(think)out of the box Issue 12 • July 2013

USA? Canada? New Zealand?

Being an Au Pair in America – Having the Time of Your Life

3 exclusive reports how students spend their semester abroad

AU PAIR 04 Au Pair – The Experience of

a Lifetime

06 13 Great Reason for 13 Great Months as an Au Pair in America

07 Facts about being an Au Pair

THE WORLD AS YOUR CAMPUS 08 “All together too many

sheep” – New Zealand

10 Studyind in the Golden State of California

16 Welcome to the Peg City AT A GLANCE 18 Important Facts on the US,

Canada & New Zealand

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Editor In Chief Stefanie Barner, barns@hrz.tu-chemnitz.de

Associate Editor Oliver Berner, olib@hrz.tu-chemnitz.de

Contributing Writer Jessica Küchler, kujes@hrz.tu-chemnitz.de

Contributing Writer Diana Gerhardt, gedia@hrz.tu-chemnitz.de

Art Director Vanessa Drexler, vdr@hrz.tu-chemnitz.de

FROM THE EDITOR

This issue of (think) out of the box is focused on three opportunities to spend some time abroad.

Our reporters have had some adventurous ex-periences during their younger years, which they have compiled in this magazine. Diana spent a high school year in New Zealand and was so enchanted by the flair and beauty of the country that she decided to go back there for her semester abroad. In an exclusive article she talks about her experiences in the home of the ki-wi.

Stefanie and Jessica address a possible solu-tion for high school graduates who do not know what they would like to do after high school by reporting on their being an Au Pair in America. They give you an excellent list of reasons for becoming an Au Pair and provide you with basic information about exchange agencies.

During her Au Pair years, Jessica fell in love with the US and went back there to study for a semes-ter at the California State University in Fullerton. The idea of spending the winter semester in a state that offers warm temperatures, nice beaches and several large cities close-by was also intriguing to Vanessa. She also spent a semester abroad in California. To-gether they report on the adventures of an international student in the Golden State.

As far away from Germany and still affordable? Canada was the answer for Oliver and Stefanie, so they spent their semester abroad in Winnipeg, Manito-ba. Experiencing the beautiful Canadian nature, getting to know the intercultural environment of a metropolis and withstanding the famous Canadian winter are a only a few reasons why The University of Winnipeg was a great choice for them.

Maybe you can find yourself in one of the arti-cles and find some inspiration to think out of the box.

3 Note: All pictures displayed in this issue were taken by the authors themselves.

Au Pair – The Experience of a Lifetime

Graduated from High School - and what’s next? This is a ques-tion many high school graduates ask them-selves. Here is a re-port on my answer to that question.

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Well, before I even took my final exams in high school, I thought about what I was going to do afterwards. I did not want to go to college right away as I felt I have had my fair share of sitting in a classroom and studying after thirteen years of school. And even though I had partici-pated in quite a lot of school exchanges, I wanted to see the world. I was ready to take the plunge and think out of the box. Thus, I decided to become an Au Pair in America.

Therefore, I did internships in daycare centers and baby sitted until I had done the required 200 hours of childcare. After completing the ap-plication, I was invited to a personal interview. I was quite nervous about it, since it was my first interview for a real job. But everything

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went fine and I was admitted to the program. From now on, my profile would be on the website for potential host families to see. That meant waiting. And waiting. And waiting some more, until one day – finally! – an e-mail appeared in my inbox telling me that a host family had shown interest in me and they would contact me. After exchanging a few e-mails with several poten-tial host families, I had narrowed it down to three finalists, whom I would talk to on the phone.

After talking to them, I decided

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to match with the Bunnell* Fami-ly. That meant moving to North-ern Virginia and taking care of 11 year-old Hannah* for a year. I could not wait for my adventure to start. But there were still some things left to organize, in-cluding getting my visa from the American embassy. So, one day, my dad took me to Berlin because I needed him to take care of my purse, as I was not allowed to carry anything into the building except for my visa application and my passport. Although the embassy officials looked all very sincere and

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asked a lot of questions, I was granted my visa. Now I was ready to leave – with mixed feel-ings. It would be the first time I spent away from my family other than a two-week vacation, but I was so excited about living the American way of life.

At the airport, I met three other girls who had applied with the same agency and who would spend the Au Pair orientation in Stamford, Connecticut with me. Thus, the scary flight across the pond became a quite funny journey.

Since the orientation took place in the conference rooms of a hotel, it could have been any-where in the world. Hence, the first time I realized that I was in the US, I was standing in front of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. New York City – wow – I could not believe it. I made it. Finally, I was in the US. After four long days of learning about CPR, American culture and the DOs and DON’Ts, we were eventually sent on the way to meet our host family.

When I exited the train at Wash-ington, D.C. Central station, I had more butterflies in my stom-ach than when I have to go to see my dentist – and promptly ran past my host family. But luckily they found me and after a long and warm-hearted wel-come, we set off to drive to my new home to be.

And for all the reasons men-tioned on the following page – and many more –, this year in a suburb of Washington, D.C. turned out to be the time of my life. /sb

* Names have been changed by the author, to protect the privacy of the family.

“Nam ut massa turpis, ac blandit justo. Nulla ultri-ces, odio com-modo faucibus commodo, mi nisi tempor”

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Program benefits:

• Full board and accommo-dation with an American host family

• 195.75 US$ weekly salary • Up to US$ 500 for college

courses • Two weeks of paid vacation • Detailed training including

CPR instructed by the American Red Cross at our very own au pair training school

• Basic insurance coverage

Additional “external” fees and costs:

• Visa fee – 129 Euros • Criminal Background Check

Fee: 15 Euros • G.P Health Check • International drivers li-

cence: 16 Euros

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AIFS www.aifs.de

info@aifs.de

+49 22957300

Cultural Care www.culturalcare.de

aupair.de@culturalcare.com

+49 3020347400

AuPairCare

www.aupaircare.de

aupair@intrax.de

+49 03084393919

Au Pair in America

www.aupairinamerica.com

info@aupairamerica.co.uk

+44 2075817322  

Here are the hard facts: We have summarized the main costs that you will have to cover. It may seem like a lot of money now, but we have also collected thirteen reasons why you should consider spending this money. Program prices may range between 570.00 and 1,299.00€, depending on the pro-gram and agency you choose. Additionally, we have com-piled the contact infomation of four renowned Au Pair agen-cies for you. /jk&sb

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“Altogether too many sheep” New Zealand 18.000km away from Germany you find two secluded islands that have experienced a massive hype in the past years. Ever since Peter Jackson put New Zealand on the map for many people, the country has had huge success in terms of foreign visitors. Although it is most often referred to as the perfect location for a work & travel experience the country offers eight universities.

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After having finished my 9th year of high school, I decided to go abroad for a year. After ages of planning and endless months of anxious waiting, I finally was able to board my plane and head Down Under. I lived with two amazing pe-ople, and during the course of the year the number of exchange students in the fa-mily grew from one to four. We lived on a small farm, at the foot of the mountains, and each morning I had to put on my school uniform, in order to catch the bus to school. In New Zealand students can

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choose between countless different courses, ranging from crafting to statistics, drama, outdoor education to photography. During the year, I met lots of new people and became friends with students from all over the world. It was a life changing experience. Seven years later, I’m still in contact with my family and some friends and I even wro-te several papers at university about this country.

But there are many other ways to explore and experi-ence the country. During my

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time there, I met many young people who worked on farms and vineyards, in order to earn their money for later tra-vels. Work & Travel has become very popular and when not sure about what to do after high school, it is the perfect opportunity to get to know different occupations and more importantly yours-elf. But it does not end there; many university students choose the country for a se-mester or a whole degree ab-road.

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When George Bernard Shaw visited New

Zealand, a reporter asked him his impression

of the place and, after a pause, Shaw is said

to have replied: "Altogether too many

sheep" (George Bernard Shaw 1934)

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I spent almost six months in Wellington, New Zealand. I studied at Victoria University, which is situated on hills, over-looking the stunning landscape the country is best known for. When I left Germany in June, it was winter in Wellington and to be honest, it is not a very pleasant time of the year. The city is also called ‘windy Wellington’, and it could as well have been called ‘rainy’. Besi-des the awful NZ weather, my stay was amazing. I had cho-sen to stay with a host family, which was possibly the best decision I could have made. I

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was included in all family ac-tivities, and so I could experi-ence the real local culture. The courses at university we-re quite hard. We had a lot of self-study assignments, fre-quent tests and exams. How-ever, the passion of the tea-chers was very motivating, and I have tons of stories to tell about quirky, hunch-backed history teachers and interesting encounters with other students. But studying abroad does not only mean ‘studying’. When being in New Zealand, one simply has to travel and see the wonders

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of the country. My universi-ty had a tramping club, and each weekend there were other things to do. And after having finished all exams, it is the perfect time for extended travels. I packed my backpack and headed down to the South Island, to see some of the scenery you can find in every travel guide. New Zealand is a great place to study and to travel. Alt-hough it is far away and not quite cheap it is defini-tely worth visiting. /dg

Studying in the Golden State of California

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Spending time abroad is always a valuable experience, no matter where you go. It is one of the best things I have ever done in my life and I can only recommend it to any student. After taking care of all the paperwork, a dream became reality. August 8, 2012 had finally arrived. It was the day when my boyfriend and I took off to California for our semester abroad. A time full of adventure, challenges, fun and great experiences was awaiting us. In the following, I will give you an insight on what it was like to live and to study in California and what you have to keep in mind when studying abroad.

The early bird gets the worm

Beyond doubt, the US is the land of opportunity – People from all over the world want to visit big cities like New York, Washington, D.C., Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles etc. But California surely belongs to those states that exude the most charm to their visitors. All the more understandable that you do not want to lose much time and prefer to pack your bags right away. However, there are some things you should consider before starting your adventure abroad:

1) get yourself a student visa (you can either go to the embassy in Munich or Berlin)

2) apply for some financial assistance from the state = Auslands-BAföG

3) apply at a university: the earlier the better. There might be some admission restrictions you need to overcome.

4) take part in a language test to guarantee that you have the necessary language skills (in most cases the TOEFL test or a test from the DAAD will do)

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5) take care of an accommodation

6) get all the necessary medical treatments

7) get yourself a credit card and a passport (in case you do not already have them)

8) and last but not least: book your flight

Living in California

During my stay in the United States, I lived in a small studio apartment together with my boyfriend, so we could share the costs of $1200 per month. In this region, the apartment complex called “Oakwood Apartments” was the best place to live in. We had a pool, two jacuzzis, three tennis courts, another two volleyball fields, a playground for small children, free breakfast 5 times a week, and even brunch was provided at no charge over the weekends. The only thing that was a little bit confusing, and what would probably never work in Germany, was that all kinds of people lived together without any complications. In other words, a high number of students, some families with small children, pensioneers as well as vacationers lived next-door to one another. Fortunately, nearly all German students of my university resided at the “Oakwood Apartments“, which gave me the possibility to strike up many new acquaintances.

Eating in California

Unfortunately, we could not afford to buy a car. Hence, grocery shopping was a real problem. Not only because we had to carry food and beverages by ourselves back to the apartment (approximately 1km), but also because it was highly expensive. There are not many shops like the German “Aldi” or “Lidl” etc. where

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people can make a cheap purchase. Consequently, we had to pay more than $200 for our first food shopping. This made me understand, why fast food is popular in the US to such an extent. It is remarkably more economical to go to a fast food restaurant in comparison to buy groceries. Most of the fast food chains we know in Germany are not in the least comparable to those in America. Granted, I can only speak for California, but there, fast food was delicious and freshly made; just as if it was homemade. Generally, there is a high

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number of diverse fast food restaurants in the US. Just to name a few of them: Five Guys Burger and Fries, Jack in the Box, Panda Express, Taco Bell, California Pizza Kitchen, Hooters, Carls Jr., Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Joe’s Crab Shack, and In & Out Burger. Even the prices were much cheaper than in Germany. The best example probably is provided by McDonald’s with its 50 Chicken McNuggets for only $10.

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Studying in California

The educational system, unfortunately, is anything but profitable for students. The California State University Long Beach (CSULB), which I attended, is one of the cheapest universities in California, but it, nevertheless, charges $4700 tuition fees. In addition to that, I had to pay about $300 for books. Even though I was given the opportunity to resell my books at the end of the semester, I only got e.g. $5 back for a book that I originally bought for about $80. But the campus there was definitely one step ahead of most campus areas in Germany. I liked it very much because it is one big area that is comparable to a small city. It had several food places as well as cafés, its own campus police, parks, several supermarkets, a huge gymnasium, dormitories, several computer pools, a library, and a medical center. There were even shuttle busses which connected the upper campus with the lower campus and which brought students to their parking lots. Basically, one did not need to leave the campus at all. Moreover, I was positively surprised by the diversity of both the students as well as the teachers: There were Afro-Americans, Asians, Hispanics and Europeans working side by side. It was a great atmosphere because everyone was warmly accepted.

Must-Sees in and around California

1. Las Vegas

From Los Angeles it takes you about 5 hours by car until you reach Las Vegas. But for me time passed quite quickly because I was so excited to experience everything, which I, so far, had only seen on TV. Don’t worry about gas prices; one litre costs only one third of the amount you would pay in Germany. Apart from all the casinos, I also highly recommend to visit a musical. The “Blue Man Group”, for example, was really fantastic. Depending on your schedule, I would reccommend going to Las Vegas during the week, since hotels are much cheaper then. And don’t forget: You must be at least 21 years old. Otherwise you are not allowed to gamble or to drink any alcohol.

2. San Francisco

To get to San Francisco, you should save a great deal of time because it takes

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about 7 hours to get there from Los Angeles. I took the Pacific Coast Highway along the shore, since there is a lot to see there like small waterfalls, surfers, seals etc. In San Francisco, it is definitely worth to take a cable car, to see Chinatown, the piers and Alcatraz, and to go shopping in one of the enormous shopping malls.

3. Los Angeles

Los Angeles is a real shopping paradise, since it offers a lot of outlet stores (e.g. the Citadel Outlet) or markets (e.g. Farmers Market). It is even said that there is absolutely nothing that you cannot buy in L.A. You should definitely take a stroll on Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard. It is deeply astonishing, how many crazy people live there. Though, I need to admit that I have been a little bit disappointed with Hollywood. I expected so much more from L.A. and Hollywood because of all the movies I had watched and ended up with only two glamorous boulevards, which were much shorter than I thought. For those, who would like to attend some really good concerts, I can only recommend visiting the “House of Blues” in the heart of L.A. or the “Hollywood Bowl” in the hills.

4. Beaches

What would California be without its amazing beaches? No beach is comparable to another, but every single one has its own enchanting beauty. Whether it was Long Beach, Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Venice Beach, Newport Beach, or Laguna Beach, I always made new exciting discoveries. Strictly speaking, the craziest people are definitely to be found at Venice Beach. Laguna Beach is most likely to be the home of innumerable rich Americans, while Huntington Beach is quite simply the area of surfers etc.

When you go abroad, you do not learn the most important things at university, but in dealing with other people from all over the world and when facing problems. So I am thankful for all the people I met, regardless of whether they left a positive or negative impression and for all the amazing things I was able to see and experience. Just keep in mind that not every experience has to be a good one, in order for you to learn something and grow. Consider every bad situation as a challenge and also appreciate the small things in life, and your semester abroad will become unforgettable. /vd&jk

Etiam eu eros nisl. Nunc elementum porttitor quam sed consequat. Vivamus purus nibh, condi-mentum sed porta non portis liberum.”

Beautiful view on downtown Los Angelos from “Top of the World”. / jk

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Welcome to the Peg City

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Planning

Every trip needs to be planned very carefully, especially when you want to stay abroad for a longer time. A big issue, of course, is how to finance your semester abroad. There are quite a number of possibilities: You can apply for Auslands-BAföG, a student loan or several scholarships funded by DAAD, PROMOS, Ful-bright etc. (for more information turn to p. XX) First of all, you have to decide to which Univer-sity in which country you want to go. A very helpful organization accompanying you on this way, is the Berlin based IEC. On their web pa-ge, they offer a vast number of possible foreign universities and help you with the application process. You just send them your complete application for the respective university, and they do the rest. The best thing is: it is absolu-tely for free. You can call them, write them e-mails or skype with them whenever you are lost. They even arrange pre-departure mee-tings in Berlin where all the German students who are going abroad can meet, exchange thoughts, eat and drink. Once we had decided to go to Winnipeg (Why? Well, Canada is as far away from Germany as New Zealand, but che-aper J), we got into contact with the Recruit-ment Center and the International Student Office (ISO) of the UoW. They helped us choo-se our classes and provided us with helpful in-formation for our planned semester abroad. Generally, officials of the university were ext-remely open and helpful before and throughout our stay.

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Campus Life

The course system in Winnipeg works differently to what students in Germany are used to. You can have classes once a week, then they last 3 hours. Other classes take place twice a week and last 75 minutes. There are also classes you have to at-tend three times a week, but they are only 50 mi-nutes long. Another difference to German univer-sities is concerned with the course materials be-cause you are expected to buy expensive books for most of the classes. However, sometimes it is possible to circumvent these expenses by sear-ching for the required material in the huge univer-sity library. Other options would be the on-campus used-books-store or the possibilities to rent the books for as long as you need them. A further convincing factor for Winnipeg is the great stu-dent-teacher ratio. For every teacher, there are ten students. Thus, the classroom atmosphere can be quite informal at times.

During the breaks, you can enjoy breakfast or lunch at the cafeteria; the costs are covered by the fees you pay, if you stay in one of the dorms. Basically, there are three different housing opti-ons. You can stay with host families, in which

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“It’s poutine. Once you eat it, you’ll get a heart attack. The ambulance will take you to the hospital, and the doctors will save your life. During your recovery they’ll serve poutine, and you’ll get another heart attack.”

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case you are completely taken care of. Another option is a stay in the normal dorms (Lions Manor or McFeetor’s Hall on campus). If you choose this option, you automatically pay for the meal plan of the UoW, which means that you can eat at several Cafés and cafeterias on campus. The third option is a stay in one of the shared houses (Balmoral Houses; walking distance to campus). There, each student has their own room; you share bathrooms, a huge kitchen and the living room. No matter how you decide, you can be sure to meet lots of inter-national students.

There are several reasons for coming the UoW. First of all, by paying your tuition fees, you are au-tomatically health insured for as long as you are in Canada. Directly related to that is the on-campus student clinic. Whenever you feel sick, you can go there for free to get help. Another feature of the UoW you pay for with the tuition fees is the gym. You can use the cardio equipment, lift weights, use the basketball and football courts etc.

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Leisure Time

Once you are done with your daily or weekly homework, you can explore your surroundings. Winnipeg offers a lot of parks, museums and sports arenas you can visit. The city has a ho-ckey team in the NHL and a football team in the Canadian league. The province of Manito-ba is twice as big as Germany, but only 1.1 Mio people live there; 700.000 of them in Win-nipeg alone. This means that outside the city, you can explore the vast landscape of Cana-da. There are lots of car rentals all over the city, so just rent a car, take some people with you and start your trip. Two hours north of Winnipeg you will find two giant lakes – Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba. They are both as big as Saxony. If you want to go south, it will only take you an hour to get to the Canadi-an/American border. Of course, you can also take a plane for a smaller vacation in one of the big Eastern or Western cities of Canada. /ob

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Here, we have compiled some im-portant and interesting facts about the three countries presented in this issue of (think) out of the box.

AT A GLANCE

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USA

6,760 km away from Germany Capital: Ottawa, ON Currency: CAD (1€ ≈ 1.36CAD) 34.5 Mio inhabitants Good to know: Tim Horton’s is the new Starbucks. Poutine is delicious but gives you a heart attack. Kanata is the First Nations word for "village" or "settlement." Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world at 151,600 miles. Winnie the Pooh got his name from Winnpeg. The longest highway in the world is the Trans-Canada Highway which is over 7604 kilome-ters in length.

Canada

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18,000km away from Germany Capital: Auckland Currency: NZD (1€ ≈ 1.63NZD) 4.5 Mio inhabitants (45 Mio Sheep) Food you have to try:

BBQ Pavlova NZ wine sea food Maori hangi

Must-Sees: Auckland Wellington

entire South Island

New Zealand /dg

Capital: Washington.D.C. President: Barack Obama official Motto: "In God we trust." Currency: USD (1€ ≈ 1.31USD) 316 Mio inhabitants Funny US laws: Alabama: It is illegal to play dominoes on Sunday. Arizona: Donkeys are not permited to sleep in bathtubs. California: Woman can't drive while wearing a housecoat.// It's illegal to eat an orange while in the bathtub.// In Los Angeles it's illegal to bathe two babies in the same tub at the same time.// It is illegal to set a mousetrap without a hunting license.

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Helpful words and phrases: G’d Day She’ll be right Cheers!

GOOD AS GOLD! Kia Ora Studying in NZ: 8 universities Visum depending on the stay EF Education AFS Youth For Understanding www.ef.de www.afs.de www.yfu.de 0211 688 57 0 040 399222-0 040 22 70 02 - 0