Culture Shock & A Random Trip To Munich

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I mentioned in my first blog that surely after several years of knowing I was going to do a year abroad that I'd be prepared for it. My answer was no and that is due to one reason: the culture shock. Yes, at the end of the day we are all Europeans but each country is different. After being at university for 2 years where you're no longer a little fish in a big pond by the end of it, leaving your friends and family behind to move to a different place and attend a different university is a big jump for anyone, in a way a bit like starting university over again. Factor in the fact that you have to speak and understand a foreign language makes it rather daunting. As I mentioned previously, back in York during our first week there as freshers, we had lots of events to attend, various nights out organised by both our college and the university. At Wuerzburg, it's not like that. The social side comes second to work, whereas at York they work hand in hand.

I knew no one upon my arrival and the first few days were difficult knowing no one here, but I also couldn't really contact people back home. The international office really helped, even if just to get everything in order, so come Thursday I was looking forward to the International tour and talk and hoping to meet fellow Erasmus and international students. To help matters I decided to meet my supervisor before the tour and find out about other Maths Erasmus students. Via email I had gathered that Juergen was friendly and that is also how he is in person, ready to help me and point me in the right direction with my studies. It was also at this meeting I discovered that I was his only Erasmus student this year, so back to drawing board in trying to find other Eramus and international students.

I arrived out the Residenz in Wuerzburg anticipating meeting new people. However when I got there I discovered that nearly everyone seemed to be part of a small group. Great... However after finding some courage, I discovered some English speaking people and joined their little group. After a few days of mainly speaking German and only knowing the odd few people, this was a nice change and definately lifted my spirits. After spending the rest of the evening with them (and meeting even more English/English-speaking people) I was a lot happier, knowing that I wasn't alone and that they all felt like that during their first week or two Wuerzburg. The idea of spending my 21st over here doesn't seem quite as daunting as it did to start off with, although it'll be different anyway.

Friday I made a library day. As I still don't have Internet in my room, my main access to England has to be done via the university network. After being initially confused by a German keyboard (QWERTZ, not QWERTY) I managed to get my laptop linked to the network. After a nice day Friday, another library day where I could relax and catch up on TV was planned for Saturday. However this didn't exactly happen. After shortly arriving at the library I decided to text one of the people I'd met on the Thursday. Bout 5 minutes later, I'd been invited to Munich for the day with a couple of other people. So 45 minutes later I was at Wuerzburg Hauptbahnhof ready to go to Munich. It took us a while to get there, after getting only a regional train as opposed to a regional express from Nuremberg to Munich, but 5 hours of travelling had given the 4 of us to have a good chat. After a quick pop to the Apple store in Munich and getting food and Starbucks we were heading back to Wuerzburg. A long day: yes, but very worthwhile. A chance to get to know people and organise a vague plan for my birthday.

Yes, it's been a difficult week, but I have had some support from back home, and I've finally started to settle in. Just need to choose my modules and make the most of this week before lectures start next week. Then the hard work begins.

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Photos

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View from campus looking at the city

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Munich

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Munich