The strange world of partying in Berlin and studying in Dortmund

So that's enough of all that  "on Monday I drank some beer, then on Tuesday I ate a sausage" rubbish, it's time to become a proper blogger and deliver some casual but crushing social comment.

So, we had a week off (because as you can see, I'd been working so hard and really needed it), part of which was spent having a hellish journey back to England for Jess' parents' renewal of vows (which basically consisted of the vicar taking the piss out of them and implying it was a holy miracle they're still together), and Wednesday to Sunday was spent in Berlin with 8 Erasmus people and my friends Nathan and Sean who were studying in Heidelberg for mine and Nathan's 21st birthday.

It was eventful to say the least. Definite highlights were the three English boys finding German flag vuvuzelas and annoying the whole city with them, finding the best lasagne ever in Kreuzberg, having happy birthday spontaneously sung to me by hundreds of German football fans in the U-Bahn, partying at week-end - an electro club 20 storeys high directly overlooking Alexanderplatz, gaping in awe at the palace gardens in Potsdam, and attempting the 21 beer challenge on my actual birthday.

Never one to shirk a challenge, I started at 5pm with the intention to keep a steady pace of one beer every half an hour, ending at 4am or so. I was aided in this by wearing a white t-shirt, on which people had the dubious honour of writing on, as long as they bought me a beer. I managed 14 on a night where eventually all my friends went home but I went on with some Russians and a couple of Germans to another bar where I played - and won! - at chess, before four of us were driven for breakfast at 7 in the morning.

While this was going on, my friends were waking up and a 'The Hangover' style situation was taking place, where they considered having to bring me down off the roof so we could get our 10am train, while I rocked up to the hostel at 8.15 wondering what all the fuss was about. Once on the train, it turned out that there were 5 remaining beer bottles, which I finished off (I hadn't gone to sleep so it still counted) before falling into a kind of coma which I didn't quite recover from for the rest of that week.

Berlin/related shenanigans:

Vuvuzela + Beer Hat = Great Combination

Loving the Brandenburg Gate

Probably having a bit too much fun at the Holocaust Memorial

Potsdam

Feeding the swans as a big happy family

Pictures with newly-acquired 'friends'

I won!

Birthday boy looking confused at
his 7am post club breakfast

The party never dies...

Anyway, after all that frivolous fun, it was time to get down to business and start with the horrors of studying Statistics in German.

It goes without saying that it's different. First major adjustment is the 90 minute lectures. To most people that would seem a long time, but I got a good insight into the hardcore work ethic in my first lecture when the lecturer asked, quite reasonably, if we'd like a 5 minute break halfway through the lecture. Instantly chorused the entire room "NEEEEIIIIINNNN!!!!!", as if he was somehow doubting their uncompromising conscientiousness by even suggesting it. Personally, I shat my pants at the thought of a year of this.

But honestly, it's not been that bad. An hour and a half lecture at least gives you a reason to feel you should get out of bed in a morning - although the 8.15 starts are still proving a struggle. Living 5 minutes bike ride away does help with this problem. And, despite the early starts, foreign language and mega long lectures, I still feel like I can keep awake and concentrate. That might be because I'm shitscared of falling asleep - really not cool here.

Generally my fellow students are pretty cool, which is probably because most of them are Dortmunders. There's nothing like the same "get as far away from home as possible" culture, which is refreshing. It leads me to imagine how nice Sheffield would be if it wasn't overrun by (fucking) southerners. One can but dream.

Apart from that, there seems to be a lot more expectation to work things out for ourselves here. Theories which we would spend 2 lectures and a tutorial on in England are stated, spoken about for a minute or two, then left for you to work on at home. Which I haven't really done as yet. Something tells me that might come back to bite me on the arse.

But, as my coordinator  in Sheffield said: "just get a number as your grade - 1%, 5%, 20%, it doesn't matter, we can multiply it by 10 and add a few and you'll be fine". In other words: just enjoy yourself.

Just don't tell that to anyone here. Enjoyment is not the name of the game.

Wish you were here?