Week 4

One of the first things that surprised me during the first few weeks in Stuttgart, the fact that there are Ads all around the U-bahn station in Turkish advertising free 60 minutes with the company Turkcell. (see image on the right).

Is integration a current problem that Germany is facing? Velleicht. We had an excursion yesterday with our cross-communication class to the Haus der Geschichte. It was an amazing tour, with heaps of information about the history of Germay starting approximatly Napoleon time till Germany today. He talked about the different waves of migration that occured throughout the German history due to Economic or Religious reasons - were germans fled to different countries. 
 
We reached the Germany Today section and our tour guide showed us a sign, that is normally in shops around Deutschland. A CCTV warning sign in three languages - German, English and Turkish. The tour guide's explanation was as follows: the fact that there are people living in Germany, who don't yet speak the national language is an integration problem. It might be true. It's one prespective.



Another prespective might be the fact, the migration is a long process, that takes years and sometimes even decades for people to fully integrate.

Das ist alles for now.

Die dritte Woche

The third week has come running at the speed of light. Aber alles in Ordnung ist.

Es ist ein bisschen Komisch. I haven't felt that way since I was in school, going to class everyday, meeting the same people, being guided by a "teacher" on how to do things. It is unusually fun, very different from going to uni and having massive projects that mostly include "connecting up electric circuits".

I think I have started getting used to the Stuttgart. The difficulty comes from the fact that I am surrounded by a completely foreign environment, totale fremde Leute mit anderen Sitten und Gewohnheiten. But everything is really exciting and I can't wait to be able to understand what every Ad means. It's funny, but whenever I learn a new word, I tend to see it soon after, which is actually the fuel that keeps the learning process interesting.

Cross-cultural class was very interesting. Our teacher normally tells us about the German culture, while comparing it other cultures, like Australian/American/Asian/Arab. This helps us see, why some cultures are occasionally described as not "normal" or "weird" (which is almost always relative to one's description of Normal).

One of the things mentioned today was a dialogue about two fruits, a peach and a coconut. The coconut resembles the German culture and its people, having a very hard shell making it hard to reach the centre (The german stereotype of the unfriendliness and coldness). While other cultures resembles a peach, it's rather soft, and very open to outsiders. I found this conversation very interesting, because it made me realise that my host nation has a different way of establishing relationships. i.e The outer shell is broken into through time, once a person have lived here for a while and have established friendships.

There must be hundreds of different "fruits" and combinations of fruits that could describe the hundreds of cultures and sub-cultures out there, but I thought giving two examples really stressed the idea and showed the sharp distinction that people normally see.

Ciao for now.

Die Zweite Woche

It is my second week in Stuttgart, and to be honest, I don't want time to fly by like it always does. I have been really enjoying my time here - my German grammar and vocabulary is improving everyday and I am constantly learning new things, which is the main reason I have decided to come here.

Königstraße in Stuttgart: taken by Tim Mak

Learning a new language can be a bit challenging, it's a person's attempt at translating all his/her prior knowledge and ideas into this new language. This includes gestures, thoughts and behaviour, without of course changing one's character and personality. It's finding the right balance that could make the learning process a bit difficult. However, there isn't a reason why we shouldn't try. (Warum nicht?) So I am giving it a try, meeting new people along the way and learning more about myself everyday.

Along with learning Deutsch, all exchange students get to do an extra unit, I have chosen cross culture communication. It's a very interesting topic, one that I could definitely relate to. In our class yesterday, our lecturer presented us with a few german proverbs. A few of them were:

"Ohne Fließ, kein Preis. "

"Kehre vor Deiner eigenen Tür"

I have chosen to write specifically those two proverbs, because they put in words my impression about the german culture. Without pain, there is no  gain. i.e Germans work hard, in order to eventually reap profit. Also, they are self-critical and that is a reason why they would tell someone off, if they think something is not done properly. For example, if a parent sees X crossing a red light, they would tell X off, so X wouldn't be a model for their kids. I see it as a fair and a very structured way of doing things. 

Lastly, another proverb that I really liked. 

"Morgen, morgen, nur nicht heute, sagen all faulen Leute"

Mit diesem Sprichwort, muss ich  meine Hausaufgaben machen. 

Ciao.

Die erste Woche - Eine neue Erfahrung

A week full of new experiences - from learning to use a whole new transport system to meeting my German host family. It is a whole heap of information to absorb, but I am really excited to get to know it all. I hope that by the end of the trip, I would improve my German language and also get to understand the German culture.

The trip to Stuttgart was fairly easy for me, given the fact that I flew in from Cairo to Frankfurt, so it was only 4 hours away. The train from Frankfurt to Stuttgart was quick and easy to find. My host mother picked me up from the Hauptbahnhof and we took the train to my new home. The transport system in Stuttgart is superb, the trains are very frequent and efficient.

My host family live quite a distance away from University, so taking the train everyday, gives me a glimpse of people's everyday lives. In my opinion, this gives me the chance to interact with the locals, as well as experience what it is like to be a Stuttgarter.

Here is a quote that I found quite relevant to the last few days:

‘There is nothing which has a greater tendency to interfere with conventional morality than travel, and especially travel among peoples with manner and customs widely different from one’s own. It is the change of attitude towards the conventions of one’s own society which produces the broadening of ideas and the tolerance which travel brings in its train’

It is that broadening of the mind and getting rid of one's own perceptions of cultural stereotypes that I hope to learn in the next coming weeks. 

Aufweidersehen for now :)

Stuttgart minus a month

A month, being the time left till myself and a group of 20 or so fly to Stuttgart for a 6-week language exchange trip. We were told about all the details we need to know before then such as visa issues, host families, what is expected of us and what we should expect.

We were told to set-up a weekly blog starting the 9th January 2012. It will help us reflect on our trip and it will also act as a way of documenting our experiences.  We could return to it in years and it will still be there, unlike some memories that could sometimes fade away. Can I call it "Freezing Memories"?

Ciao amigos :)


.