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Foreign Correspondence

Foreign Correspondence image
Parent Issue
Day
8
Month
December
Year
1886
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

VII. Herí. in, Germany, Nov. 22, 'sü. To the ('olkiek: In n'iy lust letter we matrlculatad, in thl9 oiie we wlll continue ourobservations asa student. First, however, I wish to idd i few tilines regarding attendancc. I DOticèd In the Conti BR of the 3d instunt, thut slx huudred Auiericau students are reportad to be attending the Utiiverslty of Berliii. This is a mistake. No one knows yet how niany Hiere re, but the number probably, is not greater Iban one hundred and rifty. I was told at the registratlon oilice to day, thut they are still at work on the report, aud wil] have it eompleted la uhout two week?. Insteadof six hundr,:d trom America, that is auproximately the number l'roin all countrie taken togetlier outside of ' i - uiuny. 1 have berore me the corrected, report for the winter semester of last year. The number of studente from foieigu countries is as followi: F ra nee 6, Greece 7, Great Britnin 14, Italy l), Netheilandsü, Autro-llun;ary S4, Portugal 1, RoUtDHIlia 1"), liiisiu SI, uruuy and Sweden '.;, Swltzerland 81, Spain 1, Tiirkey 8, África 3, Australia 1, Asia (mo-aly Japan) W, America U'3. TIiíh last number luetodea all from Norlh and South America, thoqgli most of them are, of course, from the United States. It is notieeable that the great nmjoiity of studenls from Francc, the Netherlamls nd America are in the Literary departmeut, here Cal led I'liilosopliii'al dcpurtmeiit. The majority of those from Grcece, Italy, Houmaina, Switzerland, Turkey and Asia ure in the L-iw, or the Medical department. TUose from Great B rítate, Austi-oBmgary, Rmtte, Sweden aud Norway are nearly eiiually dlVlded between the l'hilosophical and tlie Profesional departments. The niatiii'iilaUil stiulents for the aliove wcre divided among the different schools in round numbeis tlms: Theology 700. Law 1,250, Meilicine 1,M). l'liilosophy 2,000. The lirst tblflfl after inatriculation is to consult the bulletin boards, and to lii d out when and where the lectures one inteiids to hear are to be given. Each professor has a little notice postea, (flvtng dnte, room and course. As I have before remarked, the lectures begin about two weeks after the lirst ïnatriculationg, go one hna plenty of time to decipher the hieroglyphic scrawls of the professors. Perhaps half of the students do not know deönltely at the beginning of a semester wlmt course they wish to elect. As one is allowed six weeks from the oilicial opening of the university in which to select and elect his courses, among such as are in doubt the practiee prevails of running about from one lecture to another, and then to select the man one likes best. Thls system is a line thing for the popular professors. As soon as one knows what lic wishes to take, it is well to elect as soon as possible, in order to obtain a good seat in the lecture room. Although the students appear very gentlemanly and pollte in regard to other things, they are nol in regard to seats. Resides, there is a university regulation which prescribe that a seat assigned shall not be öecupled by and one except the one to whom it is assigned. This is simply for the beneüt of the parHeulM student, and not to assist the professor in noticing absences, for he ni-ver DOtlcei anything of (bal kind. Henee, when it comes to electlng, it is "every man for himself and the d - 1 take the hinclmost," and the more so on account of the beautiful system they have of doing the business. Firt, one is obligad t') procure, at the porter's, a canl adinitting hiiu to the questor to pay his dui-s. Then at the hour and day, as printcd on bis card, he pays his dties and reöeivcs reccipts for each course. At the iicxt lecture you give your reeeipt to the profesor añil have hini writo his name, the date and the number of your seat, in your elecüon book. Tliis is a blank book of eiglit or ten pages made ot good prtnting iapcr, in pamphlet form, and If you lose it, you must pay 5.00 for anotht-r. Thli looks slmplo euough, but lik tnany otlier theorles, it is not so pretty wlicn ])iit into practiee. As my own expe.rienee was l.v no mrans an unromtuon one, I will relate it: I notiiTil on the porter's door an aunonnoement tbat tickets for the qnestor's ofllce would be given out on Friday forenoon. As 1 had a lecturc at eight o'clock, and supposing tliat to be early enough, I went at tbat time for a ticket. All bad been given out. As with overything else' (inly a limilc.d mmibtT is distributed at one time. I,ater another notiee nppearcd t Int tbe ncxi distribution would be on the following Wednesduy, at one o'clock. 1 w there ten miimtesj before one, and with tvvo or three huririred others, again found that all the tickets were gone. Anotlier noticu was posted tor a week later in tbe foremoon. I was disgiHted but resolved nor to lw lelt again. Wben the day came I arosea couple of liours sooner than usual, and went. down in the carly diiwii. 'l'his time I suoceeded. Cards were jriven for Mnndaysand Wedncsdays lortlie hoursof ten eleven and twelve. 1 had lectures from eight a. m. until one ). in., and so ould not go during a vaeaiit liour. I took a card for twelve o'clock, Monday. At ihe appointcd time I went to Hit" ollict'. 1 fouud tliere one hundred and ttfty others, and after watching the slow nroceedings through their rou tiiie, red-tape method for flfteen minutes, I eoneiuded to go to my lecture and return at the close, for I knew they would not be thrnugh with the others. At live minutes aftor one I was back rain, and thirty or foily were still tbere. After waiting another half hour, as tbe nuniber grew less, I askeil tbe queator if I could pay. nnd he replied that t was too late. I tohl him I had been there before, :ind wliy I bad left. He took my election book, and seeing that I was from AmerIca was about to relent, I think. Hut I was not in a very agieeable mood, and could not. resist the Impulse to say u word, so I remarked In a sarcastic tone, "The Germans do cverything In a very prnctical manner, don't they ? " The lire came to his eye in an instant, and he exciaimed: "Get out with your Qermans ! Maybe you'll learn something f roin them !" With the nieek reply that they knew nothing about business, I modestly withdrew. Ten days later I managed to pull tbrongh. Whcn I "aid that my experience was not uncommon, I meant as far as to the questor; but the episode with him, I presume is rare, for a Germán is nothing if not patiënt, and tlie poor fellows stand around vaitinr by tlie bour in a crowded room, and never think of complaining, taking their diseomfort as a matter of course. A few ye:irs ago the Geinians were mild and iinisi-uining, but since they defeated the Prencb, they have developed a national pridc wliich alluws no criticism of anytliiug Germán. They begin to realize that they stand on the top round of the ladder, and tiike no corrections from those ln-l.iu. Occasionally, however, you wil) t 'i 1 1 1 1 one iïank enougli to say, "No, we are not practical; we are too ideal." tiegarding the number of courses i -lected, and attendance upon them, the HUthorities are very lenient. As to the number, one niay elect as tnany as In; likes; the only restriction is that be shall taks, at least, one private course, tbat is, at least two hours o week. The courses are classi'd as private, public and gratis. The public and gratis courses come usu.illy but once or twice a week, and oost only one mark for the semester. The private courses cost from ten to twenty marks, according to tbe number of hours, two, tlnee or four, per week. The lectures in the medical department are blgber. There are also privatissime course, wliich differ from the others only in requiring the consent of the professor before electing. This is always given, if the student shows evidence of sufHcient preparation to take the cour.-e. These courses maybu private or gratis. As to attendance, tbe student may go, or remaní away, at pleasure. There is a regulation against a prolonged absence from the city that is all. In order to receive credit for a course, all that is necessary is to obtain tlie professor's signature in tbe election book at the boginning of tbc semester, and again within two weeks of the close. The credit, you see, mlght thus be obtained by ttending only two

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Ann Arbor Courier
Old News