My Munich experience: Danke. LG Sofie xx

Dear Munich! This is my little exchange experience summary... Thank you for everything.

MY EXPERIENCE GUIDE

The roots of my Munich experience stem back to September 2022. Back then, I was in the 3^rd month of my 4-month-long holiday and I’d started feeling like I should do something to prevent my brain from clouding over… So I spontaneously decided to enrol into one of the pre-erasmus language preparation courses by LMU (=2 weeks before the start), as I’ve already known I’d be coming for my “true” Erasmus to LMU in half a year (March 2023). Maybe it would be great to practice german language before I come, so los gehts!

Challenge 1: find accomodation for the whole month… of September… in Munich?!

All the people who have experienced living in Munich know how real this struggle is. And not only in September. All the places/Airbnb’s/hotels were booked out at that time, as there are millions of people coming to Munich in September to visit Oktoberfest (and those who were not booked out were extremely overpriced).

If my room hunting were to be a film genre, it would be a comedy. Returning home from family holiday through Munich, I thought I could visit Studentenwerk office / dorm reception in person to gain more information on student accomodation (E-Mailing and calling was not sufficient). Sounds like a plan! But. Ironically: I arrived on public holiday (hahah)!!

In the end (after hunting random people in the streets of Olydorf about subletting and thanks to kind souls getting infiltrated into Munich dorm groups) I was very lucky and managed to find accommodation in student dorm through a WhatsApp group (I can recommend that!) on a very last minute (a few days) before coming to Munich. So: never give up… ask people… and join as many WhatsApp groups as possible!

Challenge 2: retrieving German knowledge

I arrived not knowing anyone and anything here – and I dare to say not even the language that well (although I learned german before, my B1 language skills were after 2 years of no-usage forgotten) – so the mission was clear: “speak German again”, get to know the streets of Munich and corridors of LMU.

And goals were accomplished. I was leaving September-Munich with feeling love; making super fun friends; motivation to learn German; and with the excitement of returning back.

True return, new start

Time flew fast and March 2023 was here: returning back to the place! Arriving to Munich felt like visiting grandparents after not seeing them for some time. Finally it is here!

This semester was a valuable and exciting lesson for me. It made me grow

1. Study-wise:

I can say that the quality of studies at LMU is very high. Studies at LMU are challenging (– maybe also in spite of different school year schedule; semester runs fast and exams come unbedingt; at my home university, there is a month long exam period = time for studying only, which I miss here), but the excitement that professors and all the people around have made it mentally manageable (hehe, or we will see after I receive exam results; but I feel enriched anyways).

All the lectures I took provided fantastic content (also gave context and showed connection to modern practice), no wonder that LMU has such renomé. I got to get better in German language, learned about KW and media related topics in new perspectives and explored new fields of marketing.

My semester began in March with a warm welcome: I enrolled for the IUCM German language course (again!). Not only I got to reconnect with my “old” friends, but also to get to know my future classmates… and of course warmed up talking German!

reunion with Jasmine! <33

Being motivated and comfy enough in new environment, I got to take English lectures as well as German ones (that’s something my younger version of me would not thought I could be capable of doing … woohoo!!). Apart from the language course, I took these classes:

• Medienökonomie
• Die Zukunft beginnt jetzt
• Media Institutions in Munich
• Zielgruppenforschung
• Social Media in Medien-Unternehmen
• Writing for Academic Purposes
• Marketing Analytics: one of the most exciting subjects… and probably the most painful one (at least for me, non BWL student)!

2. Personality-wise:

Being in new environment where old routine was gone created a new space to try things I wouldn’t have done being home.

Being a girl who grew up in familiar peaceful environment surrounded by family and “good-old-friends” almost all her life, moving to Munich was a big change. Arriving and finding accommodation was tough, as I had to find a place to stay for half a year on my own – but – with luck (and previous September experience)– I managed again. I wished to stay around students – and was lucky to find a room sublet in a 3-er dorm WG. I had friendly roommates from Pakistan and Belarus. I could hear birds singing and see squirrels jumping in branches in front of my window – felt like home!

What does it take two engineers to de-freeze a fridge?

… a hot frying pan, a bucket and a hammer. :)))

I found out I enjoy living in a city and having this kind of freedom. I enjoyed cooking for myself (and sometimes for my roommates) and found out that doing errands can be sort of relaxation.

I feel thankful for all the people I could spend time with in Munich. So many fun, smart and talented people. I feel inspired.

This semester is a lifetime memory I won’t forget.

Although my exchange stay is almost over, I feel like this is not the end and something new is yet to begin. I enjoyed being in unfamiliar and explore (of course I was lucky to everything have worked out well and to run into amazing people). I found out I enjoyed this kind of thrill that new environment has. I’ll consider this finding in my future decisions.

Danke Dir, München. This isn’t a goodbye because you are staying in my heart. <3

LG

S.