Meeting German Students

Section I: The German Phenomenon in Tübingen (An Overview)

The following entry will attempt to provide a comprehensive discourse on meeting German students while studying at the University of Tübingen with particular attention to my personal experiences, biases and cross-cultural analyses. I'll be touching upon such topics including student organized programs oriented in helping students get to know the city and other students, university-selected living quarters including the beneficial and detrimental aspects of apartment sharing and music and entertainment in the realm of student life and services offered specifically to promote cross-cultural interaction within the city itself. Keep in mind while reading this entry, that this is merely an attempt to lend some insight for potential future exchange students through my personal subjective experience. It will most likely be the case that each Umass exchange-student will experience his or her own specific version of Tübingen during their semester or year long adventure.

StudIT

The University of Tübingen offers a tremendous variety of opportunities to explore German culture first-hand through personal interactions with German students. The University itself has created an incredibly helpful student-oriented network which allows exchange students to contribute in one-on-one intercultural language experience. This program, devised by a number of enthusiastic German students, is meant to be conducive for both parties involved, that is to say that the exchange student looking to improve his or her German language abilities will be paired with a German student on the University who is personally looking to improve his or her skills in said foreign language. With this particular method, entitled 'tandem-partner program', both students involved are open to exchange personal insight regarding his or her mother tongue along side cultural experience and collaboration of preconceived prejudices.

The extent to which the exchange student uses this program is entirely dependent on the communication between students involved. With this being said, the only obligation one has to the program is ultimately to keep in touch with the tandem partner on whatever basis personally deemed necessary; though it goes without saying, the more one brings to the tandem-partner relationship, the more one will ultimately get out of the experience; and when it comes down to it, setting aside the cultural and language endeavors involved, this program offers a terrific opportunity to create lasting friendships with students and families around the world.

In my particular case, I've signed up for a tandem-partner through the StudIT website weeks before departing from Logan Airport in Boston. This was a particularly productive decision on my behalf because I had been able to speak with her through e-mail and facebook as a sort of preemptive 'get to know you'. In this instance—this study abroad experience being the first experience outside of the country for me—I was able to arrange a means by which my tandem-partner may meet me at the airport in Stuttgart in order to assist my journey further to the town of Tübingen. Though, it must be noted that with every potentially beneficial opportunity granted, i.e. making arrangements with your partner to meet at the airport, certain problematic points of interest are certain to arise.In this particular airport dilemma, my partner was unable to make it in lieu of prior discussion and confirmation. Fortunately for me, she was kind enough to send a close friend of her's to the airport with a sign offering assistance to the University.

This miscommunication is a key example of how this particular program can be problematic and can also be depicted in regards to the StudIT Program interactions themselves. Given the wide variety of exchange students from around the globe who have chosen to study in Tübingen, it is possible that the tandem-partner program could fail to function in its ideal fashion. Sometimes the tandem-partner selection process may last longer than expected in which case, the eager Umass exchange-student wanting to establish a well-grounded friendship or work intensely on their language abilities immediately upon arrival may have to wait a bit longer. Another applicable point of interest can be observed through those particular tandem-partner selections that, perhaps just didn't start off on the right foot. This is not an uncommon occurrence and, though mildly inconvenient can be fairly easy to rectify with a bit of inquiry. In such a case the students involved are given the opportunity to sign up for a completely new tandem/language-partner based on personal preference, i.e. hobbies, study interests and language capabilities. And keeping in mind the workload for most German students on the University is exceedingly more than that of the exchange student, it is most often a good idea to distinguish specific periods of time during the day or week in which the student and his or her tandem-partner can get together.

In my particular case, the tandem-partner with whom I work has a very rigorous schedule and is only available on Thursdays and Saturdays. This makes for difficult planning considering weekends is usually the time students such as myself enjoy traveling with friends or with the sponsored programs available. At any rate, my language partner and I try to meet at least once a week for a coffee or a beer and the occasional dinner to discuss anything from personal interests to politics—and of course the language training is always a part of these discussions.

In addition to the encouraged possibility of linguistic and cultural education through the one-on-one tandem program, StudIT offers a wide variety of educational excursions and group gatherings within the realm of educational intentions for foreigners. Each month StudIT creates an assortment of cultural events meant to facilitate a closer bond between exchange students and German students throughout the University. For instance, during the winter season, StudIT has offered a number of inexpensive trips to the Black Forest for skiing lessons, small culture-oriented group dinners meant to lend insight into the Advent traditions in Germany as well as a multitude of bus trips to the highly celebrated and beautifully crafted Christmas Markets throughout the country. Might I add, that these one need not be signed up or taking part in the tandem program itself to enjoy these cultural excursions. The StudIT website offers pages of information for the curious traveler to read and requires only weeks advance notice to attend specific trips.

Living Arrangements

The Umass Baden-Württemberg Exchange Program establishes a highly beneficial standard of living for the students who wish to study in Tübingen. Students are placed in suite-style apartment complexes comparable in someways to the North Apartments on the Umass campus. This living area allows for easy accessibility to the bus routes and offers a number of convenient recreational services including a fitness room—equipped with few, but fully functional exercise machines and free-weights, a music room—giving the musician his or her personal space to practice or entertain, a party room—a room meant to provide a larger space for students and family members alike to host gatherings and dances, and a wood shop which may be utilized by students or members of the building interested in wood-work.

In addition to the variety of services and rooms offered, it is common for students to be placed in apartments with native German speakers. The obvious benefits from this include utilizing the language outside of the standard text-book/class setting and also through means of personal relationship cultivation and development. As mentioned before, the StudIT tandem-partner program offers wonderful insight and opportunities for the exploration and utilization of the German language as well as producing an informal means of getting to know native Germans on a deeper level, but it is safe to say that one learns quite a bit more about the culture and the individual people themselves when sharing an apartment and all the responsibilities necessary to maintain proper living quarters.

As probably expected with prior experience in dorms and/or apartments at the University of Massachusetts, moving in with strangers and sharing the responsibilities of the apartment itself can be quite intimidating and sometimes frustrating—especially in the particular case where the so-called language barrier might hinder or altogether interfere with the necessary communication between flat-mates. However, in my personal experience, I've found that in most German students are for the most part sympathetic with the needs and worries of exchange students, and in a lot of ways tend to be excited to meet students outside of their general realm of study/social cliques. With this being said, it should be noted that the common notion that Germans in general are difficult to get to know or difficult to befriend can be thrown aside.

Section II: The German Phenomenon (Particulars)

Once you become settled in your apartment and situated with your roommates, you begin to realize that every contact you've made thus far will triple as the weeks go by. Living in an apartment with five German students has been a rigorous language exercise especially when it comes down to meeting each of their friends. You really get to know a lot of people during your stay even if you don't take advantage of the programs offered for exchange students alone. For instance, considering the number of students living in this quarter, each flat has made it a point to host some sort of event throughout the semester, these ranging from elaborate dinners to full-blown themed parties. For my suite in particular, my German roommates thought it a wonderful idea to through a large scale party with a theme none other than “wild hair style” party. Of course everyone here has a friend that is a DJ so throwing such a party would be no problem at all. It was here that I began to notice one of the many interesting aspects of German culture, namely the underlying German desire to dance as depicted here:

Tübingen: A town which could be very well be seen as the setting of a romantic film; by day a small, quaint and highly picturesque town full of beautifully crafted colorful houses lining the cobble-stone streets upon which hundreds of people stroll—shop to shop, cafe to cafe—all the while enjoying the graceful, mellow flow of the Neckar river. Up ahead you notice a smiling man playing the accordion. Fountains decorated by an overwhelming assortment of colorful flowers and the unmistakable scent of freshly baked bread at every corner. It is evident that this town is highly sophisticated and highly conscious of aesthetics. But beyond the beauty, beyond the decorative houses, the smiling and perpetually welcoming faces in the crowds lies something more. Something not completely obvious upon first glance, but noticed only under closer examination of particular demeanor. Ah, yes seen through the countenance of this waitress' face as she places a coffee and a pretzel on the table before me—something more than the seeming contentment in her eyes. There, the man with the accordion is portraying it as well. You see it in his step, in the very tips of his fingers; the finely tuned muscle memory displays a lapse in the mechanical portrayal of the song—abruptly enthralled with a definitive need—but then repressed back to seeming contented man he was but a second prior.

As the sun retreats and the majority of tourists and street performers slowly disperse into their respective humble apartments and houses and the pigeons clasping what little scraps of döner may lay embedded between the brick pavers, a distant rumbling can be heard. A collective surge of energy dwelling behind the doors. Through the windows eyes peer outward shifting, working to keep the composure needed to fulfill the moonlit tasks ahead. That something seen in the eyes of the waitress and the feet and fingertips of the street musician is becoming more evident. The clanging glass bottles fall empty to the floor releasing a sigh of relief for their prerequisite part in fulfilling the task is now complete. The mellow whisper of the river has now become a sort of rhythmic cycle as the ducks procure their rightful floor upon which they sing. Night has come and yes there is something to be done. In any case, there is always something to be done in this town, for that something is in most instances dancing.

It seems to me as though the first and foremost desire of Tübingen residents, both German and exchange students, is most definitively to dance. There are a few things to mention though. This dancing is not what you might expect to find in the U.S., that is to say, there is not sexual 'grinding' taking place on the numerous dance floors, but rather an ambiguous mixture of confused, pulsating, almost catatonic heaving in combination with the infamous stand-still head-bob technique as portrayed in the movie Night at the Roxbury. Despite the way it sounds, and perhaps the fact that wherever you go you'll find dancing such as this, it turns out to be quite fun and will soon inevitably become a daily ritual in itself. This overwhelming state of repressed catatonia is unquestionable after a maximum of two months into the exchange program.

Aside from the perpetually enigmatic dancing to the thoroughly bass oriented thumping beats, one will find many opportunities to probe the more formal methods of dance and dance techniques including salsa and lindy hop swing dance. One of the bars in down-town Tübingen offers a salsa dance night on Thursday evenings. This makes for great entertainment for both the ballroom dancer looking to tear up the floor and for those of us too timid to try. In the latter case, it is often enjoyable to watch and discuss the implications of drinking before attempting such a dance.

Thanks to a few German friends I've made here in Tübingen, I've most recently attempted to learn how to lindy-hop. Monday nights offers free lessons for beginners in one of the campus buildings which draws quite a few German students and exchange students alike.

Thanksgiving

One of the more interesting adventures I was able to have during my stay in Tübingen occurred on Thanksgiving. This attempt at a typical Thanksgiving dinner had been proposed by a group of German students who were living with an American exchange student. I personally had been invited to this particular event through a friend whose sister lived in the host apartment. Fortunately for me, this event was just the sort of thing I enjoy and given the numbers of German students attending the dinner itself, would offer a terrific opportunity to utilize and improve my German language ability.

The scene is as such: a large house housing thirty or so German students, some of whom are close friends with and American exchange student, create an event for a large potluck style dinner on the evening of Thanksgiving. To my surprise, I've been invited and informed that this dinner will try to be a typical Thanksgiving feast. The one stipulation was that each of these students are vegetarian. My first vegetarian Thanksgiving in a foreign language with complete strangers would prove to be one of the most interesting I've experienced in twenty-two years.

Music and Entertainment

The point of this blog is to inform the reader of my personal perspective meeting German students in Tübingen and to elaborate on the particular cross-cultural experiences I've had in doing so. With this being said, and I myself being a musician, I feel an obligation to try and explain the music scene here in Tübingen. Just as one in the United States might expect, there is a pop music scene. The music heard in within this paradigm is most always techno dance music, of which is the foundation for the perpetual dancing that occurs in every night club and bar in Tübingen. MTV unfortunately does exist here and according to my flat-mate's uncontrollable need to listen, this station continuously plays this music as well.

I'm not entirely sure if the following applies to all German students, but in my experience with my flat-mates, the radio is always on and is always on the worst possible station. Whenever someone is cooking or taking a shower or sometimes even doing homework, you're bombarded with this terrible music (American music) straight out of the eighties and nineties. I can't begin to explain how many times I've heard 'Mombo Number Five' while taking a shower and seriously hoping who ever is listing to this trash while brushing their teeth will leave promptly, only to be disappointed by the fact that this person has indeed left, but managed to leave the radio on for my personal entertainment...

Since we're on the topic of mainstream American pop music from the eighties and nineties, one of the more hilarious events to partake in during a semester or year in Tübingen is none other than karaoke. This is an extremely popular pass-time here in town and based on other accounts from Umass students in Baden-Württemberg, it is in their towns as well. The thing about karaoke night here in Tübingen is that everyone sings every song. This isn't your typical stand on stage and sing your favorite song to the crowd, this is more like a stand in the middle of the over-crowded bar and choose the most hilarious song to sing with everyone else throughout the evening. Though I often wonder if the hilarious part is just my perspective and that they actually really do enjoy singing Sweet Caroline or Wonderwall. Regardless, this is a good way to meet German students with poor taste in music.

Though terrible old American music and techno dance music is what is most prominently heard in the day to day adventures of a typical Umass exchange student, I can difinitively say that there are other options for music entertainment and night-life when properly investigated. The month of September offered an interesting array of jazz ensembles throughout the city itself involving many local jazz musicians as well as prominent figures throughout Germany. One of my German flat-mates and myself made an attempt to attend a few of these concerts proving that not all is lost in the world of music and that some people still have good taste after all. Another of my flat-mates is active in a choir here in Tübingen and has performed in a few night performances, though entertaining when performed in its entirety, can be quite displeasing as a consistent backdrop of practice when trying to read or even sleep.

As alluded to earlier, meeting other German students is really not a difficult task for an exchange-student to undertake. The University of Tübingen itself is extremely diverse and offers a number of reasonable possibilities for students studying in each of the faculties on campus. There are several opportunities granted to conduct and/or attend all types of activities which inevitably invite a closer interaction among students. For instance, the language and performing arts faculties often hold different events for students of all departments to enjoy. One of the particular events I was invited to attend had taken place in a small theater located in one of the University buildings. A friend of mine, whom I was able to meet through other German residents of my particular apartment building, had been offered a role in a theater piece and invited a few friends and myself along for the production. This was a particularly interesting endeavor considering the theater itself had been located in the very building most of my classes were to take place in, all the while never even noticing it's whereabouts. At any rate, the play being presented was Arthur Schnitzler's Professor Bernhardi and of course it was to be performed in German. Quite the show I might add even without being able to keep up with the dialogue at certain parts. Other notable performances include the already mentioned choir meetings in both small auditoriums and the church located down town, poetry readings by professors and students, foreign film extravaganzas and open-mic nights in bars throughout the town.

Faculty Events

One of the especially beneficial ways to get to know German students and professors comes in the form of faculty organized events. Within the first few weeks of the academic semester a multitude of opportunities for exchange students to get to know German students as a whole becomes available to all students. After getting the entire matriculation process out of the way and you are fully registered with the University, each student, both exchange and non-exchange, receive a letter and a small pamphlet containing specific information regarding personal studies. Being matriculated in the University as a student of psychology, I had been sent a flyer indicating the specific events taking place for other first-year German students and first-semester exchange students in my department. This flyer boasted a wide variety of activities including faculty breakfasts—where the students discuss anything from personal hobbies to professional studies with their future professors—faculty oriented outings—which in some cases, like in the math department for instance, students partake in camping overnight in the Black Forest or stay in a hostel for a weekend—and the local bar tours—where the students of similar departments learn the bars and pubs frequented by the majority of Tübingen students. This faculty activity planner is a great way to get to know students quickly and offers tremendous insight and connection to the department as a whole.

Christmas Opportunities

For the students who are looking to study in Tübingin in the Fall semester, Christmas may seem like an intimidating idea—the thought of being stranded in a foreign country alone with no one to celebrate the holidays, wishing they had booked that trip home even if just for a few weeks. And indeed it is a bit frustrating, but as I've tried to describe earlier, the German students I've come to meet have been exceedingly helpful in arranging or attempting to arrange an enjoyable holiday season for those of us studying abroad. In my personal experience, I've been formally invited to two family celebrations, one from a German flat-mate of mine and another from a German neighbor and in both instances I've had to decline due to prior arrangements, but it just goes to show that the hospitality is there and the celebrations are to be shared and though it may not be the good ol' Christmas we're all used to, it is never spent alone.

Hosting Gatherings

One of the easiest ways to get to know German students is simply to host a social gathering. Whether you have a movie night, invite a few people over to appear pretentious with cheap wine and an assortment of cheese, or just host a dinner party, people are bound to show up. I started off my semester (once the Germans moved back into the building—note that exchange students arrive in September, but German students don't usually make their way back to Tübingen until October—and get settled) by inviting a few of the neighbors to join me for a potluck style dinner. In this endeavor, I managed to create a delightful lasagna and we enjoyed a nice evening of discussion and 'getting to know you' type meal. There are a few advantages to hosting a social gathering such as these. First of all, during the gathering you meet people and develop acquaintance status—an easy task that is common without such dinners. After the party, in most cases, the people you have invited will want to reciprocate and host their own gathering which is always another opportunity to meet more people while strengthening the relations in the process. And if neither acquaintance status or meeting new German students is good enough, at least you get to refund each beer bottle for twenty-five cents a piece...

Food

Discussing the dinner party idea has brought me to my next point in this entry. Learning to cook and the German pallet:

Studying in Germany offers a wonderful opportunity to explore the culture through food. Baden-Württemberg is home to an assortment of delicious foods, particularly Käse Spätzle. This is a delightful dish and must be tried during your stay in Tübingen. After a few weeks of getting to know my German neighbors, I had been invited to investigate this delightful construction of a dish first hand. At this point, we had purchased all the necessary components for the meal and each collectively sought to produce this dinner from scratch. And a success it was, in all it's cheesy noodley goodness! On a similar note, one of these German roommates with whom I was fortunate enough to cook up a storm goes home every other weekend to work with her father in a bakery. To our delight, she usually brings back an assortment of delicious German pastries including; Berliner, or jelly doughnuts croissants and all types of fresh bread. The point is, that I've noticed that the German students here really enjoy cooking meals. Back home, pasta and cereal were the number one and two dinner meals. If you are interested in learning to cook, especially traditional German meals, there is always an opportunity to learn with your roommates and neighbors.
 

Pre-Semester Language Course

As it turns out, the presemester language course that each Umass student is required to participate in is the best way to get to know students immediately after your arrival in Tübingen. Though, this course is designed for international students studying at the University for the semester or year, it still proves to be a beneficial way to meet Germans. The class is set up in such a way that students from around the world work and learn together within their own German language ability. The class time itself is divided into two parts, namely lecture and discussion periods that occupy most of every day during the first few weeks. The discussion portion of the class is where you have the chance to meet and interact with German students studying on the University to become teachers. These “tutors”, so they are called, work with the exchange students to help clarify any problems that may occur in your living situations or to help you get around town effectively or, more often than not, with misunderstandings concerning the lecture and course material itself. Aside from the boring bureaucratic aspect of the discussion portion of the class, the tutors actually really try to provide a great medium for students in getting to know the town of Tübingen through organized tours and simple informal adventures early in the exchange-student's arrive.

With all of this being said, the tutor of my class in particular encouraged group activities outside of the class discussion and lectures. We would often meet up as a group of seven or eight down town to grab coffee or picnic when the weather was nice. This and the scheduled nights in the bars of choice would offer terrific opportunities to meet her friends who were either teaching or living in the town during this time as well. One of the other advantages of this presemester course with specific regards to meeting German students, is the organized “field-trips” and projects exchange students would have to partake in.

The small field trips would consist of visiting local sights to be seen and discussing the history of such monuments or ways of living with the locals. Though most often older crowds, there are occasional students willing to discuss the works and history of say, the poet Hölderlin or even the Burschenschaften (Fraternities). As far as the small class projects, these were especially interesting and student oriented. The point of these so-called “mission” would be to take the language topic being learned by the exchange students in the lecture itself and apply it to Tübingen students. For instance we would learn a set of colloquial phrases in one instance and then be asked to discuss the meaning with random German students throughout the campus. In this fashion we would also be asked to contact random German students to ask them to elaborate on particular usage of language including significance of passive and active voice in everyday conversation.

After the presemester language course is finished and the requirements are all out of the way, you have the opportunity to become adequately assimilated to the University layout and the town of Tübingen. Here you can look forward to meeting more people in the classes you attend throughout the semester or year. It may sound obvious, but you really do get to know some people in your classes too. There are usually discussions and group projects necessary for completion of the course itself, in which case you have the opportunity to work closely with other German students.

Looking Back

The exchange program offered between the University of Massachusetts and Baden-Württemberg, as I have attempted to depict in this blog entry, has produced a wealth of experience unavailable to the average Umass student. Part of the reason one makes the decision to study abroad is to meet people whom one might otherwise not have had a change meet before; to experience first-hand the cross-cultural differences and reconsider the preconceived prejudices pertaining to the culture at large all as an attempt to create lasting friendships while working to improving one's language skills. As clearly noted, and probably reiterated more than necessary, the cultivation and development of relationships between the exchange student and German students is a work in progress and is in some cases easier than creating lasting friendships on the Umass campus.

The opportunities to meet people while studying abroad are vast and don't necessarily rely on much thought or preparation, but rather a mere desire to get to know people as the only prerequisite. As stated earlier, the programs and services here in Tübingen designed to encourage international students to get to know German students are extremely helpful and highly beneficial in most all aspects, but not the only way to go about “finding friends”. Instead there are numerous activities and a wide variety of people with whom you will find common ground, regardless of language ability.

Looking back on the semester thus far, I've realized that I've become so properly acclimated here in Tübingen through the help of the German students here whom I've learned from and worked with in all sorts of situations. Roommates and neighbors have offered tremendous support in all endeavors I've pursued as an exchange student and continue to lend their personal insight into particulars such as travel guide, cooking and language instruction.