Vorlesungsbetrieb und Roadtrip San Diego

After the great weekend with the trip to Sedona, it got serious on the following Monday and the lecture operation began. I have four courses, each with 6 credits: Econometrics, Money and Banking, Corporate Managerial Finance, and Consumer Behavior. Studying here is completely different from my university in Konstanz. Much smaller classes (maximum 25 people), generally lower level, and above all a different teaching style. So we don't just take one exam at the end of the semester like in Germany, but 3-4 exams per subject spread over the semester, plus a lot of homework, which counts a lot in the final grade like attendance. What I really like are the many projects and group work, finally some practical relevance and above all the relationship between professor and student. This is much more personal than with us, you can talk to the professor anytime and the teachers always have an open ear, help wherever they can. For example, my finance professor has already invited me to an NBA game in Phoenix, which would be impossible in Germany. In general, Americans are a very friendly people, open-minded, and you can immediately start a conversation with a stranger. Unfortunately, there are also things like the gun law (I already mentioned that you can buy guns in the supermarket) and the wastefulness of everything, which I really dislike.

After the first real week at university and already the first extended weekend (Monday was the American Labor Day), our next road trip was already on the program, this time with the destination San Diego on the Pacific coast near Mexico, where we visited Karo, our acquaintance from the round trip through California. My roommate Zane and the other two "Konstanzer" Eva were also with us, and after a long 9-hour drive through the deserts of Arizona and California, we finally reached San Diego.