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Reflecting on my time abroad in Germany
By Hannah-Louise Sampson, University of FU Berlin, Germany I am back from my study exchange in Berlin now and I’ve been reflecting on my experiences living and studying abroad. Hopefully I can give some insight to anyone thinking about studying abroad. I surprisingly wasn’t too nervous moving to Berlin and perhaps, that’s because I knew it was only for a semester and I wasn’t far from home which acted as a sort of safety net for me.
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Academic differences from Semester 1, and all that jazz…
Mitch, second year, studying English Literature at Freie Universitaet Berlin I’m just going to come right out and say it: a literature BA from FU Berlin, while similar in some ways, is actually very different (in this blogger’s opinion) from the version of the degree you get from, for example, Manchester.
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The anti-perks of studying abroad
Mitch, second year, studying English Literature at Freie Universitaet Berlin As promised, my last blog was on the fun, positive side of Berlin and studying abroad (or a taste of it anyway). This blog is something a bit different – mainly because my study abroad experience certainly hasn’t been all rainbows and sunshine all the way through. These occasional periods of negativity, which eventually lead to greater insight into myself and therefore a positive outcome, are anti-perks.
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Wherefore art thou, Berlin student discount?
Mitch, second year, studying English Literature at Freie Universitaet Berlin Every time I write a blog, I wonder how to start it. I know that that’s kind of reasonable as I’m starting out on what I hope is a new idea, but I find that as I write, my ideas come to me a lot more naturally than at the beginning of a post. So, here I am, starting a post again. Wondering how to start it. So I’ll start by saying how amazing Berlin is for student discounts for cultural stuff! Yay!
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Worth the wait!
Mitch, second year, studying English Literature at Freie Universitaet Berlin So. It’s definitely been a while. Like, a really, really decent while. Everything’s been quiet on the blog front while everything’s been hectic and busy on the ‘year abroad life’ front. I’ll start not by making excuses, but making a plan: this blog will be a general (hopefully interesting) ramble on things that have gone on for me recently on this period of time abroad – because it really is amazing in its own unique way. Then, there’ll be two blogs on all the fun things/hard things that have happened, all the stuff I’ve enjoyed (or not) and why/what I…
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My post-Brazil, pre-Berlin (positive!) post-mortem
By Mitch Mainstone, English Literature (Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany) So. Berlin is now a thing in my life. A big, leafy, musical, beautiful thing that up until a week ago I’ll admit I had no real conception of. I think that if I write that I feel that same way about myself, but reflecting back on myself as I am at the moment, in some future ‘conclusion of study abroad’ blog, then I think this year will have been a successful one! I’ll start this by saying that both my uni-home of Manchester and my home-home city of Bristol have an incredible amount to learn from Berlin’s public transport system. Study…
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Home Sweet Home
By Jing-Jing Hu (University of British Columbia Okanagan, Canada) After another two weeks of travelling in Canada and the US, I eventually made my way back home – first to Germany and then to Manchester (at last). In Germany, I spent the majority of my time with friends and family, exchanging stories on all the things that had happened in the last few months (and there were a lot), celebrating my sister’s highschool graduation and visiting friends in different cities in the area. It took me a while to realise that I am not in Canada anymore (it is summer, but where is the snow?!), but I eventually got used to the fact that…
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Tourist Tips
By Colton Hill (University of Heidelberg, Germany). In this post I want to talk more generally for people who may be coming to visit or planning on staying in Heidelberg for a relatively short period of time. Instead of mentioning the major tourist attractions (which I may get to later), this will be slightly more practical. Food may not be on everyone’s list when they come to Germany, aside from maybe a Currywurst (Bratwurst with spicy curry/ketchup sauce), and unfortunately when people have “eat Wiener Schnitzel” on their list for Germany, they may be slightly confused to find out the dish is Austrian. Do not be dismayed, however, there is…
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Auf Wiedersehen (Pet!)
By Joanna Harris (Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany). The time has finally arrived for me to move to Berlin. When I applied to go on exchange over a year ago it almost seemed like it would never really happen… But now it feels like time has flown by! So here I am. As I sit in the airport writing this I have such a strange mixture of feelings… a fuzzy flutter of excitement mixed with a small (but definitely noticeable) twinge of nerves. Firstly though, the excitement: I am so looking forward to being in Berlin again – I visited for a few days last year and loved it, despite the…
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Question 1: Did you study for this exam?
By Colton Hill (University of Heidelberg, Germany). When the University Library is your home and the Mensa (Cafeteria) your kitchen, exams must be getting close. As I’m writing this I am excited to say that this time is over. In many ways it is immediately noticeable how the exam system in Heidelberg contrasts the exam system in Manchester. And yet, exams are meant to be a universal differentiation method, separating the students from one another. Perhaps internally, exams serve as a benchmark, however even year to year the difficulty of an exam can vary or the syllabus can change. For those unfamiliar, Manchester gives students roughly four weeks of preparation…
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Heidelberg Housing Crunch
By Colton Hill (University of Heidelberg, Germany). This time I want to dive into two annual Autumn/Winter occurrences in Heidelberg: The Winter Term Housing Crunch and the Heidelberg Christmas Market. My personal experience with this Housing Crunch was much too close for comfort. I actually started looking for accommodation slightly more than 1 month before the start of term, hoping to avoid serious competition. Unfortunately, I had no success. Rather concerned about spending several weeks in a hostel, I turned to my only hope – university accommodation. However, this is before I truly understood the nature of finding a place to live in Heidelberg in autumn. The first clue about…
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“Roll Me Away”
By Colton Hill (University of Heidelberg, Germany). First of all, for those of you who are familiar with the lyrics, I didn’t actually ride a motorcycle this summer. And for those of you who are unfamiliar with Bob Seger, you’re missing out. Anyway, some students already abroad or local students reading my entry may be slightly confused when looking at the date of this post. To clarify, the University of Heidelberg officially starts lectures on the 14th of October this year. However, before anyone feels envious, this also means that the Summer Term finishes on the 24th of July. For me, this just means an exchange – gaining time this summer and…
A study abroad journal by students, for students.
