Week 1 Recap

First off, let me apologize for not being so timely in getting this post up. The first week in Hannover was filled with many adventures, and it left little time for blogging. A few hours after I arrived and had time to unpack, I decided to take a little walk around my neighborhood. Immediately, based on the lack of people out and about, I could tell that I wasn't in a very populated area. As I'd learn tomorrow, I'm about a 20 minute tram ride from the city center, so especially on Sundays there was very little traffic around the dorm. But, despite the apocalyptic appearance, the area was pretty nice. I'm about a 5 minute walk from a grocery store, and an even shorter walk from a pretty large park. Even though it was getting late in the evening by this time, there were still a few local kids playing soccer. But, the best part of the walk was what I discovered when I got back to the dorm, people speaking english. Now, yes, I well knew that going to Germany meant being in a foreign country and that from time to time there would be people speaking another language...but, the past 6 hours of no human contact, no wifi, and no cell service, would drive anyone crazy. After about a few minutes of chatting, we all realized that we were part of the same program, so not only did I meet other english speakers, I'd finally met the other students of HISSEMA. Over the next three days, our group expanded from the original 3 which had met that night to the full 7 it is today.

The first few days in Germany were very open with free time to get acquainted with our new surroundings. On day one after arrival, the itinerary consisted of going to meet the program director who gave us a short tour around the university. The next day consisted of a brief meeting to outline the program and then a Barbecue put on by the Econ school giving us a chance to meet the German students as well as Faculty and Staff of the school. It was a nice time. The open timeframe of the first two days gave plenty of time to get settled in to Hannover. I was able to reconnect with the world by getting cell phone service and wifi as well as stock up on some necessary food items from the local store. Also, as the weather started to improve by Hannover standards, we were able to begin exploring the city!

Candid photo op at the Metro Station. LtoR: Eli Karttunen (Michigan), Kamille Schneider (California), and Danny Liera (California).

The third day began the academic portion of the experience. Now, the program is split into two components, with the first being an opportunity for the US students to learn about German Language, Culture, and Business by having lessons, visiting companies and doing presentations. The first week of German lessons were very informative, and gave me the tools to actually be able to order food without seeming rude and only pointing, and even be able to ask for and understand directions in German, a success considering that my prior knowledge of German was breakthrough at best.

The first week concluded with our first traveling adventure as a group. To make planning easy, we decided to go to the nearest destination on our "to-visit" list: Hamburg. A short (and free) 2 hour train ride away, Hamburg's bustling port city reputation was well within our reach. However, our lack of prior planning for overnight accommodation would soon become an interesting fault. Before arriving, one group member had the forethought of looking up a place to stay, but didn't think it was necessary to make a reservation. Interestingly enough, the whole city was packed with people in town for a big triathlon, and not many rooms remained, especially at a price students wanted to pay. Finally, I had an idea, we decided to try a nice looking hotel, and get a room with double beds and expect some of us to just crash on the floor. And that we did, for a mere 88 Euro, 6 of us crammed into a small European hotel room...for cheaper than staying in a Hostel. Hamburg was definitely worth the trip and a night sleeping on the floor, especially for the low price of 18 Euro in fixed costs.

Top 5 Lessons Learned this week:

- US and German Universities are very different, in scope and structure. Immediately, I learned that German universities are solely educational institutions, they dont offer student housing or meal plans directly. They have separate entities to provide those types of services for students, quite different from the US model. Also, German universities place more stress on exams and less focus on class work...but those exams mean more, as you can only repeat a class once...and failure a second time could mean being dropped from your academic program.

- German Culture promotes a much more independent college student. In the US, there is much more support structure for students. For better or worse, in the US if a student has a problem, there are a lot of people around to help. But, in Germany, there aren't as many people around to sort your problem out for you, but rather its your job to deal with it. Both ways have their strengths, and while the US way might be more accommodating its clear that the German system promotes greater independence.

- German supermarkets are very different from their US counterparts. Now, there is no such thing as Walmart or Costco in Hannover, so to first find a store to shop in can be difficult for tourists. But, each neighborhood has their own discount supermarket (many are part of chains). Shopping is also very different here. You have to pay for shopping carts, bag your own groceries, and bring your own bags (or pay a few cents for one). These are actually nice though. They promote a more sustainable shopping model, where you make small and frequent trips to the store and tend to only buy the bear essentials. Also, prices can be very reasonable here. Granted, they are denominated in Euro where I'm used to prices in a weaker American Dollar, but the differences seem to be greater than what can be explained by an exchange rate. For example, a comparably sized package of cheese here might cost 1.5 euro where it would be on the order of 3-4 USD. This makes me like shopping. (also, the fact that I cant fill a huge Walmart cart full of stuff which I might use to the tune of $250)

- Public Transportation is sexy. Everyone here takes public transport, EVERYONE. Now, I take it for reasons of necessity considering that I dont have a bike here and an hour walk to campus isn't something I want to do every morning (plus I'm sure I'd get lost). Also, the fact that students have free access to all public transport within Lower Saxony makes it even harder to disagree with. Including the regional trains to Hamburg, its all free. It also goes anywhere in the city. This is much different from what I'm used to in Houghton where I've taken the bus only once for a class project.

- Germans love to Barbecue. Now, I'm not sure if this carries throughout the country, but it seems that people in Hannover love to grill out. The reason I say this within the first two days spent in Hannover, we had two BBQs to attend, one put on by the Econ school for HISSEMA students and another by the International Office. But they were nice, and German Bratwurst tastes even better when you see it being cooked!