Li Chenxi

I have stayed in Paderborn University for one semester, it is really a great time for me to live and work in this university, and I learned a lot indeed from such experience. It is a short time to stay in Germany but I got into the details of their life and I really enjoy it.

For the following part, I’m glad to share with you about my life in Germany, maybe you can get some useful information for your further study abroad.

Preparation

The First thing and the most important thing for you to think about is to apply for such a chance as a exchange student. Before you make up your decision you have to think clear if you are really suitable for this program. First, I think you should look for the information from the website of GET lab and LEA lab. There you can make a brief knowledge about their research fields and whether it has any promotion for what you are doing in your lab now. Second, you have to make sure that you have good oral English skills. It is because in your life everyday, you have to manage almost everything in English. Not only for the discussion with your tutor and colleagues in the lab, but also for the bargaining with the shop cashiers. Don’t worry about your German, Germans speak good English. At last, it is necessary for you to get at least some knowledge about Germans culture, you may get less culture shock when you get along with them.

Work in GET lab

Work in the GET lab is a very good experience for me. My job in the GET lab is to make a implementation of some robot navigation algorithm and to make some connection to certain simulators. I have not only learned about how their rescue robot really work with navigation algorithm, but also got familiar with Linux and improved my C++ programming skills. And this topic has some relations to the topic in my lab, so what I learned from my job in GET lab has a promotion to my work in China. I appreciate a lot for what my tutor Mrs Kleinmann did for me.She give me such great opportunity to work with such a interesting topic and always discussed with me about what to do next. And I also would like to thank Mr Fisher and Tobias, they always give me a great help when I met some problems. Work in the GET lab, it is really important to make a concentration when you do some jobs and I think I learned a lot from their attitude towards their work and the way how they solve problems.

German Course

I took part in the three month German course because I would like to learn more about this beautiful and useful language. Frankly speaking, to learn German well is really a tough job for me even that I have self-confident to speak good English. But our German teacher ,Mr Kulmann, give me a good start for my further study with his patient and good teaching skill. And at the end of the course I can manage myself in German for the daily life. To my point, German is a language worth to learn, you will fall in love with it if you find its beauty.

Life in Paderborn

The living condition is really good in Paderborn university, you have your private room with bath and shared kitchen. It is convenient for you to buy some goods, because there are a lot of supermarkets around your dormitory. And there is an Asian supermarket in the center of the city, you can get what you need to make Chinese dishes. A good tip for you, you’d better learn how to cook by yourself and make yourself satisfied with what you cooked. In your spare time, you can choose how to kill time by yourself, there are a lot of bar in the center of the city and a playground near the university, have a cup of beer with your friends or do some sports are all good choice for you.

Make friends

Thanks to Eurobiz, a great student union in the university, I made a lot of friends world wide. They held a lot of trip s and parties, there are trips to Bremen, Dresden, Bonn etc, and the parties like summer party and farewell party. I also invited some of my friends to my house and make Chinese food for them. Because I am crazy about soccer, I always chat and play soccer with some of my friends from Italy, Turkey and other countries. We also held a Chinese Evening for the students world wide. We served them with Chinese food, Chinese music, they really enjoyed our culture, especially Chinese food. Now I still contact with them, and I hope that one day they have chance to visit China.

Travelling

I had to say that it is really convenient to travel within Europe. If you have paid for the student card that you can travel for free within North Rhine-Westphalia. There are a lot of cities worth to visit within North Rhine-Westphalia like Bonn, Muenster, Detmond etc. And travel by train is a good choice for you to travel in Germany, it is as convenient as taking subway in Beijing. Germany is a beautiful country with a lot of splendid churches and lake or river with clear water. And to travel around Europe, you can get some really cheap flight tickets by checking for the information from the website of some cheap flight company like Ryanair. I strongly recommend you to travel to Holland or Italy if you have such a chance. In these two place, you may get a better understanding and great view of Europe besides Germany.

Thanks

Thanks to Prof. Mertsching and Prof. Yuan to give me such a good opportunity to study abroad. And thanks to Mr Fisher, Mrs Kleinmann and Tobias for their kindly help. And I really spend a great time with Lian Zhang,Jianxun Lv and Hanguang Mi in Paderborn, thanks to them.