A Blog about Education Abroad

Category: Winter / Summer School Postings

  • Janneke at the Lake Constance Summer School

    Janneke at the Lake Constance Summer School

    Konstanz

    A beautiful city next to a big lake, interesting people from all over the world, an amazing opportunity to improve German skills and great summer weather!

    Bodensee
    Bodensee

    Pre-departure:

    I heard in April that I was nominated by the PGIO to attend the IBH Summer School in Konstanz, and in May I heard from the University of Konstanz for the first time. After receiving more information from the organisers in Konstanz, and doing some research on the internet, I booked my flight ticket in the beginning of June (www.cheapflights.co.za – no need to go to a travel agency) and directly after that made an appointment for my visa (ww.visa-germany.co.za). I decided to fly to Zurich in Switzerland and spend one night there before taking the train to Konstanz. In this way, I was also able to see another city. The preparations for the summer school trip are fairly easy to handle by yourself, especially if you keep everything neatly organised. The documents necessary for the visa appointment I could gather from the PGIO, the contact person in Konstanz and the bank. After a visit to the visa application centre in Cape Town, my visa was ready in three days.

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  • Antje at Bayreuth University

    Antje at Bayreuth University

    My Pre-Departure Preparation to Germany:

    Not in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined to sit in a class attending a Summer School in Europe, while being in my final year at the University of Stellenbosch, completing my Honours Degree in Political Science. A friend of mine awakened my aspiration to attend an international Summer School, when she shared her experiences of attending a Summer School in Berlin in 2013. Being a Namibian student studying in South Africa, opportunities like these are rare, which inspired me to apply to attend the 2015 international Summer School hosted by the University of Bayreuth, Germany.

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  • Marsy at KU Leuven

    Marsy at KU Leuven

    Tussen die boeke en die biere    

    Before you jet off:

    This will be a trip of a lifetime, so a bit of paperwork, is nothing to complain about.  Firstly,  it’s the dreaded Visa application.  Arriving early at the consulate goes without saying, but to strengthen this recommendation consider the following:  The Cape Town’s Belgium consulate has only two administrative personnel handling the visa applications and there is no appointment system in place.  Thus if you arrive to find Soccer mom and her gremlins in the waiting area you will have to wait while each of their applications and scans are done.

    If you forgot something or you are still waiting for a confirmation letter from a third party, just ask them if you can e-mail that later. They will normally let you do this while just filing your application under incomplete.  Then you don’t have to go hurtling into that slow-moving Cape Town traffic twice.

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