One of the differences that is very apparent while studying abroad is the way classes are setup. Everyone jokes that study abroad is the easy 4.0 GPA semester. This is not necessarily the case. It is more that the classes are completely different than what we experience at Valpo. From professor relationships, classes, and trips this semester has to have been one of the best one’s I’ve experience.
Professor and student relationships are different than just going to a professor’s class for 3 hours a week. Here our professors are technically like our guardians which create more of a relationship than just listening to a lecture. We get to know their families and they get to know more than just our grade and where we sit in the class. They have invited us over to their homes and have made meals together and they taught their classes in the comfort of their own homes. We also are taught classes by German professors as well (in English). Both are well known in their fields like an art curator and the head of the international programs on campus (which deals with the government). They have shown us how relaxed German classes are. In most German classes, attendance is optional.
Another difference is that we get to travel for our classes. We have had about three and four weeks of just class trips that have ranged from going to Berlin and Northern Germany to day trips around the area. We were able to take a tour of the Audi factory last week to understand one of the main corporations that affect the German Economy. We saw the entire process of the making of a gorgeous and expensive car. The week before that we went to Paris in order to present our final presentations for our Art History class in front of the actual paintings in the Louvre and the Museum d’ Orsay, followed by a delicious French meal and a tour of Paris.
Overall the classes were not necessarily the easy A courses that we all expect when studying abroad but they were some of the most interesting and memorable classes I have taken. We had our farewell dinner with all of our professors and their families and it really made me realize just how close I have become to these professors. It is a weird feeling realizing that it was the last time I would be seeing our two German professors.
