The tropical night clung to my skin in beads of sweat and condensation. Their spears pierced me on all sides, and I laid bloodied and exhausted in the dark. They spun, drummed, and screamed their mad dance around me. They built mounds of flesh as monuments to their savage lust. I prayed for an end to the brutality, but there came not a hint of remission. And as the red sun rose past my sleepless, shuddering eyelids, I knew this was the end. Smack! I left another blood-stain on the wall. God knows I will not miss the mosquitoes.
Well everyone, that's the end of my trip. I leave tomorrow morning from Zurich and get in directly to Rochester. This, however, will not be my last post. Once I'm home I promise you one final entry with my 15 favorite photos from my time abroad that I for various reasons wasn't able to post earlier.
also bis bald!
Showing posts with label Sonnenbühl Ost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sonnenbühl Ost. Show all posts
Monday, July 28, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
Schiffsausflug u.s.w.
Well, I've had my first three finals (Klausuren) - in German, Arabic and Russian - and they all went fairly well, tho I don't have the grades yet. As a break from the cramming (Pauken), we international students were invited to go out on one last excursion: a boat cruise on Lake Constance.
The weather was perfect, and the view was really nice.
Each country got its own table or section of a table. The USA tied with the Czech Republic for most participants, so we helped fill out Canada's table, too.
the Alps
more of Lake Constance (I like the distance in this photo.)
Well, that's basically all I've done recently, other than study and write papers (I have two due next week), but I thought I'd fill out this post with a little more on German culture.
So this is my yogurt I bought a few days ago. It's delicious. German yogurt is so much better than American yogurt. But that's not why I posted a picture of it. How much of it can you read? Probably about 70% without any knowledge of German. That's because they love to use English. Here you can see, for example, "collect" instead of sammeln and "family" instead of Familie (even though they share the same Latin root).
Other "Anglizismen" (Anglicisms) that I've heard include der Deal (the deal), Late-Comers, gecheckt (past participle of checken, to check), sorry (nearly everyone says this instead of the cumbersome Entschuldigung, which itself is often shortened to 'Tschuldigung), and call mich an (call me up, although they pronounce call like "coal").
And two pieces of good news from Sonnenbühl Ost: No, I don't have internet (I'm in the library again), but the shower has gotten significantly better! First off, we have a new curtain. It's not hanging on by one clip, and it has no mold! Secondly, someone (not I) came up with the brilliant idea to use a spook to correct the shower head's range of spray. Now I can shower like a normal person. (A funny side note is that the Vietnamese guy in my house uses a chopstick instead of the spoon - I swear to God!)
Well, I should get back to writing that Hausarbeit. To all of my maternal relatives: have a great time at the lake! Wish I could be there, but I've got school stuff, you know ;)
The weather was perfect, and the view was really nice.
Each country got its own table or section of a table. The USA tied with the Czech Republic for most participants, so we helped fill out Canada's table, too.
the Alps
more of Lake Constance (I like the distance in this photo.)
Well, that's basically all I've done recently, other than study and write papers (I have two due next week), but I thought I'd fill out this post with a little more on German culture.
So this is my yogurt I bought a few days ago. It's delicious. German yogurt is so much better than American yogurt. But that's not why I posted a picture of it. How much of it can you read? Probably about 70% without any knowledge of German. That's because they love to use English. Here you can see, for example, "collect" instead of sammeln and "family" instead of Familie (even though they share the same Latin root).
Other "Anglizismen" (Anglicisms) that I've heard include der Deal (the deal), Late-Comers, gecheckt (past participle of checken, to check), sorry (nearly everyone says this instead of the cumbersome Entschuldigung, which itself is often shortened to 'Tschuldigung), and call mich an (call me up, although they pronounce call like "coal").
And two pieces of good news from Sonnenbühl Ost: No, I don't have internet (I'm in the library again), but the shower has gotten significantly better! First off, we have a new curtain. It's not hanging on by one clip, and it has no mold! Secondly, someone (not I) came up with the brilliant idea to use a spook to correct the shower head's range of spray. Now I can shower like a normal person. (A funny side note is that the Vietnamese guy in my house uses a chopstick instead of the spoon - I swear to God!)
Well, I should get back to writing that Hausarbeit. To all of my maternal relatives: have a great time at the lake! Wish I could be there, but I've got school stuff, you know ;)
Monday, July 7, 2008
Fourth of July and Intestine City
Sorry I haven't written in a while - my internet's been especially worthless recently. (I haven't had any connection for about the last four days now in Sonnenbühl Ost.)
A few days ago Chrissy, Denis and I used another coupon of ours to eat at a restaurant on the Rhine. We sat outside, and this was our view.
Then we took a walk along the Rhine and Lake Constance.
palm trees on Seestraße
Then for the Fourth most of us Americans (as well as Canadians, Brits, Azerbaijanis, etc.) met at Europahaus to have a "Grillfest" (the German term for a barbecue).
Yes, that's a Target bag - Kirsten brought it from the US!
friends from around the world
Then yesterday Chrissy, Kirsten and I went to Darmstadt, which is near Frankfurt. I chose the city for two reasons: for its interesting architecture and for its museum of world-famous specimens from the Messel Pit, a fossil bed nearby that is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The first thing we did was go to the Hessische Landesmuseum (well, actually, first we grabbed some crepes). Unfortunately the museum is closed until 2011. To imagine what I wanted to see there, you can check out these videos on YouTube of what life in Messel would have looked like (here, here, here).
After that disappointment we went to the Künstlerkolonie (Artists' colony), which was really cool. It's known for its unique architecture.
This is the Wedding Tower (Hochzeitsturm).
We took an elevator to the top, and we got this view. In the bottom right corner you can see the Russian Orthodox chapel that was given to the city by Tsar Nicholas II in honor of his wife, Alexandra, who was from Darmstadt.
Next up, we went to the Hundertwasserhaus (or Waldspirale), which is one of the oddest looking buildings ever. It is currently an appartment complex. It was built in 2000 by hippy/architect Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser ("Kingdom-of-Peace Rainy-Day Dark-and-Colorful Hundred-Waters") and was supposedly partly inspired by Russian Orthodox architecture (look at the onion domes).
At the Hundertwasserhaus we met this really nice man who drove us to the museum that supposedly had the displays from the Hessische Landesmuseum while that building was being redone.
It didn't. But it did have tons and tons of these old printing presses and stuff.
So that's a very brief update on my life until now. Last week I had my first final (German), this week I have my next two (Arabic and Russian), and then next week I have two papers due and my final in linguistics. Hopefully I'll have internet again soon so I'll be able to do research at home instead of here in the library - and so I'll be able to post to my blog more frequently!
A few days ago Chrissy, Denis and I used another coupon of ours to eat at a restaurant on the Rhine. We sat outside, and this was our view.
Then we took a walk along the Rhine and Lake Constance.
palm trees on Seestraße
Then for the Fourth most of us Americans (as well as Canadians, Brits, Azerbaijanis, etc.) met at Europahaus to have a "Grillfest" (the German term for a barbecue).
Yes, that's a Target bag - Kirsten brought it from the US!
friends from around the world
Then yesterday Chrissy, Kirsten and I went to Darmstadt, which is near Frankfurt. I chose the city for two reasons: for its interesting architecture and for its museum of world-famous specimens from the Messel Pit, a fossil bed nearby that is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The first thing we did was go to the Hessische Landesmuseum (well, actually, first we grabbed some crepes). Unfortunately the museum is closed until 2011. To imagine what I wanted to see there, you can check out these videos on YouTube of what life in Messel would have looked like (here, here, here).
After that disappointment we went to the Künstlerkolonie (Artists' colony), which was really cool. It's known for its unique architecture.
This is the Wedding Tower (Hochzeitsturm).
We took an elevator to the top, and we got this view. In the bottom right corner you can see the Russian Orthodox chapel that was given to the city by Tsar Nicholas II in honor of his wife, Alexandra, who was from Darmstadt.
Next up, we went to the Hundertwasserhaus (or Waldspirale), which is one of the oddest looking buildings ever. It is currently an appartment complex. It was built in 2000 by hippy/architect Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser ("Kingdom-of-Peace Rainy-Day Dark-and-Colorful Hundred-Waters") and was supposedly partly inspired by Russian Orthodox architecture (look at the onion domes).
At the Hundertwasserhaus we met this really nice man who drove us to the museum that supposedly had the displays from the Hessische Landesmuseum while that building was being redone.
It didn't. But it did have tons and tons of these old printing presses and stuff.
So that's a very brief update on my life until now. Last week I had my first final (German), this week I have my next two (Arabic and Russian), and then next week I have two papers due and my final in linguistics. Hopefully I'll have internet again soon so I'll be able to do research at home instead of here in the library - and so I'll be able to post to my blog more frequently!
Monday, June 23, 2008
weitere Infos über den Alltag
You know those entomologists who go into the Amazon to catch insects? That’s me every day. Each morning I trek into the steaming lavatory (or WC, as they call it here) to shower, and each morning I discover a new species of bug previously not known to live in our “bungalow.” Today I was especially lucky to find not only mosquitoes, flies and spiders, but also three very large moths.
One of them (which looked like a bird dropping) was unfortunately no longer there by the time I’d gotten my camera.
Speaking of bugs, in order to protect myself from being covered by mosquito bites during the night, I recently purchased this lovely silver net (Fliegengitter) to cover my window. (Apparently Sonnenbühl Ost doesn’t believe in window screens.) Well, it cost me €5,50 (or like a trillion US) and it sucks. It came with “tape” (Klebebände) to put it up, but it’s only one sided, and the other side is covered with these brail-like bumps that you’re supposed to press the mesh onto. Nonetheless the Gitter falls down more often than it stays up. So I duct-taped it to the sill, but it still falls down. Plus it looks like one of those metallic sheets they put up when the bad guys quarantined ET. That was a good purchase.
But anyway, to keep with the “daily life” theme of this post, let me tell you about the every-night excitement of the EM (European Soccer Championship, or Fußballeuropameisterschaft – yes, that’s one word). So there are one or two games a night, and most Europeans go crazy over them. People drive around honking and screaming and celebrating until 3 or 4 am basically every day. It’s awesome! The last game that Germany won, fans ran into the street and were draping passing cars in the German tricolor, sometimes not letting them pass until they’d called out every one of the German players’ names.
So apart from watching soccer, what have I been doing recently? Well, this Saturday a few of us went to Meersburg again.
We took the ferry there.
It’s much prettier in the summer.
Then yesterday a bunch of us Ostians went to the beach, laid out and swam.
And this Thursday I’m off to Oslo to see the Stokkelands and will head back to Constance on Monday.
One of them (which looked like a bird dropping) was unfortunately no longer there by the time I’d gotten my camera.
Speaking of bugs, in order to protect myself from being covered by mosquito bites during the night, I recently purchased this lovely silver net (Fliegengitter) to cover my window. (Apparently Sonnenbühl Ost doesn’t believe in window screens.) Well, it cost me €5,50 (or like a trillion US) and it sucks. It came with “tape” (Klebebände) to put it up, but it’s only one sided, and the other side is covered with these brail-like bumps that you’re supposed to press the mesh onto. Nonetheless the Gitter falls down more often than it stays up. So I duct-taped it to the sill, but it still falls down. Plus it looks like one of those metallic sheets they put up when the bad guys quarantined ET. That was a good purchase.
But anyway, to keep with the “daily life” theme of this post, let me tell you about the every-night excitement of the EM (European Soccer Championship, or Fußballeuropameisterschaft – yes, that’s one word). So there are one or two games a night, and most Europeans go crazy over them. People drive around honking and screaming and celebrating until 3 or 4 am basically every day. It’s awesome! The last game that Germany won, fans ran into the street and were draping passing cars in the German tricolor, sometimes not letting them pass until they’d called out every one of the German players’ names.
So apart from watching soccer, what have I been doing recently? Well, this Saturday a few of us went to Meersburg again.
We took the ferry there.
It’s much prettier in the summer.
Then yesterday a bunch of us Ostians went to the beach, laid out and swam.
And this Thursday I’m off to Oslo to see the Stokkelands and will head back to Constance on Monday.
Monday, May 5, 2008
studieren?! manchmal.
Ok, so apparently you're all wondering about my classes. While I'd like to say I don't have any, I do - not that I'm here that often to attend them ;) - but seriously, here's my schedule (you'll have to click on it; I don't know how to make a table on blogger):
The only one that seems difficult so far is Russian, and that's mainly because I have to learn a foreign language in a foreign language. And here's what a tandem team is, by the way: I teach him my native language half of the time, he teaches me his the other half.
And finally, because I don't have any photos with which to amuse you, I figured I'd write you all a poem about Sonnenbühl Ost:
The only one that seems difficult so far is Russian, and that's mainly because I have to learn a foreign language in a foreign language. And here's what a tandem team is, by the way: I teach him my native language half of the time, he teaches me his the other half.
And finally, because I don't have any photos with which to amuse you, I figured I'd write you all a poem about Sonnenbühl Ost:
Ode to a Showerhead
Oh Soviet showerhead, how matchless you are!
For some reason in the States, they stopped making showers like you
Before they started.
But why? Do Americans truly despise the adventure you offer?
Now you scald me, now you give me hypothermia;
Now welts form where you pummel my skin,
Now I have to shake you, just for the water to drizzle out.
Have none so loved you as I?
Have none been so awed by your undomesticable might?
The way you refuse to be restrained by your measly “curtain?”
The way, in spite of your one moldy, tearing drape,
You build lakes and rivers throughout the bathroom?
The way your hose flails wildly, and I must dodge its burning touch?
But your crowning achievement, oh Soviet showerhead,
Is surely the way you will only point directly at the wall,
So that I must smash my body up against the cold tiles
In order to wash my hair.
Yours is a rare ability
To make common chores into marvelous feats.
Oh Soviet showerhead, how matchless you are!
Oh Soviet showerhead, how matchless you are!
For some reason in the States, they stopped making showers like you
Before they started.
But why? Do Americans truly despise the adventure you offer?
Now you scald me, now you give me hypothermia;
Now welts form where you pummel my skin,
Now I have to shake you, just for the water to drizzle out.
Have none so loved you as I?
Have none been so awed by your undomesticable might?
The way you refuse to be restrained by your measly “curtain?”
The way, in spite of your one moldy, tearing drape,
You build lakes and rivers throughout the bathroom?
The way your hose flails wildly, and I must dodge its burning touch?
But your crowning achievement, oh Soviet showerhead,
Is surely the way you will only point directly at the wall,
So that I must smash my body up against the cold tiles
In order to wash my hair.
Yours is a rare ability
To make common chores into marvelous feats.
Oh Soviet showerhead, how matchless you are!
Peace! And next time you hear from me, I'll be in EGYPT!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
dem Heim ähnlich
Hallo Leute!
So before I upload my pictures of beautiful Constance, I just wanted to inform you of my three pieces of quality news:
1) I had my first Arabic class today. I went to the intro course, and the professor told me I should be in the second highest level of Arabic! Then I visited this course, and I'm at least as good as everyone else (if not a little better than average).
2) I got elected to an executive position in Alpha Phi Omega again for next year.
3) One of my paintings ("Annaliese") was chosen to be on this year's cover of St. Olaf's The Reed magazine!
Alright, now the boring stuff is out of the way.
the strangest looking university ever
see above
view from my room in Sonnenbühl Ost
It's actually pretty, but I still have no internet.
Lake Constance and the Alps in the background
Everything's blooming here. This is Sonnenbühl Ost again.
Now this is funny. First off rauchfrei means "no smoking," so no one smokes inside the buildings, just right outside every exit. Then the massive German word Studiengebührenboykott means they're boycotting tuition. Thus far higher education here in Constance is free, but now they're thinking about making it €500/semester. Okay, so €500 sounds like a pittance compared to the leviathan cost of American college, but I agree: Boycott the increase before it gets out of hand like it has for us!
Have I mentioned this university is obscene?
The walk to the U from Sonnenbühl Ost takes about 20 minutes and cuts through these gorgeous natural lands. There are loads of birds, butterflies, people walking their dogs, etc. It's a very nice way to start the day.
So before I upload my pictures of beautiful Constance, I just wanted to inform you of my three pieces of quality news:
1) I had my first Arabic class today. I went to the intro course, and the professor told me I should be in the second highest level of Arabic! Then I visited this course, and I'm at least as good as everyone else (if not a little better than average).
2) I got elected to an executive position in Alpha Phi Omega again for next year.
3) One of my paintings ("Annaliese") was chosen to be on this year's cover of St. Olaf's The Reed magazine!
Alright, now the boring stuff is out of the way.
the strangest looking university ever
see above
view from my room in Sonnenbühl Ost
It's actually pretty, but I still have no internet.
Lake Constance and the Alps in the background
Everything's blooming here. This is Sonnenbühl Ost again.
Now this is funny. First off rauchfrei means "no smoking," so no one smokes inside the buildings, just right outside every exit. Then the massive German word Studiengebührenboykott means they're boycotting tuition. Thus far higher education here in Constance is free, but now they're thinking about making it €500/semester. Okay, so €500 sounds like a pittance compared to the leviathan cost of American college, but I agree: Boycott the increase before it gets out of hand like it has for us!
Have I mentioned this university is obscene?
The walk to the U from Sonnenbühl Ost takes about 20 minutes and cuts through these gorgeous natural lands. There are loads of birds, butterflies, people walking their dogs, etc. It's a very nice way to start the day.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Rothaus Brauerei
A few days ago I went down to Egg (pronounced kind of like "Ache"), a small neighborhood in Constance. It's really quaint and exactly how you'd picture a small German town. It's also right on the lake, so I got to walk along one of the beaches.
Here are some of my pictures from the brief trip:
mailbox
A bunch of the houses in this region of Germany have these huge rain shelters full of firewood.
Lake Constance as seen from Egg - Unfortunately, this is not one of the angles from which you can see the Alps.
more of Lake Constance
Although you can't see the Alps, you can see basically everything else! You can see the entire way across the lake into Switzerland!
Alright, since there seems to be an enormous amount of interest in my living quarters, below are photos of The Room. I swear I didn't clean before I took the photos; it's actually stayed that clean! (And if you don't believe that, how about "I only cleaned a little bit"?)
before shot
I took this my first night (March 3rd). This isn't the worst view (eg. you can't see the spiders!).
after shot
I did a fair amount of cleaning, buying and decorating.
view of my sink and a chair I sniped off the side of the road - It's actually pretty comfortable.
last shot - I'm sure you've seen enough photos of my room now.
Yesterday on our way to class it rained a little. The result: a full (180°) rainbow looks like it's arching out of the town. Ever ask yourself what's at the end of the rainbow? Now you know: Constance.
After class yesterday we went to the Rothaus Brewery in the Black Forest. It smelled gross everywhere. Even outdoors, which is actually quite the accomplishment. The first thing we did when we got there was watch this heinous movie that was supposedly about the "history of the brewery." Think Clockwork Orange style propaganda. "Rothaus is the best in the land!" It was really cheesy, too.
Then we toured the factory. It's was almost interesting, but you couldn't really hear the tour guide because of all of the machinery noise. Plus she was speaking German.
shot of the inner workings - They make thousands of bottles an hour. I forget the exact amount. I'm thinking 90,000 or 60,000.
This is me next to some huge copper things that I'm pretty sure are used in the fermenting process. (What else would they be used for?)
Overall, tho, I'd have to say I LOVED the trip to the brewery. Want to know why? It was free! Everything. And at the end as a part of this free trip (kostenlose Reise), we got a huge meal with as much beer as we could drink! And the beer was all really good and chilled. Plus I got lots of bread rolls and sausage. Mmm! How much more German can you get? Beer, sausage and pretzels in the Black Forest?
Oh, and PS ANNALIESE - HOLY COW HAVE A GREAT TIME IN JAPAN! I wanna see photos and an email with stories from your trip!
Here are some of my pictures from the brief trip:
mailbox
A bunch of the houses in this region of Germany have these huge rain shelters full of firewood.
Lake Constance as seen from Egg - Unfortunately, this is not one of the angles from which you can see the Alps.
more of Lake Constance
Although you can't see the Alps, you can see basically everything else! You can see the entire way across the lake into Switzerland!
Alright, since there seems to be an enormous amount of interest in my living quarters, below are photos of The Room. I swear I didn't clean before I took the photos; it's actually stayed that clean! (And if you don't believe that, how about "I only cleaned a little bit"?)
before shot
I took this my first night (March 3rd). This isn't the worst view (eg. you can't see the spiders!).
after shot
I did a fair amount of cleaning, buying and decorating.
view of my sink and a chair I sniped off the side of the road - It's actually pretty comfortable.
last shot - I'm sure you've seen enough photos of my room now.
Yesterday on our way to class it rained a little. The result: a full (180°) rainbow looks like it's arching out of the town. Ever ask yourself what's at the end of the rainbow? Now you know: Constance.
After class yesterday we went to the Rothaus Brewery in the Black Forest. It smelled gross everywhere. Even outdoors, which is actually quite the accomplishment. The first thing we did when we got there was watch this heinous movie that was supposedly about the "history of the brewery." Think Clockwork Orange style propaganda. "Rothaus is the best in the land!" It was really cheesy, too.
Then we toured the factory. It's was almost interesting, but you couldn't really hear the tour guide because of all of the machinery noise. Plus she was speaking German.
shot of the inner workings - They make thousands of bottles an hour. I forget the exact amount. I'm thinking 90,000 or 60,000.
This is me next to some huge copper things that I'm pretty sure are used in the fermenting process. (What else would they be used for?)
Overall, tho, I'd have to say I LOVED the trip to the brewery. Want to know why? It was free! Everything. And at the end as a part of this free trip (kostenlose Reise), we got a huge meal with as much beer as we could drink! And the beer was all really good and chilled. Plus I got lots of bread rolls and sausage. Mmm! How much more German can you get? Beer, sausage and pretzels in the Black Forest?
Oh, and PS ANNALIESE - HOLY COW HAVE A GREAT TIME IN JAPAN! I wanna see photos and an email with stories from your trip!
Monday, February 4, 2008
international studies office, or whom it may concern
Thank you International Studies Office for your complete incompetence. No, seriously, I'm sure you're lovely people, but wow. I'm truly impressed by the abandon with which you conduct yourselves.
What? Oh, I gave ISO my housing application in December (like the 2nd, specifically), and they didn't fax it in to my university in Germany until January 12 or something. That's cool, right, though, because technically it was still (hours) before the due date. Except it means that I didn't get into the dorm I wanted. Now I'm scheduled to live in Sonnenbühl Ost (photo from an advertisement), which has been dubbed by previous occupants "Soviet Apartment Block" (lars3). Mmm, because I know just what to look forward to with Soviet-style living (J-Term in Russia)!
So in closing, obviously not that interesting of a post, but nice to bitch to the world about ISO.
If you're bored already, STOP READING. If you're an Ole, however, and want to compare the pros and cons of setting up your own study-abroad and traveling with a different school, read on!
Okay, so I'm really not going to write much more, but here are the other problems with our ISO program at St. Olaf:
• $1000 to ISO for what? They give you a packet that says "Don't have sex with dirty prostitutes" and "Don't pet the bears." You go to a seven-hour presentation during which you write poetry on what getting out of this country means to you and and see a guy who recommends camera equipment that costs as much as tuition.
• Then you also have to turn everything in to ISO and pray that they actually hand it in. They were late with both my housing app and my pre-semester language course app. Nice. All they had to do was fax it in. I could have done that, AND done it on time.
• Finally, they act as though they'd told you all of the opportunities for scholarship, etc, but they haven't. Originally I assumed that ISO was competent, but then heard other horror stories and started to search for stipend availability last September. But it was too late! It took me about 10 minutes and I found three scholarship opportunities (adding up to around €3000 easily), but I was too late. I told ISO to add these scholarships to their lists so that future students could apply for them, but they never did.
So those are, off the top of my head, the top three reasons to do this on your own/with another college.
I promise my next posts will be of much greater interest and will probably be from while I'm abroad, not while I'm sitting here in Byron.
What? Oh, I gave ISO my housing application in December (like the 2nd, specifically), and they didn't fax it in to my university in Germany until January 12 or something. That's cool, right, though, because technically it was still (hours) before the due date. Except it means that I didn't get into the dorm I wanted. Now I'm scheduled to live in Sonnenbühl Ost (photo from an advertisement), which has been dubbed by previous occupants "Soviet Apartment Block" (lars3). Mmm, because I know just what to look forward to with Soviet-style living (J-Term in Russia)!
So in closing, obviously not that interesting of a post, but nice to bitch to the world about ISO.
If you're bored already, STOP READING. If you're an Ole, however, and want to compare the pros and cons of setting up your own study-abroad and traveling with a different school, read on!
Okay, so I'm really not going to write much more, but here are the other problems with our ISO program at St. Olaf:
• $1000 to ISO for what? They give you a packet that says "Don't have sex with dirty prostitutes" and "Don't pet the bears." You go to a seven-hour presentation during which you write poetry on what getting out of this country means to you and and see a guy who recommends camera equipment that costs as much as tuition.
• Then you also have to turn everything in to ISO and pray that they actually hand it in. They were late with both my housing app and my pre-semester language course app. Nice. All they had to do was fax it in. I could have done that, AND done it on time.
• Finally, they act as though they'd told you all of the opportunities for scholarship, etc, but they haven't. Originally I assumed that ISO was competent, but then heard other horror stories and started to search for stipend availability last September. But it was too late! It took me about 10 minutes and I found three scholarship opportunities (adding up to around €3000 easily), but I was too late. I told ISO to add these scholarships to their lists so that future students could apply for them, but they never did.
So those are, off the top of my head, the top three reasons to do this on your own/with another college.
I promise my next posts will be of much greater interest and will probably be from while I'm abroad, not while I'm sitting here in Byron.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)