In my week in Cologne I visited my aunt and met an old friend of mine I haven’t seen since 1996, which was great, cause apart from the fact that he is now a happily married man with two lovely daughters, he hasn’t changed that much. It was a nice evening and it occurred to me how much I miss living in Cologne. Cardiff can’t really compete.
Things have changed a lot in Germany. The education system has dumbed down, just like the British, and universities are now offering BAs in order to avoid students from not finishing their degrees. My dad works at the university and told me about the many changes the English department had to make. I can only say, I’m glad that I don’t have to study now. There was much more freedom when I was a student. You could create your timetable and choose courses and it was possible to study in more depth and write long papers. And I was always able to work while studying. The new BA system is not much different from being in school – it seems to take away much choice and freedom and you have to adhere to the modules. There it not much time for in-depth study and because they have to cram in stuff into 3 years, it is harder for students to work while studying. I wouldn’t like it that’s for sure. Per semester students now pay about 500 Euros in fees. So that’s new too and I guess that will increase. It will certainly be harder for my sister and her boyfriend when they want to study. I really don’t envy her.
What else did I observe? Germany has a polite version of Gordon effing Ramsey. Polite, because Christian Rach doesn’t really swear much on his programme “Der Restauranttester” which is like Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. I am sure there are plenty more programmes similar to the British ones. The Office is called “Stromberg” and according to my uncle it is actually really funny. I haven’t seen it though.
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