Pre-departure:
I had never organized my own overseas trip so this was a completely new experience, but it was a worthwhile learning experience. Make sure you apply for passport at least a month before you book your ticket. I luckily got my passport a day before the final day I was allowed to book my ticket so rather avoid such a hair-pulling stressful experience. When you apply for your visa, make sure you have all the documentation.
As much as I trusted my exchange co-coordinator, he told me it was chilled not to have proof of residence for example, but I trusted my own gut feeling and took it along and it was definitely needed. The embassy is a call away if you are not sure about the documentation. If you take your laptop with, make sure you take the right plug! South Africa is unique with its three-pronged plug and my friend had a very sad face when we arrived in Germany and he realized he couldn’t use his laptop. It is wiser to pack lightly so that you can bring back more and you avoid awkward moments at the airport. Generally you allowed 30kg for your check-in luggage and 10kg for your carry luggage. My check-in luggage was 14kg when I departed and I had more than enough clothes for the cold weather and other electronic equipment in it, but that allowed me to bring a lot back. Make sure you take appropriate clothing for the weather conditions and if you are departing from a summer place and arriving in a country with winter then I suggest that you take thermals. For really cold weather it’s important that you take gloves and proper socks as well so that you don’t freeze to death. It is useful to learn some geography so that you create a sense of familiarity with the new strange unfamiliar place. Check out some information on the transport system and how it functions. Find out about checking in online. I checked in at the airport when most people checked in online and they got the window seats. You might have a big backpack as your carry luggage, but you can take comfortable bag along in your check-in luggage that has secret pockets for you to hide valuables in when you reach your destination.
Experience at Winter School:
I attended The University of Humboldt in Berlin, Germany and I took the course titled, The Popular Music Industry: History, Locality and Trends over a three week period. The course was really relaxed and the class was quite small with only ten students. However what was interesting was attending a class with students from all over the world. There were students from Russia, Hong Kong, Australia, Denmark and fellow South Africans from a different region. The lecturer was very friendly and we mostly had discussions and it was a very interactive course. The course was only from Monday to Wednesday and would be approximately five hours of your day. Unlike the other courses that required a lot of reading, the reading for this course was really minimal, the course required more interaction and interpretation of the material which was fun and rather simplistic. Every Wednesday we would go on an excursion instead of having class. We went to the Film Industry Museum, Hansa Music Studios in Berlin and The Classical Instrument Museum. Thus the course was not just about sitting in a class and learning, but it took you outside of the classroom to see bits of Berlin. A few days in the week we would receive an e-mail about free excursions that the university would provide such as a tour to The Topography of Terrors, The Deutsche Bundestag and a tour to Potsdam. However at Potsdam, the tour did not take us to the Sansoucci Palace which was the most important tourist destination of the area. Hence I would suggest that you make a list of the places that you really want to see and if the tour is done and you have not seen enough, go on your own trip and find the places you want to which is even more thrilling and adventurous experience.
Return:
I will not lie about the fact I did feel a bit depressed when I came back. When I woke up on my first day in Stellenbosch I still thought I was in Berlin and was confused when I woke up in a different room. It was snowing in Berlin and I came back to a hot summer environment that my body had to adapt to. The development in Germany is impeccable and the lifestyle is very convenient. I would walk late at night in Berlin as I felt the environment was safe, however I am much more cautious here in South Africa. It felt frustrating that I could not quickly use the train or bus at any time of the day. It is common for the rich or the poor to daily use the train. The level of poverty is much higher in South Africa and we are so accustomed to seeing homeless people or begging, however in Berlin the level of poverty is not as easily recognizable as it is here. However I learnt to be appreciative of my circumstances and realized how lucky I am as a South African to be living in the healthy conditions I do. It is interesting that Europeans in general seem to be very ignorant of South Africa and the diversity that exists here. However South Africans here themselves are ignorant about Germany as generally people either refer to Hitler (only a minute part of Germany’s history) and the soccer. The German people are way more reserved and serious and we as South Africans were generally much louder and charismatic, but do not let that put you off as that is just a part of the culture there and its very interesting. It looked as if the average person lived a healthy lifestyle I find they I generally do not speak about the experience with others, because it is quite difficult to relate to people about your experience as it cannot be put in simple words. However I wish that more and more Stellenbosch students would make use of this opportunity as nothing can ever replace this experience and it has definitely had a meaningful impact on my life. All good things come to an end, but I think I appreciated the experience so much that I would definitely do it all over again.
