DISCOVERING ANTWERP AND ME:
I can admit freely and without shame that the first day I arrived in Antwerp, I was deeply overwhelmed. The train ride that I had taken from the Netherlands (I was late and almost missed my train, of course) was exhausting – In my rush to make the train I had accidentally jumped in first class and was then promptly kicked out by the conductor, only to find no access to second class. The result was a tired South African student sitting on her bags in the entrance of the train, watching the Netherlands fly by and slowly become Belgium without much formality.
Category: Semester Exchange Postings
Blog Postings by Returning Stellenbosch University Students
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Alma’s Belgium (Antwerpen) Experience
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Chandre in Hamburg
Blog Entry 1: First Month in Hamburg, Germany
So travelling to the other side of the world for this exchange was my first adventure! Having never left South Africa before I was filled with excitement as well as fear, in all honesty as much as I had been planning this exchange for a long time I had absolutely no idea what exactly I was about to walk into for the next 6 months of my life. After conquering several international airports and surviving a 23hour journey I finally arrived at Hamburg International Airport not fully feeling like I was actually on the other side of the world. I was greeted by my buddy and dropped off at my accommodation where I was introduced to all the other students I would be living with who were excited and shocked as well as confused by learning that I was South African. Some didn’t understand how I was white (yes, that question really does get asked) and from South Africa and others didn’t even know South Africa was a country itself but I guess one of the main reasons for exchange is to educate and promote your country to another. Even though there was much excitement I was dead tired and decided to go straight to bed so I could tackle Hamburg early the next morning. -
Liesl in Germany
THE EXPERIENCE:
The first day in Hamburg went quite fine. I took a taxi to my dormitory to avoid confusion after traveling for 24 hours. Got my key from my landlord and settled into my dorm. Before I made my bed my photos were up against the wall. This provided a sense of homeliness in the spartanly decorated room. It was raining and I was feeling a sense of unease since most of the people I spoke to were non-English speakers. Immediately regret not having taken a German language course before studying in Germany.