Germany, A Dream that Came True!
Since I was in high school, I ever wanted to visit Europe but I did not know how this could be achieved. This was inspired by the fact I was doing history as a subject in my high school and our teachers always emphasised that Africa was colonised by Europeans. I promised myself that one day I will travel to see who these Europeans were in their land.
Tubingen South Africa Program
On August 30th 2018, an email whose subject was “Tubingen (Germany) — South Africa Program” arrived in my mailbox. Opening the email, I was in Neville Alexander Computer Science lecture CSC2002S,I remembered the words I told my mum. This brought a feeling in my mind that actually I could actualize my dream through this opportunity. I went straight to contact the person who was responsible for the application process. Her name is Erin Piennar who is in-charge of short and Exchange programmes at IAPO,(International Academic Programme Office). Erin quickly referred me to the program website for me to read more about the program and the whole application process.
What is exactly is Tubingen South Africa Program
The Tübingen — South Africa Program is a cultural and language exchange program for South African students aiming to expose them to German culture and language. It also aims to bring about closer ties and understanding between the two countries. Students spend a month in Tübingen in a program designed to provide a broad spectrum of knowledge in a wide variety of subjects, from language to history to economics; as well as factory visits and sightseeing excursions which makes for an exciting month of multi-faceted learning. You can read more about the program on the website
Application process
“Something good doesn’t comes easy”. The application process was two-phased. This is because you need to be appointed by the University of Cape Town and then be chosen the coordinator of the program(Stellenbosch University). The application process required two academic recommendations, several motivations and essays and an application video. I did not know how to edit videos and I felt overwhelmed by the application but some of my friends still encouraged me to apply. One of them actually cross-checked all my essays and he could always remind me of the deadlines. The video part was the difficult for me since the guidelines were that we needed to edit the videos somehow. But my friend still encouraged to try. To make the long story short, I sent a plain video to the selection committee after a long struggle but I made sure I was clear and obeyed the duration that was allowed. Finally, after waiting for about five weeks, I was chosen among 18 participants to go to Germany. Did I cry? Yes I did. Did I celebrate? Yes I did. Was my dream coming true? Yes I was.
Tubingen Germany
After acquiring the right travel documents, Visa of-course , we boarded Etihad Airways to our trip from Or Tambo to Frankfurt via Abu dhabi Airport. Excited I was and anxious I was. After flying for approximately 18 hours we arrived in Deutschland, Frankfurt International Airport.
Frankfurt was far from our final destination. We took a bus ride of approximately after two and half hours we arrived at our Final Destination. Hurray!! We were excited. Deep in our minds anxiety was consuming us at same time we were excited. Someone shouted in the bus, “Let us do this!!!”
In Germany
After arriving in Tubingen University, the program coordinator welcomed us warmly and we were excited. After a two hour introductory session which was being given meal cards for the month, bus-ticket valid for the month and various admin work, our host families came to pick us up. My host family was so welcoming and we spent the rest of the month having productive talks about Germany and Africa.
Many events were held ranging from seminars, Exhibitions and factory tours. My most exciting moments were Mercedes Benz Factory tour(Daimler in Stuttgart), Hohenzollern Castle visit, Reception and Freiburg Black Forest hiking.
Daimler Visit.
Many people will agree with me that when someone says Daimler, no one think about Mercedes Benz. But actually I came to know that Daimler is the parent company that owns Mercedes Benz. Our visit was great and our guide took us through the factory as we saw the complete manufacturing of an s-class Mercedes Benz. After the factory visit, we visited the Mercedes Benz Museum. Some photos …..
The picture was taken outside the Mercedes Benz Factory in Stuttgart.
Hohenzollern Castle visit
The castle visit was great and awesome. It was cold but we enjoyed every moment. The castle is built on a hill and it is owned privately. The castle hosts very expensive jewellery one of which is a queen crown worth more than 128 Million Euros due to its fresh cut diamonds, fresh gold and shiny materials on the crown. The castle link is here.
Reception Event
The reception event was great as we were meeting the Senior Management of the Tubingen University, official from the Ministry of Education of the State of Baden-Wurttemberg(The funders of the program), senior consulate of South Africa Embassy in Munich . The reception was the most important event since these people were very important since they had played a very critical role in making the program successful. As a group we decided to do some presentation where we wore our African wear and sung some songs, poems and national anthems of South Africa and Botswana. The event went well as we had planned and we met very many people from the Tubingen University some of whom were senior academics of the university. I was lucky enough to meet a professor who was speaking swahili.
Freiburg Black forest hiking
Our last weekend we decided to outdo our fears and try to hike whilst there was a lot of snow in the forest. Me and two of my friends took a Flixbus from Tubingen to Freiburg. After reaching to Freiburg, we sorted out some logistics and we were set to hike the black forest the next morning. We happened to taste Germany delicacies such as Kebabs, tasted some GOOD Germany beers and more importantly visited Freiburg University Library.
Special Acknowledgements and gratitude
- Werner De Wit — Programme Manager: Shortprogrammes & Summer Schools Stellenbosch University for always being supportive throughout the program
- University of Cape Town IAPO through Erin Pienaar who managed the participants from the University of Cape Town. I say a big thank you for holding our hands throughout the program.
- Barbara Owen, Tina Kuttler and Christina Sturm from Tubingen University for being kind-hearted and understanding and making our stay in Germany great and memorable. I will always remember all of you.
- The Ministry of Education Baden-Wuttermberg for funding the program. It couldn’t be possible without you. Again thank you so much
- All Company visits guides from Daimler AG, CHT R BEITLICH GMBH And Ritters Sport for such great company tours. We really enjoyed your hospitality and free lunch and gifts.
- To my fellow participants from University of Cape Town, University of Botswana, University of Witwatersland , University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Stellenbosch University and University of Johannesburg for being great, kind and welcoming to me. You are the people who we had fun together, joked and cared about each other. We shopped together, travelled together, dined together , cooked together , danced together…..I feel crying as these memories starts streaming in……….Anyway I live to remember all of you.
We had so much fun. Indeed so much. From having chocolate every day to host families cooking for us Germany dishes. Tina taught us some basic German to help us interact with Germans.
Since in my application I promised to be an ambassador of the Tubingen South Africa program, I will leave my contact details here so that if you wanna hear more about this program feel free to contact me. Contact me to know how to apply, how to make a good application, experience and how it is being in Germany. Are you also considering to study graduate studies in Germany, I have some information we were given by Nici Sauer (Section Head, Advisor for Exchange Programs and Scholarships in Tubingen University). Are you considering to visit Germany, contact me also and I’ll help you organise your trip.
Email: ngangawillie84@gmail.com
Facebook: Willie Ng’ang’a Macharia
Instagram :willie_nganga
Twitter: @Willie_Nganga84
If you are looking for language partners to improve your German or another foreign language you can find it on swaplanguage.com.
Author: Willie Macharia, A final year student in the University of Cape Town pursuing Bsc Computer Science and Computer Engineering, Tubingen South Africa Program Participant 2019.
