Post reporter Lindsey McKay sat down with Rieke Havertz, a journalism graduate student from Leipzig, Germany, who is studying at Ohio University this year, and Jill Carey, an OU senior who studied in Leipzig last spring, and asked them the same questions regarding their experiences in different cultures.
The Post: Why did you choose the place you chose to study?
Havertz: I picked OU because I know (the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism) and I was tutoring some students from OU who were in Leipzig for the summer, so I had some connections to Ohio University.
Casey: There were three main reasons. One, I wanted to do it my sophomore year. And it was Winter Quarter when I eventually got my act together, so Spring Quarter was my only option. So I needed a program that went Spring Quarter. I wasn't fluent in the language, so I needed a program that had no language requirement, and I wanted to go through OU, because I wanted the security and organization that came with it. And I wanted to go with OU students, so that the friends I would make I would get to keep.
The Post: How did you adapt to a new culture?
Havertz: First of all, I moved in with three Americans, which has been a good way to really get into the culture on a daily basis. And then I met really great people here and have a lot of fun with them; they taught me a lot about the way they live. I can't really name a point where I've said, 'now I've adopted the culture.' Still, there's some points I don't understand and will never understand. But you get used to it and you enjoy new things and you compare it to your own culture.
Carey: It was easier because I was with OU students, so I had a support group of 18 other people with me. In addition to that, we had our German tutors, who would do anything we needed translation-wise, help-wise. I tried to have a really open mind, because that's all you can do. I tried not to have expectations, because I had no idea what to expect, so I didn't want to be let down or be disappointed.
The Post: What is your best - or worst - memory from studying abroad?
Havertz: My best memory is probably the people I've met here, not only international students but also Americans, who took me everywhere, took me to their families, which was great, because it's great to experience American family life.
Carey: I guess my best was the day I realized I was an international student. I remember one night, one of the first nights we were there, we were walking around, all 18 of us, trying to find a bar to go to, and we were like, 'oh my God, we are the weird international kids that probably all the Germans are pointing and laughing at.' And that was just hysterical. It was an eye-opening experience. 'How funny, I'm a foreigner.'
The Post: Does it help to have others from your country with you?
Havertz: I have one of my best friends over here, and we spend a lot of time together. It helps because you can talk from time to time in your mother language. He experienced a lot of the same things, so it's nice to talk about it, and it's nice to have someone who has the same cultural background. But I try not to limit myself to just hanging out with Germans, because it would be like being at home.
Carey: I think it definitely does. You'd probably learn a lot more and become more independent if you were alone, but I wouldn't have done it any other way. I loved having these amazing friends that I made there with me to experience everything.
The Post: What's the biggest difference you've noticed between your culture at home and the one where you study abroad?
Havertz: Food! That's the first because it's the first thing you do here: You eat something when you step off the plane. That's really different, all the junk food places. I go out to eat a lot more than I do in Germany.
Carey: Political awareness, or political opinions. They always wanted to talk politics with us, and I always felt I fell into the stereotype of the ignorant American. But that also could have been that we went over there while the war in Iraq was going on, so the whole anti-German, anti-French sentiment played a role in that.
The Post: Were you able to make friends with local people? Did you feel welcome?
Havertz: Yeah, everybody is so friendly. And that astonished me, because in Germany people are not as friendly and not as helpful, I hate to say it.
Carey: Even now I don't really speak any German, so the language barrier was definitely a problem. But the tutors were always great with us, and when you would go to a bar, or go out, people were always willing to talk to you and be friends. But aside from our tutors, I didn't really meet any local Germans that I still have a friendship with. However, in our international dorm we did make friends with the other people.
The Post: How are the classes different, at home and abroad?
Havertz: They're more often during the week, and the teacher tells you what to do and when to do it. You don't have a lot of freedom. You're not working independently ... and that is totally different in Germany.
Carey: We had one OU professor with us, so that was kind of the same. I think that when you study abroad, they want you to be more involved in the culture, so it's as much about learning about that as it is about textbook learning.
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