University of Applied Sciences, Fulda

Part Two

Coming from a background of control and comprehensive guidance, the interviewee felt "lost": "The whole system [was foreign], em, how, for example, this lack of guidance from the teachers . . . I call it a lack of guidance because that’s what I thought at that time. Now I just think that the responsibilities are different, and what is expected from a teacher here is different, here is different from what is expected from a teacher in Costa Rica . . ." The differences between an arranged system and an open system are explained as something absolutely new: ". . . how can I say it, arranged system that the teacher tells you on the first day this is what we’re going to . . . a very specific outline, we’re going to do ex and ex book and ex and ex chapter, you’re going to have a mid-term, it’ll cost 30% and you’ll have a final and that’s going to be 60% . . . I was expecting all these things, and none of them happened . . ."
The lack of guidance and the emphasis on personal choice is so strong in Germany that , for example, it is usually not very likely that one will get recommendations for a specific specialist from one’s general physician. In a collectivist culture this is very different. One supports one's connections by recommending them to the others. ". . . in Costa Rica teachers like guiding hand that points which in a certain direction says well there are all these things, and for all these, I think these few are bad and here this never happened." The result of such a huge difference is feeling lonely, because the individual is not the one who has the authority or knowledge to choose. There is always some leader of the group who knows everything better than the others. "I felt very left alone, pretty much like well, there is this huge mass of knowledge out there and I don’t have the capability of choosing what is necessary for you to build the bases . . ."
The relationship with the teachers, though appreciated because of its openness, is still considered to be distant. The connotation of "close" is actually different. The bond between the individuals can be that of the master and servant, and still the servant feels that he has a close relationship to the master. Having a close relationship with a teacher who also acts as one’s guide is different from being close but on an equal footing. ". . . the professors are actually very open . . . if you ever need advice and any help you can really go to them . . . I don’t think I would feel comfortable doing this [going to the teachers] here, because they’re pretty much stick to them and so, but still, they are very nice, but it’s more distant than the relationship you have towards the professors in Costa Rica . . ."
As far as the city is concerned, "it’s no secret for anyone that Fulda is a very conservative city," says the Costa Rican interviewee. "And although we’re all supposed to be intercultural enough to know that this is not "Germany", still the picture that many people are getting or are taking with them and it would be a little bit unfair to Germany . . ."