In the fond memory of my visit to Germany as a student..( The thought to continue this blog came when in my Post graduate program in management, many exchange students from various countries had come at IIM Indore! :) I had started this blog in 2012, but somehow did not continue. Now, some moments very special are inspiring me to complete it. :) )
A golden opportunity...
Another chance to visit Germany was not just a trip , but the greatest opportunity to learn, explore and shine. My purpose of the visit was as a student research assistant at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology! The greatest inspiration was my family members.. A big thanks to VNIT to give me the opportunity and the chance to visit Germany to be the part of one of the most reputed research institutes in Germany. I felt very privileged to work in Germany under the guidance of highly skilled scientists under a research project.
The first day at Germany was at Frankfurt. Just after my flight, my sister and her husband took me around the city. Frankfurt is a city of huge, talk sky scrappers. The city environment is just awesome! Time was around 9.30 p.m and still there was little sun light. The city is very fascinating with restaurants and shops in all the lanes. The squares were full of people. People were hanging out in the restaurants. That area had restaurants from all around the world. There were Chinese, Japanese, Leibniz and many Indian restaurants. There were cheerful people all around. We visited the place of European Central Bank where I could spot the Euro sign of Germany. That was real fun. There were policemen at that place. We thought there was some celebrity coming at that place. But the policemen said that there was some program in which they needed security. ;)
A golden opportunity...
Another chance to visit Germany was not just a trip , but the greatest opportunity to learn, explore and shine. My purpose of the visit was as a student research assistant at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology! The greatest inspiration was my family members.. A big thanks to VNIT to give me the opportunity and the chance to visit Germany to be the part of one of the most reputed research institutes in Germany. I felt very privileged to work in Germany under the guidance of highly skilled scientists under a research project.
The first day at Germany was at Frankfurt. Just after my flight, my sister and her husband took me around the city. Frankfurt is a city of huge, talk sky scrappers. The city environment is just awesome! Time was around 9.30 p.m and still there was little sun light. The city is very fascinating with restaurants and shops in all the lanes. The squares were full of people. People were hanging out in the restaurants. That area had restaurants from all around the world. There were Chinese, Japanese, Leibniz and many Indian restaurants. There were cheerful people all around. We visited the place of European Central Bank where I could spot the Euro sign of Germany. That was real fun. There were policemen at that place. We thought there was some celebrity coming at that place. But the policemen said that there was some program in which they needed security. ;)
Thus, my 6 weeks journey started. I had to start from the scratch. A new country, a new place, new language, new rules, new culture! My sister guided me well in advance in how to go about and start my routine in Germany. I had to every day travel to KIT-Campus Nord Südtor, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Karlsruhe, which was around 2 hours from Heidelberg, the city where I stayed with my sister. So, I had to plan accordingly. My sister told me about all the plans to travel there. I, remember, the way which was the easiest took me with S-Bahn (in German, bahn means train) named S3 and bus 195. ;) I distinctly remember these numbers as I used to travel daily. ;) I had to travel taking 3 stops. First stop was Bruchsal, second was Neodorf, third Blankenloch and then I used to reach the North Campus. (http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query2.exe/dn?ld=150106&seqnr=2&ident=f6.0805106.1441838187&rt=1&OK#focus) . All the travel/transit route details are given on Bahn.de website.
Such was my travel journey routinely to KIT to reach the beautiful campus. The campus was a very huge. There were trees all around with well planned roads and direction to every place. The buildings were given a unique number for easy search. On my first day, I was given a map, in which all the buildings were placed with numbers. Thus, it became easy for me to navigate around the campus. I was given a unique KIT student research id too for accessing the services and for security and entry purposes. I felt very special! An Indian student of the age of 20 was given such high priority in German University.
My Institute of Applied Materials, Energy Storage Systems (IAM-ESS), was extremely magnificent! It had all the facilities any one could ever imagined! Germany is known for its machines and latest technologies and I was around them and learn about them! I felt so privileged! I worked on STOE STADP XRD powder Diffractometer-used to get XRD patterns for metals and materials of varied elements.
Such was a typical day in the campus.
I met some wonderful people at KIT, Larissa my office room partner! She was a very dear friend of mine! Then, there was my guide, Michael, so much experienced and supportive in everything! We started with a handshake and thus I was introduced to each and every employee in the department. I had to give a small introduction in front of all in a small conference which was held on the same day I came. Michael helped me throughout. He used to sit with me in front of my computer and explain me the complete process of analysis. I acknowledged his time and valued his teachings and made a comprehensive report out of it. I was successful in completing my work in time and thus present my report. Michael liked the work that I did, and appreciated me in writing in my certificate of excellence! I still remember the three words that he used to describe my capabilities. A proud moment for my family, to see getting appreciated by a German!
I also used to talk to some of the Germans passing by in the train too! Thus, I honed my networking skills and I improved my German as well!
I visited SAP, my sister's company for an event that was held there. The premises of SAP, Waldorf is so big that it accommodates everything, that is needed. I felt, it is indeed a great place to work for.
The event was of putting up inter-cultural stalls by SAP's employees from different countries, like India, China, Turkey, Arab, Greece,Italy etc., to show the different cultures to the world. The event was amazing and it felt just like home.
I distinctly remember, I went to the basic necessities shop in my campus and bought a chocolate ice cream cornetto from my first salary. I also bought a KIT cap from the gift shop as a souvenir!
That was the best feelings of all time! I could then at that point, could see my future succeeding from this moment. I was able to carve my future exactly as I want after this exposure of mine! I was confident enough to climb the ladder of success post this milestone time period of my life!
-Divya Sakundarwar
Berlin
11.02.2024
