Verwaltung

15. Verwaltung die [administration]: where a foreign student can really get a good “behind the scenes” look at his/her visiting country; a place where one can work in a beautiful, usually historic Rathaus (city hall); a Petri dish of dozens of unusual German dialects; so, in other words, my internship.

It is officially my fourth week of doing my Praktikum (internship) at the Freiburger Rathaus. By the way, I am not going to translate Rathaus, because a) it is such a beautiful German word, and b) anyone visiting Germany should know the word Rathaus because it’s always the most prominent building (besides the church) in a German city. The internship is full time, which means that I am usually working 9-5 Monday through Friday, and I am proud to say I have put in 55 hours at the Rathaus so far. I must confess that being inside all day, sitting at a desk, has been quite an adjustment, but it is totally worth it. If there is one bit of advice I could give to a study abroad student it would be- DO AN INTERNSHIP! I have met so many people within the department and gained a perspective that an ordinary study abroad student or tourist wouldn’t normally receive. For about seven hours everyday, I am guaranteed to improve my German by reading, communicating and listening. And to describe everything I have learned would take a few days.

One of the most common stereotypes of Germans is their love and obsession for structure and organization and I actually learned that is true. As I described in an earlier blog, the Freiburg Rathaus has five departments (Dezernate). The heads of each department are the mayors. Yes, that is plural. There is the Oberbürgermeister, or the Lord Mayor, who runs the entire Rathaus and Department 1. My department, Dezernat II, has a total of seven sections, such as the “Office for School and Education,” “Office for Environmental Protection,” and where I am interning “Office for Children, Youth, and Family.” Environment and education seem like different things for one department, but I quickly learned how closely both relate to one another. Freiburg is one of the leading cities in the world for environmental sustainability and renewable energy. One of the main reasons for this success is the Freiburg community’s awareness and the fact that most citizens are environmentally conscious. It is a rarity to not find houses with solar panels and brightly colored flags that boldly state “Atomkraft? Nein Danke (nuclear energy? No thanks).” Thus, the education of the environmental awareness is extremely important in Freiburg. Again, I am interning for the Office for Children, Youth, and Family.” Within this office there are six divisions, from a Kindergarten division to social worker and within each division there are more subject areas. Let me reassure you, the first day I worked here, I got a chart for the German Federal Government, the Baden-Württemberg German Government (the “state” Freiburg is in), the structure of a city government, the Freiburg city council, and my department. Whew!

My “advisor,” or the person who I am directly interning for, works directly for the Bürgermeisterin (major), doing mostly administrative work. The main point of this internship is to learn more about the German government, specifically the local city government.  By interning at the Rathaus, I have the honor of getting to see how Freiburg really ticks. My advisor is the nicest person in the world, and is completely patient and understanding. I have my own office, right next to his, with a connecting door that is always open. Whenever he has time, we always talk and discuss the differences between Germany and the US, like the cultures, government, education, etc. The more time I spend in the Rathaus, the more I can appreciate and understand the German education and culture.

At around 7:30am my alarm goes off and I groggily roll out of bed. After a refreshing shower and a nice bowl of the delicious German Müsli combined with German quark and Johannisbeeren, I put on the business/business casual clothes I laid out last night. At around 8:30 I walk into the inner city, breathing in the fresh Black Forest air. If I am running a little late or if it’s raining, I would simply take the streetcar. Shortly before 9, I arrive at the Rathaus. The most “intense” assignment that I had was to write two letters for the Bürgermeisterin. Part of the mayor’s job is to visit families that are struggling (single parent, disabled children, etc.).  Although the letters were rather short, writing them in German with a friendly, yet super formal style was something I have never done before. My advisor patiently helped me perfect each letter and both were passed to the Bürgermeisterin, which she later signed and sent to the families. If there’s a meeting, I am usually invited to sit in on them. I sat in on a large meeting, for example, where over thirty representatives from several Youth Programs in Freiburg got together and talked with the Bürgermeisterin of how they can get the youth more involved with their community. 

Last week, I rode my bike with the Bürgermeisterin and my advisor to meet the social worker of a district in Freiburg. The social worker escorted us around the district, describing the strengths and weaknesses that district has. There was then a “round table” where we met representatives of the Kindergarten, elementary school, etc. of that district. The knowledge I gained of the living conditions, school system, integration, and what the city provides was unbelievable. I don’t know about the other departments or city halls in Germany, but I can really tell that this department really cares for its constituents. The workers look to really improve the living conditions and education of the Freiburg community.

A few weeks ago I read a prominent newspaper in Germany. The entire newspaper. People say that when you are learning a language, at some point, something just clicks and everything becomes so much easier for you. Well, that happened when I finished reading that newspaper and watching German movies, reading in German, living in Germany, everything became so natural. And why is it that I am leaving in just a week???? 

Photos come from Freiburg website.