A winter of English University
Reading was not my first choice but more so a development of things in and out of my control. Covid, my initial destination still being locked down, and other questionable decisions made me throw all my plans overboard and go to the United Kingdom instead. And to Reading I came.
To start off, I would like to especially express my gratitude to the ESAO staff, Mark and Amy at the Chaplaincy, and Victoria at the Music Department of the University. They took me in as a student and helped me tremendously with finding my way around and led me into the open arms of loads of amazing people.
Now, before I go further into my experiences at Reading University, I would like to say a few words about the town of Reading (that just so happened to miss out on the status of city).
Reading itself is a rather quaint town. It is not a town that is extravagant or exceptionally beautiful in any way. However, there are loads of pubs, and plenty of places to go and hang out with your newfound friends. So, in a sense I would say that it does its job. And if at any given time Reading feels too small for a day or two, you can reach bigger destinations like London or Oxford in under thirty minutes. So don’t worry about size or missing the big city excitements. Be prepared though: travel in the UK comes at a hefty pricetag.
Now, the University itself however has turned out to be, to me as a German, a rather unique experience that I would definitely recommend to anyone who is in for some good student living. From the gymbro in his natural habitat, to cave divers over to swing dancers and onto great singers, there are dozens of societies and people you can spend your time with and make your stay worthwhile! I personally found my refuge in the Music Department’s G03 cuddling with a great piano whenever I could and getting ready for our Christmas concerts that were nothing short of amazing. In the spring, be aware that there is often a Musical/Movie Concert to join the Choir for! Say hi to Emma for me! She would be delighted to have some international talents with her in the Choir! On top of this, the Chaplaincy gave me a great place to stay during breaks and cold days to enjoy some quieter time of fruity LGBT knitting with a hot cup of tea and a home-cooked meal. Being invited to dinner Oxford’s Christchurch College did not hurt either!
Arguably, even more academically important were my courses, which were nothing short of fantastic. Generally, they tend to be smaller in size which is a big plus compared to the around thirty people seminars we have at my home university. I had the pleasure to partake in one of Jeremy Burchardt’s courses. He is one of the University of Reading’s history professors and is quite frankly tremendously knowledgeable and bursting at his seams with enthusiasm for his field of work and knowledge about his research topics. The course “Utopia: A quest for the perfect world” was thrilling and told a lot about us as a society and where we come from. Funny to think, I almost dropped the course because I thought a marketing course would be more beneficial. Thankfully I did not.
Another course that I will definitely remember has has shaped my thinking was “Intercultural Competence and Communication” hosted by the very kind Joan McCormack and a plethora of professors from different disciplines. Every week we could take a dive into a culturally relevant topic like food culture, sign language or international communication and learn about how different people feel about them. I am especially grateful forthe amazing mix of people that were in the course and allowed me to be confronted with new world views and learn from.
Lastly, I will absolutely remember my class on Chinese with the nothing short of lovely Cong Xia Li of the Institution Wide Language Programme. Me, being a “Transcultural Studies” student at my home university in Duesseldorf always wanted to learn another language and find out more about foreign cultures. And I couldn’t have received a better head start into Chinese culture than with her. And the most awesome part is that we even got a language buddy in the course to help us! How awesome is that?
I would like to thank everyone again who made this stay at the University so very pleasant and greet my lovely housemates and everyone I have met during my time there. Reading sure might be quaint, but the University of Reading is a terrific institution to go abroad to.
