Courtesy | JD Bauman
For Madi Friedrich, it seemed like a normal day. She slipped into a comfy t-shirt and vintage jeans and headed to the bar for an afternoon with her newly assigned language study partner. But what began as a glass of wine with a stranger in Saarbrüken is now a relationship with her best friend, Hillsdale student J.D. Bauman.
It’s been two years since they started dating, and after a long, 4,000 plane ride, both of them are studying in Hillsdale.
When Bauman first arrived in Germany to study abroad through the Saarland Universität exchange program in 2019, he said he didn’t have any good way to talk to people.
“I didn’t know any Germans,” Bauman said. “It’s difficult to meet Germans because people on the street won’t talk to you because they don’t like small talk. You have to have a reason to talk to someone.”
He decided to join the Tandem Language Program, a partner program where exchange students get paired up with Germans to help one another learn their second language.
The program matched Bauman with Friedrich, a German Saarbrücken student, and they met shortly after at the bar.
Friedrich, in her third year at Saarbrücken Universität studying International Relations, started studying at Hillsdale this semester. This is her second time studying abroad, and though Bauman influenced her decision to come, Friedrich said this was not the only reason she chose to come to the States.
“I really enjoyed France and I thought it would be a great opportunity to broaden my language skills,” Friedrich said.
Friedrich is not the only new German exchange student on campus. Jeffrey Lising, who is in his third year studying English and music science, is also studying in Hillsdale for the semester.
Lising said he wanted to apply to Hillsdale for the in-person classes as well as for the Christian community.
Lising said Germany has much stricter COVID-19 restrictions than Hillsdale. His university has been online since the pandemic began, and he spent most of that time in his house. It became a challenge to study, he said, as he also babysat his two-year-old brother every day while his parents were working.
“I just wanted to get out,” Lising said.
Lising said he also wanted a place where professors and students talk about faith in the classroom. So far, the Christian community at Hillsdale has lived up to what he imagined.
“I expected Hillsdale to be a place where I could grow in my faith,” he said. “This expectation has been met by a long shot.”
Overall, Lising said his experience with students and the administration made him happy that he chose to come to Hillsdale.
“I really feel at home here,” Lising said. “Many people share the sentiment of being a Christian and helping others in need. That I really want to take back to Germany.”
Both Lising and Friedrich said they enjoy the academic environment at Hillsdale more than in Germany.
First, Germany has not had in-person classes since March of last year, which made things worse, Friedrich said. But even in normal conditions, Friedrich noted that Hillsdale’s environment has a different flavor. The communication between professors and students is much better at Hillsdale, she added.
“Professors are more positive and more encouraging here, and there is also more interaction,” Friedrich said. “I was sick this week, and the professors would ask me how I was doing. They even sent me the PowerPoint presentations without me asking for it,” Friedrich said. “I never experienced that in Germany.”
“It really feels like they want you to succeed,” Lising added. “I really prefer it here over Germany.”
Friedrich and Lising are not just surprised by the classroom environment, however, as there are other differences from their university in Germany. Some things are positive. For instance, both students said that the food is better here.
“I liked Saga a lot. I’ve never seen a cafeteria like that,” Friedrich said. “That’s not typical in Germany.”
At Saarbrücken, a meal is only around $3 per meal, but options are limited and not all-you-can-eat.
In addition, Friedrich said she was pleasantly surprised by how many people stay on campus over the weekends. In Germany, the cafeteria and library are closed for most of the weekend.
Overall, Friedrich said America has met her expectations. Part of the reason is that she has visited once before and heard a lot from Baumann, she said, but she also read a book about the U.S. that was particularly helpful when preparing to study at Hillsdale.
“It’s a really cool book. It’s from a German who has lived here for like 40 years and actually wrote about Michigan in the German language,” Friedrich said.
But this was Lising’s first time in the U.S., the first time away from home, and also the first time living outside of the city of Saarbrücken. He said there are several new adjustments. Small talk was new for him, as Germans do not usually greet each other when passing by, he said.
“This is something really positive. It’s something I just need to learn,” Lising said. “I appreciate that people seem to care and want to help.”
One of these people is sophomore Alex Schnell, a German native who went to high school in Wisconsin before transferring to Hillsdale last fall. Schnell said he loves having these exchange students here and likes sharing his extra experience in America with them.
“I love getting to help them,” Schnell said. “It’s such a great experience getting them immersed in American life. It’s so great to return the favor to Hillsdale for the hospitality of the student body. I want them to get the most out of their time here and ideally I want them to stay here.”
Schnell’s hope might come true in the case of Friedrich, who says she would like to stay in the U.S. if the possibility presented itself.
Friedrich said that she needs to complete a couple more classes to graduate from Saarbrücken. With classes online for the foreseeable future, she hopes she can stay longer in Hillsdale to finish.
“The dream for Madi is to find a job or position at Hillsdale,” Bauman said.
So while Bauman and Friedrich’s relationship has had its challenges of distance and time zones, Bauman said that he recommends this way to others who want to get into a relationship, with only one condition: you must like the language.
“You are going to have a hard time getting to know the family if you don’t know the language,” Friedrich said.
