Party Low?

When I was first introduced to the “German Uni culture,” I quickly realized that parties and social events were a major part of networking and overall social wellness in Germany- and especially Bavaria. For the first three semesters of my studies at the FH, I was a frequently contributing member in the Deggendorfer “club network.” Meaning that I partied a bit too much for my own good. I am confident to say that I can finally admit my wrongdoings from my first semesters in this drinking culture. I am not proud in confessing this, but in order to finally move on in my quest for an (on time) degree from the International Management program here, it is the first step in fulfilling my goals.

Tonight I think that I grew up in more ways than any twenty-year-old American possibly can. I realized that the more crowded the club, the less fun it is. And also the less you can converse and network. The hindrance that a crowded bar has on the human ability to communicate says a lot about the maturity level of the people that frequent the establishment. For me, I realized tonight that it is much more enjoyable and even beneficial to my education to find the parties that attract the smaller minority of students. There is room to breath and maybe even talk or play a friendly game of darts!

 Last year, I would have traded an empty First Floor for an overcrowded P3 or Alcedo any night. But now a stuffed bar is just cause for confusion, unnecessary drunkenness, and a lack of interpersonal connection. At the so called “Relax” bar tonight, all I felt was an overcrowded, avoidable situation in which I couldn’t even carry on a conversation without interruption from rude nudges, congested shoves, and deafening small talk noise.

I realize that I am on the opposite edge of most Americans my age. I was immersed in the drinking culture of Bavarians- and especially college students- at a much earlier age than the average American student (legally, that is…and without expensive fake IDs). Even now, I am too young to gain admittance to one club in Deggendorf, but the fact that I have been there before and done that diffuses the urge that accompanies the inability to even enter such an establishment. I believe that Americans wouldn’t have such a fascination and over-eagerness to drink if they were allowed, like Germans, to drink at a younger age. It disseminates the exclusive and illegal aspects of drinking that tempt younger college- and even high school- students in the United States to drink.

I am incredibly grateful to have gained my drinking experience in Germany. I am in no context “proud” that I went through that phase, but I realize that just about every person does go through that period. What I am grateful for is that I am through the novelty of drinking, and it has become an event for special occasions, and not for everyday entertainment. I am now much more focused on good grades and a superior bachelor’s thesis that will lead me directly into a lucrative masters program in the United States and can end in incredible job opportunities in the near future, than drinking and dancing the night away without regards to the repercussions that may arise in the morning. I am heads above my peers based on age and maturity. I am forever in the debt of my German experience, and would never in my life give up what I have for an “American” college experience. I now understand the difference between Germany and the United States…maturity. And that simple characteristic can make all the difference in one’s professional life. 

P.s. The picture was from my first semester one night at a party in P3.

Health and Sickness

It’s about time my German health insurance that I have been paying for since 2005 and never used became useful…

I have been sick with a bad cold for about a week now. That is a long time for me since I am used to taking medicine at the onset of a cold to prevent it from getting bad like this. However, I am not in the States. Finding over the counter medicine to take for colds, etc. is nearly impossible. It would be much more worth your time to sleep it off than to attempt a search mission for something similar to Drixoral or some of the other medicines I now will never travel without.

After suffering with a runny nose, cough, headache and my ear being plugged and bothersome for several days, I gave in and went to a doctor…yes, I went to a doctor for a common cold. And I have to admit that it was quite the experience- and nothing at all like the States.

I’ll start from the beginning. With German health insurance, you can go to any doctor- specialist or otherwise- and each time you go to a new doctor it is 10 euros. But that 10 euros is basically a fee for changing or choosing a doctor, after the first payment, you don’t pay each time you go in. I found this much better than in the States, where you pay EVERY time you go in…even if it is just a short check-up.

I handed the lady my insurance chip-card (that had never been used) and she handed me a short patient survey to fill in. After that, I sat in the small (maybe 10 person) waiting room- which is way too big for the office, which consists of just one doctor. I am used to the huge offices of Kaiser, where you have to ask on what floor your appointment takes place in order to find your correct department. Here, you go to the first doctor- a general practitioner- and then, if they see the need, they transfer you… and so on… until you are given a diagnosis (lucky for me, the doctor found nothing wrong with me).

When I entered the actual examination room, it felt like I was in a law office or maybe a professor’s study. In the States, a typical doctor’s office consists of, what, a sterile room with an examination bed, all of the medical instruments, etc… In Germany, that is not the case. There was a nice desk, a bookshelf, a small sink with a select few medical instruments (the only indication of what type of office I was in), and of course pictures of the doctor’s family. When the doctor came in, he asked a few questions, checked out my ears, listened to my breathing, and then concluded that there was nothing wrong with me. I am pretty sure that, at a minimum, he could have said it was just a bad cold, but no. There is NOTHING wrong with me. I beg to differ.

So he wrote me a prescription… for Ibuprofen. It is the first time that I have been prescribed straight Ibuprofen for a cold. I don’t quite understand how that alone could help me…I mean, runny nose, cough… Oh well. We thanked him, left, and then had to find a pharmacy. Unlike many doctor’s offices in the States where the pharmacy is built in, they are a separate entity here in Germany. Surprisingly, the pharmacy was much more crowded than the doctor’s office.

I was told today that Americans are always looking for something to be wrong with them- like we go to the doctor just to get a prescription so that we can say that there is something wrong with us. I don’t know about you, but I think I am much more likely to go to the doctor here in Germany than back in the States, just based on the cost! But if you want good medicine (especially over-the-counter) and a thorough check-up, then the US is the place to be. Being sick isn’t fun in any country, and anyone that thinks that Americans just make any illness we might have sound worse just to get medicine is just plain stupid. I’m sorry, but I am accustomed to taking medicine to cure illness- not letting it just pass on its own (or with the help of loads of herbs…). If you can’t understand this, then catch a cold in the States sometime. Then tell me if you even consider going to the doctor, or if you just run down to the closest store and buy some medicine.