#159: Exchange in Frankfurt Oder, Germany

Guden Morgan!

It's been a week since i've been away from home

And to be honest, I am already starting to miss home - 

Family, Food, Familiarity & Comfort with everything around me.

I've never been the kind of girl who could be independent (sadly) 

Thus of course I never thought I would make the decision to go for an exchange alone.

I had a lot of doubts about going to Germany all by myself.

I was even worried about taking the plane alone!?!??! 

HAHA well.. I guess cuz I've never taken an airplane alone before 

(Yeah, I know I sound like a kid but somehow I just dont like taking a plane alone)

And also becuz I've never taken such a long flight, ever.

Other things that were causing me to hesitate were things like not having been to Europe before-  Didn't know what it was like, and I didn't have enough faith in my ability to be independent hahaha 
Low self efficacy and conscientiousness level 

Anxiety level is like out-of-the-world

DATZ ME, what a turn off hahaha

I was THIS close to withdrawing my application.. but I'm glad I didn't :)

Going for an exchange alone was kinda like an opportunity for me to further develop myself as an individual cuz it forces me to step out of my comfort zone and learn independence.

Many of my friends were so worried that I would 'die there' (HAHAHA) or like get lost and stranded somewhere, or struggle to survive everyday because I'm just that.. blur/silly/lost whenever I'm left alone..

And I'm proud to say that I am happy and alive in germany!

MUAHAHAHA (I'm actually feeling slightly accomplished cuz of this - 

IS THAT EVEN OKAY? Hahaha so pathetic)

There aren't many interesting things to do here in Frankfurt Oder, but I still find it pretty nice because it's really a peaceful town. It would have been much better if most people knew how to speak english... :( Spent the first 2 days of my time here exploring the place, walking around aimlessly / taking pictures of things I found interesting 
(everything is interesting to me because I'm so new to everything!! Pardon me)

The view outside the window at the dormitory- Logenstrasse

The trams we take to get to different places in Frankfurt Oder :)

  

Went to Poland on the third day, because Aurel, my exchange tutor was kind enough to invite me to lunch with him and his friend! One of the coolest things about this place is the fact that there is no border control here, so we can just walk over to poland by crossing the bridge which connects Frankfurt Oder to Slubice, Poland!

I LOVE IT

Anyway here are some pictures!

 (Do and Aurel)

(The bridge!)

(The view of Frankfurt Oder from Slubice)

Lunch at a Traditional Polish Bar!

It was only 2 euros haha isn't that amazing?

It was yummy too, so worth the money!

Okay highlight of the trip was this:

Wikipedia monument 

Apparently, according to Aurel, "it's the one and only in the world"~~

Other highlights of my week here would be the Dinner party with Aurel, Do and Franzie- where i was introduced to a pretty traditional german dish :)

It was healthy and delicious! 

Throughly enjoyed myself with the great meal and company :) :)

Also, the impromptu cooking session at Ella&Kasey's dormitory, August Bebel (AB)- The most happening dorms in town) on Monday and the Longnaught event we went for after! 

So on the way to AB, there was this strangely artistic area which I saw as an opportunity to take some nice pics HAHAHAHAH oops

Seriously isn't it nice...??? Hahahaha

I loved the background!

Okay anyway!! I realised how insanely cheap it was to cook than to eat out

Groceries here are really cheap

We bought a packet of sausages aka 'wurst' for just 1.99 Euro, a huge pizza for 1.99 Euro and a bottle of chardonnay for 1.99 Euro?? Wow.. Hahaha

I need to highlight the fact that alcohol is really 'affordable' here 

Im sure it's a common knowledge that alcohol is especially cheap here in Germany

A bottle of wine here costs around 2-3 euros on average 

And in SG it's like.... 45 dollars? 

Never realised how we've been this overcharged until now

It's awesome here!!!

 Also, the official welcome party for international exchange students

It was a really good opportunity to meet the rest of the students from all over the world

especially since I missed orientation due to the VISA processing, etc.

Made some friends from Poland, Finland, Russia, Spain etc!

It's really nice to meet new people :)                 

 

Had so much fun with everyone at the Semester party which was held after the event too!

I'm glad I went for it :)

Germany has been such a lovely place so far, I'm really enjoying my time here :)

All in all, I think out of the many bad decisions I've made (or tend to make) in life,

this time I made the right one. 

Really looking forward to the rest of this journey!

LETS ROLL

xx