Trent's Year Abroad Program in Germany and its Student Exchange with Germany is Twenty Years Old.

This week the 'Rektor' (president) of the University of Freiburg (Germany), Dr. Wolfgang Jäger, and the Director of the International Office, Ms. Mader, visited Trent to celebrate twenty years of co- operation and partnership between Trent University, Brock University and the University of Freiburg. On this occasion a new 'Agreement of Co-Operation' was signed which added Acadia and UBC on the Canadian side as new partners, to establish a new joint Year Abroad Program called the "Canadian Year in Freiburg," the only program of its kind in Canada.

Since 1980 groups of Trent students, accompanied by a Canadian professor (Resident Director), have gone to Germany for a year to immerse themselves in a different cultural environment, and to live, learn, work and study many different subjects at the University of Freiburg. The Resident Director always looks after all the important details: flight, accommodation, orientation, immersion course in Freiburg, counseling and integration. Excursions, special events and occasional meals at the apartment of the Resident Director enrich the experience in Freiburg. All this eases students into the new cultural and linguistic environment, and gives them the assurance that there is support far away from home if they need it.

In turn an equal number of students from the University of Freiburg spend an academic year in our community, studying at Trent University, experiencing Canadian culture and our way of life in Peterborough, as well as exploring many regions of Canada. Over the years close to 400 students from Freiburg and Trent have participated in this exchange, forming many long lasting ties between the two countries.

While the German students are attracted by the our lakes and wilderness Canadian students find that Freiburg is one of the most attractive cities in South-West Germany. Travel to other parts of Europe is easy, with France 30 and Switzerland 45 Minutes away. The city was founded in 1126, has maintained a mainly medieval character in its core and the university was established in 1457. Freiburg is nestled at the foot of the Black Forest surrounded by vineyards and forests. Within its city limits the Black Forest hills tower over the city by more than 1,000 meters.

Learning a second language serves several goals. It is like 'acquiring another soul' and as Germany's most famous poet Goethe put it: "S/He who does not speak another language does not know his own." Learning another language in school or being introduced to it at the university level is not just memorizing vocabulary, grammatical structures and getting once's mouth to produce unfamiliar sounds. Learning a language is a very practical and useful skill, and an introduction to a different culture, a different way of viewing the world or expressing oneself. Language is a key to unlocking a different linguistic world, and it provides for a deeper understanding of another culture in a world which appears to level cultural differences under the guise of globalization and internationalization.

Living in another culture and experiencing it first hand for a whole year is the ultimate way to apply the newly acquired language skills, to learn, absorb and to expand once's knowledge and understanding of the 'other' culture. Living in another culture is also a challenge; it forces one to be resourceful to survive in an unfamiliar environment, and it teaches a measure of humility.

Loving their experience abroad many Canadian students return to Freiburg later and some even stay for a second year. Many of the German students return to Trent to visit friends, to pursue Canada related research topics, or simply for nostalgic reasons. Enjoying and appreciating the culture abroad also means learning to value and appreciate once's own culture and heritage ever more. Cultural awareness and tolerance for differences is what is needed in our world with shorter distances, greater mobility and less time for cultural differences.

Participants in the 'Canadian Year in Freiburg' or in any of the other Year Abroad Programs which Trent offers in the Modern Languages (France and Mexico) or in Equador, Thailand, Ghana have the opportunity to be linguistically advanced, culturally sensitive, internationally experienced, flexible and tolerant. They have a real edge in competing for positions where such qualities are in demand: in teaching, business, international agencies and trade. The cost of such a year abroad is in most cases about as much as a year of study at Trent away from home. To learn more about the "Canadian Year in Freiburg"check: "www.trentu.ca/cyf"

Arndt A. Krüger is Chair of German Studies at Trent and was co-founder of the co-operation with Freiburg and instrumental in bringing about the newly created "Canadian Year in Freiburg." He can be reached at (705) 748-1011ext. 1423