A Story Of a Russian Student in Germany: It’s So Far Away

Ilia Andreev
Hometown - Kazan, Tatarstan
Home University – Higher School of Economics (Faculty of Management)
Guest University ­– Karlshochschule International University

 
Things which are better in Germany // which you miss the most about your homeland

+ Public transport (all the buses and trams are more or less functioning according to their timetables; punctuality)

+ The quality of the roads is much better (you can easily drive 200 km/h on the highway with no harm to yourself, your car or others)

+ Difference in mentality. No one controls whether you buy a ticket to enter the swimming pool, for example, what price did you pay for it, but you will still buy it, as well as everyone does, because everything in Germany is based on trust and conscience. There are rarely supervisors checking tickets in the transport and the baskets with fruits and vegetables are standing outside the shops.

+ Neatness and cleanness. Immediately after the carnival, there was a big team of cleaning machines working to wipe the streets from all the garbage, and it became perfect in 20 minutes or even less.

 

How did you adapt to life outside the university? What places have you visited besides the university?

I had no problem with the adaptation, partly because I can see almost no difference between my daily routine in Moscow and Karlsruhe. For me, everything from food to mentality is pretty much the same. Besides the university, I have visited many places, but one event was very special indeed. It was my first month of studying n Germany, and a Biathlon World Championship was going on in Austria. I am a big fan of this kind of sport, so I decided to go and see it in real life. Surprisingly, there was no trouble with getting there: I bought all the tickets in advance and had no problem with the transportation system. And though I was a little bit tired from the road, the ability to see the biathlon competition with my own eyes overcame everything.

 

Why did you choose Germany to go for the semester abroad?

I wanted to go to Germany from the very beginning. First, I studied the German language at school and so I already knew some basics for my survival in the foreign country. Secondly, I’ve already been to Germany, as I was traveling to Munich, Bayern, and I have very pleasant memories from that trip. Finally, Karlshochschule provided the best mixture of courses for my study program, as it was crucial for me to “cover” all the courses.

 

What courses did you attend during your semester? Which one did you like the most? (mention a professor, who influenced you the most, if you want)

As there is no Management Faculty here, in Karls, I had to choose courses from three different study programs: from Marketing, Intercultural Communication, and International Business. But the course I really like is called International Marketing Channel and Operations. Our professor, Prof. Dr. Kai Holschuh, has an amazing background, as he is native American, but lived in so many places all over the world, so his story inspires me to work harder every day.

 

Was it easy for you to communicate with other students from all over the world? Have you noticed any specific features of intercultural communication?

Very easy! At first, I thought that there is going to be some difference in the way we think or percept the world, but it showed up that we are very much alike, only the languages are different. For instance, Indian guys are quite hard to understand because of their accents, which is really strong, though English is an official language in India.

 

What was alike and what was different from your home university?

The main difference can be noticed at the moment you enter Karlshochschule. Every classroom has the walls made entirely from glass, so everything is transparent and clear. What is more, the tables in classes are placed randomly: there are usually three or four of them in the room, and we are sitting around them, forming the groups. To my mind, it helps to create the pleasant and informal atmosphere, which is very good for the courses, which require all your creativity from you. Most of the classes in Karls are like these: you should be active, creative and ready to work in a team.

What was also different from my home university is that here, in Karls, we address the professors using their first names only. And it’s different from Russia, where the relationship with the teachers are usually very formal.