University of Applied Sciences, Fulda

Part Two

For someone who comes from a very organised university, where one does not have enough choices, the relaxed organisation of ICEUS, where a lot of points were subject to discussion and negotiation, can be a great change. The interviewee describes this experience: "What was for me foreign, was the whole first term. Well, what I didn’t like is: One comes here and the studies is completely organised in another way. That is not in principle bad, but, um, I think the impact was a bit strange for me. Well, I now talk about the concrete details,
ok, for example, this thing 'Referat', that was for me absolutely unknown. And one has to adapt her/himself, because I am used to, for example, I work on these books–2,3,4, I don’t know–and then now I have to organise in another way. I have to concentrate on one theme, and I have to share that with the other people. And on the other hand, I must also try to profit from the others. . . . well, these different methods were a shock for me . . ."
Italians, according to Hofstede, are also individualists. In fact, according to Hofstede’s ranking, Italy is more individualistic than Germany and ranks higher than Germany in masculinity and uncertainty avoidance as well as power distance. The interviewee says: "What occurred to me very strongly when I came to Germany is the difference in the relationship between the students and the professors. In Germany it is closer, because professors speak with the students or students are called with their first names, and that shocked me totally. . . . here the atmosphere is really more relaxed, em, I mean in Italy such a thing wouldn’t be imaginable. . . . as for the people . . . it was clear that there are differences, but one has to expect that, and, . . . it is also good that one can really, for example, [say] this is intercultural communication . . . and say I am this and that but the other person thinks in a different way and so on." The relationship with the professors, the higher ranks, is also a great source of difference: ". . . with me [such a relationship] was like a paradise, ha, ha, ha, because it is clear that problems also come but it is also clear, but it was, I found it good that, for example, we speak about it [the problems]. And generally I found this approach good. A lot of the professors are ready to talk and I find it very good."
Coming from a strict system where everything is given to the students by the professor, who is the authority, probably causes some lack of self-confidence in finding one’s way. Subject 3 believes: "At the beginning it was totally strange to me [to do presentations], because I felt that here I don’t learn anything, ha ha, and em, I mean, I don’t know if I had learnt anything before, ha ha ha - no, you know what I mean. Well, I was totally disappointed because I had the feeling that it was so rich [in content], but it was so superficial . . ."
The feeling that one does not learn enough can cause some frustrations and worries about the future career: "It is not nice when people from other countries come and then they find this, because it is also difficult to finish the studies, or I don’t know, well . . . ICEUS is not what they say it is, there is no content, the content is not deep enough, and I don’t know if we are afterwards really ready for the international career, to tell the truth . . ."
On the question of the city, the interviewee believes, ". . . Fulda is not a bad city. It is nice, one can look around a little. But for students it is not good; one cannot profit from the city. It is a small city, and that means they look at the foreigners in a different way as in the big cities . . ." The city did not offer a lot of activities and this caused many of the students to feel isolated: "Sometimes I have the feeling that I am not in Germany, but I am on an island somewhere in Germany. . . . here we don’t have any student life, and I don’t mean only party, or something else, but the possibility to have access to information, organisations, activities, forums, all that is in big cities. Well, I miss these."