I got a welcome email from Dortmund--yay! I learned some important things from this email . First, it was just nice to actually hear from a real person at Dortmund who sounded excited about my coming, and it is comforting to know that someone is on the other side of this, preparing for my arrival. I definitely feel more comfortable about writing to Dortmund and asking questions now that they have contacted me first. One thing I thought was interesting is Frau Klemm suggested that they could include me in a graduate level English class in the position of a volunteer assistant. I thought that sounded pretty cool, and it would look really good on a graduate school application. Also, if I choose to go a month a early, I can take a free intensive language course for credit. I do have to pay for room and board (approximately €250 for room and €220 for food), but this will give me the chance to adjust to Germany before my classes actually start, I can meet some of the other exchange students while learning the language with them, and I could use the extra language credits (I need 9 hours of German credit while I am in Germany). This is something I'm seriously considering, and if I decide to do it, I will need to be in Dortmund when it starts on March 9th.
Today I worked on picking out some classes to take while I am at Dortmund, and I am meeting with my adviser on Tuesday to discuss them. I basically have to get some classes pre-approved for transfer credit before I leave. These probably are not the exact classes I will be taking (especially since the summer 2009 classes have not been posted on Dortmund's course catalog yet), but I will be taking something similar. This has been interesting because the catalog is in German, which makes it a little difficult to navigate, but luckily, Dr. Schneibel helped me with it last semester and I remember most of what she showed me. Some of the German classes I am looking at are:
*Deutsch als Fremdsprache: Konversation (German as a foreign language: Conversation)
*Deutsch als Fremdsprache: Leseverstehen (German as a foreign language: Understanding what you read)
*Deutsch als Fremdsprache: Landeskunde-Literature, Kultur, und Sprache (German as a foreign language: regional studies-literature, culture, and language)
*Deutsch als Fremdsprache: Hörverstehen (German as a foreign language: understanding what you hear)
This all sounds interesting--mostly because we don't really have specified German classes like this at Maryville. I also looked at some English literature classes (these classes at Dortmund are taught in English-hooray!) and some interesting titles were:
*Utopian Fiction
*Female Role Behavior in Shakespeare
*English and Irish Short Stories
*Concepts of Reality in Postmodern Texts
*Madness in German and American Literature
*Beyond Grits and Gravy: Literature and Culture of the American South
Like I said, these aren't necessarily the classes I will be taking while I'm abroad, but these are some general ideas. I just keep getting more excited! :-D
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