An Unforgettable Year!

Hello Guys, my name is Nicolas Gabriel and I am from Brazil. It has been 11 months that I started my life as a citizen of Remagen, but now when I look back it seems that was just some weeks because I lived this time intensively and deeply.

However, the time to go back to Brazil is coming and I already miss this city, the river, the plantations in the way to Remagen-Kripp until the sound of the train saying “Nächste Station” that always give me the sign that I arrive in this city that became my home, I never thought that such small city would bring to many good memories and great friends as Remagen brought to me.

Talking about friends it was very great and crazy to me, I never could imagine that I would have friends from such diverse countries (Korea, Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, India, Jordan, Syria, Germany, Italy and Russia) and it helped me to understand the different cultures that exist and improved my ability to work and to live with these differences. Also, during this time I lived in a WG (shared flat) and it was amazing because there I learn most of the things about the German language and I became part of I new family.

As a student I could see my improvement as an English speaker, I had the experience to took classes like Business English I, II and III, Business Simulations and courses in my field as Parallel Computing, all in English, and I am proud of the real events and products that me and my colleagues made during the courses. If you could see my English in the first semester when I arrived, you will never believe that I could finish these courses, but thanks to the Hochschule Koblenz that made it possible.

Lastly, it was amazing that I stayed two semesters because everything is different between the summer and the winter. I have walked through the same streets for months in the winter and I could not imagine how it could transform into something completely different, also in the second semester I became more confident I knew everything about the trains and how to  travel to other countries in Europe and I had a great time.

As I said, I will miss my German Life, the RheinAhrCampus and the Greetings in the morning by the professors Laurence, Faustish, Barbara, Rashimah and also of every friend that I made during this time. However, what makes me feel better saying goodbye is that now I have “family” in the whole world, I am a citizen of the world and I love every country and culture. I hope that all of you that read it one day have the same experience.