Despite the coronavirus crisis, the doors of our university have remained open to foreign students. Nine Erasmus scholarship holders from different countries are currently spending their exchange semester at our faculty. How do they rate their time in Görlitz?
The two Anastasias came to Görlitz at the end of September. The coronavirus crisis made the journey more complicated, so the girls had to fly via Turkey. They almost slept through the flight, they remember with a laugh.
"The support was great. We received all the necessary documents from the university in good time. We were picked up from the train station in Görlitz. With the help of student assistants from the international office, we managed all the formalities we needed to complete quickly"
Our Erasmus students live in student accommodation, which they are very happy with.
"We think the hall of residence is cool. Our rooms are large and nicely furnished. Our kitchen is also relatively large, which makes us very happy. The flatmates are nice, they are happy to help us. We get along with them"
Of course, this is their first time in Görlitz. They find the city beautiful, cozy and quiet. The proximity to the Polish border is also something very special for them. The girls have heard that Görliwood is also known for the fact that some famous films have been shot here.
"It was a strange feeling, in a positive way of course, to see the places live that you've only seen on screen before. Museums, the Landeskrone, the zoo, the beautiful church, Berzi - we were there!"
Our guests were also very impressed by the university canteen.
"The food is super tasty, the portions are huge. It's so nice that they also think about vegetarians. Simply great!"
The students from different countries have become good friends, despite the language barrier. They have traveled together to Wroclaw, Saxon Switzerland, Dresden, Chemnitz, Leipzig and Zittau. In the evenings, they enjoy cooking together and watching German series. University sport has also united the young people. They all take part in the Burpee Challenge together, where they have also won a few prizes.
Studying is relatively easy for the students.
"We find studying at the HSZG easier, but also more interesting than our studies in St. Petersburg. Lecturers and our fellow students are very supportive. The only thing we find difficult is the presentations. Because of the language barrier, it's quite exhausting to give presentations in front of other students and lecturers. But we manage. Here at the university we are treated as equals, so we really like that. We are familiar with online teaching via BBB from Russia. But the OPAL platform is something completely new for us. After the exam period, we will see how good we actually were in our studies here."
The students are helping their fellow students to organize the university information day. On January 14, students and lecturers will present our university. If you are interested in finding out more about our university, you are welcome to attend.
Simone Kunze, the contact person at the International Office who looks after incoming students, also gave her opinion on the current semester.
"I was delighted that some students from our partner universities found their way to us in winter semester 2020/2021 despite the pandemic.
After the German course was successfully held at the end of September, as was enrolment, we were all confident that some other activities would also be possible. Unfortunately, this came to nothing due to the poor development of the pandemic and the renewed strict regulations. The International Office would have liked to meet the guest students in person more often and do some nice extracurricular things with them, such as hiking, ice skating, bowling, etc. Everyone quickly realized that this would not be possible and no one complained about it. The guest students took advantage of the opportunity to participate virtually in the International Coffee Hours and always had our student assistants in Görlitz at their side, who did an excellent job. From my point of view, all of them successfully participated in the study program and are now in the process of registering for the exams.
I very much hope that, despite everything, our guest students had a successful stay in Görlitz that they will remember fondly. And above all, I hope that, despite and in compliance with the strict rules, they were able to get to know a few fellow students and, above all, the university and the city of Görlitz."
At the end, they said that they were very satisfied with their stay in Görlitz and that they would recommend it to their fellow students in St. Petersburg.
Hopefully this report was helpful for other prospective foreign students. We are very much looking forward to seeing you!
Our interview partners today are Anastasiia Cherevkova and Anastasiia Andrianova. The girls come from Saint-Petersburg, Russia. Their home university is UNECON - State University of Economics and Finance. At home they are studying hotel management. Here they have chosen tourism management.
