So, almost 3 months passed since the end of our trimester in Manly. For most of us, it was a big change to study in English. But we all did it and returned with lots of new experiences.
A few of our students started on a new journey from there. Those of us who are back in their home cities got back quickly to their everyday life. It is a bit strange that everything went so fast. I can’t say: “it seems like yesterday”. There was so much to see and to learn and the time goes by way too quickly.
There is no doubt that it was a big experience. Everyone was concentrated on what seems to be the most important thing to them. Study, work or travelling. The opinions were individual. And so everyone made different experiences. New friends were found. We learned about another culture and of course there was the aspect of new surroundings.
The mood in Germany is different to Down Under. We perceive the differences at the arrival in our home country. The people we surrounded ourselves with for a few months, were suddenly no longer there.
Also the mentality is totally different. Personally, what I miss in Germany, is the warmth. In Australia everyone was so friendly and unbiased. When I came back, I asked myself why everyone is looking at me. I had a feeling like I had a pimple on my face. But sometime I realized, that it’s just the superficiality of the Germans.
Something that makes me really happy is that I can buy favourable. Especially alcohol and cigarettes are in Australia incredibly expensive.
And Germany has a great Bread culture. Thankfully. I missed brown bread and reasonable bread rolls. We should be happy to have this big versatility of food.
I am thankful for this time and this experience. I am thankful that I could improve my English skills. I am thankful that I met a lot of new people and of course: new friends. I am thankful for discovering the other end of the world a bit, and I am thankful for being home again.
Being back home for around a month now I still miss the life, the people and obviously the nice and sunny weather we always had in Malaysia. Especially the last months we had passed by so fast and all of us exchange students took the opportunity to explore Malaysia or the rest of Asia during the free time we had.
Traveling in Asia is not only nice because you can see so many different countries and cultures but also because it’s quite cheap compared to traveling in Europe.
So I took the opportunity to visit Cambodia since a lot of people were telling me to go there. Other Germans went to explore Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar and Singapore. So you see there are lots of opportunities to go while spending your semester abroad in Malaysia. To give everyone a quick overview of Asia’s Beauty I’m going to show you some pictures.
Our semester and Malaysia itself was not always really easy and as comfortable as we are used to from Germany, but all of handled the ups and downs really good, and we can be really proud of us.
Overall I have to say there’s was not even one moment during the whole semester abroad in which I regret to choose Malaysia and the Limkokwing University for my semester abroad. Yes, you first have to get used to the way how Malays work and how slow things sometimes can go, but after a while you get used to it. Yes, the educational standard here is lower, but I’ve learned a lot during the courses and even outside the courses while meeting people from all over the world. Which is exactly one of the main points why I would recommend this University. The internationality and the way how all the cultures work together is unique.
In University they do not only celebrate Malaysian holidays, but also celebrate African and other Asian festivals. Different to Germany where you find mostly German students in University you find students from all over the world and definitely meet a lot of people who are going to widen your horizon. It is amazing how we became friends with people from totally different cultural, religious and social background where we recognized that we so many things in common. I would say it was an advantage not to have that many European students at the Limkokwing University, because therefor we had to get in touch with other cultures. This is an irreplaceable experience that we are all glad for. Being an International Student Ambassador I already met a lot of students with different cultural background during the first weeks and felt very comfortable being part of the big Ambassador family.
Many of us already have visited the friends they made in Malaysia, and I am pretty sure that all of us will stay in touch with them for a long time!
It was a time nobody will ever forget!
We´re home since almost three months now but lets look back at what happened after we went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour.
Our last month in London was probably the busiest for most of us because we had to write papers, do presentations and study for exams so we didn´t do any big activities anymore. Nonetheless everyone did things outside of school.
Some of us went to the premiere of Mockingjay Part 1. They stood in the cold for hours to see the stars of the movie and everybody that went was glad that they did so.
Another thing that a lot of us did at some time was visiting the Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park. It is supposed to be a Christmas market but except for a small part it has not a lot in common with a German Christmas market. It rather is like a fair with a ferris wheel, a roller coaster and other rides. There is even a huge tent, much like at the Oktoberfest and similar fairs, where you could drink beer, eat something and a band played.
Us three ambassadors got invited to a nice dinner with Aisling, Lauren and Max. The food was really good and we talked about different Christmas traditions and, of course, our time in London. While this was a lot of fun it was also sad because it was the last time that the six of us got together.
We all had our ups and downs during our three months in London but I think it is safe to say that overall we all had a good time that we will always remember. In fact, some of us liked it so much that they already went back to visit friends they made during their stay 🙂