Tuesdays are "light" for me. A 90 minute lecture in the morning and another around 4. However, the content might just burn holes through my head. The first class, Introduction to Literary Studies, has a professor that speaks blessedly slowly. However, she also has a handheld microphone that wanders to and from her mouth. I will have to sit directly in front of her and pray that the students behind me don't chatter if I want to catch everything she says.
I am still waiting to get access to L2P, the site where assignments, material, and announcements are. Until I have access, I can neither start on the readings or look over the lecture slides. Another exchange student taking the class said she had the same problem. Fortunately, the class only meets once a week, so I have a little time before matters become desperate.
Apart from those troubles, the material in the class seems interesting. We will discuss three fundamental sorts of literature: Epic (meaning works of a certain length that tell a story, not just Beowulf and the Odyssey), Lyric, and Dramatic. We will learn how to approach the historical and analytical aspects of each group and use mountains of example texts to do so. I will be buried in books. There are worse ways to go.
Speaking of books, I had a minor panic attack when I saw that the required lit for my second class of the day was required for the first lecture. I had an hour and 15 minutes before my class began to try and print off the script and buy a textbook. Since I had yet to print anything, I decided to go for the textbook first. However, when I arrived at the bookstore, they told me that I would have to go to their main office to get it. Even if I had known how to get there, I would not have had time. Nevertheless, on my way to the shop, I passed a copy shop. I had the script and the first day's text on a USB-drive with me. When I walked in, I simply handed the woman the stick, told her which files and what colors I wanted, and the pages fired off shockingly quickly. The price also shocked me. I had expected to pay 15 Euros or more for the print job. Instead, printing 58 pages single sided put me out just 3.35. The first page costs 50 cents, and every subsequent one 5 cents. I'll have to remember to print in bulk.
Once I had the text printed, I had just enough time to head back to campus and locate the classroom. The class, Translating from Middle High German, is quite different from my other courses. For one thing, it is tiny. Only three students including myself showed up for the first day. Not only that, but the class itself has no graded work or test at the end. It is technically an Übung meaning a practical exercise rather than a lecture. Most people attending did so either out of interest or as preparation for a masters or teaching exam that included some translation.
As it turned out, I did not actually need the script and textbook for today. After a brief explanation of the course's structure and goals, we jumped right into translating a text. For context, Middle High German was the language used mainly between the 11th and 14th centuries. It resembles modern High German about as much as Chaucer resembles modern English. Translating it poses a number of problems. Do you focus on the style or the meaning? Did words that still exist today have the same meaning back then? What do you do when a verb could be past or present tense? We muddled through a few verses with the professor guiding us and explaining the meanings of various unrecognizable words. It was fun but exhausting. I had to work to understand, not just the text, but the explanations and answers being given in a second language. Alone with the professor I would have no issues asking for clarification. However, I have sat in classrooms held up by one student before. I did not want to hold the others back.
Fortunately, I got a rather helpful email right after class. The professor said that, as far as he could tell, I had kept up pretty well. Should I need it though, I should not fear to ask him to slow down or explain again. We could even meet before class and go over any particular problems or questions I have. Woohoo! I have a four hour break between my previous class and this one. Meeting beforehand will not be a problem. Life may have gotten a little bit easier.
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