I have been fielding many questions regarding how exactly I’m managing to go to Germany, how long I will be there, whom I will be staying with, and so on. I attempt to answer most of these presently.
Some people will be rather sick of these trivialities. To these, I can only say that I sympathize dearly.
I am going to Berlin for 11 months on a scholarship, called the International Reciprocal Scholarship Exchange Program, or IRSEP. As its name implies, it is a reciprocal exchange program at the U of M, currently with programs to 6 countries. (If anyone reading this is eligible to apply, I highly, highly recommend it.) After an extensive application process, I was selected was one of two recipients to go to Germany. This is an amazing blessing.
This scholarship provides me with direct enrollment at the Freie Universität Berlin, one of two major public universities in Berlin. The direct enrollment means I will have access to the full course catalog there, and I will be in regular classes alongside regular German students. This is rather intimidating. I am anticipating a bit of a crash course in advanced German in my first months there.
The academic calendar in Germany is significantly different than in the US. Lectures for the Winter Term run October 13 - February 14, and Summer Semester runs April 14 - July 18. This leaves a hefty two months between which should be quite apt for traveling…
While the entire course catalog is open to me, I will be concentrating in areas that will transfer to my concentrations of Global Studies and German back here. Probable topics include European Politics, International Relations, German Language and Literature, and so on. I register at the beginning of October.
The scholarship is quite permissive with regards to living arrangements as well. I was given the choice of staying in a dormitory for foreign students, living in an apartment arranged by the university, or being given money to find my own arrangements. I chose the latter. My plan is to find a Wohngemeinschaft or WG, literally “living community.” Essentially they are groups of students living together in apartments, with varying degrees of communal living. They are quite ample and diverse, and should enable me to get a very authentic experience as a student in Berlin, as well meet a lot of people. Finding one is my first order of business upon my arrival. (Immediately on arrival I will be staying with a good family friend who resides in Berlin.)
Well, these are the big things. As of now, I am somewhat packed. Excited, antsy, nervous, sanguine, panicked - I am all of these things.
Anyways, life promises to get very interesting very soon. Which is more than I can say for this vapid disquisition.
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