Report November - Türkbey Tanman

1. How was your first month at FHWS?

My first month brought me new friendships and a different perspective. Except for the good times I had with new people I met, I tried to adapt to my new education at my school.

2. What are the differences between the education system in Germany and your country?

Actually, for Bachelor and Master programmes, there is not much difference between Germany and Turkey. Also, the process of the courses, the rules and regulations of the university is the same. But there are big differences at the lower level, i.e. at primary and high school levels.

3. Did you manage to make friends with German and/or foreign students?

My German level is not very good, so I do not have many German friends, but I made many friends with other nationalities: Indian, Peruvian and Spanish. The biggest plus for me is that since they also started to learn German like me, we do not have difficulties communicating and understanding each other.

4. How well do you understand the professors and other staff of the university?

As my lessons are not much theoretical weighted, I am a bit lucky. I can understand the lessons easier by working it out myself before the class. But when I have an issue with the student affairs office or another unit, I sometimes have difficulties explaining my problems.

5. Do you have any unresolved problems in Germany (education, everyday life, etc.)?

I don't have any problems for now.

6. Did you attend the I-Campus Day?

What did you think about this event? Unfortunately, I could not attend the I-Campus day for different reasons.

7. What is your first impression of living in Germany (cultural shock, positive and negative sides)?

Since I was not new in Germany and the first state I came to was NRW (too many Turks live in NRW), I did not experience a cultural shock, but when I first came to Schweinfurt in the Bayern region, I had difficulties due to the change of the dialect. Apart from that, as a student, part-time job opportunities are quite high in Schweinfurt and you can easily live here with the money that you earn from those jobs.

8. What is your first impression of your city (Schweinfurt or Würzburg)?

The fact that Schweinfurt is small and has little social facilities is nice and advantageous for me while it is bad for most people. You can easily recognize the city and people. It is a peaceful and reassuring city that has plenty of jobs for students.