This document is an extended thank you note to everybody that made it possible for me to go on exchange to the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam for six months in 2014. It gives some feedback on my experience and how much it meant to me. My thanks goes to the lecturers, fellow students and international office at the VU for their hospitality in hosting me. I am deeply grateful to the Studiefonds Stichting at the Zuid-Afrika Huis in Amsterdam who’s generosity made it financially possible, but also for their kind reception in Amsterdam. Thank you finally to the PGIO at Stellenbosch University for their support on all terrains and for putting their faith in me as an ambassador for the university.
Here is why I am so grateful…
Author: Sarah
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Helgard in Amsterdam
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An Engineering Internship
Here follows Andrew’s experience of doing an engineering internship in Germany.
As the nature of my involvement with the exchange program with Georg Simon Ohm differs from the standard student exchange arrangement, I have decided to try and write my blog entries as more informative pieces.
I start by describing the process I followed to get the internship with Siemens and the problems experienced in doing so. This is followed by an account of my journey to Germany and to Ruhstorf where I am doing my internship. Finally I describe some of the good and bad points of settling into a small town in Germany and give a brief account of what it has been like to work at Siemens.
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Annemie in Leiden
First experience:
Before I arrived in Leiden I was absolutely terrified. Geared in a massive Kayway jacket and what felt like a million of layers, I landed at Schipol airport. My first challenge was to navigate the public transport system and find my new home. After nearly boarding the wrong train and damaging my suitcase on the European cobblestone streets, I found my room with the help of a lot of strangers. I had a misperception that Europeans are more cold and unwelcoming than the inhabitants of the Southern hemisphere, but I was proved wrong with every smile and random act of kindness. At the airport everyone showed me where to go, a man offered to carry my suitcase down the escalator and a woman welcomed me to the Netherlands with a warm stroopwafel.