Spoiler Alert - It's Fantastic

Hello everyone! My name is Seymour and I am from Azerbaijan. I have been studying and doing my internship for 4 months already, here at RheinAhrCampus, and let me spoil everything and tell you straight away – it is a fantastic experience.

When I arrived in Germany, the first thing I have noticed is that the stereotypes are wrong – as always. Germans are not cold and unfriendly as we used to hear. On the contrary – they are extremely helpful and warm. It was difficult for me to navigate my way from the airport to the city I study in, but everyone around were willing to help with a sincere smile on their faces!

Now, Remagen… It was my first time ever – living in a very small “village like” town with all these fancy houses and garden gnomes, like in the American movies. I was genuinely amazed for the first couple of days. It almost felt as if everything around was some kind of a theater play, arranged exclusively for me. Truman Show, if you will. People doing their morning runs, fixing something in the garden, just chilling and getting a tan, collective yoga lessons in the backyard… It felt so artificial and staged, but now I got used to this and even greet strangers sometimes, which I never did before. The only thing I had trouble being used to is the fact that every single shop closes very early, and doesn’t work on Sundays/Public Holidays.

One great thing about Remagen is that it is located near such cities like Bonn and Cologne which allows traveling there for free – thanks to the semester ticket you receive at the university! These cities are vast and diverse. Literally, living breathing worlds of their own, where you can always find something new. I really enjoy just walking around the crowded cities of Cologne and listening to the street musicians – the atmosphere is great. One thing I have to definitely mention is the Cologne Cathedral, also known as “Kölner Dom”. This is one the biggest and most impressive architectural masterpieces I ever saw. YUUUUGE.

The location of Remagen also allows traveling around Europe on a bus, easily! So far, I have been in Netherlands, Belgium and France. I can really write a full blog about these experiences, so let’s just say that it was awesome

My university – RheinAhrCampus – is gorgeous. Props to Sprachen/Internationales team of professionals for making the experience for me and other international students so cool! Courses are very interesting as well – I particularly like how practical everything is. For instance, during one of my courses we actually went to France just to make our research there. Terrific. Apart from the lessons, the real gem of this place is all the intercultural experience I got. I have now friends from Korea, Brazil, Georgia, India, Spain, Jordan and so on! It is so exciting to sit somewhere together and just discuss each other’s cultures, traditions and way of thinking! I have learned so much from my international pals and I hope that one day I will visit their countries and they will visit mine! This is what I really call an “Erasmus Experience”.