Doing an academic exchange in Cologne has been one of the best of my life. My year there was wonderful! Cologne is a big intercultural city full of young and friendly persons. They are used to seeing people from all over the world and understood that not everyone can speak German perfectly, so language skills were never a problem, and they were also eager to talk in other languages, such as English, French, Chinese, and Spanish.
In addition, the University of Cologne has a great academic level. It´s rank sixteen of the best Universities in Germany and one of eleven Excellence Universities. The CGSP was perfect for my degree. I was studying International Relations, the program gave me the European view of different events. It was a worthwhile adventure that made me improve my academic and personal level. I made great friendships and I could integrate myself to Cologne traditions in every season.
For example in winter, I visited the picturesque Weihnachstmarkt (Christmas markets) and tasted some delicious traditional drinks, such as Glühwein. I also saw the unique crazy Karneval. It takes six days of the week, all the people were a costume and on Monday they made a big parade in which people gift caramels and flowers.
In summer not just the people change also the activities do. I swam on the Rhein beach, I drunk a Kölsch at the Aachener Weiher and at the university grass, and I also enjoy a mystical sunset on the Rehinboulevard in Deutz. For each event, the University guided me through the context, history, and development of it. These factors more the relationships I did help me to increase my energy and development in my classes and for consequences I get better notes.
In classes, I had classmates all over the world so when the professor asked us for opinions our different cultural ideas would make more interesting the lecture. No all of my classmates speak perfect English or German, so the professors would always make sure we all undestood. Moreover, they make us feel comfortable and confident while we were speaking and they persuaded us to don´t feel shame if we fail. We just needed to keep trying.
I consider my exchange year as an achievement in my academic, personal, and professional performance. It guided me to broaden my horizons, change my vision of the world, and believe more in myself. I enjoyed every second of that year, the experiences and challenges that I lived therein will always remind in my memory. Therefore, If I could choose a place in the world to travel after the pandemic, it would definitely be Cologne.
Jaquelin Alonso Martinez
University of Guadalajara, Mexico
Exchange winter term 2016/17
For futher pictures and information click here, to see a great pdf made by Jaquelin Alonso.
