Living and studying in Oldenburg, Germany

On my first day in Germany, I was traveling with my dad to my university accommodation from the UK, the flight was only 1 hour from Stanstead airport. On arrival at Bremen airport, I straight away began to notice all the small differences compared to back home. I noticed that there were bratwurst (sausage) street vendors and a lot of tram stations around compared to in London which was more of a bus city.

Bremen Hauptbahnhof

As we walked through Bremen to the central station, I remember seeing my first ever 'double-decker' train which we got going to Oldenburg. The people of Oldenburg were very polite to me and my father once we got there as we asked some strangers how the bus ticket system works in the city. Thankfully an elderly gentleman explained this to us and pointed us in the right direction. The bus ride to my accommodation was magical. I would listen to the bus stop's names be called out in German and to be honest, I felt like I was like a 7-year-old kid again noticing every little detail on our way there. I felt enthusiastic to be in a completely new country which was something I always wanted to do since I was a teenager. I remember hearing a station named "Masurenstraße" being called, which notifying me I was close to my own stop at "Johann Justus Weg".

Oldenburg's yellow buses

My father stayed with me the first few days at my accommodation then he went home to the UK. My accommodation was good quality and I was flat sharing with 2 girls and 2 boys, who were other university students. Out of the 4 people I was thankfully living with 3 german people who taught me a lot about German culture, music, phrases, and the language. This came in handy especially when my own German homework began too difficult. My other flatmate was a girl from America on an exchange program like me. She was arguably the most creative and enthusiastic person I had met and she would come up with different ideas that kept everyone happy and entertained. At the beginning of the semester, she painted posters for each of our doors, which I still have mine today on my wall at home. She also painted on the pumpkin a face, a nose, wrote German phrases at the back of it, which I could not understand! This painted pumpkin we as a group called "Jerry."

Jerry the Pumpkin

Another fond memory was visiting the festival Bremer Freimarkt 2016 in Bremen which was one of the biggest winter fairs in Germany. It was a beautiful sight of neon lights, Ferris wheels, crazy rollercoasters, and smells of baked fresh goods being made. I remember visiting this festival with more of my exchange mates I had made during the university socials. We went on a water rapid ride together in the middle of German winter. I was also playing a gun range game against one of the American students and got demolished. I'm sure no one was surprised I was useless at shooting a rifle since was from the UK.

Bremer Freimarkt pictures

There were several interesting things I learned about Germany while I was there, master’s courses and university courses were a lot cheaper for domestic students than back home. In Germany, there was a big wind energy industry in the country which german people much preferred over nuclear power which was a growing industry in the UK. The UK's decarbonisation plan describes the future construction and maintenance of many new and existing nuclear power plants. The switch to nuclear will in turn allow for the closing of many large scale coal plants in England and the Midlands, which will therefore lead to fewer C02 emissions over the coming decades. However, in Germany, I noticed there was a strong public sense against nuclear power and many people believed it is and always will be dangerous, which should not be trusted in Germany. I found this interesting since in the UK nuclear power has a much better public perception and billions of pounds have been put towards building new nuclear power plants by the government.

Overall nuclear power is seen as a cleaner option than fossil fuels and a relatively safe and reliable source of power by many British people above fracking and coal power plants. I found it interesting that in Germany the public perceptions were very different from our own in the UK.

Anti-nuclear protests in Berlin 2010

Windfarms were a common sight when on the train between German cities

In summary, going and living in Germany will be something I never forget I will always remember the fun moments and the life lessons I had to learn whilst living abroad by myself for the first time. Living abroad definitely grew me as a person and made me a lot more resilient. Hopefully, people can experience a similar time to me once the Covid pandemic is resolved to a greater extent. This semester abroad kept me outside of my comfort zone and I would recommend anyone taking the 'leap of faith' if it's deep in their heart to do live abroad one day. Danke schön Germany!!!

German efficiency photos

The Pfand system that reimburses people financially for recycling properly in most supermarkets

The numerous German recycling bins

Some pictures from my Autumn/Winter semester