Kacper Gawron

I had a really great time in Berlin. I am very pleased I decided to enter the DAAD application process and then receive the DAAD-Stiftung scholarship. My time at the IIK Institute (Edit note: The course was offered by TH Wildau) was extremely productive. Classes were held every day in the afternoons. My course covered topics relating to economics and politics. This was really interesting for me because I study economics and business administration.

The lessons were by no means boring. Our teacher used various digital methods. Kahoot and Quizlet were a lot of fun. It wasn't a very large group; about 15 people. The frequent use of digitised teaching materials was a pleasant surprise, although perso-nally I must admit I normally prefer conventional notebooks.

Privat

Boat tour on the Spree River

In the courses, we focused on topics such as planned obsolescence, corporate struc-ture, the legal foundations of business activities, and various branches of industry. We discussed many aspects relating to the issues of work ethics and climate change. In addition, I also learned some new, useful grammatical structures.

I met a lot of interesting people, no doubt about that. I have loads of great memories of my flatmates in particular. We lived in a group of 5 persons in total. This was really an interesting mix of different cultures and customs as they came from Egypt, Montenegro, Guatemala and Colombia. Sometimes we would all go into town together, have parties and cook. Some evenings we met up in the kitchen and one of us would prepare their traditional dishes so we could try them together. So there was a Colombian, Polish, Egyptian and even an Italian evening.

Privat

The balcony of our flat

Despite a great many opportunities to improve my German skills during the classes, the conversations with my flatmates were also very helpful in this respect. Sometimes we also spoke in English because two of us had only recently started learning German.

Experiencing typical everyday life in Germany wasn't so easy. The intercultural mix that I experienced in the apartment was an excellent match for the general atmosphere in Berlin. I remember my teacher playing us the song "Ist mir egal" (I Don't Mind). The song was released by BVG (Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe; the Berlin traffic authorities) and outlines the reasons why Berlin is such as special city, where you can be whatever you want to be.

Privat

Multimedia Show on German history

There are many beautiful places both in Berlin and throughout the country. Even though I spent four weeks in Berlin, didn't get to see everything I wanted to. I really enjoyed the trip to Potsdam. It was a shame that I didn't arrive there until about noon, and not in the morning. I would have loved to have had more time there…

In any case, the Sanssouci Palace and the entire park was excellent. I also visited a few sights in Berlin. Naturally the Museum Island, Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate were great, but what I found really surprising was seeing hundreds of people in the Mauerpark on a Sunday. I finally discovered where Berlin spends its leisure time. There are also a great many cosy spots on the Spree to hang out and enjoy the view.

Privat

In Stralsund

I also took trips to Hamburg and Stralsund. In Hamburg, I visited my family. I made the decision to go to Stralsund with my flatmate because we wanted to spend a day by the sea. The journey from Berlin only takes about 3 hours, so it's not too far. I was also able to really relax there.

One thing that works particularly well in Germany is the Deutschlandticket travel card. The travel card allowed me to use pretty much all the public transport options. With it I was able to commute between the accommodation and the IIK Institute, as well as go on the weekend excursions. The German saying "Gut und günstig" ("Quality for less") describes this solution perfectly. I think it would be really helpful to have these kinds of travel cards in Poland.