With three sport students studying at partner universities overseas in the current semester, Jack Whitehouse and Amar Santana returned from study abroad end of January. Both Jack (Sport Management) and Amar (Sports Development and Coaching Sciences) lived in Heidelberg, Germany, for four months and are excited to share some of their experiences with the BU community. In this blog article, read from Jack.
Various cultures, languages and backgrounds – on the same journey
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Heidelberg from the moment I got there! The very first day all international students were together, playing games and speaking about the different cultures and languages present. We had two weeks of exploring Heidelberg and the surrounding areas, interacting with people from all around the world and understanding everyone’s backgrounds.
It was fantastic to meet people from such a variety of places and see the cultural difference in our day-to-day lives. From the very first day everyone got on and the language/cultural barriers were broken down instantly, from then on all international students spent time together and always had meals, drinks, games etc.
Different perspectives, different places
From a studying perspective, it was really enjoyable working with other internationals and German students, completing group work in international groups made the projects more enjoyable and also educational. Experiencing how others learn and putting these ideas together helped to create some really good work. I have taken a lot away from the experience, especially from the people I have met and spoken to, you learn a great deal from just being around people from different backgrounds.
Finally, the opportunity to see some of Europe I had not previously seen and even more so creating a network of friends across the world which I am planning to visit soon, is another great reason why this experience was so important to me.”
By: Jack Whitehouse
Jack can be contacted at i7980652@bournemouth.ac.uk
More information about study abroad opportunities and student experiences in Sport are available from Dr Tim Breitbarth (tbreitbarth@bournemouth.ac.uk)