A semester abroad in times of the corona crisis

Özcan*, Halit and Bülent* (*names changed on request) are students of Automotive Engineering/Mechanical Engineering at TH Köln. They decided to take the plunge and spend a semester abroad at our partner university, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi (ITU). Nobody could have foreseen that this semester would stay in their memories in a very different way. Even though the corona virus pandemic is changing lives around the world, the three students have decided to stay in Istanbul and participate in online classes from the comfort of their homes. In this interview, they tell Jennifer Hartmann from the Department of International Affairs all about their experiences In Istanbul.

How are you right now?

Halit: We’re doing quite fine, thank you.

What does your everyday life look like?

Halit: That is a difficult question as everyday life as a student is incomparable right now. Turkey has taken some extreme measures to fight the corona virus pandemic. Four of my peers and I have come here together to gather experiences, but what we found is something completely different. There’s usually a curfew from Thursday to Monday where we had to stay at home and could not visit the sights of the city or go to the university. […] Online lectures take place from nine to five every day from Monday to Friday. In addition to this, we have been given homework or group projects in order to prepare for the exams that were supposed to take place in May. However, the semester has been prolonged by a month until the end of June, which means exams will take place from that point forward up until August.

Why did you decide to study at ITU specifically?

Bülent: ITU is a world-renowned university and located in one of the most beautiful cities on this planet. That was reason enough for me to choose ITU. However, the aspect of language has helped me with my decision, as Turkish is my mother tongue, which meant that I wouldn’t have problems communicating. At least, that’s what I thought until I arrived in Istanbul. The Turkish spoken here is very different from what I’m used to. During the lectures and some phone calls I had to take here, I realized that my vocabulary wasn’t expansive enough.

Halit: ITU is a much-respected university in Turkey and it only accepts particular students with good grades. My family and friends have told me many great things about ITU and it was my dream, to spend a semester abroad there. Thanks to the Erasmus team, I am able to have this experience. As a student of Automotive Engineering, ITU, a technical university, was a perfect fit for me. Additionally, I think having this experience looks great on my CV!

Have you experienced “normal” lectures at all? How do your online lectures work?

Özcan: I, or we, don’t know a lot about “normal” lectures and the way professors teach here at all, as online lectures were introduced as soon as we arrived. There isn’t much to say about online lectures either, as lecturers resort to dry direct instruction.

Halit: We’ve never had a single on-site lecture. Our plan was to improve our Turkish, but due to the need to hold lectures online our classes have been restructured, which meant we could not converse with other students or participate in Turkish language courses. I missed the chance to participate in certain courses as they had been canceled. Lecturers usually talk rather fast in online classes as in order to stay within their schedules. Unfortunately, I was unable to understand everything and my questions were usually postponed to the end of the lecture. If there were several questions from fellow classmates, some lecturers were unable to address every single question.

How does the corona virus affect your everyday life as a student? What’s going well/badly?

Özcan: There isn’t anything positive to say about the situation. We’ve already covered the negative aspects. The only good thing is that we don’t have to commute to university every day, but by now, we even miss having to do so.

There has been a lot of talk about financial support for students in Germany. Would you have required additional support as well?

Halit: Personally, I’ve received support from the Erasmus programme. However, I have to admit it was not sufficient. I’d recommend every student interested in spending time abroad to save up. I had to spend more than I had planned due to the corona virus pandemic. I couldn’t enjoy the affordable meals usually offered by the canteen. Instead, I had to order food, buy more food, cook at home and spend more money on utilities, as I stayed at home more. The situation only gets worse if you have to factor in problems with your flight forcing you to buy another ticket, banks increasing fees on withdrawals from your account or food prices skyrocketing due to the crisis.

What is your overall takeaway from your time abroad?

Özcan: My main takeaway is that not everything always goes as planned. In life, you often find yourself confronted with difficult situations. They always end up contributing to your own personal growth, as even negative experiences can be lessons in life and you can learn from them. That’s exactly the reason why we decided to stay.

Why would you recommend other students to spend time abroad as well?

Halit: Under normal circumstances, it would be a dream for everyone to live in a metropolis such as Istanbul with its more than 16 million inhabitants and to expose oneself to all the different people, places and cultures. You’ll learn to take responsibility for yourself. It can be a valuable experience and maybe even help you decide what you want your future to look like when it comes to working and living abroad.

Özcan: I would not recommend it in times like these, but under normal circumstances – and I am 100% sure of that – it is an opportunity you just cannot miss. There will probably hardly ever be a time in your life again where you can travel to and live in a foreign country while receiving financial support through Erasmus.
Travel to foreign countries, experience their culture and see the world!