Pre-Departure:
Once I had received the phone call from the Stellenbosch International Office to tell me that my application for the International Protection of Human Rights Course at Humboldt University was successful, I could hardly believe that setting off for a month in Berlin had become a reality. After attending a meeting with three of the other four candidates, the preparations were underway. The Visa process ran a lot smoother than expected – my Schengen Visa was available for collection at the German Embassy in Cape Town after only two days since my application was submitted. However, I suggest that you strictly follow the list of required documents, making copies if necessary, and apply for one as soon as you have your confirmation letter from the partner University. For me, this eliminated the last minute stress, particularly during exam time, and also meant that I didn’t have to go through to the embassy more than necessary. My only problem with the Visa application was that my photos were not the correct specifications, but I was allowed to retake them at a Kodak store around the corner from the embassy, and then continue the interview process.
I booked my plane tickets a full month and a half before departure, mainly because I was overcome with excitement. The Student Flights centre in Stellenbosch were extremely helpful in organising an Emirates flight package that was relatively inexpensive and didn’t involve a 12 hour stop-over. It did mean, however, that I spent my New Years’ Eve on a bus between the plane and the airport terminal in the Dubai airport – a sacrifice that I was more than willing to make for my first day of 2016 to be spent in a new country. Although other people have found that booking through a travel agent can sometimes be more expensive, I had explored other options and Student Flights were very reasonable and also offered travel insurance which is necessary for the trip.
I also suggest buying a small pocket dictionary if you are preparing for an exchange or Winter School experience. Although I had been told that Berlin is a very international city and most Germans under the age of 50 can speak English, I found that a phrase book is very helpful when travelling alone. Although I was terrible at pronunciation, being able to greet the security at train stations, or tellers in shops, often changed their attitude towards me. I had also organised a cash passport through my bank, which meant that the majority of the money I was taking with me would not be affected by the fluctuating South African Rand. I was very grateful about this after the Rand proceeded to weaken substantially while I was travelling. It also meant that I did not need to travel with large amounts of cash on me, which made me feel a lot more comfortable when moving between train stations and airport terminals.
Experience at Humboldt University:
I had last visited Europe in 2001, when I was six years old. Fortunately, my school exchange experience to Colombia had prepared me for the solo flight into a country where I could hardly speak the language. Arriving in Berlin, however, where there wasn’t a family to greet me, was a completely different experience. I arrived in Berlin at four in the afternoon only to be greeted by darkness. Although I was well aware of the early sunsets in European winters, I was slightly disorientated while walking from the underground station, of which the name I couldn’t pronounce, down to the check-in apartment for my student accommodation. I had also underestimated the weather and faced a high temperature of -11˚C on my first full day in the city. I was quite happy to use this as an excuse to spend some money at the numerous winter sales in Alexanderplatz.
I consider myself lucky to have been able to share an apartment with a student from the other side of the world. My Brazilian roommate and I quickly bonded and I was able to learn about her country through her cooking and through her stories. The student accommodation was also a really wonderful way of getting to know the other students from the Winter School because we often took the bus or train to and from the university together. It was also in a neighbourhood with lots of little cafes, book stores, restaurants and cocktail bars. I had joined the Humboldt Winter School Facebook page before leaving South Africa which had allowed me to connect with a number of people who would be there over the weekend before the course. This meant that my roommate and I were able to meet a few people for dinner and be able to recognise faces on the daunting first day of class. The international office at Humboldt University was incredibly well organised and did everything in their power to ensure that every student had the possibility to meet the other students. Additionally, their arranged outings provided us with a group of people to sight-see within our first few days, including an ice-skating outing – on an outdoor skating rink.
The university buildings were unbelievably beautiful, and fitted in to the surrounding buildings which were rich with history. The course itself had a very different structure to a regular semester or term module at Stellenbosch University. We only had three hours of lectures on Monday to Thursday each week. Half of the three hour session each day was taught by the lecturer while the other half was presented by a few of the students on topics that we had received during the December holidays. This, along with the small class size of only 18 students, meant that the academic experience was a lot more interactive and very much similar to our tutorial groups at Stellenbosch University. The presentation, however, was expected at a much higher standard than what I have been tasked with at Stellenbosch. We were required to present, by ourselves, for a full 20 minutes on our topics – a task that I had never been faced with before this experience. It was a daunting learning curve but I believe that it will be highly beneficial to apply in any working environment in the future.
Although my class wasn’t as diverse as I had hoped – with over half of the students coming from Brisbane, Australia – I met people from all around the world through this experience. Our class bonded over the preparation of our individual presentations and many of us decided to take a weekend trip to Barcelona together, along with other students from the Winter School. I also managed to visit Krakow, Poland on another weekend, with Suné from Stellenbosch University, after a last minute decision to book a ticket on an overnight train. It’s for this reason that I was really glad that I had taken the advice not to book trips in advance for the weekends.
Return to Stellenbosch:
Returning home after a full month away was both exciting and saddening after being exposed to such interesting people and so many opportunities while overseas. I was overjoyed to be back in the sunshine, though, after almost a full month of below zero temperatures. I only managed to fit in two days at home in Johannesburg before flying back to Cape Town to start my first semester of third year. It was quite overwhelming jumping straight back into a new term and having to move back into my res room all in the space of one day. Although I had been treated to a few days travelling in Amsterdam after my course had finished, the many hours of travelling back to South Africa meant that I needed a few days to recuperate. I also found it strange to return to a familiar place after you’ve been so enriched by new learning experiences overseas.
I believe that our generation is really lucky to be able to keep up to date with the new people we have met through the platform of social media. This has allowed me to keep in contact with the people who I grew close to through the international experience. It also allowed other people to meet up on their travels after the course had ended. I look forward to maintaining these connections all over the world in my future travels.
Although I am not looking at any international opportunities for the rest of this year, I have done a lot of research in extending my participation with the Stellenbosch International Office in the future. I hope to become a Matie Buddy for the incoming international students later this year. I really hope to increase my global awareness through such an opportunity while meeting more people from around the world. I have also applied as a volunteer for the American Field Service (AFS) office in Johannesburg, so I can build networks with internationally recognised organisations. I fully believe that this experience has equipped me with skills that I need to develop into a global citizen. The course has given me a better understanding of what I would like to pursue a career in, and the means through which to do so. I hope to travel again to Europe in the near future, particularly to Berlin in summer. However, meeting people from all four corners of the globe has made me excited to immerse myself in many other cultures in the years ahead.