Erasmus is about the people

Erasmus is about people

For my second Erasmus experience I went to Saarbrucken, a city situated in western Germany, very close to France, it’s position being almost at the border of the two countries.

When I told my family and friends that I am going to Saarbrucken nobody ever heard about this city before including myself until I did same research over the Internet from which I found out that the location of this place is perfect for reaching other cities, some that everybody knows about, and also countries.

So, the choice was Saarbrucken because my goal for the next 4 months was not necessarily to settle but to travel, experience and see as much art, culture and nature related things as I can. I believe that, as an art student who aspires to be an artist on day, one very important learning method is to keep your curiosity up and awake when it comes to all that’s surrounding us anytime, anywhere.

An alternative and better way of learning

The best history and history of art lessons are found in museums and galleries, the inspiration for your next artwork comes from the most unexpected moment when the mind needed it to be incredibly awake, the wrong information, opinions or facts can change when the things are experienced directly not just heard about, all of the people  around are quiet teachers and some of them are doing a good job at empowering others, conversations are the beginning and also base of learning.

I wrote the above words as an explanation of the way I found as being the most efficient when it comes to studying. My Erasmus mobility is based on that.

Being an income student in Hochschule der Bildenden Kunste Saar 

In Hochschule der Bildenden Kunst I had workshops and courses like Atelier Project which is focused on my own ideas and work belonging to the Master project that I am doing, Baum&Bild, a project course that I was completely excited about because it involved doing an artwork in a public space (Deutsch-French Garden), but working in accordance with given situations that inspire us, Ceramics, Digital Printing, excursion in Leipzig where, besides the city, we visited Weimar with Bauhas Museum too, free Yoga classes and, of course, a Deutsch language course whose A1 level exam I passed.

The atmosphere in HBK is friendly most of the time, especially when there is a barbeque starting. Everybody is chilling.

I didn’t interacted with many deutsch students maybe because in class they understand everything, but on the other hand I developed strong relationships with the other international students.

Because there’s no Erasmus body in this Uni we tried to help each other as much as we can in the various situations that could arise. We studied together, we went for beers and parties, we travelled together sometimes, we organized international lunch or dinner with our deutsch teacher.

Saarbrucken reminded me at times of Brașov and that’s because the city is surrounded by nature and green hills everywhere. This is something that I really enjoyed about it. It’s green and I could breath fresh air.

There are also many hiking trails, so with our small Erasmus group we went hiking in Saarschelife or the Loop of Saar river and in another 2 parks.

Travelling in other new places 

I think the most exciting part of my mobility didn’t happened in Saarbrucken, but outside of it during my trips.

Before arriving to Saarbrucken my first stop was Frankfurt. I spend 3 days here walking around the huge, amazing and so modern city. I’ve visited the art museums, the old city center, crossed the many long brigdes, and relaxed on the banks of Main.

From Saarbrucken during the semester I travelled to Luxembourg twice, to France in Strasbourg, Metz and Paris. In Germany I went to a music festival that took place in Trier and to Leipzig where I actually participated to a three day excursion organized by the university.

So, in Leipzig we met two former students from HBK who showed us the city and explained about it’s history and art scene. Plus, one day we also went to Weimar to see the Bauhaus Museum.

The international group was one of the best things from the whole mobility 

In all of the trips I didn’t went alone, but with other Erasmus students and with the friends who came visiting me. Being with different people of diverse backgrounds, cultures, beliefs or lifestyles creates a beautiful learning and exchanging experience which usually grows in long time friendships. That’s the best part, for sure!

I am very happy and pleased with the relationships that formed between me and some other people while being an exchange student here. Now we are planning how can we meet as soon as possible after all of us are gone to our home countries. Probably two Korean friends will actually come to Romania in the following autumn or winter.

The reason why I am not talking more about school related stuff is because I didn’t like that much the courses that I took and the teaching methods. For the Atelier project we would meet once a week and some of us had to present our works, but every time, an exception being when I presented mine, it was in german and I really didn’t understood much. Therefore, is not a lot to talk about. I feel like from the school I didn’t learned that much, neither when it comes to theory or practice.

My teachers those days were the conversations that I was having almost daily with the new people that I was starting to know and my inner self too.

When I positioned myself out of my current situation in which I was living in Bucharest everything somehow started to become more clearly. But not in the first two weeks which were crazy until I got used with the new home, city, faculty and people. What I want to say is that when I am on my own I become much more focused on all the events and facts which are influencing me day to day.

This Erasmus was about the other people who are naturally becoming friends, very close persons which I can respect and trust.

It was about helping, understanding and living with each other. It was about the many long german words that we struggled to translate, the beers that we drunk while trying to have conversations about different current concerns that everybody had, the delicious international food and culture that we shared on Easter Day or on 1st of May, the new environment with which everybody was trying to accommodate with.

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