• Student
  • 04/05/2018
  • Nederlands

And how are things in Osnabrück, Germany?

To be honest, Osnabrück or even Germany weren’t my first choices, but due to some complications of my first choice I had to switch to an alternative. As Germany is known for its quality education, low cost of living and proximity to the Netherlands, the choice was made. Unfortunately, you needed a high level of German for Berlin and Osnabrück was next on the list of Erasmus options. What a story right?

by
photo Privé-archief

The first impression wasn’t that great either. I arrived for the 'INKOM' and did not yet have a room. The hotel was a little bit outside the city center and when walking towards the city center, on a Saturday, many shops had the sign “Open until 13.00h”. At this point, I felt I made the grave mistake of studying in a 'gat' (hamlet) where medieval times were relived. Luckily, after walking for a few more minutes a lively city center full of (open!) shops and restaurants came into view, and my impression only improved after this.

Terrassenfest

Osnabrück is bigger than Eindhoven, looking at the lively city center, possibilities to go to clubs and number of shops. There are also events or festivals regularly, like a street foodfestival, Terassenfest and the Maiwoche. Main transportation is by bike, although I don’t have one yet (but I will get one this Sunday at the second-hand market). Studying has also been a nice experience so far, I have been following some interesting courses which focus a lot on discussions and promote active participation. The international community is rather open and every day, people will invite you to events.

Dingding at the university campus.
Impression of Osnabrück (Dingding is not in this picture).

Though the Netherlands are close, there are still some cultural differences. It seems Germans are a lot more calm and quiet in public places and I felt like the loudest person everywhere, except for bars. Paying with a debit card is not very common, many shops still rely on old cash registers (not quite medieval but very inconvenient!). “Bitterballen” and “kroketten” are my love and truly missed. There is a lack of a big squares with “gezellige” terraces. They eat warm for lunch and dinner, which causes me to go to the gym twice as often! But with all these differences, Germany is a nice place to live and though Osnabrück is so small, I could go on for pages about my adventure here!

Main picture | Dingding on the left, with Erasmus student Eva. 

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