To start this off with I can promise you that a summer school abroad will change your life. It will broaden your horizons as you will meet people from all over the world and at the end of it all you will definitely be more mature, better informed about European business and culture and you will feel richer because of all the unforgettable experiences that you shared with people that were strangers a few weeks before. So if you are not sure if you should apply, definitely and without a doubt DO IT.
Before you go:
Please remember that a lot of planning needs to be done beforehand, so do not start too late. The most important things to get in order will be your plane ticket and your visa. Book your plane ticket ASAP because the prices literally go up by about R300 a day. I booked my ticket through Student Flights and that worked out perfectly. They sold me some travel insurance with medical insurance included which is absolutely necessary and I would highly recommend not skimping on that. I accidentally cut my arm on a mirror in Germany and had to go to the hospital to get the wound cleaned and bandaged and to get a prescription for antibiotics. The whole hospital visit and antibiotics cost me over R800 and I actually got more than half back from the insurance when I claimed afterwards. So it is definitely worth it!
I flew with Etihad which was lovely, all the flights were on time, the food was mostly very tasty and our bags arrived in Frankfurt safely, so all in all I was satisfied with their service. It is quite tiring to stop at OR Thambo and again in Abu Dhabi, so it might be worthwhile looking into a more direct flight. But if you are trying to save some money, two stop-overs will probably be your best bet.
Also remember that packing takes a while and you reach the 30kg mark way before you thought you should have. I had to re-pack my bag about three times before I got it right, and I only started the night before, so you can imagine how little sleep I got and how grumpy I was on the flight there. J
If you are going to Germany in their summer time, be careful because the days can turn around so easily. One moment you are walking with shorts and the sun is shining and you are contemplating getting a bit of a tan, and the next moment there are clouds everywhere and the wind comes up and it feels like you are back in SA’s winter. So always pack clothes that can be layered, a lot of cardigans or jerseys and shorts and skirts with stockings work well, you can just take the stockings off if it gets cold.
For the money situation I would recommend going to your bank and asking them if they have a Cash Passport (ABSA) or something similar, which is a card that you can use as a bank card, that you can swipe and also draw money with. It really is too dangerous nowadays to take all your money in cash and if you can afford it, I would recommend putting a little bit more money on the card than you know you will use, because you never know what could happen.
At EBS:
The summer school is the real deal, very interesting course work, engaging and gripping lecturers, clever class mates and a very beautiful university. Just make sure that you go into the programme with the right mindset, as the lectures will take up most of your day and you will have to do some studying. But do not worry too much about the studying as the tests are open book and if you are in class and listen up and make a lot of notes you will be golden. We also tried to make studying fun and took the early bus to campus and pretended that we were on our way to secure an early spot in the SS, that’s one way to do it.
EBS overlooks the Rhine river and you literally have class in a classroom that was built in the remains of an old castle. The topics that we covered were firstly how the EU operates and all the different bodies that makes up the European government system and the Eurozone. Then we also did human resources in Germany and Europe, we talked about the financial crisis, the auto-motive industry and how the financial crisis affected the automotive industry. Other topics that we looked at where the labour laws of Germany, the philosophy of human rights and hidden champions which are medium sized companies that are mostly family owned, but who are market leaders in their industry.
Comparing the EBS lectures to Stellenbosch lectures, one thing you need to get used to is the interactive style of teaching the German lecturers have. We had slides as a guide of where the lecture should go, but mostly when a student asked a question the lecturer would answer in detail and wouldn’t mind follow up questions. Sometimes we would spend a whole session on a side track that was brought on by a question and that made the classes so much more interesting and extremely relevant, I absolutely loved it.
We had two field trips, one to the Opel car manufacturing plant in Russelsheim and we visited the Council of Europe and the European Parliament in Strasbourg in France. Both of these trips were very interesting and highly educational, but beware of long bus ride to Strasbourg, its best to bring an iPod or a book to keep you busy. It was perfect for catching up on some much needed sleep for some of us.
Besides the educational aspect of the trip, which I guess is the most important part, we also had a lot of fun outside of school. The first weekend was a long weekend, so we used the time to explore the surrounding areas of Oestrich-Winkel. We took the train up to Cologne and visited their beautiful cathedral and on the way back we stopped in Koblenz to see where the Rhine and the Mosel river meets. We also went to Rudesheim where you can take a cable car to the top of the hill and the view of the Rhine Valley is breath taking. On the second weekend we went as a group to Munich and we stayed there in a youth hostel, which was much more acceptable than one would expect. I would definitely recommend coming the weekend before and staying the weekend after the summer school to see some more of beautiful Germany or some other stunning cities in Europe.
After getting back:
It was very emotional for me to say goodbye as I felt such a strong connection with most of the people in our group and I also bonded a lot with Ursula that was the woman who organises the summer school. She took me to the hospital and held my hand for the injection and for those few hours it felt like I had my mother there with me, she was amazing. Make doubly sure that you get all the people’s details that you want to keep in touch with, probably just invite them on Facebook; once you get home you will want to chat about your experience and share photos.
It really is an adjustment once classes start and you have to fall back into your routine. You keep expecting to see some of your new friends around campus and it is a sad realisation that that probably won’t happen. Naturally the hype will fade, but make sure to keep in contact with the people you were closest to and who you can actually see yourself making an effort to go visit. The Maties that go with you on the Summer School will be like your brothers and sisters for your time in Oestrich, so stick together and look out for each other.
I fell in love with Germany and Europe, but returning home was amazing. Three weeks abroad can get very long, so seeing your family, friends and your significant other (if you have one) again is great. It is so much fun to tell your stories to everyone, because you get to relive the experience a couple of times. South Africa is my home and I don’t think I could ever leave for good, but Europe opened my eyes to the things we lack. It was so nice to have a working and efficient transport system at your disposal to travel and move around. But the South African people beat the Germans with friendliness any day, I felt right at home when every single person I smiled at at OR Thambo and Cape Town airport returned my smiles, got to love SA!