Charlotte's Exchange to Hamburg University of Applied Sciences | Germany
My name is Charlotte Hanlin and I studied
abroad at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany Semester 2 of 2019.
At Murdoch University, I am studying Games Arts and Design.
The key factors for myself choosing to study at
Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW) were…
HAW university offered
many illustration and arts based units which were quite different to Murdoch. I
chose this university as I still wanted my main focus to be illustration, as it
is at Murdoch, but I wanted to branch out and try different ways of looking at
the subject and experience a different end product that wasn’t based around
games. My main draw to the university was being able to do a unit on children’s
book illustration. It had a very different work and feedback pipeline and was
something that I was keen to experience.
A little bit about Hamburg University of
Applied Sciences …
During my time at HAW I took a children’s book
illustration class that was based around the 2020 Bologna book illustration
competition. Although we had a deadline for the competition, the whole
experience was very chill. Everyone was split into groups, with the English
speaking exchange students put together so the teacher could speak English with
just us. We only had around 20 minutes of contact time with the teacher a week
(which weren’t even compulsory) where he would give feedback on the work we had
completed each week. This unit took a while to get used to as we had to
seriously manage our time management and not get too lazy with the lack of
teacher expectation. This teaching system was very much a shock to the system
but a great experience and lesson in self-management.
My second class was in creating comics about
the “unheimlich” (uncanny). This class was a bit harder for me as I was the
only exchange student there, and it was taught only in German. The teacher was
lovely and there was always someone willing to help translate, however it was
hard to piece some translations together and understand the full meaning behind
each lesson and the overall topic. I tried my best however, and produced the
best work I could with the information I could gather. This class had an
unpredictable timetable- some weeks it was cancelled out of the blue, other
weeks it started at a later time. It had me a bit turned around. But the
classes were always 3 hours when they were on, and it was very interesting to
see what the other students had created.
These two classes filled my credit quota;
however, I also attended a third class just for fun that taught me how to use
Procreate on the iPad. There were no assignments or deadlines in this class,
which made for a really openly creative atmosphere where we could create
anything, and the teacher would come around and help us where we needed. This
class was 3 hours on a Monday morning and really helped get my creative juices
flowing for the rest of the week.
A little about the city I lived in, Hamburg…
For
the 6 months that I was abroad, I lived in Hamburg, Germany. It’s at the top of
the country, and although it is a city, it had very cute small town vibes. The
public transport was quite wonderful. It was always clean and on time, and my
student transport card could get me all the way to small towns just outside of the
city in under 40 minutes. I had a station either side of my accommodation,
which really helped when it came to getting places on time, especially when it
got cold and you didn’t want to be walking outdoors for too long. I made
friends with a lovely group of girls and we would do most activities together,
including visiting some fun tourist traps, movie night Mondays, Mensa lunches
during the week after class, and Espresso House Sundays. Espresso House Sundays
occurred when we realized that everywhere was closed on a Sunday except for
some cafes and restaurants. This was a shock to all of us, as we all came from
countries where shops were open 7 days a week. Espresso house became our
favourite café as it had the best hot chocolates, the cosiest atmosphere, and
was close to all of us so that we could meet easily and do our uni work
together. The locals took a while to warm up to as their disposition seemed to
come with a hard exterior. I had to learn to interpret their mannerisms in a
different light and not compare them with the sunny dispositions of
Australians, and after realising that everyone seemed a lot friendlier.
The best parts of my experience…
One of
the best parts of my exchange experience was being able to meet a lot of new
people from different countries and learn about their cultures. My group of
friends included people from Spain, the Netherlands, the UK, Ireland, and a few
surprise Australians (3/4 of us ended up being from Perth- small world). We all
taught each other about our different traditions, and around Christmas time,
those who went home during the break sent us videos of their families and the
different ways they would celebrate during the festive season. My favourite was
learning about the hitting of the defecating log, a Christmas tradition from
Spain’s Catalan region. Children would look after a yuletide log -feed it, keep
it warm, etc- and come Christmas eve they would beat it with a stick and sing a
song until the log “pooped” out candies and treats, and then the log would be
burnt to keep the family warm. This sounded like an equally disturbing and
extremely fun tradition that I would love to partake in one year. Another great
part of my exchange experience was being able to travel so easily. my friends
and I took trips to different countries over some weekends, an experience not
so easily undertaken in a place as big as Australia. It was really quite
amazing the places we could get to in 3-6 hours on a bus. The ease in which we
could travel allowed me to take in many different cultures and experience so
many different landmarks, cuisines, and customs.
Some of the challenges about studying abroad…
One of
the biggest struggles was the language barrier. While most Germans spoke
excellent English, the few that I had to deal with when it came to important
government things (registration, getting a residence permit, getting a bank
account, paying mandatory German health insurance) didn’t seem to be as fluent
as I had selfishly hoped. A few more things than I would have liked got lost in
translation and that landed me in a few difficult spots. But I had to keep my
spirits up when things got frustrating and tough and remind myself that there
is a solution to everything, even if things take longer than originally thought
( I couldn’t get any of my money into a German bank account to be used until
about 4 out of 6 months into the exchange). Another thing that I really
struggled with, which came as a big surprise to me, was missing all the
different cuisines that we have access to in Australia. It turns out that a big
part of my diet is Asian based, and I found when grocery shopping that a lot of
the ingredients and meals that I thought of as normal were really hard to find,
and if they were found they were quite expensive. (I will never take living in
the Asian Pacific for granted again). Although many challenges did arise, I was
able to find solutions with the help of the people around me. Someone was
always willing to help or give advice, and it really made a difference.
A little about my accommodation whilst studying
abroad…
I was
really lucky when it came to accommodation. I got given a room within a student
accommodation building just a few minutes from both my university and the city.
The rent wasn’t too bad, and although my flatmates at the beginning of my stay
were a struggle to live with, I eventually got new ones and we all got on quite
well. My accommodation was the middle ground between where everyone else lived,
so it was very easy to meet up with my friends and go places.
My
advice to someone looking to do exchange in Hamburg would be to apply for
accommodation early. There were a few people who didn’t get accommodation and
had to couch surf then pay significantly more for an apartment room. Another
tip I would give is to be firm but fair with the people you live with.
Obviously you want to be friends with them and not make them dislike you,
however if they are playing music all night and stopping you from sleeping, or
leaving a mess in shared spaces like kitchens and bathrooms, then you have to
stand up and tell them. 9/10 times they will stop their bad habits and everyone
can go on living harmoniously. (my first flatmate practiced his electric guitar
between the hours of 1am-4am, and often couldn’t aim when going to the
toilet... needless to say, I had to put a stop to this).
Funding my exchange experience…
My
exchange was funded with my personal savings and a bit of Christmas help from
my family. I would definitely recommend getting a rough estimation of the
amount an exchange will cost you way before you put in your application and
save up for as long as possible.
Whilst on exchange, I travelled to…
I did a lot of travel while on exchange! As
Germany is pretty central and other countries are so close, I was able to take
many weekend trips away. I was also able to travel a lot after class ended for
the semester as I has a whole month left. Travel was quite cheap, we were able
to get good student deals on accommodation, and travel time was basically the
equivalent of going down south from Perth. It was quite astonishing how many
countries you could go through in just a small amount of time. I tried to take
full advantage of this as I knew when I got back home I would miss being able
to travel so easily and to so many places. During semester my friends and I
travelled to Copenhagen, Berlin, and a small town called Lunenburg. After
semester we travelled to London, Paris (Disneyland of course), and Lucerne.
Advice I would give to someone considering
studying abroad…
Before
anything, save up as much as you can. You don’t want your experience to be
hindered by lack of funds. Apply for scholarships, work as much as you can
(without it getting in the way of your study), and don’t spend unnecessarily
beforehand. This might sound obvious, but it can sometimes be harder than you
think, and there are always unexpected expenses that pop up while you are away
that you need to be prepared for. The exchange experience can be one of the
best experiences that you have during your education period, and possibly in
your life, so it’s best to be as fully funded and prepared as possible so that
you can do everything that you want to, without the stress.
You
also need to go into the experience with an open mind. Pretty much everything
that you know will change, and you will be thrown out of your comfort zone. You
have to be prepared to take everything in your stride and enjoy the things that
are different from your life back home. Embrace and enjoy.
Students looking at doing their exchange in
Germany need to be made aware of all the extra expenses that come with it
beforehand. I wasn’t made aware of my rent increase until I arrived. I also was
not made aware of the German health insurance cost increase for the different
season. There was a mandatory tv and radio fee for everyone (regardless of if
they had a tv/radio) that was not mentioned anywhere until arrival. Costs for
residence permits and address registration were also unexpected. Despite my intense
research and budgeting beforehand, I was unable to be prepared for these costs
and it caused a lot of stress and tightness within my budget during my stay,
hindering me from enjoying my exchange to the fullest.
Although this was a disappointing aspect for
me, the rest of my time in Germany, studying and traveling, was fantastic. I
wouldn’t hesitate to come back and would recommend an exchange to Germany to
anyone who has the financial means and wants an exciting, exhilarating, and
life changing experience.
