Exchange Report University of Mannheim Spring 2016 Undergraduate 422921 1. The City of Mannheim Mannheim is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, and it’s one of the twenty largest cities in Germany. It’s quite close to the border of France and the population is approximately 300,000. The city is very multicultural. Most important landmarks are the Mannheim Palace (Schloss in German) and the symbol of Mannheim, the water tower (der Wasserturm). The city is well known for its opera shows as well as its local ice-hockey team, the Adler Mannheim. There is one unusual thing about the city center of Mannheim; the streets and avenues are named with alphabets and letters, instead of addresses. This made it rather easy to find all the shops and restaurants, since there was no need to memorize anything, once you understood the system. Therefore, it is not a surprise that the slogan of the city is “Life. Squared.”. The weather in Mannheim was quite rainy throughout the spring, but the temperature was always between +10-25 degrees. The time difference to Finland is only -1 hour. Mannheim is a home to many large corporations, for example Daimler, IBM, Unilever and Siemens. The first car as well as the first bicycle in the world were also invented in Mannheim. It is a very industrial city, and has a great reputation as one of the most innovative cities in Europe. 2. Preparing for the exchange I received an e-mail containing an online application and important information from the university at the end of September. In the application I had to fill out my personal information, language skills and whether I wanted to have a “Buddy” or not. Buddy is a personal tutor, who is supposed to help you with the enrollment and getting to know the city. I had a Buddy, but we didn’t spend that much time together. The application was possible to complete either in German or English, and it was quite fast and easy. There was also information about the German language courses and the International Winter Academy, accommodation, dates and deadlines etc. In November I got my Letter of Acceptance and the Welcome Letter via regular mail, and also an e- mail containing the link and personal password for the online portal “Mannheim-meine Universität” (short: myUniMA). In the portal I could find all significant information about my stay in Mannheim, for example the tasks that have to be completed before and during the stay in Mannheim. The university has a limited number of rooms in student residences, which are available for exchange students coming from abroad. Registration is done via the portal, myUniMA. It was also possible of course to rent an apartment from private markets, but I found the student residences as an easier option. The online booking system opened in the beginning of November (announced in the e-mail). I highly recommend to login and book the room/flat as soon as possible; I logged in approximately half an hour after receiving the e-mail, and most of the accommodations were already booked. Once the accommodation was booked, I had to pay the rent deposit (two months) and the rent for the first month within few weeks and send the documents signed to the university. By the middle of December, I also had to pay the semester fee (69,80€) and the fee for International WinterAcademy (570€). In the later chapters I will tell more about the International WinterAcademy. Before departing I updated my student allowances at Kela and ordered the European Healthcare card. It should be noted, that receiving the card might take several weeks. Therefore, it is important to order it quite early. I also informed the change in my address to the magistrate. 3. Arriving to Mannheim Since I took part in the International WinterAcademy, I travelled to Mannheim a month earlier (in January) than other exchange students not participating the course. I booked the flight from Finnair, which cost approximately 140€. The nearest airport to Mannheim is located in Frankfurt am Main. The duration of the flight is just about 2,5 hours from Helsinki. Once I landed to Frankfurt, I took the ICE-train to Mannheim. The train ride was approximately half an hour, and it cost 25€. I arrived Mannheim in the middle of the night, so I stayed one night in a hotel near the train station. Registration for the University and International WinterAcademy opened the next day, so I woke up early and headed to the International office. The University itself and other school buildings are located just 5 minutes of walking from the train station. I recommend to prepare yourself mentally for the German Bureaucracy, since it can be rather exhausting. The first thing I did was the enrollment at the International Office (L1,1). They needed my Letter of Acceptance, my passport, and the European Healthcare Card. After the enrollment I registered at the Winter Academy Office (L9,7), where I received the complete Winter Academy Program and a bag of goodies. It’s recommended to print all the payment receipts, though they can be checked online as well. Since I had SEPA payment contracts with my bank, I didn’t bother to open a German bank account. Some stores don’t accept foreign cards, but I learned fast anyways that paying by cash was always the easiest option. Many exchange students chose either Commerzbank or Deutsche Bank. The last step of registration was the matriculation at the city hall (K7). K7 seemed to be the curse word to all exchange students; the staff refused to speak English and all the forms were in German. If you have a buddy, I recommend to bring him/her with you. The people at the International Office also offer to fill out the forms for you in advance. Prepare to spend at least few hours at the city hall, since it’s usually very crowded. I booked my room from Ulmenweg (20-25minutes from city center by bus). After the registration tasks I went there and collected my keys from the Housemaster. Remember to check, whether you’re ready to collect them during their office hours! Otherwise you have to book an appointment for that. 4. Living in Mannheim During the exchange I lived in a student residency in Ulmenweg. It was a little bit further away from the city center, but with the bus numbers 60 and 61 and tram number 4 it was really easy to go there. There were also a lot of other exchange students living there, and in the end I really considered the place as home. All in all, there were eight buildings. I lived in the number 43 and the laundry rooms were in buildings number one and five. The laundry machines worked with student cards, and the price for one washing time cost 1,80€. I lived with five other roommates, we shared a kitchen and two bathrooms. Boys and girls are living in mixed dorms, there are no dorms just for girls or boys. This was little bit strange at first, but I got used to that quickly. Everyone had their own kitchen supplies and lockers in the kitchen. Once a week the kitchen and the bathrooms were cleaned by the cleaning service. Sometimes the housemaster left a note saying that we had to clean the fridge or sort out the waste etc. The rent was 289€, including water, electricity and internet. The rooms were pretty simple and plain. There was a bed, a desk, a closet, couple of chairs, a sink and a bedside table. I bought all the other necessary things from Mömax (department store a little cheaper than IKEA) and Woolworth. 5. The Studies The spring semester starts in the middle of February and goes on until the end of June. The lectures end at the end of May, and the duration of the exam period is roughly two weeks. However, for exchange students it’s also possible to take intensive seminars throughout the semester, which is a faster way to get credits. I didn’t find it hard to find interesting or suitable courses, since the selection was quite broad. The re-sits are held in August. For the course registration, there was an online portal which opened somewhere in February. However, for most courses there was no need to register. To all seminars the registration was necessary though. The lectures and course policies were pretty similar than in Finland. It wasn’t mandatory to participate in lectures or exercise groups (only in seminars absences were not accepted). It also wasn’t necessary to buy books, since it was possible to read them online. Material of the courses usually consisted of lecture slides, articles and e-books. To my mind, the professors were really inspiring and the lectures quite helpful. The level of the courses was a lot higher than in Aalto, and you really had to work for the credits. The hardest part of the studies was the exam time; it was only 60-90 minutes. Even the professors admit, that it was nearly impossible to get full points. The courses that I chose The International WinterAcademy, 6 ECTS The course was an intensive language/orientation course, that consisted of lectures, seminars and leisure activities. The duration was one month, and the price in spring 2016 was 570€. In December, all participants had to complete a placement test to see what their level was. The lectures were held every day from 9-13.