It’s me again!
UncategorizedHallo: one of the 10 words I know in German even after spending one whole semester in Munich. I use it a lot.
My name Is Michelle Gutiérrez, though through my Erasmus I’ve gained a couple of nicknames: Obama, Miguel and Marcel. You can choose any of those.
I was born and raised in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. It is a very small city, where everybody thinks the same and wants the same things. So, it was definitely a shock when I moved to Madrid in 2019. Getting to see how open and different people can be has definitely made me grow so much and it helped me be closer to who I want to be. That said, I love my hometown and my people, and I owe them all my values and moral compass. I have some family still back home who I get to visit usually once a year.
I was skeptical when deciding my Erasmus destination. People always say Germans can be cold and the weather too of course. I still took a chance because it felt right and I’m so grateful I did. In my experience, Germans have been incredibly nice and most of them go out of their way to help lost and messy auslanders like me. In terms of the weather I was definitely not prepared but it didn’t keep me from drinking cold beer under the snow (I’ve obviously gotten sick a couple of times). I also struggled a lot with finding an accommodation but now I’m staying in a place that I’m really happy at.
I cannot describe my first semester in Munich. And there’s no way of talking about it without sounding like a loser. I have never opened myself up to new things as much as I did these last few months. I’ve gotten to meet people who left a permanent mark on me, people from cultures that I knew nothing about. This semester has helped me understand life so much better and it has taught me how to really enjoy the limited time we have in each phase of our lives.
Clearly I have really high hopes and expectations for my second semester. One thing I want to improve in this one is travelling more and hopefully I’ll get to visit a couple more cities before I leave. Academically, I’m excited for the courses of these next couple of months, most of them really align with the things I enjoy from my major, which by the way is Advertising & PR.
Corona has in fact affected my Erasmus. I couldn’t attend many in-person classes, and clubs and bars were closed most of the semester. But thankfully I still got to have and incredible experience so finally one win for Michelle and one loss for Corona.
Here’s to more friends, more beer and more happiness!