Frankfurt Weinachtsmarkt

Author: Hannah Bylak | Majors: Electrical Engineering and German

I chose this program so that I could thoroughly experience life in Germany. A few weeks abroad doesn’t have the same exposure as a year-long stay. I also got to try engineering in another language; it is quite difficult. My goal is to be able to work internationally, or at least be able to head communications between an American and German business. I also hoped to increase my fluency enough to be able to read scientific journals and studies written in German. While my language skills have improved quite a bit, having to study in another language has fast-tracked how I pick up on key terms for engineering. I had an academic goal of being able to genuinely understand German, and I feel much more advanced in my language skills from that. I also made loads of connections with other international students that I hope to be able to continue networking with for possible career and education opportunities. Overall, my classes were hard

It was a blast getting to learn more in depth about topics that our school system seems to just focus on the mathematical side of. Two of my favorite classes were Sensortechnik and Mikro- und Feinwerk Technik. Since freshman year, I’ve had an interest in biometrics and sensors in general. It amazes me how we can turn an infinite amount of stimulus in the real world into a signal in the digital world. Sensortechnik breaks down the structure of various sensors from their mechanical architecture to how their circuitry interprets signals. All of the lectures were recorded, but there was a class once a week where the students had to interact to vote for multiple choice questions. Trying to discuss complex ideas was already difficult, and having to do it in German was terrifying. Sometimes it resulted in classmates helping me translate just the original question.. But overall, that class is what I learned the most in. In MFT we learned about different manufacturing processes, but again, instead of focusing on equations or mathematical representations, for most methods we learned about the theory and detailed structures of various manufacturing machines. This professor brought a lot of enthusiasm about what he taught. It was fun listening to his lectures.  classes differ from the U of A in that we meet once a week for lecture, and once a week for “practice.” Due to Covid, most of my classes were recordings. There were also very few homework assignments. Unlike here, if we pass or fail a course depends 100% on how well we perform on the final. My finals here are also all essays, and not the take home kind. The essays we are responsible with writing have to be done within the hours we have in the testing room.

I am grateful to have friends and family here in Germany. It has allowed me to really get to see how Germans celebrate the holidays up close. I was with my relatives for Christmas festivities and my high school German exchange student for New Years. For Christmas I stayed in a distant cousin’s home in a small village in Bavaria, Germany. We celebrated Christmas for several days as relatives came in and out of the town, and ate traditional German foods such as wurst and breads. I drank lots of Glühwein (a warm, spiced wine for the christmas season), ate lots of Christmas cookies, and enjoyed waffles by a fire pit.

For New Years, I visited my old exchange student in Berlin. We had a “Turkish breakfast” from a cafe, explored hole-in-the-wall shops, and took shots of Berliner Luft (a classic peppermint liquor that Berlin is known for). On New Year’s Eve we watched a classic short film and melted blocks of wax that would predict our fortunes for the next year. The shape that the wax dried in would represent things like, “expect great wealth,” “you will intellectually struggle,” or the most feared for us, “expect a baby!” I was very fortunate to be able to experience these two different scenes, as Covid has made it to where most public activities are restricted.

I would absolutely recommend this program to other students. I would also advise them not to take their engineering classes in German, as adjusting to the different curriculum is already quite overwhelming. If I could go back and re-pick classes, I would have chosen more classes focused on the language and at least half in English. One thing that I miss a lot in Fayetteville, Arkansas is how much warmer and sunnier it is there. I think the first thing I will do upon return would be to hammock in the sun, but that won’t be until July, so the sun should be back here by then.