There are too many activities outside university to count

I had a number of choices for my exchange program at a partner university of Rikkyo University. First of all, I determined the country of study abroad to be either Poland or Germany, since I had been learning both languages for a while. Eventually, I have decided on the University of Bonn, because the University of Bonn had no limitation on the classes I wished to take and provided a free pre-semester German language preparation courses. I gathered most of the information regarding classes and expenses on the official websites of the University of Bonn, blogs by the Japanese living there and study abroad reports by the previous exchange students at the University of Bonn at my home university. Regarding the life style here, the German language classes at my home university helped me to have a proper image about how people live.

I have to admit that the University of Bonn (all credits go to the International Office) did a great job welcoming the incoming students. All these information sessions, get-together events and speedy email consultations have only proven the level of professionalism (and heartfelt welcome) by the members. I stayed at a student dormitory in Römerstraße provided by the university. The room types differ depending on the properties you are assigned to and mine was a single room with bath and kitchen. Honestly, I would have loved more common space with other students, so that we could get to know each other better, which was not my case.

I chose all the courses solely based on my interest (linguistics, data science, language learning etc.) with no regard on the amount of effort needed to complete the classes. Nevertheless, I have gained so much practical and useful knowledge. The biggest difference between Bonn and my home university was the level of student participation in class organization and the number of assignments given, which were both much higher here in Germany. I connected to other students more through extracurricular events rather than in classes.

Life in Bonn is calm. Well, for the most part. Nights are crazy. It’s located in the middle of Rhineland, so any major city in West Germany is within its reach with ease. People are confident in their behavior. Self-confidence is what I see rarely in Japan. As an aspired linguist, I enjoyed to get to know not only standard German but various dialects and migrant languages as well, such as all too famous Kölsch and Sorbian, Arabic, Ukrainian etc. There are too many activities outside university to count. Anything you could imagine is probably possible. ESN Bonn organizes even 3-days-trips to other German cities such as Hamburg and Freiburg, so go for it. There is a cool movie theater in Bonn Beuel (the other side of the river) called Brotfabrik, also recommended.

I’m quite satisfied with my time abroad but I wish I could have spent more time on getting to know others than fully concentrating on study. That I would do differently in the future. As an advice for future participants, watch out for the energy prices and inflation. Through my experience I learned to actively use German, cook for myself, gained academic knowledge and insights into the German lifestyle. I would definitely go for a second time.