Studying abroad
Studying abroad – a boundless adventure
Jumping in at the deep end, becoming more self-confident, getting to know foreign cultures, making new friends. Six students report on the ‘time of their lives’ during their internship or semester abroad.
Going forth: foreign semesters in Thailand, Iceland, and Japan
Paula decided to study in Japan, Marie went to Thailand. And Tristan went to the far north – to Iceland. Outsiders tend to associate this country with fairies and trolls. And indeed many inhabitants of the small island nation are convinced that the landscape shaped by volcanoes, geysers, and lava fields offers refuge to fabulous creatures. “Even some people my age believe in them,” recounts Tristan Schnell. At the same time, such stories are good marketing fodder for the country, which is no larger than Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg combined.
The 24-year-old has been interested in mythological stories since childhood. After finishing his school leaving exams, he started a course in German philology at LMU, where he discovered medieval studies. After completing his bachelor’s degree, he enrolled for a master’s in Scandinavian studies with a focus on Old Norse. This made a foreign semester in Iceland the logical choice. Because the destination is out of the way and most of the island’s almost 400,000 inhabitants live in Reykjavik, the choice of the capital was a no-brainer.
Out of one’s comfort zone
Marie already knew before her studies that she wanted to do a semester abroad. In fact, this was one of the reasons why the business student chose LMU. “There’s simply the most travel options here,” reveals the 23-year-old. She wanted to go as far afield as possible – Europe was not on her radar – and eventually plumped for Bangkok in Thailand. “I just wanted to get out of my comfort zone and challenge myself,” says the Munich native. And it certainly was a challenge to live so far away from Germany for the first time – in another culture without family and friends.
I felt some trepidation. But I always had the feeling: I have to do this.
Paula Jobst actually wanted to go abroad straight after high school, but the Covid-19 pandemic threw a spanner in the works. So she started her biology studies at LMU. Yet she too always knew: “I want to go away soon – and as far as possible.” Because she did not have excellent grades, however, she did not think it would actually happen. And so it came as a surprise when she received the acceptance to study in Japan. “I felt some trepidation. But I always had the feeling: I have to do this.”
Whether online or in person: you have to seek advice early on.
Making friends in the knitting club
Making friends in the knitting club Tristan Schnell also felt some anxiety ahead of his departure. “I’d never been so far away on my own,” he explains. Moreover, he generally found it hard to meet new people, although he did have a lot of friends online. So not much changed for him at first. Nevertheless, he made the effort to make new friends in Iceland. This included joining a knitting club, where he got to know “a lot of nice grandmas.” This was great for practicing his Icelandic. And with greater fluency, he made more friends his own age.
I was able to practise my Icelandic with the nice grandmas in the knitting club.
Marie was really homesick. “Looking back, it was a mistake that my parents were there at the beginning,” explains the business student. This caused her to miss the decisive moment when all the exchange students met for the first time and formed groups. It was also unwise to have done so much facetiming and spent so much time on her smartphone. But fortunately over time, she got to know other students in her residence and in classes and lectures. “I was much too shy at the start,” she recalls. Today, she would just strike up conversations with people at a street-food stand.
Jetlag included
All beginnings are difficult Initially, Paula Jobst experienced a culture shock. “I had massive jetlag, it was stifling hot, and neither the manager of the dorm nor the Chinese and Japanese girls in my room were able to speak English.” Making new friends also proved tricky at first. But then everything clicked. In the orientation and Japanese courses at the university, she got to know international students who had similar interests and outlooks: “We like to travel, are open to others, but we also like being on our own. We want to see the whole world.”
We like to travel, are open to others, but we also like being on our own. We want to see the whole world.
Everybody finds it difficult at the beginning, says Philippa Menzel from the International Office. “Arriving in a completely alien culture can be overwhelming – even for the most cosmopolitan among us!” People who do not want to travel so far can have intercultural experiences in Europe. Naturally, when you are homesick, it helps to maintain contact with people you know. “Yet it’s a good idea to join a club or association in the host country to ensure that you get the best out of your time abroad by making personal relationships.”
Networking and seizing opportunities
Why not stay two semesters?
According to Tristan Schnell, other students interested in spending a semester in Iceland need not worry about the language. The master’s course is in English, almost everybody speaks English, and a large part of the other foreign students come from the United States. He himself stayed for two semesters. “I wanted to see the country in the light as well!” he jokes, alluding to the fact that the sun shines for just a few hours a day during the Icelandic winter. The LMU International Office confirms that two semesters can enrich and deepen the student’s experience.
Classes were in English and the level wasn’t any more difficult than here.
For Marie in Bangkok, it was a similar story: “Classes were in English and the level wasn’t any more difficult than here,” she says. Organization was not a problem either so long as you regularly check your emails. A dedicated supervisor always answered questions immediately. This is not surprising, as Thai students pay 2,000 euros per semester at Chulalongkorn University. Marie explains that grades are made up of assignments and group projects – and not based on final exams as in LMU. When all her work was submitted, she took the opportunity to explore Thailand.
Language skills at B2 level
Master’s or doctorate abroad
Paula Jobst also had positive experiences in Japan. “Everything is more orderly there, nobody barges into you, nobody phones on the train. Everybody is quiet and respects the privacy of others. I find that absolutely fascinating.” She also always felt safe as a woman in the big city – unlike in Munich, where she sometimes feels uneasy at night. She attended the seminar Women and Science, which she describes as “the best course I ever did.” At the same time, it became clear to her what area she would like to specialize in: neuroscience. “I’ve bulked up my knowledge in some areas of my studies.” She particularly liked the small class sizes of well under 30 students at the university. She would really like to return to Japan, although not for good – just to do a master’s.
Everything is more orderly there, nobody barges into you, nobody phones on the train.
Tristan Schnell can easily imagine returning to Iceland for a binational doctorate and working there for a few years. The 24-year-old describes the admin involved in his semester abroad as “manageable.” For one semester, you do not require a visa. If you are staying for longer than six months, you need to prove, among other things, that you have at least 5,000 euros. Certainly, Iceland is not cheap. Although he received an Erasmus grant for students from non-academic households of 800 euros, he still had to stretch his money. “Many of my fellow students took up side jobs in tourism,” he recalls, adding that for EU citizens this was not a problem.
A wide range of funding formats
Using Erasmus funding opportunities
“As a general rule, students are allowed to have jobs while studying abroad on Erasmus grants,” confirms Menzel from the International Office. But the main focus of an Erasmus semester should be on studying and university. “For this reason, the Erasmus+ program in Germany includes funding options for students who have to give up their job at home to study abroad.”
As a general rule, students are allowed to have jobs while studying abroad on Erasmus grants.
Marie learned a lot of useful information from the stories of students who had gone before her. Meanwhile, the student representatives helped her find an apartment and the International Office helped her prepare her courses. She advises others to check beforehand whether the courses at the respective university are recognized in Germany.
Checking whether courses are recognized
Students should clarify this issue punctually so as to avoid disappointments, confirms Menzel. “Before you study at a university abroad, you generally sign a document known as a learning agreement.” This lists which courses you will attend and which are recognized by LMU. Once that is clarified, however, there is nothing in the way of students doing a semester abroad.
Right after her acceptance, Paula Jobst received a list with the email addresses of other foreign students from the International Office. She also attended an intercultural preparation course. Particularly helpful to the biology student was a questions-and-answers session with students who had already been to Japan. “We were able to talk about everything: accommodation, health insurance, credit cards, travel insurance – this took a lot of stress off my shoulders.”
Credit from abroad – take your ECTS points with you
Friends for life and unforgettable memories
Taking the plunge, becoming more self-confident, and learning from mistakes: this is what studying abroad is all about, alongside the professional advantages. Marie, too, ended up having the time of her life. “In the second half of the semester, I made friends for life,” reports the 23-year-old. They came from all over the world and a wide range of cultural backgrounds. She has already met up with six of them in the few months since her return. She has many precious memories of her time in Thailand, such as the scooter excursions on various islands. “Or the time a student came crashing through the roof of the student residence!” she laughs.
But now I know: I can live anywhere in the world.
As well as learning a lot in classrooms and lecture halls, Paula Jobst learned a lot of lessons for life: “I always thought that studying in Japan would be a big step. And it certainly was. But now I know: I can live anywhere in the world.” Hiking with friends, sitting on the beach with a bottle of beer watching the sun go down: these were things that were lots of fun to do with others. But she also traveled alone, to an island for five days. “That was the loveliest time of all!” Her tip is not just to go to tourist hotspots, but also to travel to the north and the south of the country. “In this way, you get to know a lot of cultural differences.”
Being aware of cultural differences
Tristan Schnell also has tips for other students: “Go on a lot of trips.” Visit the sites of the Old Norse sagas, for example, or travel along the famous Ring Road. Moreover, people should not be afraid of Icelandic cuisine. Although there are specialties like the pungent fermented shark – or rotten shark as it has been irreverently dubbed – “they only offer that to tourists,” he chuckles.
All three of the students agree that studying abroad is the best. “I’d recommend it to anyone,” they say in unison. “It’s a wonderful experience.”
Facts about studying abroad
Internships in Romania, Azerbaijan, and Albania
Legend has it that the darkly romantic Bran Castle in Transylvania was the home of Count Dracula. In reality, the notorious Vlad the Impaler – or Vlad Dracula as he was also known – had nothing to do with the castle, as historians have established with certainty.
This does not bother Benedikt Birnbach one bit. “I just loved it,” he reports. Visiting the castle was one of many highlights of his time in Romania. Alongside his internship duties at the university hospital in Cluj-Napoca in northern Romania, the young doctor had opportunities to explore the multifaceted country.
Language skills required
Birnbach spent six month of his practical year at the hospital in Cluj-Napoca: four in surgery and two in cardiology. “I was able to decide pretty much myself which operations I attended,” says Birnbach. As the only intern in a small team, he also had the opportunity to assist and ask many questions. “I was really fortunate, especially as the hospital does orthopedic and endocrinological operations in addition to general surgery.”
Although he could communicate with doctors, professors, and fellow students in English for the most part, Birnbach also had to learn Romanian. “Many patients in the hospital are from the countryside and only speak Romanian,” says Birnbach. Happily, he was able to pick up the language quickly thanks to Duolingo and his prior knowledge of French and Spanish – both Romance languages like Romanian.
Many patients in the hospital are from the countryside and only speak Romanian.
Minimum B1
“If you want to do an internship abroad, you should have a minimum level of B1 in the relevant language,” emphasizes Michael Brielmaier from LMU Career Services , who helped Benedikt Birnbach arrange his internship. “However, there are also sectors where you can work completely in English without any problems. The working language and the language of the country do not always have to coincide, which opens up further opportunities,” says the expert. But in sectors where contact with the broader population is essential – such as medicine – you have to be fluent in the native language.
Overcoming boundaries through culture
When Paula Ruppert decided to do an internship in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, she already had a good command of Russian. She is doing a master’s degree in Eastern European Studies at LMU and through her stay in the metropolis on the Caspian Sea, she completed the course’s mandatory internship. Yet “mandatory” does not really cover her case – four weeks would have been enough for that. Ruppert decided to stay for six months because the time in Azerbaijan was less of an obligation for her than a deeply-felt cultural exchange.
“I’m convinced that we can overcome supposed boundaries through culture,” says Paula. She observes that language helps us develop understanding for others and facilitates exchange on equal terms.
I had a good feeling right from the start.
“Because I speak Russian, that ruled out the Balkan countries. And because of the war, that ruled out Russia. So I read up on five former Soviet republics and went for Baku.” One reason for this decision was the fact that Paula Ruppert’s grandparents had been there and had raved about the city and the country. Coming from a family of musicians, the cultural life particularly appealed to her – and thanks to a careers fair organized by LMU Career Services, she was able to find a job at the Azerbaijan Language Learning Center (SLZ) through the Goethe Institute: “That was exactly the right thing for me! I knew right away I wanted to work there,” says Ruppert. “Without having too many preconceived ideas, I had a good feeling right from the start.”
Going abroad with Erasmus+, PROMOS, and co.
While Benedikt Birnbach traveled to Romania on an Erasmus+ scholarship, Paula Ruppert’s trip was funded by a PROMOS scholarship. “This funding program is available only for internships outside of Europe,” says Michael Brielmaier from the Careers Service. Some students go abroad on a PROMOS scholarship. The majority, however, avail of Erasmus+ funding, which is designed especially for EU countries – as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey.
There is also funding available, explains Brielmaier, for sustainable travel to the internship location – which comes under the rubric of “green travel.” And equal opportunities are furthered through special funding for students with chronic illnesses or disabilities, for students who are parents, and for students from non-academic households.
Off to Lake Ohrid on “PrimA”
There is also an LMU funding program for student teachers who want to do traineeships abroad, which is administered by the internship office of the Munich Center for Teacher Education (MZL). The program, which goes by the name of “PrimA,” has been running for the past 15 years or so and is one of the most popular routes for student teachers at LMU to acquire foreign experiences. “We now have 21 partner schools all over the world – from Finland and Italy to Tanzania and Guatemala, to Australia and Singapore,” explains the head of the internship office, Dr. Clemens Maria Schlegel. “And this year, we’re adding two new schools.”
I actually always wanted to go to Albania one day.
Student teacher Laurent Stein-Imart went to Albania on a PrimA scholarship. The 30-year-old was able to sit in on classes for four weeks last year at the private Nehemia School in Buçimas, close to the North Macedonian border. The school is situated on the shores of Lake Ohrid, with stunning views of the mountains. “I actually always wanted to go to Albania one day,” he says. “One of my best friends growing up comes from neighboring Kosovo and told me a lot about it.”
Nehemia School was one of the very first cooperating institutions to sign up for the PrimA program. The students from Munich, Stein-Imart among them, often live in a little student residence on campus.
“Nehemia offered me the opportunity to also teach older grades,” explains the student elementary school teacher. The grounds contain not only an elementary school, but also a kindergarten, a high school, and a small university.
“At the beginning, we exchange students observed the lessons from the back rows – but over time that got boring” – especially as the teaching system in Albania is laid down rigidly by the education ministry. “There are the most punctilious instructions as to what should be taught when. Perhaps a relic from the days of Communism?” Although the teachers did not always agree with everything, they were trapped in their patterns after years in the job.
There are the most punctilious instructions as to what should be taught when.
Stein-Imart and his fellow foreign students started to give their own classes – in physical education, English, and German. They tried to introduce newer educational methods from their studies and to loosen up the lessons with games. “Simple games like matching pairs and bingo brought variety and fun to the classroom and went down well,” says Stein-Imart. “And they helped us communicate. Most of the elementary school children in particular spoke hardly any German, and of course we didn’t speak Albanian!”
Meanwhile, Paula Ruppert’s pupils at the Language Learning Center in Baku were introduced to “Mensch ärgere dich nicht,” a classic German board game similar to Ludo and Parcheesi. The student’s task was to prepare young people linguistically for studying abroad. She was given a lot of freedom to design lessons.
“For example, we chatted about Christmas and Easter or, as I mentioned, played German board games,” says Ruppert. She also used glove puppets as a teaching aid in conversation classes: “Children come up with good ideas and are very creative,” she observes. And she herself learned a lot of new things during her stay.
Getting to know the country
The students also learned new things in their everyday lives abroad. Laurent Stein-Imart traveled round the country, visiting Albania’s extended coastline and helping with the potato harvest. “I can only recommend the country,” he emphasized. “Albania’s landscapes are just beautiful. Moreover, it’s not very touristy and it’s suitable for students with limited budgets.”
Equally, the Romanian countryside, its wildness and isolation, captivated Benedikt Birnbach. Among other adventures, he traveled the celebrated Transfăgărășan – a mountain pass across the Făgăraș range in the Southern Carpathians – where he saw bears and hiked through the lonely forests. And that is not all: “Together with other Erasmus students, I rented a cabin in the mountains, which had a traditional hot tub known as a ‘ciubar.’ I’d definitely recommend that to anyone.” He also spent relaxing days away from the tourist hordes at Lake Tarnita, which is located not far from Cluj-Napoca.
I rented a cabin in the mountains, which had a traditional hot tub.
The Language Learning Center in Baku offered excursions – including to places that are still shaped by German culture. “The Germans brought wine-growing to Azerbaijan and there are many buildings there today that recall German architecture,” explains Paula Ruppert, who accompanied a school class on a cultural exchange and hired a car and traveled the country with a fellow student: “It’s an unbelievably varied country, both in terms of the people and the landscape. There are high mountain ranges, steppes, and various climate zones.”
Friendliness and openness instead of intercultural pitfalls
All three of them perceived the local people as very positive, friendly, and helpful. Paula Ruppert even found a “second family” in her landlady and her relatives.
However, there were stark differences in how the local people saw their own country and their role in it. While Benedikt Birnbach saw Romanians as being very forward-looking and bullish about the future, Stein-Imart observed a different trend in Albania – particularly after he had spoken with older pupils about their plans for when they leave school. “Most of them want to leave the country – due to corruption, criminality, and the poor economic situation in Albania,” he reports. “I found it shocking that even the students of an internationally networked and well equipped private school want to leave the country – it certainly points to scale of the problems in Albania.”
Every practical experience abroad is valuable.
For the students, the time they spent in the various host countries was an instructive and unforgettable experience in every respect, which will also benefit them going forward – even more so because they chose a country apart from the classic internship destinations like France, Austria, Italy, or Sweden. “For one thing, the selection process is less competitive than for cities like Paris and Barcelona,” says Michael Brielmaier. “And the living costs and rents are also generally lower in less sought-after destinations.” But even more important than those ephemeral benefits is the “unique selling point” when applying for jobs: “Job experience in Baku, for example, stands out on a CV more than an internship in Germany or a major western European city. As a general rule, however: every practical experience – especially abroad – is well worth it!”
Good reasons, then, for you to consider destinations off the beaten track.
Facts and figures about internships abroad
Erasmus+ Funding
Equal opportunities
Students or doctoral candidates with disabilities or chronic illnesses, students from non-academic households, students with jobs, and students with children can apply for additional funding in the interests of equal opportunities.
Green Travel
Students who choose sustainable ways of getting to their internship destination can apply for the funding of additional travel days. Their journeys must meet the green travel requirements of the Erasmus+ program, which stipulates that more than 50 percent of the journey distance must be covered using low-emissions modes of transport such as trains and buses.
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