Travel Advice & Tips
Germany
My 6 months abroad in Germany, have been some of the best months in my life. “Beer ist Brot” meaning Beer is Bread. Germans drink beer the way Americans drink water. On the third day of classes, the advisors organized a run throughout the parks and gardens in Hannover. By the end of this 10k run, we arrived back on campus and instead of handing everyone a water, they handed us all beer. I knew I was going to like it here.
Language Barrier:
Well you are in luck, there really is no language barrier. Any German who is about 40 or younger can most likely speak English. It is not until you hit the generation of 50ish and above where it may be a bit more unlikely that they are fluent in English. But hey, you are in Germany to experience new things, so try and speak German!
The Accent:
It can come off as scary at first, but you will eventually get used to it. During my first two weeks I thought everyone was yelling at me when they spoke to me. It wasn't until I started picking up on a few words that I realized they were not yelling, they just speak in a very strong tone which can take some time to adjust to.
The German people have a few small obsessions. They love: fresh air, taking walks, barbequing, beer, mayo with their french fries instead of ketchup, techno music, taking 2 hours lunches in the middle of the work day, kiosk crawls, water, opening their beer with everything except a bottle opener, and their Jager.
Kiosk Crawls: As mentioned above, Germans love their Kiosk Crawls. Think of a bar crawl except instead of going from bar to bar you go from Kiosk (a corner shop that sells beer) to Kiosk and your drink your beer on the way to the next shop. Don’t forget, you can drink in public here, so buy a beer and get walking! By the end of the night you will end up in a part of the city you were never expecting.
Food in Germany:
To sum it up, you will be eating a lot of Bratwurst, Currywurst, Schnitzel, and Kartafelsalad (Potato Salad). Also, due to the many Turkish people as well as immigrants from the middle east migrating into Germany, their is an abundance of Turkish and middle eastern food.
Grocery Shopping:
This may sound like a simple trip, how could it go wrong? Well, it can. To start, most people who work in a grocery store in Germany are olderso when it comes time to check out and they are telling you the price in German (and they say their numbers backwards too) good luck. Also, the grocery stores do not provide you with bags. You need to bring your own bags as well as fill your own bags. I learned this the hard way when the cashier was shooting my items down the conveyor belt and I had 30 seconds to pick them all up, since I didn’t have a bag, before she was already shooting down the next persons items. Pressure is on so stay focused and bring your own bags.
Being a Student in Germany:
Going to school in a different country is definitely a major adjustment. It took a while for me to pick up on the little things as well as the big. When a lecture is over in the states, you simply get up and leave. In Germany they knock their knuckles on the table as a way to say thank you. You would also do this if someone was giving a presentation instead of clapping.
Homework? Forget about it. There is absolutely no homework or assignments throughout the entire semester. There are no quizzes, no tests, and no midterms. Your entire grade is dependent on one final exam that is taken at the very end of the semester. It may sound nice to some people, but it definitely gave me a heart attack to think my entire grade not only relied on 1 test, but it was a cumulative test; talk about an adjustment.
If you yawn while the teacher is talking, and you don’t cover your mouth, it is considered extremely rude. I had to learn this the hard way after my teacher kept screaming at me in German and I had no idea what she was saying or why I was being yelled at. Turns out I needed to cover my mouth when yawning, woops.
You always need to say “du” to a teacher, never “sie”, it is considered rude and disrespectful otherwise.
From 12-2pm you will not be able to find any of your teachers or advisers because the entire campus takes lunch, a long lunch I must say.
Having a bar on campus was also new to me. Because the drinking age is 16 in Germany, having a bar on campus is absolutely the norm. Not only is there a bar, but they will bring portable bars with bartenders ready to serve all the students on campus throughout the week. You can walk out of a class and end up walking right into a big outdoor party put on by your school, who wouldn’t want that?
Tips on Germany!
