A Confluence of Different Cultures

Hello ich bin Hari and I am from India! How would you feel if you had expected a sandwich but got an exotic chicken lasagna made with Mexican sauce covered in a double layered cheese instead! Yes that sums up my experience In RheinAhrCampus.

It all started when I met Dr.Borgmann in my home university and decided to take up an exchange program at the RheinAhrCampus, Germany. My journey at Rheinahrcampus was for 4 months and I still remember being received at the train station by Hannah and Niklas. It saddens me to write this report as the most beautiful experience of my life is coming to an end.

Well to start with, the best thing about my exchange experience in Germany is that, it gave me a multi-cultural experience and now I have pretty close friends from Germany, Portugal, Spain, USA, Canada, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Albania, Bosnia, Macedonia, Morocco, Poland, Denmark etc. I am sure I have not covered all. It was an incredible experience to personally know about them, their family and their culture.

Travelling across the world was a dream. And now the dream seems close to reality as I have travelled eight countries in just 4 months and not to forget about the interesting people I met while doing that. Monuments, theme parks, foods, shops and souvenirs. Travelling is always fun. Getting lost on the streets of a city in a completely different country is something everyone should experience.

Well learning is fun right? Ain’t nothing fun about it! ;) That’s what I thought. The internship in RheinArhCampus taught me the nuances of professional communication, audio editing while doing podcasts, using Photoshop for image editing, handling and maintaining a Moodle page as a course assistant and what not. The best part was I enjoyed doing all my tasks. Learning is fun indeed. I could just say Dr.Borgmann is much more than just a professor. It would be more appropriate to call him my mentor.

It was also interesting to know how different the teaching methods used by professors in Germany are. This is my first experience with a simulated company. Thanks to International Business Simulations for training us with the skills and behaviors required to perform well in a company.

Not to forget about the incredible parties while bragging about the professional skills I learnt. One of the important reasons for having a great set of friends in Germany is the German beer. Now I know why the Germans are so proud of it! Living with a German family, hanging out with German friends which is never without a German beer is something everyone has to experience in life.

As a whole it is not an exaggeration to say that this period of 4 months was the most interesting and incredible experience of my life that I can never forget.