By Tim Weber, Fourth year, History and German
Being a fresher once is hard enough. For many it means living in a new city – perhaps away from home for the first time, as well as meeting a large amount of people in the space of a week whose names you probably won't remember anyway. So it's no surprise that being dropped in a new city on your own, trying to figure out what on earth Flunkyball is, and socialising in a foreign language, can all be a tad overwhelming.
The first thing to remember is that the UK university system is quite special; things work very differently abroad. Be ready for unforeseen quirks, I can guarantee you'll appreciate Bristol a lot more by the end of it.
My first week in Heidelberg commenced with the Chancellor and all faculty heads addressing the new students on the city’s Universitätsplatz (University square), followed by an orchestral performance. The official welcome for the international students included the university choir singing ‘Thank You For the Music’, to welcome us to our new place of study. Certainly, a memorable beginning.
Yet some quirks are less entertaining than others. Unlike at the University of Bristol, the History Department’s seminar group selection wasn't done months ahead on Microsoft Forms, and I couldn't figure out how to choose. It turned out that it's done in-person during freshers' week – Hunger Games style: all the students' names are put in a hat, then you pray that yours is picked quickly to be able to sign up whilst there's still space.
I got scared and didn't go. You certainly leave with a newfound appreciation for the way we do things in Bristol.
Lucy Bevan
Finding Friends
After months of imagining who you'll meet at the beginning of your Study Abroad adventure, the time has finally come. Yet if you think you’ll be matey with all the home students before your classes have started, I’m sorry to disappoint. Chances are you’ll instead be spending most of Freshers' Week sifting through the Erasmus crowd to try and find fellow kinsmen from South-West London or at least someone who hails from the same county.
It's not unusual to search for some form of familiarity, some comfort, in an unfamiliar situation. In short: you look for a piece of home. People from the same country naturally tend to gravitate towards each other; the Spanish only want to speak with the Spanish, the Italians with the Italians and so on. Of course, people mix, but don’t be disappointed if you come out of your first week having only spoken English. Your foreign Erasmus fling might not materialise in the first week either, but don't despair, you've still got plenty of time to find vessels for free accommodation abroad. As in Bristol, you won’t stay friends with all the people you meet in the first week.
Drinking
Studying abroad highlights just how good UK university students are at getting sloshed. Naturally, Freshers' Week in Germany still involves a lot of alcohol, but feels less like an exhibit of insufficient self-control and more like a fast-track induction into new university life.
The week lets the new first years seize their last moments of freedom before a long, hard slog — a chance to bond with each other and have one last hurrah before the nose meets the grindstone. And this is no joke, unlike at home, their first year does count. When you don’t pay any tuition fees, there’s no incentive for the university to try and keep you on board. No grace period, no spoon-feeding. So, freshers' is really the opportunity to let loose.
In typical German fashion, there’s a practical element involved; pub crawls and scavenger hunts allow the older students to show the newbies the campus and introduce them to the city before it all kicks off in the second week. For a whole week, large groups of 18-year-olds descend upon the streets of Heidelberg in costume, asking passers-by for favours to fulfil their tasks and dares. The favourite drinking game among them is the aforementioned Flunkyball: Two teams (armed with beers) stand across from each other, an open bottle of water in the middle. Each team tries to knock the bottle over with a ball. If they are successful, they drink until the other team has turned the water bottle upright in the middle, at which point they must stop. Naturally a loud and very obnoxious affair.
The first week at your new university will be a lot to process, but also the start of something great. Things will go wrong, you probably will feel alone, and that's natural. You've mastered it all before, this time is no different. Don’t expect to get the same support as in Bristol, however, and things will get tough throughout the term. Many a tear was shed during my first week, as it can feel intense when you're the sole person fully responsible for organising your life, especially when things go wrong. Sometimes the best solution is just to ask, ask other freshers, definitely ask older students if you can. Being clueless is a great way to bond, as undoubtedly, you're not the only one overwhelmed by this completely new situation. Chances are that you'll come out of it loving Bristol just a little bit more.
Featured Image: Epigram / Tim Weber
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