My Adventure in Remagen

My name is Adrian and I am from Poland. I study at Białystok University of Technology. I have already almost finished my spring semester at RheinAhrCampus in Remagen. That was such a busy time and a very interesting experience for me. About one year ago I was wondering where could I go for my exchange semester and it was a difficult decision for me. I chose the Hochschule Koblenz University of Applied Sciences thanks to my friend who recommended this university. I am glad I did it because it was one of the best decisions in my life. I got new knowledge and many professional experiences. I visited many places and I got to know so many people from all over the world.

When I arrived in Remagen, my first thought was: “This place is almost like my home town!” I come from a small city of about 30 thousand citizens, which has a lot of lakes and forests and which is located in the very eastern part of Poland. Remagen looks almost like my city. You can meet here a lot of kind and helpful people who enjoy their peaceful lives. Due to the fact that this city is small, this is a great opportunity for a person who used to live in a big city, because you can experience a new, totally different way of lifestyle. After one, maybe two months you will be able to recognize most of the inhabitants. Because of this, it is a very good place to meet new people and learn German language effectively. I will remember the word “kugel” which in this case means the scoop of ice cream. When I was coming back from university I used to buy ice cream and I had to learn this word fast and well.

The landscape surrounding Remagen is gorgeous. Through the city flows the Rhine River which looks wonderful, and by the river begins a small peak, which is always breath-taking when I see it. There are a lot of hills around the city. We can come upon one of them and admire the view, which is incredible. Even though I was not at the top of the mountain, I was always enjoying the view very much traveling by train to other cities. Nature around the city is magnificent and the dead phone has never been a problem during the trip.

While safe and peaceful Remagen was too calm for me, I was able to travel easily to bigger cities like Bonn, Koblenz or Cologne using my student card. All of these cities have something to offer. I have been there many times for a trip to a good restaurant, a trip to have fun with my friends and even for shopping. These are big cities with a lot of people in each of them. To be honest, after my all adventures there, I really liked to come back to Remagen, where you cannot find any city noise and traffic jams. This city has its own climate and I totally recommend it for someone who has never lived in a small city. The first thing that surprised me here was that students can choose subjects that they actually want to study. It is very strange for me because at my university I can choose a field of study but all subjects are obligatory in a given degree course. In my opinion, German idea of choosing courses is very good for students, since they can attend a class which they really like and study a topic which they are interested in. For me, it was also a great opportunity to get to know new people. On all of my courses, I met almost always new people and that was incredible. Thanks to this, now I know many students of the Hochschule.

I noticed one more difference in education system. Here most of subjects are about interpersonal relations. That was an amazing possibility to develop my group working skills. Due to many subjects related to this topic, I was able to look at the world from a different, new perspective. It was a great opportunity to make some new opinions about cooperation with people. But of course, I also had scientific courses where I learned many things about companies, law and economy all over the world.

I remember very well classes with exchange professors. That is a brilliant idea about teaching. In sciences like management and economy, having a different perspective of perceiving is very important. I have experienced this during lessons with teachers who came to us from different countries of the world, for example from Azerbaijan or the USA. I could take a look and compare the situation of these countries with what we currently experience in Europe, and this gave me the opportunity to develop new problems solutions and an interesting approach to various topics.

I want to admit that a semester abroad in Remagen is an awesome idea for someone who has never lived in a small city, believe me, you will remember this time to the end of your days and you will take a rest from the big city life.

I recommend this university very much. It was a great time to develop my skills and knowledge. I also met so many amazing people which I will remember very long. I traveled to beautiful places in western Germany from where photos will be permanently hanging on the wall in my room.