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Studying in Germany If we may regard the roads one has taken as a constantly lifelong development of this individual, my life experiences in Germany has been one of the most significant steps in the search for personal improvements in my life journey. Although to move out of my own apartment in China, bid farewell to my loving family and friends, and start anew abroad was not an easy decision to make. With the situation at that time I was not particularly dissatisfied. Attending school, receiving education, a secure job with a steady income and nice colleagues, all these had just materialized as I had wished to. Germany is ten thousand kilometres away from China. I did not possess knowledge of the German language. To learn the language would mean to start by learning to pronounce the 26 letters in German. Nor did I know much about this country and its educational system. I had no idea of how the student life in Germany would be. Nor did I know how people greet and when they shake hands with each other. At times I had read and heard that Germans are generally correct and reliable. But what all these mean in a concrete case remained unknown to me. To adjust myself to a completely new living environment and culture was definitely a challenge for me. Lao Tse said: “He who knows others is wise; He who knows himself is enlightened. He who conquers others is strong; He who conquers himself is mighty!" In my early twenties I understood myself well enough to realize that I belonged with those who enjoy spending time reading books and learning new things in life. Suddenly, I found myself confronted with the question whether my contemporary occupation really suits my personality strength and potentials, and whether or not I would be best motivated working as a nurse for lifelong profession. I believe that I am not the type of person who would like to dwell permanently in the same house and shop at the same store. Rather, I am one of those who would prefer changes and mobility, embracing new experiences and looking for further challenges in life. That human beings need changes in order to move forward, I believe strongly. That means, sometimes one crucial step must be taken in order to master our life and materialize new dreams. With my German-Chinese dictionary, which I had packed first of all, in my suit-case and the admission letter from the University of Kassel (http://cms.uni-kassel.de/) in my school-bag, I boarded the flight to the center of Europe. Surely I was excited, curious about my new surroundings and my new experiences in Germany. But I felt no fear. On the contrary: Once the decision was made, I felt much relieved and had very much energy and enthusiasm in me. There was a voice inside of me telling me what I was doing was the right thing. I thus listened to my inner world and my thirst for knowledge guided me to move forward. A friend of mine (who later on assisted me a lot in application process) was working on his PhD degree at that time in Germany at the Technical University of Clausthal ( http://www.tu-clausthal.de/). He told us every time when he visited us in China about his positive living experiences in Germany. Now there came the chance for me to experience the daily life of this country from a firsthand perspective. I felt thus drawn to a country as well as its people, who would enrich my life. After nine hours of flight, the plane landed in Frankfurt. In the early evening I got off the train in Kassel. The taxi driver noticed that I just arrived in Germany and couldn’t speak German. He therefore brought me to a student hostel in hope that someone who could speak English would help me further. A student of the University of Kassel welcomed me. He was on the phone for hours in order to find a hotel room for me. He also showed me the monument Herkules on the hill park adjacent to the city. Thus, only have just arrived, I was deeply impressed by the hospitality, friendliness and helpfulness of the locals in this country, in which I would spend years of my studying career. That was in June 1999. | |||||