A picture of me in the castle garden, courtesy of my friend Dottie!
The semester has officially begun in Marburg! A lot of my time during these first couple of weeks was spent going to class and doing class work, but I’ve also been getting to know the other people in the castle.
It’s all been a little overwhelming, to say the least. Being surrounded by native speakers of German 24/7, in class and in the dorm, has really shown me just how much more German I have to learn. To be clear, I was using German a lot in Vienna, too. But most of the other people I spoke with were also just learning the language, and were at the same level as me.
Here, everything is more: more fast, more at once, more words I don’t know. I can understand most things. And when I’m speaking with one person at a time it’s not so bad. But it’s also so easy to lose the thread of conversation and meaning. Whenever there’s several people talking in the same room, or I get distracted and my mind wanders, it becomes a struggle to understand and participate.
I’m certain that this is something that will improve with time, as I get more comfortable here and use German more. It doesn’t make it any less frustrating in the short term, however.
University Update
All of my classes are in this building, which is called PhilFak and is, to quote Kris, “the ugliest building in Marburg.”
While registering for classes, Kris recommended us to sign up for more credits than we would actually take, and then drop classes as we go. It was a weird transition, going from a system where you know the classes you’re taking months in advance and can’t easily drop classes, to a system where you sign up for classes later on and can easily drop them.
But after the first two weeks of class, I can safely say that it was a good thing we did. A couple of the courses I signed up for had professors who spoke too fast, or mumbled, or both. Combined with the fact that everything was in German, it was incredibly difficult to keep track of what was going on.
I’m pretty excited for the classes I didn’t drop, however. At the university, I’m taking two courses about feminism. One focuses on feminism in film and film history, while the other focuses more generally on feminist movements. The BCA study abroad program also has a couple of classes exclusively for BCA students, including a German language course and a German literature course.
My favorite class is the BCA translation course. We’re working with translation memory software to translate two texts a week from German into (American) English. The TMS program remembers previous translations you’ve done, and will suggest edits and translations as you go to help with consistency. To me, translating feels a lot like editing writing, just with a few more dictionaries and slightly stricter rules. It’s not just understanding what the author means; it’s figuring out how to best communicate that meaning in English, which word or phrase works best, while still preserving the author’s style. Translation can be challenging, but a it’s a challenge I’m enjoying. I know I wrote it off in the past, but this is something I could actually see myself doing in the future.
Castle Living
I briefly mentioned in my last post that the castle dormitory, the Collegium Philippium, is entirely student governed and run. Primarily, this means two things: one, everyone here has to help with the chores, and two, there’s weekly meetings everyone has to attend. The chores aren’t too bad, but the meetings are very involved. Everyone gathers in the giant dining room to discuss various things going on in the castle. They discuss everything, from things like fixing a light, to events coming up. The first meeting of the semester lasted four hours, and the second one was a little shorter at three hours. The meeting length can be frustrating if you have work to get done, but it certainly forces you to be involved.
I’m definitely getting to know a lot of people this way. Plus, after the house meetings, the people who are relatively new to the dorm meet to plan a party that happens next month. The new people and old people split into groups to plan a surprise party called Winterfest. Everyone knows the date, but the theme for each part of the party, as well as the food and activities, is a secret.
This is the hostel we stayed at on the Hausfahrt.
There’s also been a few group events at the castle. There was a small party right before the semester officially started in the garden, and just this past weekend there was a little house trip. We went to Reinhardshagen, a small town in Hessen. It was a fun get together, where we mostly hung out at this hostel. I think the hostel was being rented for the group, since we were the only ones there. I didn’t see much while on the way there, because it was late when we left, but on the way back to Marburg I saw a lot more of the landscape. It’s kind of funny, how much Hessen resembles Pennsylvania. I wish I’d had a chance to get some photos.
Fußball!!
This was the view of the stadium from our seats!
The international office at the university has a free programs throughout the semester for international students. Dottie and I were lucky enough to get a spot to go to the soccer game. It was the Eintracht Frankfurt vs Fortuna Düsseldorf game, and the amount of fun I had honestly surprised me. Not being much of a sports person, I didn’t expect to get as caught up in the atmosphere as I was.
The stadium was packed, and I really understood just how crazy German people go for their soccer teams. The people waving the giant flags didn’t let up for the entire game, and whenever Frankfurt made a goal, everyone would stand up and cheer. The announcer would call out the team’s names, and the crowd would shout the score with the announcer. When the announcer read the first name of the player who made the score, the crowd would answer by yelling the last name. The wave went around the entire stadium not once, but three times.
It certainly helped that we were on the right side of the stadium. Frankfurt’s team is higher ranked than Düsseldorf’s team, and the final score of the game was 7-1. Overall, the experience was a great one and I’m glad I got to go.
Grand Opening of Art Museum
This painting, Park von Schloss Belvedere in Wiemar, um 1909, by Curt Herrmann, was one of my favorites.
One of the people living in the castle told everyone about the re-opening of the university art museum in Marburg. It’s the first time it’s been open for seven years. And, because I had a little time to drop by and there was free entry on the opening day, of course I decided to go. I wasn’t the only one — the place was so packed, you could barely breathe. It wasn’t a giant museum, but there were still a lot of different art styles on display, and it was a good way to spend an hour or two.
What I’m listening to this week: Ich geh heut nicht mehr tanzen by AnnenMayKantereit. Many of you know this is one of my favorite bands, and they’ve recently released new music. In April, I’m actually going to see them live in Frankfurt!
Deanna Seely
Glad you are getting to know people and signing up for activities.