More Than I Expected

Have you ever experienced something that you were not expecting to be unbelievably good? Well, I have. 

Hi, I am Fikret from Türkiye and this is my experience in my Erasmus semester.
As I took my first steps in Remagen, it felt like it was going to be a hard time for me to adapt to the environment. I come from Izmir, the 3rd biggest city in Türkiye, and that’s why the idea of living in a small town like Remagen seemed hard for me to accept in the beginning. 

The first meeting with my international friends on the 15th of March helped me understand that I will be having the best time in this semester. 
I generally consider myself as an introvert, but before I came to Germany, I told to myself to try as hard as I can to be an extrovert and talk with anyone. Gladly it is going well. This semester abroad helped me to reconsider my habits, my lifestyle, personal attributes, and inner self. 

To be specific, I learned how to ride a bike, I started waking up early in the morning and having a walk by the Rhein, and I created a plan for my house tasks like; laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc. 

I was afraid and uncomfortable talking to people in German because I had no practice and fresh vocabulary. Then I slowly started having 1-2 conversations with local people and with my neighbors. This helped me internationalize myself in terms of having permanent contacts and really improving my German language skills up to the B2 level. 

Another aspect is that ‘Internationalization’ is an addictive thing. Since I had the chance to travel across Europe, it feels not enough to spend only a day or couple days in different countries. So, now I want to plan real international studies, internships, and even job opportunities. 

The internship at RheinAhrCampus was a really helpful experience because the internship environment is a well-designed ‘office simulation’. So, it is like a preview of an actual workplace. I learned things like how to arrange meetings, organize events and be on time before every task deadline. I also improved my business skills such as; time management, presentation skills, and corporate communications. 

What I can suggest for the incoming students or the students who are going anywhere abroad is that planning everything is not always fun. The most fun time I have experienced were the times me and my friends spontaneously hop on the train and went wherever it took us. I know it sounds so classic and I would never believe someone who says ‘be spontaneous’ but I can assure you it is real. So in conclusion, this experience was More Than I Expected in every single aspect.