Jiang Yangyang

Unforgettable Journey, Unforgettable Memory

It has been already two months since I return to Peking, but the memory of life in Paderborn keeps flashing into my mind. Although I have only spent five months there, the people ,the life and the experience of study in Germany have made a indelible impression on me and broaden my whole horizon. Thanks to DAAD, which provides this precious opportunity for the students from Paderborn University and Beihang University. At the same time, I want to sincerely thank all the people who gives me lots of help during this exchange program, especially Pro. Mertsching, Pro. Yuan and Tobias.

As an exchange student, it’s a pleasure to share my own experience with the students who also want to join this project, and I hope that will help them to have a better start in Paderborn.

Preparation

The exchange students can get the general information about the project from the website of university. But still there are some important things to do.
APS: Every students should first take the APS test and hand in their personal materials. Please do it as soon as possible because it will take some time, especially for the student who finish their bachelor degree in other universities. Otherwise it will affect the proceedings of visa.
Plan: Making a good study plan can one get twice the results with half the effort. You can browse the website of the lab and choose what you are really interested in. Then setting up your own goals and achieving them step by step.
Language: Since most students from China don’t have any knowledge of German, it’s very important for you to practicing your oral English. As the most widely spoken language, you can communicate with other people both during your study and daily life.

Arrival

When you first arrive in Paderborn, your buddy will pick you up and take you directly to your dormitory. In the next few days, you need to visit several places such as bank, international office, studentenwerk, insurance company and auslaenderbehoeder. You will get details of these information form your buddy and the teacher who is in charge of you.

Study

Unlike the ways we used to study in China, the study in Germany is more flexible. During the daytime, the students usually take lectures. In Paderborn University I have taken Robotics, which was taught in English by Pro. Mertsching. And I also took the exercise course with the guide of Tobias. The strong, harmonious academic atmosphere in the class was beyond my imagination. And the class is a place where direct communication with professional and advanced equipment are accessible. What’s more, I have also had German class in Paderborn. In China, when we start to learn a language, we usually focus on writing, reading and grammatic. But here we emphasize how to use it to communicate with each other. With the help of our respectable teacher, Frau Pienemann, who is really nice and kind hearted, I have laid a solid foundation of German. We learn the language not only from the book, but also from some interesting games. In our spare time, we sometimes go for a picnic together. It’s like that we all are in a whole family.Besides taking lectures, we also do the research in GET lab. In the lab everyone has an individual account to login to any computers there, so one can do the research wherever he is. And once encountering the problem can you consult your supervisor about it. During my study, I have joined a project on measurement of laser located on robot. After comparing with characteristics of other five distance measurement devices, I connected the Hokuyo URG-04LX laser to computer and saw how it works. I collected the real-time data, which included mean and standard deviation of measured distances and recorded the difference of surfaces of materials. And in order to simplify the process of measurement, I added 200 times snapshot to the program. In the end I used matlab to analyzed the data and according to the results of the analysis could I better master the application of the laser.

Circumstances

Student who lives in the dormitories of university has his own living room and bathroom. But the kitchen are shared by five people. There are several supermarkets near the university, such as Lidl, Real, Rewe and Rewe is the nearest. Students can also buy daily necessities in the shop called dm. But most important thing to remember is that most shops and supermarkets are closed on Sunday and during the festival, so you should prepare for that.

Since there are many international students in your class here, you can come into contact with many other cultures. Perhaps you can cook a meal and invite them to your place or go for a lunch in the Mensa of the university together, I’m pretty sure you will have a good time.

Travel

After your arrival in Paderborn, you will get your semester ticket and student card from the university. With them you can take most buses and trains in province Nordrhein-Westfalen for free, except the trains like ICE, CE and IC. That means you can use your weekends to travel to many other cities, such as Koeln, Dortmund. In Germany, the public transportation is very systematic and perfect. You can search your travel plan with some software on cellphone, for example, DB Navigator, to get the information about buses and trains that you will take.

Also, it’s convenient for you to travel to other European countries. Italy, France and Holland are all good choices for you. But there’s still something to know. First, you are not allowed to go abroad in the first three months before your visa extension. Second, if you travel to other countries, you must pay attention to your safety and bring your passport. Finally, you should balance the weight between study and travel.

In conclusion, I enjoy the journey towards the wonderlands of Germany, and sincerely hope that all the students who join this exchange project will enjoy themselves there. I have the good fortune to gain an unforgettable memory in Paderborn and this charming trip to this magical land.