As part of my Bachelor's degree in Tourism Management, I completed an internship semester in Cape Town, South Africa. My internship started at the beginning of April and lasted until the end of August. My internship company was the local hostel "Ashanti Lodge".preparation/organizationIcame to my internship in Cape Town like the virgin to the child. I decided early on that I wanted to do my internship semester abroad. Initially, it wasn't even important to me where I wanted to go. The main thing was that it should be far away and "exotic". First of all, I researched internships in Cuba and Vietnam, and by chance, through a cross-reference on a worldwide internship placement website, whose name escapes me, I came across the advertisement for my future internship company, "Ashanti Lodge", and the job description was more suitable for me than ever before, looking for a student with a degree in tourism for an internship in marketing and accounting. They also required a good command of English and, as the company's main target group is backpackers, experience with this form of travel. I had learned and gained enough of both during my one-year stay abroad in Australia. I also love this form of travel and see my professional future after completing my degree in this area rather than in the luxury hotel industry, so I didn't have to think about it for long and decided to apply for the internship straight away. The next step was a Skype interview with Lesley, the manager of the main house of "Ashanti Lodge". Here I was explained the tasks that would await me in the company and I was able to ask all the questions that were on my mind. The whole interview was very pleasant and Lesley told me that she would be happy to take me on. However, there was one last hurdle to overcome. As I was also going to be responsible for writing the hostel's blog, the management wanted me to write a blog entry in English about my reasons for choosing South Africa as my internship destination. In the end, however, this should not be a problem and so it was set in stone. In preparation for the internship, I first had to organize my visa. As South Africa hardly issues any internship visas anymore due to increased labor migration, my internship company recommended that I only enter the country with a tourist visa, which Germans can easily obtain at the destination airport, and then extend it on site. Problems only arise if you are paid for your internship, which was not the case for me, but otherwise I didn't pay much attention to the entry requirements beforehand as I had never had any problems with them. This was to cost me dearly in the truest sense of the word. At my departure airport in Frankfurt, the airline demanded a return ticket from me, otherwise I would not be able to enter South Africa. However, as I didn't have this at the time of departure, they refused to let me fly, even though I said that I would arrange this in Cape Town when I entered the country by paying a nominal fee. This works in many countries. In the end, I was able to solve the problem by buying an overpriced ticket at the airport counter, which I ultimately had to let expire.Arrival in Cape TownAccordinglystressed, my flight went by and once I arrived in sunny Cape Town, nobody asked me for a return ticket, but this unnecessary excitement was the last major one of its kind. The 25-minute cab ride from the airport to the hostel, where I was to work and live, was like entering another world, passing the corrugated iron huts of the Cape Town townships, which I had known at least since the TV reports before the 2010 World Cup, but also the luxury villas of South African and international high society, to the "Gardens" district, which is located in the center of Cape Town.When I arrived at the hostel, I was immediately greeted in a very friendly manner and after a short tour of the building, I was taken to my room, which I shared with the other interns. They had been partying in Cape Town the day before and were therefore still in a deep sleep, but I got to know them all in the course of the morning and as my arrival was on a Friday, I was immediately introduced to South African nightlife by my colleagues and the actual internship began the following Monday.The company"Ashanti Lodge" consists of two different hostels and two guesthouses, all of which are located in Cape Town. In addition, an online travel agency opened in August 2016, which sells tours throughout Africa, and I mainly worked in "Ashanti Lodge Gardens", the company's main building. This was one of the first hostels in South Africa and celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2016.my tasksDuringmy internship, I worked in various areas. I assisted in the accounting department on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. The tasks here were rather monotonous and mainly consisted of booking payments and checking invoices.the work in the marketing department was more exciting. Here I was responsible for the company's various social media presences. I also wrote blogs, which were published on the company website. For these, I sometimes had to try out tours offered by the company. These were of course a highlight of my internship and I also organized various events and parties in the hostel bar. Although this was not part of my actual duties, I wanted to gain experience in this area too, which is why I took on this task voluntarily.working atmosphere & staffTheworking atmosphere in the company was very relaxed. The employees at "Ashanti Lodge" formed a small family into which everyone was immediately integrated. For example, during my time, a colleague had to organize her sister's wedding. As she was a little short of time, we helped her where we could and postponed our actual tasks until the following week. All in all, working was much more relaxed than in Germany. If someone was late for work after a night of drinking, it wasn't usually a problem as long as you still managed to complete your daily workload. During my internship alone, I had colleagues from France, Germany, England, New Zealand, Malawi, La Réunion, Poland, Norway, the Congo and, of course, South Africa.Skills learnedDuringthe internship, I was able to further improve my English skills, especially in writing.I also learned problem-solving skills, as I had to react to various unusual situations with a high degree of flexibility.SecurityAs you know,South Africa was ruled by the totalitarian Arpartheit regime until 1994. Since then, society has been in a state of flux. It has not yet fully succeeded in bridging the gaps between black and white or between rich and poor. This often leads to social tensions and sometimes also to crime. I myself did not experience any violence or robberies and Cape Town is also considered safe compared to other large cities in the country, although I did occasionally hear from guests or employees that attempts were made to steal something from them or that cars were broken into. In my opinion, however, this could just as well happen in Germany, so I didn't make myself unnecessarily crazy here. Of course, you shouldn't be reckless and walk through a township at night either.Country, people and cultureItis very difficult to say anything about South African culture, as it varies greatly depending on ethnicity. South Africa, for example, has nine official languages in addition to English and Afrikaans, all of which originate from different tribes living in the country. These have very different ways of life. Some are open to Western influence in the country, while others are almost completely opposed to technological progress and live a very traditional life (e.g. without electricity or running water).As I also traveled around the country for four weeks after my internship, I was able to get a good overview of the different cultures and landscapes of South Africa.ConclusionIloved my internship in South Africa and enjoyed almost every minute of it to the full. As I have always traveled a lot, I already had solid travel experience before my stay in South Africa. This was certainly an advantage in certain situations, as many things were very different from life in Germany. In addition to the unique landscape and the exotic animals, I was particularly impressed by the people in the country, as they are much more cordial and less distant than the mentality that prevails in our latitudes. I enjoyed my time in Cape Town so much that I am even planning to return there to work after my studies, and I was able to acquire knowledge for my studies, especially in the field of marketing. However, I think that it is even better to learn subject-specific knowledge at large companies, as the instructions in an internship at a small company like "Ashanti" are sometimes inadequate and you tend to work on your own. My boss told me on the very first day: "Willy, you studied. I didn't. Maybe I can still learn something from you.". Of course, she was still able to teach me a lot. After all, running a successful company for 20 years is no coincidence, but the less strict instructions, as already mentioned, were also beneficial as I was able to improve my problem-solving skills.I can only recommend anyone who is considering doing an internship abroad in South Africa to give it a try. It's an experience that will definitely enrich you and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.