When I made the first step on German’s ground I was filled up with contradictory emotions and hopes that it would be an amazing adventure. Anyway, how it was in reality you’ll see… I must say that it has been a long way from Ukraine to Germany, full of thoughts and worries about how my life and studying would look like. As I already have some experience in studying abroad it was not so frustrating for me. However, there were still a lot of things that confuse me.
Just as we have arrived in Heilbronn we had to face a bunch of issues connected with our studying and living here. From the very beginning we had tons of problems with documents and official permission for staying in this country. We had to fill out many documents, forms... It was really boring and it took a lot of our time and nerves. Especially, taking into consideration the fact that we’re non-EU citizens and this time has been really tough for us. For that reason we needed to open a closed bank account with a certain amount of money (which we were supposed to transfer to an open account to be able to use the money in general).
In spite of all these inconveniences the Introduction program, which we had 2 weeks before the lectures started, has appeared to be useful. It really helped us to go through all this stuff. Our coordinators were very opened and friendly during all the time. One more thing that was also very pleasant for us was excursion trips organized by our coordinators. We had a wonderful opportunity to visit different German cities and to admire their beauty for free.
The time has passed rapidly and we haven’t noticed that our lectures started. The things which were new for me in Germany: knocking, eating and drinking. In Ukraine or Poland we are usually clapping after the lecture, not knocking on the desk. In my native country it is considered to be depreciatingly to eat during the lecture and in Germany it is a common thing. One more bazaar thing for me is that German students drink so much water during their lessons whereas when Ukrainians have bottles of water on their tables during the lecture that could only have one explanation- they must have had a tough night at the club. :-)
During my living in Germany I have experienced a lot of wonderful things as well. I’ve met new people, I’ve made new friends, I’ve traveled a lot, I’ve learned how to deal with difficult situations . It was an unforgettable journey into a life of a person who lives in Germany. I can imagine myself smiling when I would remember this time spent here. It is amazing that we have got such a great experience owing to ERASMUS program.