A new semester is almost upon us, and that means a new group of SDSU students are heading out to study abroad destinations all around the globe! This spring, nine of them will be blogging for SDSU Be International.
Before you follow them on their journeys of discovery, let’s get to know a little bit about them!
Compared to the sunny beaches of San Diego, Berlin is in the middle of the Ice Age. While I hoped that midway through December I would have already weathered the coldest front that Germany offer, I fear that is not so. Like the people of Winterfell, the snowmen of Berlin keep reminding me that the worst is yet to come.
Winter is coming.
After traveling all this way to Germany, I have just had my first trip out of the country. Along with a group of about 30 other exchange students from all over the world; I traveled to Prague (Praha) for an absolutely wonderful weekend.
Prague is absolutely stunning. The way the dark cobblestone roads wind around the Gothic buildings makes it feel like a whole different world.
Class here in Germany has begun and I am now — officially — studying abroad.
I currently live in Berlin, a city that has more bridges than Venice, Italy. Now how is that a relevant fact? It is just the start to explaining how huge of a city Berlin is, and my challenge to explore all of it.
A year ago today, I wrote my first blog post on my personal blogging site Einstoss Abroad, and began the experience of a lifetime.
I knew then that I wanted to write a post a year later, comparing the reality of what it was like versus what I thought it would be like. So now that I’ve almost completed my abroad experience in Germany, I came up with the idea of taking my first blog post, and dissecting the post — piece by piece — and offering new commentary.
So here we go!
Continue reading “One Year Later, A Reflection On My Time In Germany”
Since returning to Germany from my visit back to the United States in April, I have been busy every week with school. I came back from break on April 10, with my classes starting less than a week later on the 16th. If you have read my earlier blog posts regarding my classes, school has been very stressful for me this semester — but it’s also been an opportunity for growth.
I had not had a break from school since it started, and the stress was actually affecting my health and well being. I decided a vacation away from school for a weekend was what I needed to get myself motivated again.
I took it upon myself to learn another language during my academic year abroad. I have been living in Germany for 9 months so far, and my German is progressing every day.
My first semester here in Germany was dedicated to specifically learning the language, and I was able to get my German from A1 level to a B1 level in the time that I have been here. Due to the level of my language progression I was able to transfer to the University of Ulm, where I now take mathematics courses that will help towards graduation.
Continue reading “What’s it Like Taking Courses in a Foreign Language?”
After having two months of break, I finally started classes here at the University of Ulm this week — officially starting the second leg of my academic year in Germany. I just got back from the United States on April 12 and was lucky enough to recover from jet lag right before my classes began, so I was fresh and ready to go.
This week has been a very interesting for me in many ways, and I wanted to discuss this more in detail here.
First I want to talk about Ulm, and then what my university classes are like.
My time in Germany has just hit the halfway point and I have just completed my first semester abroad — oh how time flies by so fast!
My German has significantly improved since being in Germany; I was an A1 level speaker before leaving the U.S. and am now considered B1 level (that’s a massive jump in just one semester!). Not only that but as of today I have traveled to 15 different countries since leaving the U.S. That’s a great accomplish that I am very proud of!
Continue reading “Saying Goodbye to Tübingen, Saying Hello to my New Home in Ulm”
This year I was not able to go home for the holiday season, and wanted to do something extra special because of it. Therefore, at the last minute, I decided to book an excursion to Scandinavia that included a cruise to four cities: Helsinki, Finland; Saint Petersburg Russia (visa free!); Tallinn, Estonia; and Stockholm Sweden. This was a student trip led by an organization in Germany, so I got a steal for what I did!
I also went to Prague for New Year’s to visit a few SDSU friends who were also studying abroad. What an experience to celebrate New Year’s in the second most popular European city to visit for the occasion.
Below are a bunch of pictures from my travels, as well as descriptions to give you a little bit of background.
Continue reading “Christmas in Scandinavia, New Year’s in Prague”
The global experience, as told by SDSU students 