Day 3 - Tubingen (Shared by Todd Shumway)
Ok wow. Tübingen was storybook pretty on the nicest fall day you could ask for. Beautiful blue skies followed us on the drive through farmlands and rolling hills that reminded me of Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota. No wonder so many Germans settled there.
We started the morning with a visit to the German American Institute in Tübingen. Founded after the war to promote German and American cultural ties, the Institute provides cultural programing, language classes, educational tours, and educational advising for both Germans and expatriate Americans. Mostly funded by grants and donations with a little help from the U.S. State Department, the Institute is a great resource to connect our countries. We learned that Americans are like peaches, soft on the outside but with a hard center while Germans are like coconuts – tough on the outside but soft and welcoming on the inside. It was a useful metaphor for the week. I ran into some coconuts along the way, but also found how rewarding it was to get past the hard exterior. (Coming from Hawai’i, I am well acquainted with husking coconuts. It is hard work! I don’t think getting to know the Germans was as hard as husking a coconut!)
We had lunch in the beautiful, medieval city center of Tübingen. Having escaped significant damage during the war, Tübingen retains its medieval charm. We toured the old town and the castle on the hill learning about the many giants of German intellectualism who studied and worked in Tübingen including writers Johann Goethe and Herman Hesse, philosopher George Wilhelm Hegel, astronomer Johannes Kepler, poet Friedrich Hölderlin, and the former Pope Benedict XVI.
We spent the rest of the afternoon with Nicci Sauer, the coordinator of exchange programs with the U.S. at the University of Tübingen to learn about the many programs that the University of Tübingen has for exchange students. The University of Tübingen is a comprehensive university with a strong focus on the Humanities. Obviously, such an amazing location is a desirable destination for exchange students!
By Day 3, we knew that we were a compatible group. Unusually for a group of well-educated, highly motivated people, we didn’t seem to be fighting for attention or control! That, and the fantastic organization by Daniel and Marianna, made the week relaxing, fun, and unforgettable.
Also, I slept on the bus going back to Ulm! Jet lag was killing me!
Day 4 - Stuttgart (Shared by Garrett Seelinger)
It was an early start and a longer bus ride to Stuttgart today, where the Baden-Wurttemberg Ministry hosted us along with representatives from various universities around the region. After a few short presentations about the education system, we had a fruitful discussion comparing our two education systems and learned about opportunities for international students and the exchange of information.
The day seemed to fly by, especially as we had a chance to speak to so many university representatives whose collective insight into the education system was invaluable. They all traveled to Stuttgart to meet with us, but also to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the BW Seminar, which began in 1982. The celebratory atmosphere was enhanced by the return to meeting one another in person after two years of virtual meetings, which can’t be counted on to develop the same kind of long-lasting professional connections and networks of exchange. The representatives joined us for a late lunch and departed just before we moved on to visit the Mercedes-Benz Museum.
I enjoyed the hour-long museum tour, learning about everything from the first cars to the evolution of Mercedes racing. I saw cars that belonged to emperors and actors. I saw classic cars, concept cars, the Popemobile, and for some reason a Mercedes that used to belong to Nicolas Cage.
We then boarded the bus and enjoyed dinner together at an Italian restaurant upon our return to Ulm.
Day 5 - Schwäbisch Gmünd and Heidenheim (Shared by Todd Shumway)
While the whole day was fun, for me the drive into the countryside north of Ulm to Schwäbisch-Gmünd was a highlight of the whole trip. I was up early that morning (again!) and wandered the old part of Ulm in the fog that is common at this time of year. It was like walking through an old black-and-white espionage thriller. Fog coming off the Danube bathed the old city in an eerie, pale morning light. I expected to see someone with a trench coat and a gun. The fog was only slowly dissipating as we drove through the brilliant green rolling hills north of Ulm. The farmhouses, wind farms, and recently harvested fields slowly became visible out of the fog. Once the fog departed it was warm, sunny, and incredibly beautiful. Schwäbisch-Gmünd, a rather small town that is home to one of the Universities of Education in BW, was nestled in a valley surrounded by fields and hills.
Our introduction to the university was made in a specially-designed room that allowed classes to use four different screens, movable chairs and tables, and a special sound system to explore different ways of engaging students. It was impressive. We also had the chance to meet several of the faculty and get a sense of how the Universities of Education differ from their counterparts that focus on STEM or more comprehensive curricula.
Again, we saw how the post-secondary education system provides clear tracks for students with different skills and career goals. One thing that had become pretty clear was that German students are forced to make some long-term decisions about their academic and career path much earlier than their counterparts in the U.S.
After a fabulous lunch in the well-preserved town square of Schwäbisch-Gmünd, which in the unseasonably warm sun and against the deep blue skies of October, felt like a movie set, we headed to Heidenheim to see the Cooperative State University. The cooperative universities, connected as a single administrative unit with nine different campuses, provide work and academic training. These schools require students to be accepted for an internship as part of their application process. Their academic career is spent alternating between three months working and three months in class. While in the program, the students receive a generous stipend from their employers as well as invaluable training. Many graduates end up working for the same companies right out of school. This system provides students with real-world work experience and companies with workers ready to contribute from the day after they graduate. We were all very intrigued by the model although wondered if American businesses would ever commit the kind of investment into education that this kind of format requires.
Dinner requires a mention. We ate at an old monastery that had been converted into a restaurant. With a babbling brook running through the entryway, and soft light illuminating the whitewashed walls of the room, we had the restaurant to ourselves. The food was provided in delicate courses and was a welcome departure from the heavier food we had become used to. The food and company were exceptional. It remains one of the highlights of the trip for me.
Day 6 - The Final Day (Shared by Garrett Seelinger)
The final day. We started early, as usual, and visited Hans und Sophie Scholl Gymnasium. A quarter of students progress through an increasingly bilingual German-and-English program from 5th grade to 12th. We were able to sit in on two such classes receiving a history and a geography lesson respectively. It’s impossible to know exactly what effect our presence had on the two classes, but they were model students. Several teachers apologized for their English, which was of course very good.
Later in the morning, we visited a vocational institution and toured their various “garages” where the students learned woodwork, metallurgy, tiling, and a variety of beautiful ways to paint or lacquer different patterns and textures. The programs combined such practical training with theoretical education. The benefits appeared to be extensive, including no tuition fees for the basic level training, even for non-EU citizens.
It was our final site visit of the entire Seminar, and we ended with lunch before gathering for a reflection period, discussing the trip overall. We also shared one last wonderful meal together in the evening. I cannot express enough my deepest gratitude to the BW Seminar program, the Ministry, the institutional representatives who welcomed us to their campuses, and especially to our hosts at the University of Ulm who led us around the region for the entire week and insured every busy day was smooth, engaging, and informative.
With Monday, November 14, marking the beginning of International Education Week we are extremely grateful to all of the BW seminar attendees for their effort and contributions. Interested members should visit AACRAO's Baden-Württemberg Seminar page and join the list to stay up-to-date on BW news and be the first to know when the application window opens.