STUDENT EXCHANGE BLOG

(OUTBOUND)

City University of Hong Kong

College of Science and

Engineering

My Profile

My Name: Wong Ho Yin

My Host Institution: University of Kiel

My Department: Department of Biology and Chemistry

My Programme: Applied chemistry

My Exchange Period: Year 2 (Summer Semester )

My Pre-departure Checklist

1. Student Visa:

The details can be found from the website of the

Germany consulate.

But there are a few things should be noted:

1. You must hand in the visa application as soon as

possible as their processing time is usually quite long

2. Letter of admission is required for the application, so

make sure the host university send you this document on

time. Otherwise, ask for your exchange co-ordinator for

help.

My Pre-departure Checklist

2. Flight ticket:

Try to book the flight with the arrival time to

Germany (Hamburg Airport in my case) as their

weekdays and daytime. In Europe, most shops do

not open at weekends (especially Sunday). Also, it

must be easier for you to find your way to your

hostel during daytime.

My Pre-departure Checklist

3. Make sure you have brought enough money (Euro)

as you need some money right after your arrival (e.g.

bus ticket and hostel fee)

4. Bring both winter cloths and summer cloths as if you

arrived there in May or June, it is still cold there

(sometimes below 10 oC). Only until July, the

temperature will rise. It’s better check the weather

forecast before departure.

My Pre-departure Checklist

5. The destination airport is Hamburg airport. The

transit airport is usually Frankfurt or Munich. Consult

the airline company for details.

6. Do not forget to bring an umbrella with you as it is

always rainy in Kiel.

7. Download a German-English dictionary apps to

your phone first so that you can read the German in

daily life

My Pre-departure Checklist

8. Buy adapters for the electric plug:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuko

9. Better search for all the emergency contact number

of Kiel in advance. The most important two are:

110: police

112: ambulance

10. Bring a camera with you, you can take a lot of

stunning photos here as this place is so beautiful

My Pre-departure Checklist

11. Learning German

You may wonder whether you need to know some

German before arrival. I can tell you nearly all

people in the University know German. Also, many

knows basic English, so communication is not too big

an issue.

But it’s of course better for you to know some basic

German like greeting. Search for some videos from

youtube. There are a lot like this:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsoAwWtvF3L

0JhCo4RSPG7Ex84l7RWT3T

Just Arrived…

1. Bus to Kiel:

When you have arrived the Hamburg Airport, you need

to take the bus to the City (Kiel). The bus name is called

‘Kielius’ This bus run on an hourly-basis. You can buy the

bus ticket at the airport counter and even make any

phone call to their local people.

You can find the bus when you leave the Airport through

the Terminal 1 exit, there is a bus stop relatively far to the

left, with the green KIELIUS Logo

The bus information:

http://www.colorline.de/polopoly_fs/1.26757!/mdb_95

638_121114_lyflyer_kielius.pdf

Just Arrived…

1. Bus to Kiel:

As I remember, there are two stops for this route.

Only drop off the bus at the final stop. DO NOT

drop off in the middle stop.

Then somebody picked me up at the final stop and

then brought me to the hostel.

If no one will bring you to their hostel, you should

better go to the hostel straight by taxi at the

airport. Show the driver the address of your hostel.

The bus from the airport to Kiel

The final Kielius bus stop

Just Arrived…

2. Do not be surprised that the sky is still bright until

10 pm. The daytime of Europe is quite long during

summer time.

3. They call the hostel as ‘guest house’. It is not easy to

find if no one led you. It is better to ask someone in

Kiel to pick you up and led you there. Also don’t

forget to ask for the gate password of the guesthouse.

Otherwise you can’t get in.

4. Then you should register and get your room key in

the office that you first see right after you enter the

guest house.

Just Arrived…

The guesthouse

The address of my guesthouse:

Wirtschaftsakademie, Schleswig-Holstein GmbH

Hans-Detlev-Prien-Str. 10, 24106 Kiel

Just Arrived…

5. As I arrived Kiel during daytime, it is possible to

buy stuff from the supermarket. The supermarket is

only about 10-minute walk from the hostel, and its

opening time is from 7 am till 10 pm from Monday to

Saturday.

The Guesthouse - My Room

They are all single room. In general, it is quite

comfortable

The Guesthouse – Common room

Most basic cooking utensils are present. If they are not

present, you can buy some in their supermarket, or in

IKEA.

The Guesthouse

Internet connection is bad, and you need to

pay 10 Euro for the wifi card with only1 month

and limited capacity access.

No WLAN connection, only wifi network card,

unfortunately.

The Guesthouse

The nearest bus stop to the guesthouse

The View from Guesthouse:

Sunset

The city

The city is quite nice, it feels like a nature. You can see

many green stuff and a huge amount of birds. There

are two lakes in downtown near the city hall of Kiel.

Also, Kiel is a navy base. So you can witness some

navy ships near the sea.

The city

The campus

People I Met

As this exchange program is not a normal one (fyp

exchange program), so you do not need to attend

any classes, but only stay in the lab.

It is quite hard for you to meet some new local

student friends in the campus, but you can probably

meet some at your hostel.

And you can meet a lot of staff from their science

department as they will hold a lot of activities.

In general, the local people are very nice, they are all

very willing to offer you help if it is needed.

People I Met

Another HK student from HKBU

besides me and my schoolmate Me, my schoolmate and a newly-met

Chinese who is working at the

University. He invited us to his

apartment for a dinner.

Out of Classroom

There are many activities that I may experience in Kiel.

One of the largest festivals in Germany, ‘Kieler

Woche’, is held in Kiel every summer.

In the festival, many events are held like music

concerts, parties, fireworks, sailing event, talent

shows, etc. And you can taste the food from all

around the world in the festival.

There are other activities that I have done in Kiel like

football matches held by the Science department,

parties, etc

Out of Classroom – Kieler Woche

Out of Classroom – Football

matches & BBQ

Goodbye

Of course it is very sad to leave the place as the city is so

comfortable, and the people are so nice. My supervisor

took a very good care of me. So it feels really tough.

The most challenging part is that it is the first time I leave

HK and I need to look after myself including washing

cloths, cooking, etc. I only got one HK company, and

sometimes it is a bit lonely for both of us.

Because of this, I have learnt to be more independent and

tough.

Sharing

One last thing I want to share is never be shy and fear, try

everything that you may and travel as much as you can as

you may never experience and visit this place anymore.

The more you are willing to try, the more you can gain.

The most precious thing that I gain is memory. I hope that

you will have your own!

My goodbye gift from my

working group

Overall Rating

Please rate your overall exchange experience: 4

(1 = the least satisfied and 5 = the most satisfied)