Greetings to my loyal following!
Well well well, if it isn’t the inevitable season of goodbyes. That old cliché is unfortunately true. Time really does fly when you’re having fun. In fact, it vanishes into thin air, leaving only an overflowing camera roll, improved language skills, some foreign university grades, and newfound friendships in its wake. I am now coming to the end of my glorious 5 months studying abroad, and thus in my final blog post I would like to offer some reflective insight into the valuable experience I’ve had, the ways in which Germany has gone from foreign to familiar, as well a note of recommendation for Freiburg as an exchange destination.
To begin, I’ll summarise what my exchange looked like academically. As a global exchange student, I was relatively free to pick and choose courses across various faculties, which afforded me a great deal of variety! I ended up taking a politics, jurisprudence (law), philosophy, and German course, which I can credit back to my degree. I also did a sneaky extra German course for the fun of it (despite the unlikelihood of it crediting back to my degree), as language immersion was, after all, the main goal of my exchange! Apart from my German classes, all my courses were taught in English. The univeristy offered a relatively large range of courses in english, and there is even a specific college within the University that offers an entirely English-taught bachelor’s degree program called “Liberal Arts and Sciences”, from which I took my philosophy course. I would highly recommend looking into that program as an option if you’re thinking of exchanging here (if you’re in any way arts/science-based).
Speaking of my German courses, the progress I have made through constant immersion is insane! Apart from the three language courses I took across the course of the semester (the intensive pre-sem March course + two during the sem), I have noticed so much improvement through simply operating in German on the daily. There really is no better way than throwing yourself off the deep end and going all in. My confidence in speaking, especially, has skyrocketed, which has made the whole experience even more enjoyable as I continue to linguistically improve with each daily conversation.
Regarding my university experience, it has been incredible. The Freiburg uni campus is located mainly within the Altstadt (old city), which made it a beautiful atmosphere to have classes in every day. The lecturers were all so lovely and genuinely invested and passionate about their respective subjects, which made it all the more engaging for us students. That said, I didn’t expect all of my classes would have mandatory attendance with little to no online learning recordings. Most classes only allowed me 2-3 unexcused absences without forfeiting my credits. This really wasn’t a problem, though. In fact, it encouraged me to show up consistently, and to show up prepared to engage with the class as content which ultimately boosted my overall learning.
A quick side note to mention the Freiburg student Unicard. Every enrolled student receives this card, which acts as both your student ID card and is your key to buying cafeteria food, laundry cycles, using the library, copying machines, and more! You just need to remember to keep it topped up with credit ;).
Freiburg itself is also really a student town, which means that the international student support network is insane!! There is such a strong Erasmus student community (while I’m technically not an Erasmus student, all international students are welcome), plus a Freiburg international student club and a student community centre in the heart of my own accommodation. They are all constantly hosting events, workshops, and trips where you can meet people and make the most of your Freiburg (and German) experience. Even beyond that, Germans love being part of clubs and organisations, so there is always a myriad of events, festivals, concerts, flea markets, and so much more happening in this town.
I’d also like to give a special shout-out to my roommates who absolutely made my Freiburg living experience!! So in case you’re reading this, thank you Johanna, Sebastian, and Yannik, for being such incredible human beings and welcoming me into your flat for the last 5 months. Hab euch lieb <3.
Besides the exchange and uni-related perks, the city of Freiburg is simply beautiful. It truly is a green city, filled with parks that fulfil all of my aesthetic European summer dreams, along with a river that runs throughout the city, providing infinite swimming spots in summer. Not to mention the location of the city itself, nestled in the black forest, where you can pretty much look in any direction and find the forest on the horizon. Further, it’s located in the heart of Europe. I can be in France or Switzerland in less than an hour by car, and in the Alps in about 2 hours. How. Insane. Is that.
Germany itself has also become more and more familiar with time. There are of course funky quirks compared to NZ: the intense rubbish separation system (including bottle recycling!), the multitude of dialects and accents, the nightly silent hours, all shops being closed every Sunday and public holiday, the standardised use of a real post system, and even just staring at the night sky and seeing the North Star instead of the Southern Cross. But although once foreign, all of these differences now collectively contribute to a sense of normalcy. My German (and general European) geography is quickly improving, and my default is now to stick to the right side of the path/road. I can really imagine calling this place home.
I also can’t thank my bike and my Deutschland-Ticket (and my Bahncard) enough for their endless transport support. My bike, thank you for transporting me safely, and mostly reliably, around Freiburg – whether it be going to uni and back, running little errands or sidequests, or pedalling to my favourite place (the climbing centre, duh) – this bike saw me through it all. My Deutschland ticket, thank you for allowing me unlimited travel on all regional transportation (buses, trains, trams, and even ferries!) throughout the entirety of Germany for €58 a month. And to my Bahncard, thank you for making long-distance travel that 25% cheaper, so I can travel that 100kms faster and save those many precious hours every time.
Enough said. I have been so incredibly blessed with my time here in Freiburg; my heart is so full. And to make it better, my time isn’t over yet as I’m going to be heading up to stay a bit longer in northern Germany to maximise my European experience before making the trek back home. So while I won’t be documenting any of my future travels here, I’m so grateful to 360 to have had this opportunity to share pictures and pieces of my time abroad, and I hope at least some of what I’ve shared has answered some questions, quashed some fears, and sparked some excitement at the possibility of completing your own exchange. I really can’t recommend Freiburg enough. And with that, the final chapter of the Freiburg Chronicles is concluded.
Liebe liebe Grüße (zum letzten Mal),
Katie <3