I haven’t written anything here for quite a long time. Pardon me for that if anyone is actually reading it. I had a good reason for that, since for the past few weeks I’ve been relatively busy.

Academic Stuff
If you are looking through the course catalogues , you’ll see that there are quite a few courses where instead of taking an exam you’ll have to write a Seminararbeit (also known as Hausarbeit). When I took one of those courses the idea of having to write ~15 pages in academic German seemed terrifying and I was dreading it. However, now that it’s done, I can say that it was certainly a very positive experience, because it challenged me in a constructive way and eventually gave me more confidence in German. Furthermore, it’s great practice, whether you are one of those people who’ll have to write a German Long Essay or one of those who’ll be writing a dissertation in their 4th Year.

Accommodation
If you are a prospective ERASMUS student, I would strongly advise to think through a few ideas how you are going to find accommodation in Edinburgh while being in Germany. Because if you don’t have any relatives nearby and your friends/ex-flatmates have found a place where they want to stay longer (thus you can’t move in with them again) you are in a bit of trouble… There is always a possibility to look online and ask some friends to check out the place for you, but (from a personal experience) some people don’t want to sign up for a flatmate whom they have never met when there is a line of other potential flatmates waiting for the room… So just be aware of that and even better, try to come up with a back-up plan in advance!

I know I’m being a bit pessimistic here, but hey, if finding a new place to stay won’t be so hard, at least you’ll be positively surprised!

Job
A few days ago I found a Nebenjob. Nothing fancy or interesting but quite well paid. Thus I’m glad and I hope I’ll be able to save up some money for getting a Driving License in UK.

One thing I really don’t like about the German Uni system is the Semester dates… Instead of having one long summer holiday they have two shorter ones in between the semesters. I guess it makes sense to a certain point but it also means that getting some sort of internship/placement in UK the upcoming summer is pretty much impossible since they all take at least 2-3 months… I guess I’ll have to wait for next summer…

Exploring
Just to finish this post on a brighter note, I’ve been exploring the area around Freiburg further and found some interesting ruins (all completely free to visit including transport if you have a Semesterticket).

Ruinen Schneeburg can be found on Schönberg in Freiburg. They are not very large, but certainly worth a visit if you are going for a walk on Schönberg anyway. You also get a lovely view from there provided that the visibility is good.

Burg Staufen ruins are really nice and you can’t miss them if you ever go to Staufen, because they are situated on a prominent hill towering over this small lovely town. You can get to Staufen with a train from Freiburg via Bad Krozingen.

Emmendingen Hochburg are the largest ruins I know in the area. They are around 5km from Emmendingen Bahnhof. Definitely worth a visit! There is a small museum there as well, but it doesn’t work during Winter season.