Stories from Abroad

My impressions of the internship...
I liked this Internship. The internship had a good effect on my level of English, at first it was difficult, but then I adapted. I learned a lot of new and relevant information in my specialty, and also improved my level in 3D modeling.
I lived at Sungkyunkwan Second Campus in Suwon City. The territory of the University is very large, everything is well-organized, clean, there is a library where you can come and study when the exams start, the library is open even at night. You can also come at night and work in the building where you have classes, I used this because it was not convenient to work in the room. Near the university there are many places where you can eat, buy groceries, as well as a large cosmetics store. There is a canteen in the dorm building, so I often ate there. In general, I really liked the university, its convenient location, good professors and interesting courses.
I also liked that festivals are held at Korean universities, various Korean stars come, sing and dance, cars with food for every taste come, as well as various entertainments.

Difficulties during the preparation for the internship...
Difficulties arose with the documents, it is necessary to prepare a lot of documents and fill them out very carefully, there may also be problems with registration on the websites of the host university.

Visa process...
First, to apply for a visa, you had to register at the Consulate, in order to get there you had to pass a PCR test, all the necessary documents are on the consulate website, fill them out carefully, a visa costs $ 80 and the visa is received within 2 weeks, then you need to register again consulate and come for a visa. Be sure to take your Russian passport to the consulate, otherwise they will not let you in.

Difficulties upon my arrival at the host foreign organization...
Personally, I have difficulties with English, but over time you join this atmosphere and learn to become easier, so be sure of the level of English. Also, the course I chose was very difficult, so choose the courses carefully and read their descriptions.

Costs associated with participation in a foreign internship...
Visa costs - $80
Passage of quarantine - 800000 krw
Flight in both directions - 85000 rubles
Insurance - 8466 rubles
ID card - 3000 rubles
SIM card - 7400 rubles
Accommodation in a dormitory - $ 1300
Travel by metro, bus in both directions is about 150 rubles, but it all depends on the distance

The campus of the university is quite large and is located not far fr om the city center, it is not so far to go to all the sights, the location is very good. GLAM helped us at first to orient ourselves.
I had no difficulties in preparing for the internship. The only recommendation I could give is to keep an eye on the mail and not to delay the submission of any documents.
I went to study for the second semester, the visa processing was held on the New Year holidays, since the Korean consulate in Irkutsk requested documents that the Korean university sent only on December 31. The appointment for the submission of documents was a month in advance, the preparation of the visa was 10 days. I somehow managed to negotiate with the consulate and get a visa out of turn, and only thanks to this I managed to fly to Seoul on the right day. Therefore, sign up for the submission of documents for a visa in advance (before receiving the documents)
Information that I can move to dorm only after a full vaccination was announced after the application was submitted (one month before the flight to Seoul). Urgently I had to look for other accommodation for this period, which turned out to be much more expensive.

Expenses:

·         Flight to Seoul (Irkutsk — Vladivostok— Seoul)- 53724 rubles

·         Flight to Irkutsk (Seoul — Tashkent — Moscow— Irkutsk)- 68326 rubles

·         Food-270000 KRW (1 month) / 13000 rubles

·         Transport-170000 KRW (1 month) / 8000 rubles

·         Apartment where I lived before the vaccination- 1137 USD (1.5 months)

·         Dormitory- 1298000 KRW (4 months) / 62 000 rubles

·         Health insurance- 120000 KRW (1 month) / 7500 rubles

·         Open an account in a Korean bank- 20000 KRW / 5700 rubles

Foreign internship at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany) opened for me an opportunity to get acquainted with a different methodological approach to learning and working with information.


During the internship I wrote two scientific articles, one of which will be published in an international journal at the university; developed the entire practical part for the future master’s thesis, which will be defended at INRTU in June 2022. Thanks to the university environment (common studios for classes, group projects, quality and timely consultations with professors) there was more motivation for study and research work.
The trip to Germany dramatically affected my internal development and personal growth. After 5 months living in another country, not knowing the local language, and having a lot of household difficulties (especially at first), I became much stronger, braver and more confident. Being away from my family and friends and in another language environment I improved my English and of course my communication skills.
I also managed to find an official part-time job, which helped a lot in terms of socialization and additional income.
The difficulties encountered in preparation were mostly related to the registration of the visa. Advice for future students: study more when preparing documents, do not panic if there are some troubles, everything can be solved.
We were engaged in visa obtaining on our arrival to Novosibirsk (it was our intermediary point between Irkutsk and Germany). We had to prepare the documents as soon as possible. There were problems with the insurance, which we solved on the same day. My advice: call the consulate beforehand and once again specify the package of documents to be submitted, and for each point all the details.
Upon arrival at the Karlsruhe University of Technology there were practically no difficulties. The only problem was the language barrier, but this is normal at first.
I did not have to pay for visa registration, because I was going on a scholarship program DAAD, but I paid about 6000 rub. for notarized translation of the documents, about 3000 rub. for Russian insurance for the first weeks in Germany. In Novosibirsk during the visa application process spent about 3000 rubles for accommodation, the flight Irkutsk — Novosibirsk 14500 rubles, Novosibirsk — Moscow 10900 rubles, Moscow — Frankfurt 13500 rubles, Frankfurt — Karlsruhe 3000 rubles.
Accommodation in Karlsruhe cost 360 euros per month, monthly obligatory insurance 111 euros, on average 140 euros per month for food. Semester fee was 151 euros. Public transportation was 2.8 euros.
Upon return, tickets Berlin — Istanbul 151 euros, Istanbul — St. Petersburg 282 euros, St. Petersburg — Moscow 4000 rubles, Moscow — Irkutsk 13500 rubles.
Advice: When you arrive at the airport find out what kind of grocery stores are budget. The quality of products everywhere is on the same level, but the cost is strikingly different. Also, often the semester fee in Germany includes a ticket for public transport. Check with your university administration.

It was an unforgettable period in my life. I was surrounded by interesting people with whom we had a great time together. People fr om different countries, sometimes with completely opposite views on life, gathered in one place with a common goal - to gain knowledge. I managed to reconsider my attitude to some things, to experience completely new feelings and emotions for me. I can conclude that the social aspect was worked out even better than the educational one. During the 5 months spent in Poland, I visited 4 more countries, and 11 cities - the presence of a Schengen visa allows you to easily travel around Europe.

Preparation for the internship went smoothly, the staff of the student mobility department provide active assistance in paperwork.

I got my visa very quickly - about a week after applying. The main thing is to carefully read the list of required documents and not miss anything. In my case, the bank employee only put a stamp on the certificate of my income, which was a mistake, because the signature of the employee is required also.

Wroclaw University has extensive experience in working with foreign students, so the adaptation to the new location was very fast. Very often various events were organized wh ere you could meet other students and teachers, which also helps to get comfortable, just do not be shy.

My Expenses
Amounts in rubles.
Visa costs: 20 900,
airfare/fare (round trip): 42,600,
food and accommodation - 18,000 - 20,000.
Inexpensive groceries in Klaufland.

During my trip to Poland, I met a lot of nice and interesting people, and also got a huge amount of new knowledge. 

It was an incredible experience for me, it helped me develop the skills of an architect and also gave me grounds for thinking about my future. All teachers at the university could not only present the material perfectly, like true specialists in the field of pedagogy, but they were also practicing specialists in various fields like Design, Architecture, Landscape, Engineering and much more, which gave not just a good-looking cover, but really deep knowledge with an individual approach to each student.

Thus, teachers direct students in the right direction, because they are really interested in becoming future graduates as architects and not only.

Before an internship

In fact, by studying in detail all the information that the international department and the host-university give you, you should not have any difficulties in preparing for a trip abroad. The only thing is that you should not put off anything, as soon as there is an opportunity to receive some kind of document, participate in scholarships, etc. - all this must be done at once, because the extra fuss at the end of the deadline will spend you a lot of nerves, and why be stressed before such a wonderful trip. 

VISA 

The D visa is not the usual type of tourist visa that people use to travel. It is issued to persons wishing to stay abroad for at least six months due to study or work. All the necessary information with a list of documents is available on the website of the Polish Embassy.

Also, to receive it, you need to have original invitation letters from a "foreign company" – University - therefore, use the mail to receive it, and this may cause problems due to the work of our post-offices. Hah. It is also better to take care of obtaining the letter in advance - that is, as soon as you are shown an invitation - immediately ask it to be sent to you in order to obtain a visa soon.

Possible difficulties

Upon arrival in the country of study, you may have a lot of questions about ordinary household chores. Even at the stage of paperwork, the host university provides the opportunity to participate in the Buddy-program - a program for providing you with kinda curator. I strongly recommend that you participate in it, because Buddy will help you with any difficulties that you may have upon arrival and answer all your questions - from everyday life, to going to the hospital and making an appointment if you do not know the language.

Also, if there is a question connected with housing, then the best option is a dormitory that the university will provide you with - it is cheap and cheerful, very comfortable conditions for its price. But if you passed an opportunity with a dormitory, then the Airbnb website will help you with the choice of apartments.

In conclusion, I would like to say that I am really glad that our university provides such an opportunity - an internship abroad. It's an unforgettable experience.