The German Experience 1

Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt

Patrick Grogan spent one half of the year on exchange to the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in Germany when completing his BA Honours in German Studies in 2009. 

Last year, as a third-year German student planning to take German Honours in 2009, I decided to apply for a semester on exchange at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in Bavaria, Germany. My thinking was that the best way for me to improve my at that point rather lacklustre German-language skills was to live and immerse myself in a German-speaking environment for an extended period of time. Now, having been in Germany for three months and with one month of my stay to go, I am in a position to say that the improvement in my German has been but one of many benefits of what has been a truly life-changing experience.

At the Allianz Arena

I would not be being entirely honest if I said I had had no reservations and anxiety about the trip before I left. The thought of travelling alone to another continent and having to put my shaky German to practical use seemed at times rather daunting. I felt even less sure of myself after an exhausting 30-hour journey from Grahamstown via Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg, Dubai, and Munich, but as soon as I arrived in Eichstätt I felt completely at home and have done so ever since. Eichstätt is a small town of approximately 12,000 people in Bavaria, approximately 100 kilometres north of Munich. The town centre is in a valley and the residential areas are on the surrounding hills - which makes for a tiring walk home every day but a very picturesque town. The university consists of two campuses - economics and business in Ingolstadt (a much bigger town about 20 kilometres from Eichstätt) and humanities in Eichstätt. Although Eichstätt is small, it has an incredible student vibe - of its 12,000 residents, 7,000 are students. The friendliness of everybody here (and I mean everybody - from students to shopkeepers to bus drivers) defies stereotypes about German coldness. And in a small town like Eichstätt one can't help meeting people over and over again. Consequently I have probably made more friendships and acquaintances here than I have ever before - sometimes this can be embarrassing: often I have people come up to me and address me by my name and I haven't a clue who they are.

Patrick at Neuschwanstein Castle

As a South African, a rare sight in Germany, people seem to find me more interesting and exotic than usual. Sometimes I have had to put up with some rather strange questions about South Africa (e.g. "How can you come from South Africa, you're white?" or "Can whites and blacks ride on the same bus in SA?" or "'Ok, you come from South Africa, but what country exactly do you come from?' 'South Africa!' 'But here is South Africa [points at all the countries south of Cameroon and Sudan], so which one do you come from?'"). But normally people are reasonably knowledgeable and very interested to find out more.

There is a big group of foreign exchange students here in Eichstätt this semester - from literally all over the world: Brazil, Czech Republic, USA, Poland, Italy, Benin, Togo, France, Argentina, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Armenia, Greece, Syria, Colombia, Finland, Romania, among others, and of course me, the first South African ever to come to Eichstätt. It might be sound like a cliché but it really is an amazing experience to meet people from so many different countries and learn about their countries and cultures. In fact, thanks to a friend of mine from the Czech Republic, I have even begun to learn the Czech language. Furthermore, we international students live among German students in a number of different student residences, which means that we also have a lot of contact with German students and have made many German friends. However our group of international students is very tight knit and I have formed some extremely close friendships within it.

Patrick in Passau

Germany is a great country to study in for many reasons, one being its geographical position. Situated in central Europe, Germany forms a bridge between Eastern and Western Europe and thus provides a great position from which to explore different parts of the continent. This is complemented by Europe's open borders and its extremely efficient public transport system. I have taken advantage of these factors to not only thoroughly explore Bavaria, but also to visit Czech Republic, Poland, and Luxembourg. However there is more than enough to see and do in Bavaria alone. Munich and Nuremberg are beautiful and historic cities, there are many picturesque smaller towns, and outside the cities and towns, the countryside is pristine (I have had the fortune of twice canoeing down the Altmühl River which was a wonderful way of seeing the Bavarian countryside).

Ingolstadt and the Danube River

The German university system differs to Rhodes in a number of ways. Students can take as long as they like to finish their degrees, lectures are once a week and usually 2 or 3 hours long, and there is no exam period at the end of each semester - students can decide when they are ready to take an exam. I have been taking German language, literature, and history courses. As useful and interesting as they have been, my German has improved mainly, I think, through constantly speaking it in my everyday life. Although most Germans and exchange students here can speak English, we have an unwritten rule among ourselves that we only speak German to each other. At first it seemed odd to be speaking German to people from the USA but there really is no point in coming to Germany if one does not try as much as possible to speak German.

Meeting people from all over the world, learning another language, seeing new places, learning about another country's university system - these all are reasons why students should take advantage of the exchange programmes which Rhodes offers. Personally, looking back on my time so far, I have also found that I can do a lot of things which before I thought I was not capable of doing - alone in a foreign country one is forced to learn, adapt, and extend oneself beyond the proverbial comfort zone. I would like to thank both Rhodes University and the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt for giving me this opportunity (in particular Undine Weber from Rhodes and Jessica Hofmacher from the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt who helped so much with the organisation of my trip) as well as all the wonderful friends I have made here in Germany who have made this experience so memorable.

Patrick and some friends