs, here they are called "Ruhrei", and bacon. They were not too impressed with the bacon. Admittedly, I have seen much better selections of meats here in Germany. Everything else went over very well especially the maple syrup. It was the most expensive item on our list at 5.10 Euro, because it was special "American Pancake Syrup". I found it among other american products in one of the upscale supermarkets here in Göttingen. To my pleasant surprise, on the same shelf was Betty Crocker Brownie Mix. There is a German Brownie mix, but it is still a relatively new cake and not all Germans have had it before. In my experience, brownies also go over well.
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| Tuesday, January 14th, 2003
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- Mundliche Pruefung
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I had my first test of the Semester today. It was an oral exam to determine my grade in my Plant anatomy class. The Professor was very nice and patient. She even arranged for someone who could translate my answers or her questions so that language would not be a problem (She comes from Southern Germany so her accent is sometimes difficult to understand). I was actually surprised when she said she does not speak English. I have found most Professors know enough English to understand if I have a problem with German. Knowing I could answer in English was comforting but unfortunately I studied in German and so did not remember the vocabulary in English. I did appreciate having someone to translate the questions if I did not originally understand them. Regardless of that convenience, I still had some trouble understanding exactly what she wanted in terms of the answers. I felt lost at times, never having experienced an oral exam before, but it was survivable. The exam lasted 30 minutes and as soon as it was over she discussed my grade with the translator. I think she understood my difficulties with answering her questions and factored that in to the grade for she gave me something I could definitely live with. I am very glad to have it over and done with and now have the pleasure of preparing an oral report on Gentechnik bei Pflanzen.
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- Winter Break
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Unlike several students in the program I stayed in Germany over Winter break and experienced a very pleasant German Christmas and New Years. I originally planned to spend Christmas in England but my travel plans changed and instead spent it with a German Family. It seems with most German holidays there is a lot of eating involved and Christmas was certainly not an exception. Unfortunately for me everything not only looked good, but also tasted delicious. On the 26th I had a stomachache from over eating three days in a row. There are a few differences between the American Christmas and the German Christmas. The main one is that they open gifts with the family on the 24th, Heiligen Abend. Then the 25th is a family day filled with eating and sitting. The Weinachts Baum is also a little bit different. The German Christmas Tree has fewer branches and is not as covered with ornaments as most trees in the US. The Germans are also not so gung-ho about decorating the outside of their homes. One could see lights around one or two windows and even less frequently lights on bushes or trees outside the home. To me, Christmas was more sedate, not having the exciting anticipation of gifts in the morning and not having the many homes aglow with mechanical Santa Clauses, but still enjoyable nonetheless.
I spent New Years in Göttingen with several other Germans from my floor. We made dinner together then readied the common room for a party. We blew-up balloons, had chips and other Sußigkeiten, and beer. Several people purchased fireworks for the evening so a little before midnight we donned our winter-wear and headed up to the roof with champagne, glasses, and fireworks in tow. Instead of a white Christmas we had a white New Years, so it was snowing and very cold, but we still managed to open champagne bottles and shoot rockets through gloved fingers. It was enjoyable to fire my own rockets, something that is forbidden in most US cities. Many other people in Göttingen had the same idea so there were firework-bursts above the rooftops in all directions. It was a different type of excitement from the large firework displays in large cities. The German New Years greeting, I learned, is: Ich wuenche Ihnen/dir ein frohes neues Jahr. Or shortened to “frohes neues Jahr!”
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| Tuesday, December 17th, 2002
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- 11/29/02
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Yesterday was Thanksgiving and even though it did not quite feel like Thanksgiving because of the lack of family and the fact that we were not forewarned by decorations in supermarkets and drugstores, we had a large Thanksgiving dinner hosted by the Study Center. The dinner was excellent and it was very comforting to be eating turkey, mash potatoes, and gravy on the proper day. I would have never thought that the best turkey I ever ate would be prepared in a country that does not have thanksgiving. There were even cornucopias decorating some of the tables.
One thing I have never experienced before around this time of the year, is watching the leaves change colors. As a Californian, I have mostly seen evergreens and so have never experienced walking through the woods covered in yellow, orange, and sometimes red leaves. While taking walks on separate occasions, Göttingen became even more endearing to me. I have been to two different castles very close to Göttingen. One was the Plesaberg and is on a hill a couple hills to the north of Göttingen. It has a tall tower from which you can climb to the top of and witness a spectacular view. The other is in the hills to the east of Göttingen and is a fairytale tower called Bismark Turm. It unfortunately is only open in the spring and the summer but there are many paths wandering around and about the tower. The Plesaberg is far enough that you would need a car to get to it but the Bismark Turm is accessible by foot or bike if you have 3 hours to kill.
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- 11/22/02
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It is difficult to believe that the semester is more than half way over. Even though time seems to fly no matter where you are, it still surprises me to think that I have been in Germany for almost four months. Classes are going well but I have noticed that some days are better than others. Most days I have no problems translating and understanding the German lectures but on others my brain seems to be affected by the cold and functions at a much slower pace. With the plant biology classes comprehension is not too difficult because even though there is a lot of vocabulary most of it is in Latin, so the words are the same but only pronounced a little differently. For example, photosynthesis is pronounced: fotozintayzah and spelled: photosynthese. (Not too difficult.)
Last week I joined one of the University Choirs called Unicante. Luckily, it was the last day you could sign up so I just made it. It is a large choir and you do not have to try out but it is A cappela. It looks like we sing songs in both English and German and mostly popular songs. The one we learned last week was “Circle of Life” from The Lion King. If you are interested in singing, I highly recommend this choir. It is very relaxed and the people are very friendly.
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| Tuesday, November 12th, 2002
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- November weekend
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It took me a while to be comfortable enough with my German (almost three months) to make German friends, but I finally have and my comprehension, vocabulary, and speaking ability has improved immensely. I really put my German to the test this last weekend when I went with a friend to visit his hometown and his family. I had a wonderful experience this last weekend. I visited a small town called Bitterfeld, 40 min. north of Leipzig. It is a town in former East Germany. Since I stayed with a German family, I of course ate too much over the weekend: Fruhstuck, Mittagessen, Kaffee und Kuchen und Abendbrot. Sitting down four times a day to eat is too much for me.
My friend’s house was also one that had been flooded during the Hochwasser a couple months ago. Luckily his family’s living quarters are above the first floor, but the first floor and the basement is in the process of being completely redone. Throughout the rest of the town the effects of the flood were still visible though much has been done to repair them. One could still see water lines on some of the buildings and places where stones had been washed away.
There was not too much of a difference between East and West Germany. Some homes were a little more run down and when driving down some of the streets it felt more like off-roading than driving on something paved. There was one very noticeable difference, which I thought was interesting, and that was at night most of the windows are still tightly shuttered or gedunkelt. My friend and I had coffee and cake with his Opa and when it became dark er hat das Haus gedunkelt. I tried asking my friend why they still do that but I do not think he understood my question. It was a wonderful trip, one I would gladly repeat but with a couple slices shy of the Baumkuchen.
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| Tuesday, October 15th, 2002
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- introduction
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My name is Elisha Westbrook and I am a fifth year Biological Science major from UC Davis studying abroad in Germany. In addition to Molecular and Cellular Biology I have also pursued a minor in German and I plan to graduate upon completion of my year abroad. At first the connection between German and Biology is not very apparent, one being a natural science and the other humanities subject, but seeing as the Bioindustry is rapidly growing, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity offered by Education Abroad to advance my German studies, make contacts in Biology, and, admittedly, see castles.
This year abroad is the first time I have truly been out of the United States, so everything was very new when I first arrived. Thus far, the hardest thing for me to get used to is being unable to shop on Sundays. Applying a new language is also no small task but I do miss the convenience of 24 hour 7 day a week stores. Luckily thus far I have had only one disappointment, and not even a large one. It happened my first week in Germany. Our Orientators wanted to show us a new "happening" restaurant in Göttingen called El Sol, which proudly prepares Mexican food. I ordered a shrimp quesadilla that came with sour creme and guacamole. To my surprise my quesadilla did not have any cheese, the green sauce did not taste like avocados, and I think I ate something that tasted like shrimp. What was meant to help us gently adjust to Germany only made me miss my favorite Mexican restaurant back in California. My disappointment quickly passed because all the other food I have had has been wonderful. I highly recommend the ice cream and the chocolate.
After the first week of orientation, we quickly jumped into our Intensive Language classes (ILP), which kept us busy in class everyday for 2.5 hours. I spent the rest of the time acquiring necessities for my room, familiarizing myself with Göttingen, attending concerts, and getting to know the other students in the program. As a group we also went on two fieldtrips. The first was to a refurbished castle (my first one, so it was a special treat) where Martin Luther translated the Bible into German and in the same town, Eisenach, JS Bach was born, so we took a tour of his family’s home and roamed around his hometown. The second tour was also an experience. We went to a large art exhibition called "Documenta 11" in a town south of Göttingen, called Kassel. This exhibit only occurs every five years. There were several installations throughout the town with amazing exhibits. In one of the installations we had a tour, though it was informative, I did not particularly enjoy it. I prefer to meander through art museums at my own pace. The rest of the trip though was highly enjoyable.
Once we completed ILP, during which we had to read a German novel, give a 10 min. talk in German, and write a 10-page paper in German, we had a two and a half week break, with which to do whatever we wanted. Many of the students have family in Germany or elsewhere in Europe, so they visited family. Myself, not having any in Europe, took a week trip along the Rhein with a friend. We stayed in small towns between Koblenz and Mainz visiting the castles that are prominent in the area. I also took a small trip to Berlin for a couple days. I happened to be there during der Tag der deutschen Einheit on Oct. 3rd. The city was packed with people and there was a large celebration at the Brandenburger Tor for the unveiling of the refurbished gate. The Bundespräsident, Bundeskanzler, and Bill Clinton all spoke and there was great music, food, and beer.
After the small Ferien, it was time to begin the semester. Finding classes was amazingly easy. Since the students have much more academic freedom in Germany, we get to experience a modicum of that freedom. There is no official registration before classes begin so as a student you get to attend as many classes as you want and then pick the classes that fulfill the unit requirement and your own requirements. There is still plenty of paperwork involved so we are not entirely free. I recommend checking with your advisors back home to be sure the courses you need will be accepted by your university. I had trouble with one of my classes and so I have had to change my schedule. This semester I am taking two German classes, a grammar and a speaking course, two plant biology classes, a general plant anatomy class and then one on the Evolution of Photosynthesis, and three art studio classes: Painting with Acrylics, Human drawing, and a Print making class. At first it looks like a lot but most of the classes only meet once a week and so you will still have plenty of time to do other enjoyable things. For example, I am also volunteering in a lab in the Forest Research Dept. about 8-10 hours a week and I still have time to study and spend time with my new German friends.
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