Studying abroad is more than an academic opportunity, it’s a life-changing experience. For Ben, Architecture student at RGU, his six months living in Weimar, Germany, were some of the best in his life.
He recounts his unforgettable experience in this blog, reflecting on all the moments that shaped his time at Bauhaus University.
Taking the leap
It was a cold evening in early March when I stepped off the train in Weimar with three backpacks, a suitcase, and a sick feeling in my stomach. As a boy who grew up just outside of Aberdeen, I had never really flown far from the nest.
Now, I was in the middle of an east German town where seemingly no-one spoke the same language as me, and I am not afraid to admit that I was terrified. But that first night was the last time I ever felt homesick.
To sum up what was the best six months of my life in so few words is a nearly impossible task, it has been something I have been mulling over for a while now. From the moment I left to be precise, I have been trying to formulate some kind of tribute for this beautiful but fleeting moment in my life.
I knew that studying abroad would change me, but I don’t think I was prepared for just how much it would.
First Impressions of Weimar
Weimar is an interesting place. It is a place of constant curiosity and contradiction, caught somewhere between its abstruse past and an angst for its future. The people you will meet are no less so. From politicians to pensioners, poets and partisans, Weimar seemingly has every kind of person, for such a small place.
You immediately notice the beauty of it. One of Weimar’s main selling points is that is a very pretty and charming place to live. Kids play on the cobblestones while their parents lunch in the cafes. The establishment feels old here, and the culture even older. The students are what put the kick into this otherwise very sleepy city.
While I must admit the University’s original values have changed and softened over a century, there is still a certain amount of attitude that comes with the name BAUHAUS. Prepare to feel poorly dressed and behind the times from your moment of arrival: better get to the vintage market quick!
Home away from Home
As an exchange student, you would more than likely be a resident of the renowned, but not so regal, Hummelstaße 2 student home. Imagine bringing together people of all different backgrounds and cultures, with a common interest and housing them all together right in the centre of town. Chaos ensues. Think floor parties, the smell of cigarettes and a whole lot of beer.
However, I promise, it will be one of the best places you’ve ever lived. As an Erasmus student (and yes, I still use Erasmus because you are still as much a part of that family as anyone else, regardless of what the politics say) you are part of a community that begin as complete strangers, quickly accelerating into some of the best friends you will ever make.
From charismatic Argentinians to expressive Italians, relatable Polish to eccentric Americans, and everything in between, nowhere else do you have the opportunity to meet so many different but likeminded people.
Life as an Architecture Student
As an Architecture student, my life as you are more than likely aware, quickly descended into an onslaught of work. Side by side with a fellow Scotsman, and against the best advice of our German colleagues, we took on a studio project widely debated to be the toughest in the school.
However, we wouldn’t be architecture students if we weren’t in a constant state of self-imposed crisis. Truthfully, it was the most creatively challenged I have ever been. The tutors would try their best to bend and break you, just to pull that last drop of inspiration from whatever was left.
Over the four months of that project, I produced work to a level I didn’t realise I was capable of before. As exchange students, naturally we were outsiders. But through a whole lot of determination, and sheer force of will, we assimilated with that class and were welcomed as one of their own.
And for the record, we crushed it.
But what I will always remember from Weimar isn’t the academics, but my life outside of it. Over six months, I travelled to seven countries with the friends I had made along the way.
Eating cheap and staying in dubious accommodations, I feel I have learned more about life than ever before, and seen places I will never forget. If nothing else, travel, travel, travel.
Lessons Learned
Before I left for Germany, I remember sitting down with my academic advisor and debating whether to go or not. I was afraid of change, of uprooting my life and leaving my routine, my friends and my family behind.
Knowing what I do now, I would have never forgiven myself if I hadn’t. My exchange in Weimar taught me a lot of things about people, friendship, love, and loss. But above all else, it taught me there is a whole lot of world out there waiting for you. Go and grab it.
Ben
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