We have been on Campus for 11 weeks now and even though it feels like home, time has gone by far too quickly. In three weeks our time here at the ICMS College has come to an end and everyone will go his or her own way. This is also a bit sad because we all met great people from so many countries. However, we established friendships and try to maintain them. Some of us are planning on travelling through Australia while others cannot wait to come home to their friends and families and celebrate Christmas there. It is a weird feeling to see Christmas trees next to Palm trees in the city centre of Sydney and Manly, but to be honest – we could get used to this.

The weather in the last couple of weeks was fantastic and we were able to relax at the beach after class and enjoy barbecues while watching the sunset. Many of us went to Cairns, Melbourne, Perth or the Goldcoast to see more of Australia.
The ICMS arranged during our stay many events and partys with themes such as „German Oktoberfest“, „Beauty and the Geek“ or Halloween.

Moreover, the Student Representative Council has organised a lot of exciting activities to take part in. For example a wine tasting tour in the Hunter Valley to experience the wine culture of Australia. Another traditional activity is the futsal cup every Monday, where different  teams play against each other. The final in week 11 is one of the biggest highlights. By the way, the german team is called: Inglourious Beerstars. In short: Being here never gets boring because there is always something going on.

However, since we are also here to learn and to study, we want to tell you a little bit about the way of studying in Australia. We  have four classes: Cross Cultural Management, Business Economics, Business Research Project and Marketing. To make sure, that we understand everything that was taught in the lectures, we had tutorials the day after where we deepened our new knowledge.

Besides, during the term we steadily had to take tests. Also we had to hand in assignments for each subject. Due to this, many sundays and nights were spent in the computer room. However, this sounds worse than it actually was. Since we all had to do the same assignments and all felt the same way, a feeling of togetherness has been established. We helped each other out and motivated ourselves. In two weeks we have final exams coming up and after that we will leave this wonderful place.

90 days, 90 damn days are gone here in South Korea, and as everybody else I feel like these last few weeks will be way to short. My to-long-to-do-list-is-never-ending, not sure if due to my endless curiosity or because Korea has just to much to offer?! However, as promised in my previous post about Seoul I will make sure you will not have the same issues, and you will be better organised ones landed in the Kimbap land.

The first two weeks will be characterised by an overwhelming feeling, a mix of cultural shock and hyperactivity that will be difficult to control. This state of mind will probably lead you to either run a marathon trying to see A N Y T H I N G having an icon on the map or lock yourself inside by sticking to the same few things you understood. Both are just part of this stage and fine.

Soon you will feel comfortable by leaving that map at your guest house, and believe it or not you will call it soon home. Thanks to all the new local and international new friends you will be naturally becoming comfortable, even if miles away. While meeting them around the endless locations that the city has to offer, you will be finding a new routine like Andes wrote. Today I will also like to mention what I have learned and observed about the Korean culture, I will list a few surviving trip tips and leave you a few images.

Have I already mentioned how cool our campus is?! After a few weeks you will stop getting lost at Kookmin University and you will start making more connections with local and international students, (by the way, here a few campus life images). The excursion offered by Kookmin University to the Hangil Book Museum was organised by our always helpful and kind coordinator Prof. Uhm. An afternoon to connect with a bunch of local students that planned their upcoming exchange semester in Germany.

A Korean styled bus drove us an hour or so north, through the usual busy highway, to Paju. Sometimes you just need those few minutes to connect with someone else, and running around the campus does not always mean to have this chance. Might sound contradictory to what I have stated above, but how can you meet all 17000 students attending the 13 colleges and 13 graduate schools? We literally walked through the birth of books, starting with mankind’s best-selling “Bible” (the Bible) to Albrecht Dürer, Arabian Night, Shakespeare’s Works, and Don Quixote.

A culturally oriented Saturday afternoon between a guided tour offered by the museum and a creative workshop ended in the best way we could wish. Pizza and beers is an internationally well appreciated kombo, and of course dining together the most pleasant way to exchange tips of both living in Korea and in Germany. Will be soon their turn, a sort of history repeating worldwide. Where ever you decide to move you are leaving your beloved ones and your daily life for something of totally unknown and exciting. No matter where you are from, and which is your destination, or what you think to know about your journey. We all fear the same things, someone might be more outgoing but a point of reference in your new hosting country might make the difference, even if s/he will not turn out doing anything of significant.

The idea of having a known face, or name, or institution gives you a sort of intangible connection and a feeling of safety. Feel blessed about this, (I apologise for the following drop-off topic), not everybody has the chance to choose where to go, or has someone or a place to stay in his country of destination.

These words are for all of you experiencing this life changing trip, take a second to put someone else shoes and be even more grateful about the chance you are given. Secondly, ones home remember these words and your fears when reading the stories of the thousands of people arrived in Europe while we were abroad, and you know what I am talking about. Remember also that feeling while you are trying to read a map or a menu, and you do not understand a word, and no one around you speacks a common language?! Closed brackets.

Back to Paju, thank you for organising this excursion, wish we could do the same back in our country! Another networking opportunity was given by Prof. Park, our International Marketing teacher that promoted this get-together evening. Thank you very much because we rarely have the opportunity to mingle and get to know all of our class mates. Do you remember the Buddy program back in Germany? Here you can apply for a similar activity and I can say that they take it a bit more seriously, and I definitely suggest you to sign up for it when you will fill in your application form at Kookmin University. I can definitely say that I feel welcomed here! Ps. Thanks Jungjong Park for sorting out my delivery nightmares.

Let us get to some trip tips!

Seoul is quite big, and you will have lectures 4/5 days a week, so choose well youraccomodation because might take you 2 hours by public transportation. For instance, the campus is located in the northern part close to the Bukhansan Mt., and any area in the nearby means 30-45 minutes of subway and bus. Check well where the right subway is when picking, Gireum (where the off-campus dormitory is) and Hyehwa are good options. The International office will forward you our list of accomodations with a few good hints.

You will learn how the rule of the first arrived, first served is key in this country. Arriving means landing in either Incheon or Gimpo Airport (closer to the city center), both are well connected via train, and honestly you do not need a taxi. In general South Korea does not require much pre-planning, I honestly did not do anything a part the mandatory vaccination demanded from University.

A week after arrival we were offered by the University a Korean prepaid Sim card for KRW 30000 (about € 25,00). I personally suggest to get a Korean number if you do not have an amazing roaming contract. Public transportations are quite easy, and I personally never had problems except for the closing time at night, how comes that such a metropolitan centre shuts down at 23:30? But taxi are quite cheap, not so much at night on weekends because you will need to bargain. Be ready to have people around you 24/7, I mean that you will rarely walk on a desert street at list is 5 in the morning (and maybe not even then). If you are looking for some peace do not think to find the European meaning of it on the mountains during weekends, gonna be crowded even there. But honestly you can discover some peaceful places because seems like there is enough space for everyone. I got a feeling about the city by taking a very touristic hop-in-hop-off bus tour during the first 48h in Korea. I realised then that even touristic activities might not be translated in to English, be prepared.

I have already mentioned in my previous post how the language barrier will be the biggest to overcome. I would have started studying Hangul, the alphabet, before departure if I would have known. It is not so difficult and helps you read signs and restaurants names for instance, but you can survive also without it. I wish I could have taken the Basic Korean course, if you have the chance sign in for it! You can do anything you wish here, from cultural to outdoor activities, gastronomic or shopping seekers will feel quite full filled. During your semester you will be quite busy due to assignments, in fact they are more likely to give home work and you will have mandatory group works.

This to say that might be smart arriving a week or two before starting semester or leave one or two weeks after the examination period. I did not do either of the above and I am trying to squeeze more than I can on weekends. Chuseok, the Harvest Moon Festival or the Korean thanksgiving will happen in the mid-end of September and will be your longest holiday.

If you are planning to go somewhere during those day remember to plan it  in advance, all Korea will be moving then! I recommend to check a guide such as Lonely Planet to get inspired and plan your stay according to your interests. The South Korean official website is well organised and very helpful, a good guide where to find all events and hints is SEOUL magazine. In my opinion the two must trips you need to do are a weekend to Busan and more than 48h in Jeju island! I hope to make to a temple stay but is not available on demand and I am running out of time.

About the culture

I have been observing carefully people’s behaviour because I love doing this. I could sit for hours just staring at people, and here you never get bored. The following words are not judgmental but a collection of impressions and observations, please do not take them as an offense! My main goal while travelling is understanding different ways of living and different cultures. I am writing this because I have learned that stating a personal opinion can be seen as a rude attitude here, while for me is the opposite, and I just want to describe what I have noticed as common behaviours in Korea. Of course it is impossible and superficial to generalise. First of all I found some similarities to my Italian roots such as the family-community feeling of dining together sharing food. They might be shy on first sight, but they will be outgoing and warm as soon they get to know you and feel comfortable being loud as south Europeans. Ones again, you can not generalise, neither here or elsewhere but I saw some traits that became so common to almost be rule.

Koreans give a big value to outer appearance, I have never seen so many mirrors everywhere in the subway, around campus, I have seen people looking for reflections anywhere. Doing your make-up in public is not a big deal, you can walk to uni while wearing a curler, sit having lunch while fixing your foundation and moreover comb your hair. Beauty products have a big market in Korea, and honestly I have to admit that the quality is really good! But being pail is a sign of beauty, so if you thing to find a foundation with an European colour palette forget about it. This to say that people here avoid sun and when I say this I mean it, I have never seen such an amount of umbrellas for both sun and rain, I have never seen before so many interesting visor hats while hiking.

The colour of your skin defines your social status, being tan means having farming roots and people still have this beauty benchmark. While I was laying on Busan’s beach I felt an alien so I am sure about what I am writing, on the same hand decency is very important so bikini are a bit overlooked. However, everybody is very respectful and kind so no one would never say anything as long you behave with modesty (avoid walking around shirtless while in a seaside town). Spitting is totally ok, and it took me a week to get used to it. Koreans love music, you will meet people playing loud music while hiking in the woods.

Fashion is something of notable, I would have never imagined such a attention to details and innovative design. A step further in to this is the couple fashion, you will get used seeing matched outfits, from top to bottom and even the underwear some times (I just saw it in stores). A quite interesting contrast to this is the usage of home shoes (real home shoes, not sandals) out from you apartment, now that Winter has arrived I have seen some new versions to adapt to the climate. Being a collectivistic culture the sharing concept and the “we” state of mind defines relationships, I mean that you will be given straws if you are 2 people ordering a cola or looked weird while buying a single ticket to the cinema. This last thing might not be connected with collectivism but surely is with national habits, if you are single you will feel even more single. I do not have a problem with it but hey Korea, this is not a crime! No offense again, but I have never felt weird about it until arriving here. It makes me smile but sometimes can get on your nerves when 3 restaurants out of 4 tell you that they do not serve 1-person dish. This goes back to the sharing concept of dining, people here sit at tables and order big portions that will stay at the center of the table so obviously being alone makes it quite difficult. And yes, delivery is a must do seen you can get your warm meal anywhere, even without living the bench at almost any park.

We do have this habit in Europe too, but here starring at your smartphone can get to its extreme, even while exercising at the gym. Tech connected is to notice that Naver is the main search engine and KakaoTalk the WhatsApp substitute. This last App is amazing, it is a mixture between a messaging platform, SNS and e-shop. Here you can find some good tips about Apps helping your life while here in Seoul. If you are staying for a longer period just get yourself a bank account and pay anywhere with card or smartphone.

Food

Food overall is a big deal, and it is a matter of social skills, an opportunity to show how you bring respect and enjoy someone’s company. In a way you might think that we do the same but you have to add ritually on top of it. However, portions are huge and you will be surprised from the amount of waste and wonder how comes the majority is thin compared to an European average.

Another similarity to Italians comes with the love for coffee, even though espresso is quite different. They are enjoying pastry’s or any sweet delicacy, you will find so many bakery and confectionary stores that you will wonder how they can all survive. Baseball is followed more than soccer, people are very passionated about it and even university tournaments can be very crowded.

However, one of the national activities in hiking, and about this I found a lot of similarities with the German culture. People love to be equipped, and when I say it I mean it, I have never seen such a high density of outdoor shops. A healthy lifestyle is anyhow directly connected however with Soju consumption.

A rice liquor that will surely become a must throughout your stay. You will learn that you never pour it in your own glass, your friend or the younger one will do it and you are expected to do so for the others. There are many rules while spending time with alder people, and this does not necessarily mean someone of your parents age. However it does not apply to foreigns, but is still interesting to observe how respect in a mandatory aspect of civil life. When in a group, the elder one will make decisions that sometimes you will follow without questioning. I have to say that is quite nice to meet people that are used making decisions instead of constantly being undecided.

A few other things

Education is a life priority, starts at primary school where children follow intense training, and they really challenge each other later in life when they have to complete their entry test for college. Live gigs and shows such as musicals are very popular. From what I saw people follow rules except while driving. This side of Koreans displays some hardcore trait (sorry but this is the truth) of bus drivers and bikers, it is quite bizzarre to even think at certain “creative” ways of crossing a walking path, watch out while crossing  the streets.

Public toilets are everywhere, very handy. This last aspect might sound harsh but I do not want to mean it in a negative way, just how to deal with it while having a different background. This to say that you can not always trust a “yes”, make sure to get them paraphrase what you said to have an almost certainty of being on the same page. There is always room for misinterpretation and their being polite might not push them to do any clarifying question.

One of the last lovely traits is what I call the “Oooh” effect, when stating or mentioning something special a spontaneous choir will confirm that you just said or did something uncommon. And then I met few people that spontaneously gifted me with some food while I was either hiking or in a Jjimjilbang, the typical spa. If I understood properly is a real way of keeping good kibun (mood or feeling of being in a comfortable state of mind), and being courteous according to korea4expats. Lastly, you can get food delivery anywhere you are, I mean it literally!

A few weeks ago a thought came in my, being on the other side of the world gives you a sort of blank page to write, up to you what you want to do of it. After all no one has any idea about who you are, this does not mean that I started playing any weird game, (just making sure you get the point), but I surely started thinking that making the best out of every day would have been the best choice. This to say that by leaving my comfort zone back in Europe I have left behind a bunch of things that occupied most of my time.

I have now the opportunity to do exclusively what I want, without forgetting my obligations of course. Might be obvious but it took me a while to realise and fully embrace it. It is so easy to lay back, do not do it, to get lazy, force yourself to go out and meet new people and the new culture, you are here now! Your buddies are amazing, but do not miss out discovering stuff on your own. There is nothing better than achieving something by yourself, either sitting down alone at the restaurant ordering some impossible-to-pronounce dish or making a weekend plan outside the city. Getting to a conclusion of my post, I would really thank everybody I met throughout my stay because so far is been fantastic.

I truly love Korea and I know that I will be leaving a piece of my heart here when getting on the plane. The kindness of the people and the empathy that I found here are something of special. I guess you are taught to observe your neighbour to leave in harmony with the community. When it comes to personal relationships and friendship I realised how my Koreans friend would be able to acknowledge traits of my personality way earlier than western peers.

I have been surprised about how many times someone would understand my needs before even talking, and I love this attention to many facet of the daily life. In my next, and last post I will be writing about campus life and a course overview adding a few feedbacks from the the MHMK students with their tips. And let me know by leaving a comment here below if there is anything you would like me to write about! Enjoy some travelling images here below.

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Today I want to introduce you to Ireland my abroad country. Now we have been in Dublin for about two months and we have seen a lot of the city and the landscape of Ireland. Fortunately, we have free time at the weekend to discover the Island.

In the following text I will show you nice pictures and impressions about my second home Ireland.

First of all I present you the nice city of Dublin and the wonderful, big and colorful Saint Stephen´s Green Park. It is placed in the centrum of Dublin close to the mall and different stores. There are many families and friends, who enjoy their free time on the meadow of the park. You can go through the park or you can sit on a bench enjoying the nature. Especially, the flowers are really colorful and impressive. The fact that there is such a green place in the town, hidden by the stressfull citylife, surprised me. The quiet place invites many people.

Furthermore, there are some special landscapes, which my friends and I visited. These locations are called Glendalough,Wicklow Mountains, Aran Island and Howth.

Travelling to Howth takes one hour from Dublin with the train. Howth has a nice hike path along the coast. It is like a village with a lot of nice restaurants and cafes. If you want to eat fresh fish, I would recommend you the restaurants at the harbor. We made a lovely boat trip around a little island in front of the coast of Howth. There we saw a lot of seagulls and the beautiful landscape of the island.

Aran Island is at the west coast of Ireland. There are beautiful cliffs and you can have a far view over the pacific. Sometimes the weather is so windy and murky that you can´t see the sea. But luckily we had good weather! If you want to feel free and take some great pictures, you have to travel to Aran Island! Especially, when you like the sea and big waves this is the right place for you.

Glendalough has a wonderful lake with great mountains around. The landscape inspires a lot of tourists to hike through the forest and on the mountains. The cooperation between the lake, forest and mountains are present a special view for taking pictures and awesome memories.

Moreover there is a nice river in Dublin. The smaller river is close to the Griffith College. You can have a good run while enjoying a nice view on the water. The water is really clear because you can see the bottom of the river. A lot of swans live on this river. That’s why this place spreads a romantic feeling, as well.

The other river is in the centrum of Dublin and is called Liffey. There are a lot of old and wonderful bridges, which have a cute design. This river is much bigger than the small river next to Griffith College. The Liffey opens in the Atlantic Ocean. So you can follow the river till Dublin´s Harbor. In the night there is a special view on the river. The light of the lanterns reflects in the water.

On the trip through the Nationalpark in the Wicklow Mountains we saw the famous bridge from the movie “PS: I love you”. We drove with a tourist bus organisation and the trip costs one day. The busdriver made a lot of stops that we had the opportunity to take nice pictures. You can see in the movie that the nature is really typical Irish and romantic.

The bridge is the place, where the main characters of the movie met for the first time. Especially, in the summer all flowers have the purple color as in the movie. Wherever you have a look over the landscape, it is so wide and open that you could feel the freedom of the nature. The Wicklow Mountains are roughly 500 meters high. If you stand on the mountain you will have a beautiful view over the amazing landscape of Wicklow. On the highest point the Wicklow Mountains are 925 meters high.

Nightlife in Dublin

Finally, I want to give you some impressions of the nightlife in Dublin.
There are many opportunities for people going out and having an unforgettable night.

In “Lillie Bordello” we had a special motto night with the topic “Great Gatsby”. So we wore fashionable dresses from this period of time. Following there are some pictures of the event. The location was nice and suitable decorated in a 20’s way. The decoration consists of red carpets, wonderful chandelier and ornate mirrors. It was an awesome experience.

Another great option is visiting the district “Temple Bar”. There are different pubs and clubs compromised on a small area. The most famous bar is the Temple Bar itself. There you can find live music on a little stage. This place is a must see in Dublin, due to this you could meet a lot of Irish people and international tourists. The people are always friendly and outgoing.

The “Fitz-Simons” is a big pub and club with three different floors and a comfortable roof top terrace. The main stage is much bigger than in “Temple Bar” and you can meet friendly people all around. Especially, the traditional Irish folk music is awesome! The musicians will be changed every night; thereby every night will be different and special.

Sometimes they combine the traditional music with charts and modern songs. That’s why this place is for each kind of generation. If you don’t like live music, “Fitz-Simons” offers in the first floor charts music played by DJ’s and in the basement you can find a club with house music and techno.

Now there is just one month left before we are going home to Germany for Christmas. To summarize our experiences and the life in Dublin, we made a good choice with this country and city. The atmosphere is really familiar and nice.

We are happy to have the opportunity to experience a semester abroad at the Griffith College in Dublin!

I hope you will like my texts and pictures. Thanks for reading!
Many greetings from Ireland!

The weather is (unlikely for early November) very good and at 20-25 degrees everyone likes to go out and enjoy time with friends doing sports. Madrid is a city of sports and offers opportunities for everybody to be active. At the UFV some of our fellow students became members in the university teams or started doing other sports on a regular basis. From Football, Volleyball, Basketball to Tennis and Pádel many different sports offer the opportunity to be an important part of the team or just for fun.

Besides the sport at university the professional sport is, like in Germany, a central theme in society.

Especially football is always an object of discussions and reporting´s in the news. Real Madrid F.C., Atlético Madrid and Rayo Vallecano are the most famous football clubs of Madrid who all play in “Primera División”, the first football league of Spain. But also the FC Getafe, located in the town Getafe near Madrid, is a well-known team. Real and Atlético are the biggest clubs and their rivalry is the main topic in the local (sports-orientated) media. Just the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona is more famous than any other in the football world. The Games between those teams are called „El Classico “and are a big event for the whole country. In a few days another „El Classico“ will be played in the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, the Stadium of Real Madrid.

Compared to Germany there a few differences in the behaviour of people regarding football. The focus of reporting is more about the individual players and the fans than in Germany. Players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar are not just seen as football players, the people look at them like they were heroes or gods. Especially Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the role models for Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. They are both judged and compared about their performances in the „Classicos“. There is always a big competition between those players and everyone is looking forward to the next big game on the 21.

Outdoor Sports

Besides the love for football, the local teams and their heroes, many Madrileños do other sports own their own. A good weather is always an invitation to do Outdoor-Sports. Running combined with fitness is very common in “El Retiro” Park and the “Casa de Campo” is a popular area for biking. But with the permanent view of the “Sierra de Guadarrama” at higher points of the city and suburbs, this mountain range is the main goal for every Weekend-Outdoor-Enthusiast.

Not only the locals, but also a few of us Macromedia Students took this opportunity a few times in the last 5-6 weeks. Getting there is easy with different busses, trains and even a rack railway included in the Cercanias-Network of Madrid. The “Sierra de Guadarrama” is about 50km away from Madrid offers a lot of activities through every season, from hiking and climbing to skiing or even paragliding.

This year’s autumn seems to be extraordinary warm which makes it perfect for a day-long hike in the beautiful colours of the season. But also the winter climate in general is very dry in central Spain which is promising good conditions for winter hiking, or skiing very high up. Whether you are looking for the loneliness of the highest peaks at Peñalara or the adventures and thrills of La Pedriza granitic range, a well-known rock climbing areal: We think the Sierra de Guadarrama is a bucket list item for every Macromedia Student in Madrid in the future.

The only downside of the winter-term is the early Dusk at around 6pm in November, which brought us an adventurous end of our Tour on Monday and you a slight delay of this blog. But the Sunset and the lights of Madrid from high above was definitely worth it.

Dominik & Nicolas

Starting with the city of Castellanza where the LIUC University is located as well as the campus residence, Carlo Pomini, where most of the students live.

Castellanza, or how the locals like to call it ‘Castellangeles’, referring to LA, is a typical small Italian city, really charming and cosy. Its location is in the very industrial province of Varese and Milan is 40 minutes train ride away while the Milan Malpensa Airport only 15 minutes. Neighborhood cities like Legnano and Busto Arsizio are a 5 minutes bus ride away and really nice to visit and hang out. Weekly clothes and food marked in Castellanza, Legnano and Busto Arsizio are a must for everyone wanting to get in touch with the Italian market culture and to get some nice food and clothes.

Castellanza also has its hot spots like The Uptown Café, where we like to get together to enjoy some Italian coffee, meal and cocktails. Popular bars are the Rex Bibendi and Talismano. Last but not least the Secret Room Club, which offers different kinds of music and events on different days.

The LIUC University is situated in an old reformed cotton mil. It has 3 Schools: Law, Industrial Engineering and Economics & Management. They offer bachelor and master level courses, which are either in Italian or English or both. The International Office of the LIUC is on of the most important place for the international students. They’re all very welcoming and helpful with any kind of requests. With the LIUC student card you get all sort of discounts at stores, bars, restaurant and services like renting a car in the cities of Castellanza, Legnano and Busto Arsizio.

One tip we would like to give to the new students is that you should join the ESN (Erasmus Student Network) group. The ESN is a non-profit student organization for abroad students to get to know the country they are studying in, as well as the other international students. The membership costs 10€ and they organize weekly activities that goes from small trips, to get together, to clubbing. Whenever the clubbing takes place in another city they organize transportation with a small fee to cover for transport and entry costs. During the orientation weeks they organized an international dinner, where everyone should bring something to eat from their home country and the welcoming dinner, which was included in the membership price.

The first trip the ESN organized was a weekend to Venice, Padua and Verona. In Venice we got to see a glass factory with a demonstration. Then we went sightseeing Venice with a rally organized by the ESN to show us the top spots of the city. Later we had some free time to eat and go shopping. Lastly we had a boat ride through the channels. The next day we went do Padua where we had another rally with the ESN group of Padua. Later that day we went to Verona where we saw the coliseum and Romeo and Juliet’s balcony.

Finally we can say that at the beginning we had some trouble with the language, as most locals don’t speak English. I was a great way to improve the Italian of those who were taking the Italian language course. Eventually everyone learned enough Italian words to get along here in Castellanza. The locals were mostly very welcoming and friendly even though they had some funny stereotypes thoughts of the German like we all just wear ‘Lederhosen’ and have dinner everyday at 6 pm. Lastly it has been a great experience so far and we learned so much already.

T.A. & E.B.

Altogether, we’re 68 Macromedia Students in Bangkok right now and after three months of studying and travelling, everybody has had different experiences in this city as well as in Asia so far, but there’s one point in which we all agree: Bangkok never gets boring. It’s a city of contrast, as it connects tradition and modern spirit, bargain and luxury, party feeling and Buddhist religion – all in once.

Culture

The most impressive sights and must-see attractions in Bangkok are the numerous temples spread around the metropolis. They clearly represent Buddhism in the most beautiful way and are always unique, individualized by characteristics such as decoration, type of construction and size. However, one of my favourite temples until now is “Wat Saket” or the so-called Golden Mount as you can see a lot from the big city when you’re on the top, plus the whole experience of walking upstairs is truly memorable.

Another great temple and therewith an escape from busy Bangkok is “Wat Pho” – the place where the 45m long reclining Buddha is lying – which is, seen in real life very impressive. There are insanely many of these pretty buildings around whole Bangkok, so that even we, as “long-term” students find it hard to discover each one of them during our stay, but therefore we always know what to do on a lazy Sunday when nothing is planned – visiting a temple!

University

The Chulalongkorn University is really ambitious to give us German students an understanding of Thai culture and people, that’s why we approximately have one university weekend-trip each month to different regions of Thailand. Last weekend we’ve been to Kanchanaburi – a province about four hours drive away from Bangkok – we had a lot of fun activities to do there, including water rafting, swimming and visiting a museum. It’s a great way to get to know the country and its people better and spend some time with all students from Macromedia over the weekend. Additionally, we were invited to a Thai-Class the other week and got to learn the most important phrases and useful words in Thai, taught from local students as our personal “Buddys”.

Actually, it’s very important to know at least the basic phrases in Thai, otherwise you’ll be lost in Bangkok as just people with higher education can speak English here, but the major part of society you’ll get in contact with in supermarkets, taxis/TukTuks or restaurants don’t understand a word in English. They’re just nodding and smiling – friendly as they are – when you’re trying to communicate with them. That’s sometimes really frustrating, but we got quickly used to it and are trying to speak with the few Thai-words we know and our hands – funnily enough, it’s working pretty  well this way!

Food

I guess everybody has – at least once – tried Thai food in Germany, but the original food here is still surprisingly different. Almost everything you’re eating is very spicy, even if you tell the vendors to add just “a little bit” of spicery – it’s still strong. You really have to stress that you want the dish without any chillies, pepper or the like, so that it’s getting bearable for European tongues – but then, you can truly enjoy Thai food as it’s delicious as well as pretty cheap.

Street vendors are literally found around every corner and are selling everything from soups, over vegetables and meat, to desserts in a high quality. Although you might think they’re not as hygienic as restaurants, they’re often even more careful and tidy. I think when you’re in Thailand, you’ll always find something that’s matching your taste and maybe discover unknown delicacy, you’ve never heard of before.

Travel

From Bangkok, you can easily travel around whole Asia, as flights are usually very cheap. Most of us have already seen several islands, travelled to different Asian countries or even flew to Australia.

My personal highlights are always the trips to beautiful islands in Thailand itself, as they’re reachable within a few hours, giving you the specific “holiday-feeling” as well as a good taint – and let’s be honest: what can you not love about an island trip? – beach, sun, coconut drinks and the sea – it’s all there waiting for you to enjoy. That’s truly the best way to take some time off from university and relax, even if it’s just for the weekend. My favourite places so far: Kho Chang, Kho Tao and Kho Samet – all stunning islands located in Thailand.

Nightlife

Bangkok is known for its crazy nightlife through several Hollywood movies, and they don’t exaggerate – you can truly party all night in this city. Although most of the clubs and bars are closing at 3am, there’re still some venues left to keep partying and dancing till the sun is getting up. The most special places to have a drink with friends are the numerous Rooftop Bars in Bangkok, which offer an impressive view over the whole city by night and very good cocktails that are – to be fair – super expensive as you’re secretly paying for the stunning sight. Nevertheless, this experience is totally worth its price!

All in all, I’m really glad that Bangkok turned out as my place to be for the semester abroad and I’m sure, I’ll never forget all the experiences that I’m making here – looking forward to the remaining six weeks!

(If you’re interested in more reports straight out of Bangkok and Asia, you’re welcome to visit my private Blog about the semester abroad in the country of smile)