Facts vs bulls**t post #1Testimonial of an Exchange Student at Welingkar More than one year ago, I decided to apply for an exchange program with the
Welingkar Institute of Management Research and Development in Mumbai,
because I wanted to experience something completely new and different than
my little world in Germany.
Doing an exchange at the Welingkar Institute gives me the opportunity to get
to know the Indian education system and the daily life of the people, Mumbai
and whole India.
Three month ago, I arrived here in Mumbai and I was completely overwhelmed
by the city. The traffic seemed insane and in the first weeks, the daily life was
very hard for me, because it was so different from what I had known so far.
But thanks to the very nice people from Welingkar, the students and other
international people in Mumbai, I got used to all these things very quick.
After going by train for the first time my own, everything became very easy .
The people are always willing to help. The infrastructure here is very good. You
can reach every place by train, taxi or rickshaw. Mumbai as a metro city is very
western and has a lot of free time activities.
I came to India one month before my classes started. At this time, I was the
only exchange student and had nothing to do, because all the others went to
school everyday. This is why I decided to travel to Kerala for some weeks.
During the Diwali holiday I went to Delhi, Agra and Jaipur with Alex, the other
exchange student. In the next months, I would like to see a lot of other places,
like the beaches in Goa and the dessert in Rajastan.
As an exchange student, you can choose your courses and the options are
really good at Welingkar. The way of teaching differs a lot from the German
University system and reminds me a bit of school. Although I am just finishing
my Bachelors degree in Germany, I have no problems to understand the
lectures. The teachers are very nice and very supportive, the lectures are
interesting and I learnt a lot about India, because teachers always use Indian
companies as examples.
Living in the girls hostel with two Indian girls in the same room is the biggest
challenge here for me, a twenty year old. It is really interesting to be so close
to the people and they told me a lot about the Indian culture but it also means
living without any privacy and this is very hard for me as someone who is used
to be independent. Particularly in the everyday life the culture differences
become clear.
The Indian culture is very impressive. When I arrived, the Ganesh Chaturthi
festival was going on and since then I had the chance to see other festivals like
for example Diwali. Since the people told me the Indian culture is full of
festivals and holidays, I can't wait to see all of them.
Since the sun is shining every day, the whole time here seems like a never
ending summer and I am very happy about my decision to come to India for some month.
I already learnt a lot in the short time I am staying here. My attitude has
changed and my personality has grown stronger. Studying at Welingkar and
living in India inspired me a lot for my future life.
I wish some more Indian students could experience the same and come to
Germany for an exchange.
Luise Zeigermann (Bamberg University, Germany)
http://www.welingkar.org/Welingkar/v1/internationalstudents/Test_Luise_Zeigermann.pdf
