The University of Paderborn is a school located in Paderborn, North Rhein-Westfallen, Germany.
The program that I have found is one that my German professors have been promoting since my first day of class and one that several of my close friends have already taken part in. This program allows you to chose between either six months or a year of study at the University of Paderborn with the opportunity to earn a paid internship as a teacher’s assistant. The money you receive as a teacher’s assistant goes towards your costs of living each month. When you add that money with the many scholarship opportunities (Hope, Global Learning, Herz Foundation, German Honors Society), it is a very inexpensive option for study abroad.
Since I have already visited the college town of Paderborn and have many friends who live there, I already have a pretty good idea of the cultural products, practices, and perspectives one can expect:
- Religion – Perspective
- Paderborn is a traditionally Catholic town and there are just as many elderly people living there as college students and they are very conservative Catholics. It is important to be sensitive to the religion of others, so it is important to know that Paderborn is a very traditionally Catholic area that respects Sundays as rest days and rings church bells every hour. That being said, there are also conflicts between the conservative elderly and the liberal youth.
- Public Transportation- Practice
- Public Transportation is something that excites me about the country of Germany. In Paderborn, it is only the older people who drive cars while the college students bike, walk, and ride the public bus to classes. Figuring out bus schedules or the most efficient walking route could be difficult for many Americans, so this is something to note before traveling to Germany.
- Gluten Free Aplenty- Product
- As a person who has lived with Celiac’s all her life, it has always been extremely exhausting to travel while searching for food that won’t make me incredibly sick. Paderborn is a very hip college city who has many gluten free items in its grocery stores and restaurants with gluten free options. For me, this is almost the most important thing about Paderborn and the first thing I research before traveling somewhere new.
Culture Shock is something that I will definitely experience during this 6-12 months in Germany. In our Bafaba activity in class, I realized that culture shock is a real thing and not everybody experiences it in the same way. It can range from being mildly awkward to embarrassing to depressing. Last time I was in a foreign country, for 3 months, I experienced the culture shock curve and became very upset for about a week in the middle of my trip because I was feeling confused and angered by the culture I was being immersed in alone. Through Bafaba, I realized that there will always be compromise in these types of situations and that it is something that will eventually be overcome.
Hofstede’s Model is something that I found really interesting that I had never heard of before. The model is really helpful, especially if you are traveling to a country that you have never learned about. The model even helped me learn things I didn’t know about the country I have been studying for 7+ years.
Laura The Explora 