Awesome Memories to take home

Honestly, where does the time go? One moment the semester was just starting, then BAM! I’m handing in final assignments, writing experience and internship reports, and packing up my room to send all my stuff home.

I wasn’t able to get any courses accredited to anything back in Australia for this semester, but I didn’t mind too much. I was happy to simply stay on in Remagen for a second semester. People would ask if I’d be missing home, but Remagen has become my home. I have new friends, a new “family”, and a new way of life. Not wanting to say goodbye to my home was a main reason for remaining in Germany. Any extra credits would have just been a bonus.

This semester I wanted to focus on my German language skills and my internship. Early on I looked at visiting a language school in Bonn to complement my German language lessons here on campus, but it was too difficult to find time slots that matched my university timetable. Fortunately, for this semester I’d moved out of the student dormitory and into a shared apartment, where I was living with two German students. I believe this has really helped improve my German proficiency, because I have to (try to) speak German with my roommates every day. It’s also very handy to have someone on hand to answer any questions I have on the vocabulary! Now, as the semester draws to a close, it’s nice to have everyone comment on just how much my German has improved.

The second area I focussed on this semester was my internship. For students who need ECTS points, the internship with the Sprachen/Internationales team offers 15 points – half the points needed. Some could argue that the internship means a lot of hard work, but I think that the internship is also very rewarding. I’ve picked up a lot of new skills during my time here (such as using Photoshop, managing large events, and making coffee on an enormous scale), and I’ve had the opportunity to work with an amazing team who are incredibly helpful. My time in the A building here at RheinAhrCampus isn’t something I’m likely to forget anytime soon!

I can’t forget my trip to Izmir! As part of one of my courses, I was given the opportunity to travel to Izmir, Turkey, to take part in a two-week intensive seminar on journalism. If you ever get the opportunity to do something like that: take it. It was an amazing experience – I tried new things, met new people, and even learnt a couple of new things about journalism in the process! Although it was an “intensive” seminar, there was still plenty of time to explore the city, and it’s a great (and very cheap) way to travel around.

The end of the semester is here now, and soon I’ll be back in Australia, with my old friends and family, at my old university, and in my old job. My time here will be only memories… but what awesome memories they’ll be.