Ok so, let me just preface this by saying that I am in Spain. Spain as in: a very well-developed country, a respected member of the European Union (political and monetary), and the 12th largest economy in the world. That being said, one would expect that it might not be all the different from living in the states, in terms of standard of living and the use of technology. I've done at least a modicum of traveling in not-so-well developed places and the differences between those places and American life were astounding. Turns out, the differential between the U.S. and Spain is pretty astounding as well. I guess this blog is going to sort of be an amalgamation of some issues that I have been having...
My experience at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (UAM) has been frustrating, to say the least. I thought that all of my bureaucratic issues such as choosing classes, getting my credits to transfer, registering as a student and all that jazz was settled before I got here. Turns out that was NOT the case. Between trying to coordinate with my Spanish adviser at BU, trying to figure out the way the system works here, and the language barrier, picking classes was a total nightmare. Before I came, I thought that any class I took in Spanish would count toward my minor. NOT TRUE. It has to be either a literature class or a "cultural class" (definition up for debate), and fortunately, the program directors here basically told us not to take lit classes at the UAM because Americans never do well in them. Great. I was really freaking out for a while. And I was incredibly jealous of all the people in the program taking classes at the school which is exclusively for American students (Level I and Level II students, I am Level III, LUCKY ME!). After a few battles, I think I've finally got it figured out though.
Ok, after that rant, let me backtrack a little. Obviously I know that my generation (especially in the U.S) is incredibly spoiled by the merits of technology. We can pretty much do anything we'd ever need to do without actually leaving our houses, given we have an internet connection; for example, registering for classes. At the UAM, that's not how it works. If you want to register for a class, you have to fill out a piece of paper, get it signed by like a million people, go to the office of your school (only between the hours of 10-1 because GOD FORBID you interrupt the siesta), and wait for it to get approved. So, when I got here and realized I had to change all my classes I pretty much spent the first 3 weeks living outside of that office waiting for paperwork. Not cool. Seriously, the kid who works there knows me by first and last name. He randomly says hi to me in the hallways. And even once a class gets approved on your so-called "learning agreement," you're still not technically in it until matriculation, which is TOMORROW. Yes that's right, I have been here for nearly 2 months, and I'm still not even technically enrolled in my classes. I have to go there tomorrow morning and wait in what will probably be a ridiculously long line with other international students to turn in a stupid piece of paper. Oh. This actually leads me to a good segue into...
ANOTHER STORY about how they don't embrace the internet for all that in can offer!!! The UAM offers a non-credit Spanish class for foreigners as another way to help us improve our language. Great. I took a test, got placed in a level, and wanted to register. They said registration was a 9:30, but to come a little early because there would be a lot of people. I came at 9, was told to take a number and received number 53. So I waited. Finally, after about an hour, they called my group of numbers up. I walked up 2 flights of stairs, where OH HEY there were 30 people still waiting up there. There was literally one person just calling people into a room, one by one, and writing down what class they wanted. OMG PEOPLE this is 2011, the internet is calling you!!! I know that I sound so spoiled (and I know that I am so spoiled) but it was just ridiculous. The entire ordeal ended up taking about 3 hours.
Anyway, sorry about that tangent. Back to my other classes. After changing my learning agreement a million times and convincing my totally incommunicado BU adviser to let an econ class about Spanish macroeconomic policy to count as a cultural class (my persistence and ability to argue relentlessly and shamelessly have paid off), I think I finally have my classes figured out. I will be taking (assuming all goes well at matriculation tomorrow, which it probably won't) Spanish Macroeconomic Policy and Gender Anthropology in Modern Spain which both count as provisions towards the cultural requirement of my Spanish minor (I'm only taking 2 classes because I did the seminar at the beginning, and then I have my internship, which I haven't started yet either, but that's a totally different frustrating story). I'm actually pretty happy about my classes, because it looks like I will complete my Spanish minor while only having to take two actual Spanish lit classes (1 more when I'm back at BU) which is great for me. I had this huge debate with myself about whether or not I should even finish the minor, because the way the department designs it is for students who just want to read Spanish books and analyze them, which is not the part of Spanish that interests me. I just want to be able to speak it, and speak about things that may be relevant to my career. When I'm talking to some rich Chilean business man, he's not going to care if I can analyze Don Quixote. And neither do I. So I'm really excited about the Econ class because I'm learning a lot of good vocabulary.
So, other than the frustration of actually getting my classes in order, the 2 classes I'm taking have been going well. The Anthro class has lots of international students in it so the professor is really patient and easy to understand. I'm finding the subject material interesting as well - it's kind of an indulgence for me because once I get back to BU I'll be taking all econ and math classes until I graduate. And the Econ class I love. I'm learning a lot of the Economy of the European Union and Spain has such an interesting economic history. I'm the only international student in that class, but students have been really nice to me. We have a group project that's worth 30% of our grade, and people invited me to work with them right away (probably partially just because they want to take advantage of my English speaking skills). We also do these in-class exercises every other class or so and despite not being able to speak very well, I have been impressing people with my mad econ skilz (nerd alert). The first one we did, we were presented with a certain economic scenario and had to discuss if fiscal or monetary policy was the best way to deal with it; everyone in my group thought it was fiscal but I disagreed so I convinced them and we were totally the only group that got it right. Take that you crazy socialists - MONETARISM FOR THE WIN! Now I don't have any problems finding a group :)
The classes are certainly different though. Both my classes have a final exam which is worth 70% of your grade, and a project/paper worth 30%. No midterms, no homework assignments, no quizzes. Your whole grades rests on only 2 things. It's kind of nice in that you don't have a lot of work during the semester, but then if you fudge the final, you're screwed. The teaching style is also different - it's a lot more lecture based than classes in the U.S. You don't even really have to go to class. Literally, the first day my econ professor said "I don't care if you come to class, as long as you do the reading and take the final." Seems like you can either do the reading or come to class, which is kind of true in some American classes but not as many. Usually the reading just supplements the lecture and lots of profs require attendance. I guess that's what happens when education is free - you're not really paying for anything so why should you expect the professors to be extraordinary? Not to say that I don't like my professors, it's just interesting. I guess now I kind of understand better why there's so many foreign professors in the U.S.
So that's pretty much been my life thus far. As I mentioned earlier, I haven't started my internship yet for God knows what reason. They said they couldn't place us until we had our class schedules fixed which took forever obviously. And now I'm just waiting to hear about my placement and I am getting very impatient. All I have is classes on Monday and Wednesday right now - way more free time than I know what to do with. It's very frustrating, seeing as how I've been here for nearly 7 weeks now and I feel like I'm still settling in. I like being busy. Hopefully I will hear something soon, as I am eager to start working and getting even more exposure to speaking Spanish everyday.
Other than that, I've been trying to soak up as much of Madrid as possible, which I'll write a little more about in a separate blog. My host family has been great and my Spanish is getting better and better. I had a conversation with them a while ago that was probably one of the highlights of my life. We were talking about the differences in the Spanish/European education system when compared to American schools and one thing that came up was how college in the U.S. is so expensive while it's pretty much free here. Then I made a comment about how I was lucky because I got a scholarship. Then my host brother says something to the affect of "oh that's awesome, because isn't BU one of the best schools in the U.S"? My response was, "it's a good school but it's not like Harvard or anything." Then all I get is blank stares and "¿Qué es Harvard?" TAKE THAT IVY LEAGUE! Seriously, such a proud moment for me. Rock on, BU with your awesome international prestige. The U.S. World and Weekly News Report has nothing on international opinions. I'm probably more excited about that I should be, but I thought it was very cool.
Ok, that's all I've got for now on this subject, but I will be posting again soon about non-school related things, with a few pictures included.
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