By: Laura Salazar Cotugno

I consider one of the most complicated things about studying and living in Germany is learning the language, with all the insecurities that one carries around at the beginning. In my case, I arrived in Germany with a basic level of the language. However, thanks to the DAAD scholarship, I received an intensive six-month course at InterDaF at the University of Leipzig. The truth is, learning German in a short time was a great challenge and at the end of the course, I was able to take and pass the Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang (DSH) language sufficiency test. This test is necessary so that foreigners can access a university career. Even though it is a great learning tool, I still felt insecure about interacting with people in everyday life. Luckily, it was only a matter of time before I became more confident with the language. In my case, this took about a year and a half.

A year later, with the arrival of Diego, my husband, the DAAD gave us the opportunity for him to learn German. Despite the fact that his courses were in institutes other than Goethe or InteDaF, he managed to learn the language learning process until he became fluent.

The time spent studying German is also a great opportunity to meet people from countries and careers that are different from our own. In my case, I was able to learn about other cultures and make great friends.

Learning the language is important to be able to integrate into any society. In the case of Germany, it is pleasing to know that its inhabitants value the effort of a foreigner to learn their language and, at the same time, are not so rigorous in understanding our German even if it is not perfect. Therefore, here is a tip: you have to put insecurity aside and interact as much as possible with the Germans. In my experience, they are willing and open to meet new cultures and thus allow us to integrate into theirs.

By: Alumni Götingen at AEPEA

Göttingen has one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, of which thirty percent corresponds to a student population. It is a place where academic traditions are maintained, and several Nobel Prize winners emerged from here. If you pay attention, while cycling through the streets in the city, you will find hundreds of commemorative plaques. They tell you who lived in the old houses and the years of their residence. Looking around a bit, you discover that each of these names belongs to renowned academics or scientists in Germany and the world. For this reason, Göttingen is known as the city of Science.

The history of these celebrities spread throughout the urban area in monuments, commemorative plaques, or streets. During a walk during the day, summer or winter, you can recognize small caravans appearing. Those led by a colorfully decorated handcart, which advances festively. The cart rider is dressed casually and wears a custom, colorful, and sometimes eccentric, cardboard cap. Then, those who observe her celebrate the achievement, and with applause, they comment:

-herzlichen Glückwunsch! (Congratulations) Is that she or he has just defended his dissertation.

Where is this colorful caravan going on such an important day? The goal: to reach the Gänseliesel-Fountain in front of the Old Town Hall.

In Göttingen, all new doctors after their final test must fulfill a tradition: the ritual consists of offering a bouquet and a kiss to the village Liesel. This act has become Gänseliesel the most kissed girl in the world, and kissing her is something that every doctoral student has been working on for at least four years (or more). The tradition also says that doing it before you finish will give you bad luck. Sometimes, this celebration coincides with several students, and the center lights up. These days, the city becomes a single festival, and you can see rows of new doctors anxiously awaiting their turn to go up to the long-awaited kiss. The tradition of the Gänseliesel is an ancient one. In the early 1900s, the first students of the Uni Göttingen climbed the Liesel to kiss it as part of their festivities. For years, this practice was forbidden for students as it was considered an "act of vandalism". After many years, and at the insistence of the students, this tradition was recognized, but it is reserved only for the doctors that the University graduates each year.

In a Multikulti community like Göttingen, more and more Ecuadorians have experienced this tradition. Now, the goose lady receives tricolor kisses.