Beyond myself: Aleyna in Berlin

Aleyna Gürgen

During my Erasmus semester in Berlin last year, I had the opportunity to get to know not only German culture but also new cultures and people from all over the world. My very active Erasmus adventure created memories that I will remember for the rest of my life.

In the 4 months I spent in Germany, I almost never had a free day. One day I was going to a Bundesliga match and the next day I found myself swimming in the Baltic Sea with my friends. I saw many places in Germany such as Hamburg, Rostock, Dresden, Rügen and Stuttgart and I also traveled outside the country. My days in Berlin were very enjoyable.

At Freie Universitat Berlin I attended seminars instead of regular lectures. Basically the biggest difference between regular lectures and seminars was that I had to prepare a term paper instead of taking an exam. What I liked the most about the seminars was that I could decide on my course load and the credits I would get from the course. I would get 3, 5 or 7 credits depending on my choices between class participation, presentation and term paper. Group work was much more prominent in my seminars compared to Türkiye. I did group work regularly in all 4 courses I took during my school semester.

I was surprised by the slowness and intensity of the bureaucracy in Germany. Even just to get my residence permit, I had to chase my appointment at the municipality while I was still in Turkey. The quietness of the very lively city on Sundays and public holidays, was something I had never seen before. In my first days in the city, before the Easter holidays, my school in Germany advised me to make sure that I had enough food stock for few days and told me that the markets would be closed during the holidays. These things, which seemed strange to me at first, started to grow on me. I really respected the fact that people take time for themselves in life and their sensitivity in this regard. Also, I never got used to the fact that the trains were constantly delayed, sometimes for hours.

Erasmus was an experience with as many bad sides as good sides. My saddest moments during the exchange were the last days. In Germany, I made really close friendships and deep connections with people. Leaving my country, my home, didn’t make me sad when I left for Berlin because I knew I would be back in a few months. When I left Germany, there was no guarantee that I will ever see my friends again. The end of my exchange program and leaving my friends was the saddest thing during Erasmus.

I was prepared to encounter a negative impression or prejudice against Türkiye, but this did not happen to me. When people heard I was Turkish, they usually told me how much they loved döner. There were also many people who were curious about Cappadocia, Antalya and Istanbul. Mostly they had little information rather than misinformation or biased information, but they were open to learning about my culture.

My first advice to those who want to join Erasmus like me is to be very careful in choosing the country and city. The development of the country and city you choose will deeply affect the quality of the days you will spend there, the activities you will do and your opportunities. I think small cities and countries should not be your first choice for this experience. It is difficult to find quality activities to do and the universities that will contribute to you academically are usually not in small places. Erasmus should not be seen as just traveling, the educators there can make serious contributions to you about some topics you never expected. You can use Erasmus academically, socially and culturally, you do not need to give up one for the other.  For example, Freie Universitat offered free German lessons to some exchange students and I used this opportunity to learn German in Germany.

From my own experience, I can say that Erasmus is one of the most enjoyable and useful projects you can participate in during your studies. In this program, you have the opportunity to get out of your comfort zone and explore the world. In the future, you may go abroad in your professional life, but doing this during your student years and experiencing being a student in another education system outside your country will bring you many different things. I believe that every student who has the chance should take advantage of such an opportunity.