Browsing Category

German College Life

What Actually Happens When I Try to “Study”

A tribute to what my mind and I are going through when I am at home, trying to get things done and study. 1. Alright, international relations theory it is today. Let’s start reading this 30 page text. (reads one paragraph) 2. Wait a minute…I am still supposed to download all the readings from BlackBoard before they are taken down for good. (downloads all the readings for classes, curses the German copyright system)…

Berlin German College Life Germany Life Stories Observations opinion Uncategorized February 29, 2016

What is Education in University?

The first semester is officially over but now that I think about it, I don’t really know if I have learned anything entirely new. I am not so sure about whether there has ever been a moment when I said to myself: “Wow, there is no way I would have known this or that about the German government system or the Cold War or research methodology. had I not been in university.”…

Berlin German College Life Germany Observations sarcasm January 29, 2016

Lecture Hall Noise: Concerto Nr. 1 in E Major

Some scattered thoughts on all the things you can hear inside a lecture hall instead for the actual lecture: Some people type so vigorously on their laptops, you might think their lives depend on it. Maybe in a way they do. Two more weeks until finals. While the crowd has just now managed to get seated, another group comes in (10 minutes late) like some animals who are finally let out to run…

Berlin German College Life Germany Life Stories memories Observations thoughts Uncategorized January 6, 2016

End of Term Thoughts

It’s been three hours since I have been sitting inside the Philological library of my university (we lovingly call it “the brain” because of its shape) and I can’t believe that I have another two hours until my French seminar, which I actually can’t afford not to attend and therefore don’t have time to go back home in between. Looking at the bright side of things, my desperation may have been bigger…

Berlin German College Life Germany Local Blogs November 20, 2015

The Cost of Studying in Germany

Over the last couple of months, I have come across various articles shared on my social media networks, declaring (almost festively) that attending university in Germany is free for national and international students alike. Now that I have some time as a university student behind me, I decided to write about the extent to which studying in Germany is really free. Let me tell you right away that I can’t actually name…

Berlin German College Life Germany Life Stories Observations November 8, 2015

All That Glitters is not Gold: On Being a College Student in Berlin

After I spent the entire summer worrying about the completeness of my application documents and about whether or not my already quite high GPA would be high enough to get me into Political Science, I now have about a month of classes behind me. It might still be a bit early to talk about any conclusions at this point but if there is one thing I learned so far, then it’s that…

Berlin German College Life Germany February 28, 2015

How to Get Your Hands on Books For Less: A Guide for Germany Newcomers

While I am reading what seems like an endless amount of books at once, jumping from Anthony Doerr, to James Barr to Noam Chomsky to Erich Maria Remarque and what else I have on my bedside table, I thought I should dedicate a post to the topic of books, now that it has been quite a literary week for me. In Berlin books are quite a luxury, especially for bookworms who at…

Berlin cross cultural stuff German College Life Observations January 14, 2015

What Natives Can Learn From Exchange Students

Today is the day before one of our exams. As usual, even at university age, many students start losing their minds, ask last minute questions and decide to do all night shifts, surviving on Red Bull, coffee and whatever else they can think of. Given the fact that my German has become pretty good after 13 years of being in Germany, the one or the other international student might think that I…

Berlin German College Life Germany December 7, 2014

An Open Letter to Next Year’s College (Prep) Students

Dear successor student(s), Congratulations! I assume that if you are reading this, chances are that you made it past the entrance exam and passed the fill in the gap, the reading and the listening comprehension with great mastery and are about to start your journey towards a german diploma that will allow you to study in german university. Maybe you are also just a curious reader who stumbled upon this blog by coincidence,…

Berlin commentary German College Life Germany Observations November 21, 2014

Mastering German Bureaucracy 101.4: The Most Common Mistake Made by Newcomers

Every single person that comes to Germany for a visit, thinks very highly of this country. These people find absolutely everything amazing and whenever I dare to say something not so amazing about life here (and I have been around here for a while longer than them for sure), they try to shush me and tell me what to think instead and that is because all they know of this place is…

Older Posts →

	travelleronamission on Guest Post:24hrs in Riyadh- Fe…
	Katja Roschal on Guest Post:24hrs in Riyadh- Fe…
	travelleronamission on Guest Post:24hrs in Riyadh- Fe…
	Lobsters are Just Fa… on The One Time I was Adopted by…
	The One Time I was A… on Lobsters are Just Fancy Shrimp…