The exchange program is an opportunity to discover new places and new things. But on the course of this journey you will discover more about yourself, be tested and pushed to limits you didn’t know existed. This is not a post to discourage or undermine anything/anyone. This is simply my story and what I have learnt.
My journey began with the application for the visa (as do most). The trick with the visa application is to go when you are more than prepared. When the lady behind the counter asks if you have a copy, say you have three. The moment you make an appointment and go to the embassy and start fumbling, your chances of getting a quick and quality service are out the window. You also have to know where everything is. i.e. I had two folders, one with the most important documents as listed on the Embassy website and one with extra copies and stuff I wasn’t sure she would ask for or not. Your ultimate goal when you get to the embassy is to be in and out, once! The next visit should be when you pick up your visa. When you have a long process before your application is approved be sure your visa approval will take twice as long.
Another thing I find is useful is to know at least one other person who is applying at the same embassy. In that case you can use your experiences to help each other out. For example, I knew a guy who had gotten his visa in less than a week, at the end of the second week when I hadn’t heard about my progress I emailed the embassy and they responded telling me to go pick up the visa that same week. One other thing I was outraged about was I spent money buying travel insurance when in fact my medical aid would have given me one for free! These are things you can really look into to avoid such mistakes and loses.
Your planning in the pre-departure stage is crucial. Departure time, arrival time, transit hours, these times should be logically calculated in that you don’t spend a lot of time flying or in transit. You also don’t want to land in a new country at night so you might want to work around that. This will also be inconvenient for the person picking you up. Also, I have someone to pick you up. Yes, yes, the European metro systems is efficient, but trust me you don’t want to land in a foreign country and start struggling with foreign speaking machines. Some Universities have the buddy program and I found my buddy to be extremely helpful especially with the first week of my arrival. They show you all the right places and most importantly how to navigate the transport system.
It’s been three weeks since my arrival in Hamburg; I’m slowly learning the system but to be quite honest I don’t think I will ever get used to it. I refer to the several administrative process (or hell as I call it) and it wasn’t the best experience. We had several issues regarding our registration, the registration at the Welcome centre, and other admin issues. The places that tend to the ‘foreigners’ are usually serviced by German speaking attendants which is a task on its own. The bureaucracy in Germany is one of a kind. To achieve one goal you have to fulfil ten others.
As a not-so-patient-person I can confirm that my patience has been tested, I tried to resist, and now I can calmly report that my patience level has greatly improved. I hate inefficiency, especially if my life depends on it, I will yell, ask for the manager and report these cases. But in Germany all this will get you is a stare and a cold statement letting you know this is how things are done in the Fatherland. So I’m being a good girl, tempers down and woo-sah through every unnerving situation.
The program I chose to study here at Hamburg is an external program powered by the Erasmus Mundus program in Denmark. When the ‘Mundusians’ finish their first year in Denmark they pick a second year of specialization an Hamburg offers Media and Globalisation. This is similar to a course I would have taken in Stellenbosch so I will be transferring the credits there. The course is extra intensive since it is designed for mundusians therefore I picked a few classes out of the entire course that will enable be to get the credits at Stellenbosch. I must say, when you leave Stellenbosch it is usually mid-year and as a postgrad we have assignments that run through the year. It is important to finish these assignments before your travel as I am currently struggling with the load from both universities.
But the courses here are great; I have to do a lot of practical work which is different from what we do in Stellenbosch which is a lot of Academic work. It’s interesting to study the same thing but tackling it from different angles. As a postgrad though I do side with Stellenbosch in that our curriculum encourages us to be our own managers and it’s a program designed to let you grow on your own. It is a little weird for me being back in class and having to do group work like I did in undergrad school, but I’m enjoying the experience none the less.
I have met people from countries I only see on maps (like Kyrgyzstan!). I chow down on German delicious pastries at every opportunity I get and as a cold weather lover; I am in the right place. So to end my post, the bad experiences I spoke off at the beginning do not outweigh the good. I’m still in my third week at Hamburg and there is more to explore. I hope as a future exchange student you have taken note of the tips and a rough idea of what to expect. I wish you safe travels Matie!
Returning to Stellenbosch:
Arriving in South Africa and everybody is asking “How was your trip?” I wonder, “Where do I start?” The experience gotten and the growth attained during the last 5 to 6 months is not something I can easily put to words. I feared coming back to South Africa, not for anything else, but rather I was afraid to lose the person I had become in the last 6 months. My feelings were summarised perfectly when I saw this quote; “You get a strange feeling when you are about to leave a place… like you’ll not only miss the people you love but you’ll miss the person you are now at this time and this place because you’ll never be this way again”. How true was it, applied to my situation? I mean I had to adapt to some difficult times, I learnt to live and care for people, I learnt to let it all go and get on a train and just go.
Having the exchange program is much different from traveling for leisure. You have to conform to certain things and somehow you start resisting them (if you are as rebellious as I am) then you just get used to them and before you know it you find that these same things you hated, are now things you embrace in your life. There are something’s one experiences that just make you appreciate your home country even more. For instance Germans are not very enthused in talking in any other language other than Deustche. Coming from African countries we always try harder to make foreigners feel welcomed. But in terms of development, transport and the economy, as a future leader, I find there are examples we can take from the first world countries to facilitate growth in our own countries.
I was a little hesitant at first to make friends with my classmates; I mean I hadn’t been in a classroom in 5 years! Whereas here we are encouraged to do individual work, on the other side it was expected for us to work together, so differences had to be put aside to work together. You learn how to not only interact but integrate with people. Living with people from all over the world provides tolerance and appreciation for cultures. Some people you meet and feel like you have known all your life, they are kindred spirits and you wonder “how have I not met you my entire life?”
And meeting people from countries you’ve only ever seen on a map and not had any idea how they could be is also surreal. I mean when you interact with people from Kyrgyzstan, you know the world is for real.
This trip has awoken the travel hungry monster in me, the adventurous explorer with the pink backpack (for details see https://pinkbackpackexplorer.wordpress.com/). And I intend to start with summer school before the end of the year!