Pre-Departure:
The excitement I felt upon finding out that I had been chosen to attend the Humboldt Summer School programme was unparalleled, as a student of the German language I applied for this summer school because it was important for me to improve my speaking. And of course Berlin is not such a bad place itself. I was informed about my selection in the second week of April and I was sure that I wanted to travel before the summer school so I had to find flights immediately. One thing you must know is that flights to Europe increase around the end of June- July period so booking early is vital! I chose not to go the travel agent route as they are just an extra cost and if you plan well you can do everything yourself.
It was quite stressful at first having to compare airline prices but I felt that www.travelstart.com really helped me, but the trick is to go on the individual airlines site too, after you’ve found a good rate on Travelstart as they charge service fees if payment is made through them. As soon as the travel bursary came through I managed to buy my ticket paying cash via EFT to the airline, as I don’t have access to a credit card. This was also really easy I just had to call the airline get a reference and account number pay the money into their account and they sent me my itenery the next day. I chose to fly with Etihad, which was very pleasant I had short stopovers; the only thing was that they fly only out of OR Tambo so I had to book myself another flight from Cape Town to OR Tambo. All in all I still managed to stay within the travel bursary, opting to fly Khulua, which cost me R800 one way. The next step was to set up an appointment with the German Consulate, which hands down is the most efficient in the world. I did not have to pay for a visa as it was an educational trip (saved R720) and my visa was ready in 3 days because I had travelled to the country before. The interview process is also very short and sweet so long as you have all of your information ready and have filled out the forms. Because I wanted to travel before summer school I also had to plan this ahead so as to get value for money. My advice would be to settle on a place or a few places and book via either EasyJet or Ryan Air which both fly out of Berlin, although the Eurostar sounds great it is very expensive and if you plan well flying is both shorter and cheaper! Although I intended on seeing many places I only managed to travel to Amsterdam and to get there I took the Deutsche Bahn which was cheaper that flying at the time. A few weeks before departure I also used www.hostelbookers.com to find myself a Backpackers for my first few nights in Berlin I highly recommend Baxpax Downtown Hostel! It is very international big and well equipped, its also located in the Stadt Mitte where all the cool places are.
BERLIN:
I arrived in Berlin on the 12 June, my first mission was getting myself to the hostel, having heard what an amazing transport system Berlin has I was sure it would be fine. Don’t be discouraged by the nerves you feel once you walk out of the airport, I had bought a map of the city for 1 euro took a minute to visualise where I needed to be and set off. There are buses from right outside the airport exit going into the city for 2.50 euros this bus took me to Alexandeplatz where I took the ubahn to my Hostel. Please don’t be like me and know that almost every ubahn station has an elevator if not escalator so you do not need to carry or drag your bags down flights of stairs as I did.
The summer school begun 17 June, with an informal meeting with all the participants followed with us being split into different classes depending on our level of German. The classes where fairly small with 11/12 people in a class, the teachers were really nice, I thoroughly enjoyed my lecturer though as she was young and engaging. Classes were mostly about interacting with the city we were encouraged to keep a Berlin journal and share our daily experiences with the class, we watched German movies covering many themes from the Holocaust to DDR times. My knowledge on Germany and Berlin has expanded so much because of the summer school. Classes were only 3 hours long followed by a 2-hour break before our afternoon excursions. The excursions were very touristic which was great because you save money from having to pay for them yourself; they were historic as well as modern and social such as a Latin dancing evening at a restaurant alongside the Spree. Excursions for our course were also entirely in German which I struggled with during the first week but its amazing how much you can learnt and take in as time goes, as far as my German goes I developed so much and have such a broad vocabulary that I would not have picked up here form classes. The composition of our classes was also so diverse I had classmates from Israel, Mexico, Singapore, Ukraine and Australia it was an incredible way to learn about other countries and also fly the South African flag, because really many people still think we have lions in our yard. As SU student we were very fortunate to receive free City Pass tickets, which allow you to ride the train, bus and a ferry along a part of the Wansee for a month. This helped so much because there is no moment where one does not depend on the ubahn in Berlin. The accommodation was sufficient but the only problem was the lack of Wi-Fi, which was really annoying, but it was a lovely little apartment I had my own room and lived with two other classmates. At first we thought we’d cook together as it works out cheaper to share groceries but this lasted for a week as you are hardly home at the same time to cook. Luckily food in Berlin is not that pricey so eating out a few times a week did nit break my tight budget. I struggle to think of only one highlight in Berlin as the city is unlike any place I’ve ever seen there is a saying I often heard there and that is “ Alles ist möglich in Berlin” – everything is possible in Berlin, which is so true the city is so modern, fast paced, strange, welcoming and has the best parties you will ever go to in your life. On top of all of that I even managed to spot Angela Merkel and get a wave from her one afternoon while she casually drove through the city centre. Experiencing Berlin in the summer was just so wonderful filled with all the Open Air concerts around the city, the hot days spent at the riversides and parks.
Returning to Stellenbosch:
Coming back home was tough, somehow it felt like 4 weeks of summer school was just too short, you become so close to the people you befriend and the all of a sudden its home time. Coming home was in itself a huge culture shock, you really start to notice the things about South Africa or Stellenbosch that are still in need of developing. Firstly just having to re-programme myself to the fact that a night out ends at 3 maybe even 4 here not 7am as in Berlin was so saddening. Secondly, what I find here is that students in Stellenbosch are not individualistic, everyone dresses the same and has similar hairstyles, which is not something you find in a city like Berlin. The lack of adequate transportation and a Green lifestyle here in SA is also a huge difference. All in all home will always be home and it is wonderful being back to a place where strangers actually smile at you on the street. I am very grateful to SU and the International Office for this once in a lifetime experience and encourage everyone to apply for a winter/summer school.