Pre-departure:
Preparing for an exchange is a long, but rewarding process. About a year before I departed I started to look for universities. Due to the fact that the options are overwhelming I had to decide on a strategy to work through all possible universities in order to identify a manageable number of possibilities. It was difficult to decide on a strategy.
At first I was more excited to travel than to study abroad. Therefore I started looking through the list of partner universities according to their location. After a few months of thinking and researching, I realised that I will be most satisfied if I found a university that will offer me interesting subjects. With this strategy in mind, I soon found the university I was looking for and I never doubted my decision.
About four months before I left I started to select subjects, send through documents and correspond with the home university. From there on it is a continuous process of correspondence that took a few hours each week. Although it is a long process, I did not find it too overwhelming since I started corresponding early and it never required too much of my time at once.
The international office helped me to get to the correct websites that explained the visa application process to me and also assisted me with obtaining police clearance. The fact that help was available when I was unsure made an enormous difference and educed the time I spent on the application process. During the months prior to departure, the preparation was an exciting part of my ‘work’. I would definitely recommend starting to organise and correspond early since this eliminates stress from the process.
I enjoyed looking at all the possible partner universities and learning about countries of which I had no prior knowledge. This also provided me with a very liberating feeling – with so many choices and options you feel like the world is at your feet and you are about to go on the journey of your dreams.
At the host university:
Kühne Logistics University (or The KLU -my host university) is a private English university in Germany. It is a small, 5 year old institution offering three degrees (two masters degrees and a bachelors in Logistics). The campus consists of one 5 story building, which is also shared with another medical school. In so many ways it is therefore entirely different from Stellenbosch University.
The initial introduction to the university was overwhelming. During welcoming week we had sessions for about seven days. All of the students started in September and therefore we were hardly aware of who the other exchange students were. By the end of the week I have had a proper conversation with almost every student in the bachelors and masters class. Although names and sometimes faces were still a blur, it was intensive, informative and well planned. The personnel and lecturers of the university has a lot of energy and always encouraged us to ask questions, interact, take part in activities and be aware of the code of conduct (which mainly encouraged respect and cooperation). Although KLU is a small university, there was the diversity office, student services, marketing, exchange office, finance personnel, library services, lecturers, career development, campus facilities, various buddy programmes and the canteen to which we were introduced.
We started with our academic classes about two weeks after arrival. Classes consisted of about 20 – 30 students. We soon realised that we all have different backgrounds. Most of the other students in the masters class has already gained some working experience and come from countries all over the world (the Germans were not the majority).
Classes again were very interactive with discussions and exercises. Flipcharts were often used as a medium (together with projectors), which created a new type of creative dynamic in the class. In general the university tries to offer subjects that prepare students for the environment in which they will have to function soon. The majority of subjects are however of course in the field of Logistics.
In general the lectures that I attended were very interesting and informative. The classes I attended were more interactive than Stellenbosch, but it is definitely true that every lecturer still has their own way of teaching. I enjoyed the focus on receiving and giving feedback (and then addressing the feedback). We were asked to give feedback on the welcoming week, our subjects and also some other activities. Feedback sessions were then organised to discuss the feedback that was received and how it will be addressed.
The university is new and the facilities create a very professional and comfortable environment. Lecturers were always dressed very formally for classes and during presentations students would also approach it as a corporate environment. It was an amazing learning environment and it was good to see how this has an influence on my own interest in academic subjects.
Apart from the activities at the university, I also attended an English church in Hamburg and made a lot of friends there. We often went to markets, festivals and excursions around the city. I did the same type of activities with my friends from the university. In the end it was not a typical German experience, but rather an International-German experience, which was also great.
Return to Stellenbosch:
I returned to South Africa just before Christmas. It was a sudden ending and I realised that four months is a short period in terms of adapting and creating a life on your own. It was so frustrating to greet friends and confirm the news that I was leaving and not coming back at the moment. I truly enjoyed life in Hamburg and during my time there I knew I would not exclude the possibility of living in Hamburg/Germany/Europe/abroad again. But when I returned, I realised that I do not have fixed plans to return and it makes it hard to greet and leave.
I did my exchange during the last semester of my degree and therefore I am only returning to Stellenbosch University to make final arrangements for my thesis defence presentation. It was great to see my study leader again and talk about our research group and the things that happened while I was overseas. It was also great to come back and realise that four months did not make an impact on my life in South Africa – I could simply continue where I left off.
It is lovely to be back in South Africa. While being oversees I had a good perspective of the type of news happening all over the world. Each country and continent have different problems, but also similar ones. The confidence that I experience just by being back in a society that you know and being able to communicate in my mother tongue language I now take as privileges.