Rhianna's Exchange to Hamburg University of Applied Sciences | Germany
What is your name?
Rhianna Jones
Which year & semester
did you go on Exchange?
Semester 2 2019 (September
2019 – February 2020)
Which Exchange Partner
University did you attend?
Hamburg University of
Applied Sciences / HAW Hamburg (Germany)
What degree are you
studying at Murdoch University?
Games Art and Design +
Japanese
What were the key factors
for choosing your Exchange University?
The key factors for me
were taking units that I would enjoy, and would teach me things that I wouldn’t
otherwise learn at Murdoch. I decided to go with a friend who did the same
degree as me, and we I looked at quite a few universities in Europe. We found
that the units at HAW seemed the most interesting as they offered book
illustration and 2D animation, which were things we were eager to learn. There
was a bit of miscommunication though, as the specific units change every
semester, so there wasn’t necessarily a Book Illustration “unit”, but rather a
couple of units a semester that fell under “Book Illustration”. Additionally,
we were excited by the idea of studying in a different country. Initially I
planned to study in Japan (as it is my second major), but decided to choose a
country which I’d never been to, and never really planned to visit since none
of the Japanese universities offered Game Design.
Please tell us about your
Exchange University...
I took a total of four
classes which all varied quite differently:
·
Procreate
for the iPad Pro:
A very self-motivated class where the teacher taught us to use Procreate, an
illustration program on the iPad. The class ran for three hours once a week and
there were no assignments, tests or exams associated with the class. There was
very little teacher instruction, he spent the first few weeks teaching us about
the program but mostly we were on our own.
·
Bologna
Twenty-Twenty:
A book-illustration class where we worked to produce five pieces of work by
November for the Bologna Children’s Book Fair competition. We met up every week
for an hour in small groups to discuss our work, but didn’t actually do any work
in class and the teacher didn’t give us any instruction at all – all our work
was done in our own time, and the class time was simply for critique and
discussion. When the competition deadline had passed, we simply got to pick
another project to work on for the rest of semester in a similar style, with
weekly meetings and a small presentation in the last class.
·
Smart
Objects – Bring the digital world to life: My only class that didn’t really have
anything to do with my degree back home, I got to build a drone and learn how
to make a robot using an Arduino microcontroller. Classes ran for three hours once a week, and
the only real thing we needed to deliver was to produce something interactive
for the exhibition at the end of the semester. No prior knowledge was necessary
and the teacher would help us with our ideas and our code. The class was mostly
given in English because half the class were international students and all the
domestic students spoke English too.
·
Introduction
to 3D Modelling in ZBrush:
Similar to the Procreate class, the teacher taught us to use ZBrush, and we got
to make whatever we wanted in the program. He would come around and give us
individual assistance if necessary, but we were mostly left alone to our own
devices. Classes ran for three hours once a week.
One thing I noticed was
that it wasn’t uncommon to see people leaving at any point throughout any of
the classes, and it was also unusual for students to turn up on time either. Classes
were much more “casual” that back home, with no assignments, no unit outlines
and no real deadlines besides presenting what we’d done at the end of semester.
The classes were mostly delivered in German, but because I don’t speak any
German, they would usually come to the international students individually and
provide English assistance where they could. It’s definitely a different system
to what we have at Murdoch and it certainly took me a while to get used to it!
Please tell us about the city you lived in...
Hamburg
is an absolutely beautiful city and although not incredibly touristy, I would
say it’s a great stop-over or weekend getaway town. It’s a very green city with
trees and parks everywhere, and people walking dogs at any time of the day all
over the city! We were lucky enough to get all our public transport included
with our semester fee, so we could take any train or bus within the rings of
the Hamburg transport system for free. The trains go pretty much everywhere in
Hamburg, so you never really have to travel for longer for 15-30 minutes to get
anywhere you need. It’s also a very walkable city, and lots of people tend to
cycle around as well. The locals in Hamburg have a stereotype of being quite
“cold” on the outside, and it’s said to be hard to get to know the locals. I
unfortunately didn’t get the opportunity to connect with many local
“Hamburgers”, but lots of people speak English so I didn’t find it that
difficult to live in the city without any knowledge of German.
My
friends and I got into a regular Sunday meet-up we called “Espresso House
Sundays”, where every Sunday, we would go to a cozy little Espresso House (a
European café chain) in Mönckebergstraße and spend the afternoon working on university
work or personal projects. There are lots of really nice cafés in Hamburg, but
we found the Espresso Houses the nicest and the most moderately priced. We also
occasionally would go out for dinner to celebrate birthdays or catch up with
friends, and one of our favourite places was an Italian pizza and pasta restaurant
called L’Osteria, which does amazing massive pizzas, and a little place
called What’s Beef, which does these massive shakes with donuts stacked
on top. I can also highly recommend Dulf’s Burgers, another burger chain
which served what were probably the best burgers I’ve ever had.
There’s
a bit of a drinking culture in Germany, but unfortunately I’m intolerant to
alcohol. It was hilarious when I first arrived to have to explain to every
German I met that I couldn’t drink, and many of them could wrap their heads
around it! There’s a red-light district called the Reeperbahn and lots of my
friends would go to pubs and bars there and have a great night, and there’s
definitely a bit of a night life there if that’s what you like.
What were the best parts of your Exchange experience?
I really loved meeting people from all over the
world and became good friends with a few others from the Netherlands, Spain,
England, Ireland, America, and even other Australians! We went travelling
together and celebrated birthdays together, and it was great to learn more
about other cultures and also make some great, talented friends along the way –
friendships which I’m hoping we can keep up after we depart back to our home
countries.
I had the opportunity to travel to Copenhagen with many of them, where we
spent the weekend bouncing around the city and hitting all the popular spots.
We spontaneously went to a theme park called Tivoli Gardens which was
all decorated for Halloween, which was so memorable, and probably one of my
favourite memories of my time here.
Another one of my favourite memories is spending my
birthday there – even though I don’t drink and I don’t like to go to clubs, we
all went out to a bar on the Reeperbahn (the big red-light district) and at
midnight, they all started singing happy birthday at the top of their lungs in
the middle of the street, much to the surprise of the locals there. I’ve never
celebrated my birthday like that, and I don’t think I ever will.
One thing I definitely have to recommend is making
full use of the mensa – the school’s cafeteria. Their menu updates daily (you
can view it in advance on their website) and their meals are super cheap and
often really delicious. They often have a pasta bar and a salad bar where you
pay per 100 grams, as well as set meals that can be slightly more expensive,
but it’s a wonderfully cheap option and will probably save you a lot of money
down the line. I would highly recommend popping into IKEA or another store and
buying some Tupperware or a lunchbox, and then bringing it to the mensa with
you and saving any leftovers for later. It’s a great snack if you get hungry in
class, or put them in your fridge for later for a cheap lunch or dinner, and it
means you don’t have to waste any food if you can’t finish what’s on your
plate!
Was there anything you struggled with while on your Exchange?
Strangely enough, the
hardest and most stressful part for me while on exchange was dealing with the administration
in Hamburg. Although I planned to open a bank account to make rent payments
easier, it ended up being far too much fuss and the bank actually rejected us
because we didn’t have jobs in Germany. Additionally, I didn’t receive my
temporary residence permit until January (a month before I was set to leave the
country), and when I tried to reschedule my appointment, there was a
miscommunication issue, and instead of giving me the permit I needed, they gave
me some other kind of visa, which I didn’t need.
Choosing units for
university was also quite stressful, as their system wasn’t done online like
back home, and all they told us was to go to whatever classes we wanted in the
first week and pencil our names down. It was a lot less structured and very
informal, which also gave me quite a bit of stress, as I wasn’t sure what to
expect or what to do.
I Skyped my parents every
weekend and called my friends ever now and then, so it was nice to get to hear
from them, and I think that likely helped with the homesickness. There were
also two others from Perth with me, so it was nice to have other people who
were in the same situation as me. I didn’t really experience any culture shock
as lots of Germans speak English and I didn’t really have the experience to
learn about any German cultural customs, since the Germans I lived with in my
dorm mostly kept to themselves, and I was able to just live like I do back
home.
Please tell us about where
you lived while on Exchange...
I was lucky enough to get
student accommodation, and it happened to be at a newly-renovated dorm that was
just a fifteen-minute walk away from the campus, and it was so much nicer and
cleaner than some of the other dorms I’ve visited. It was a female-only dorm
that was mostly occupied by domestic German students, I had my own bedroom but
shared a kitchen and four bathrooms with fourteen other girls. The room was
mostly bare and plain with lots of storage, but a blanket and some little fake
plants later, it very quickly became home to me. There was only one other
exchange student on my floor, another girl from Perth, so it was nice to have
at least one friend on the floor. All the other girls only spoke German and
didn’t speak too much English, so it was hard to get to know them. As someone
who’s a bit of an introvert, I found it a little awkward and difficult to
constantly be around so many other strangers, but it’s definitely something I
learnt to deal with while I lived there.
Student accommodation is
definitely quite hard to get in Hamburg as it’s in very high demand, so do you
best to get in quick and hope that you can get something. I heard of many
students who applied too late, or who arrived after semester started and were
unable to get rooms, and then had to search for their own accommodation which
was far more expensive and often far away from campus.
How did you fund your
Exchange experience?
As I wasn’t an Australian
citizen at the time, I didn’t have access to OS Help. I’m lucky enough that my
parents were willing to help fund my trip, so most of my immediately expenses
came from them, and I paid for other expenses such as movies, flights and
weekend trips. I got into the habit of keeping a budgeting sheet and tracking
all of my expenses, and now that my trip is over, I know exactly how much money
I spent while I was gone. Germany is still a very cash-heavy city and only places
like grocery stores and larger shops have card machines, so it also helped me know
if I was missing any money. I’ll be paying them back when I return with my own
savings that I’ve gathered from working back home, as well as the Murdoch First
scholarship I received and have been saving for this occasion.
Did
you do any travel while you were on exchange?
Yes,
I did a little bit of travelling while I was away! My friends and I did day
trips out to Luneberg and Blankenese, and also weekend trips down to Berlin and
Copenhagen. It was awesome to have the opportunity to travel, since everything
in Europe is only a few hours away, and really make use of being in the centre
of Europe.
At
the end of semester, my friend and I gave ourselves a month before we came back
home to travel, so we were lucky enough to travel to London with a friend we
made on exchange, and since she studies in London, she showed us around and we
all went to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour together! My friend and I also
travelled to Paris to spend a few days at Disneyland (fun fact: if you have a
German residence permit and you’re under 25, you can get into the Louvre for
free as long as you show proof!). One of the friends we made in Germany was
spending her next semester in Switzerland, so we ended our trip by going to
Lucerne to visit her, and were just in time for Fasnacht, a big four-day
long carnival where everyone dresses up and they play music in the streets.
What advice would you give
someone who is considering / about to embark on Exchange?
Definitely give it a go if
you can afford it! I know it’s an expensive endeavor and there might be times
when you might regret your decision, but it’s now something I have very fond
memories of. It’s definitely made me feel more confident in myself and like
more of an adult, even if there have been times where I’ve been more stressed
than I’ve ever been in my entire life. Since I live with my parents back home,
it’s given me the opportunity to learn how to be independent and learn more
about myself, what I’m capable of, and the kinds of things I struggle with.
For those who want to go
on exchange, it’s a great idea to pick a country you didn’t think you’d ever
visit. I never planned to go to Germany (I’d been planning to go to Japan this
entire time), but made the last minute decision to change, and if I hadn’t done
that, I wouldn’t have met the incredible people I did, or seen the things I’ve
seen.
For those who are about to
go, I hope you have an incredible time! If you’re a bit of an introvert like
me, try your best to put yourself out there, make those connections, and
they’ll make you feel so much more at home in the coming months when you have
people around you that you’re comfortable with.
Anything else you would
like to tell us about?
Thank you so much to
Jeannette and all the others from Murdoch for all the support before going, she
definitely helped ease our concerns and remind us of all the fun we would have
overseas!
- Rhianna studied abroad at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany.
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