My Semester Abroad at HAW Hamburg

Why

Going abroad has always been some­thing I want­ed to do. I saw it as a chance to gain life expe­ri­ence and grow as a per­son. Get­ting exposed to a new cul­ture helped me see the world from a dif­fer­ent per­spec­tive, while adapt­ing to new ways of liv­ing, sched­ules, and work­flows was both a chal­lenge and a thrill. It gave me the inde­pen­dence I was look­ing for and was an excel­lent way to step out of my com­fort zone.

University

At HAW Ham­burg, I was able to cre­ate a cus­tom mix of cours­es in Media Tech­nol­o­gy, Design, and Illus­tra­tion. This was only pos­si­ble because I speak Ger­man flu­ent­ly. Exchange stu­dents who do not know Ger­man can only join the Eng­lish pro­gram, Film & Media, which includes select­ed cours­es from their reg­u­lar cur­ricu­lum. Both options are valu­able, but hav­ing the flex­i­bil­i­ty to choose any course was a huge advan­tage for me.

The cours­es I attend­ed were prac­ti­cal and hands-on. For exam­ple, in the Media Pro­duc­tion Project, we worked on cre­at­ing a live TV show. Each stu­dent had a role in a spe­cif­ic depart­ment, such as edi­to­r­i­al, light­ing, or set design, and we worked togeth­er through­out the semes­ter. At the end, the show aired live on Tide TV, a local sta­tion and YouTube. In anoth­er course, we col­lab­o­rat­ed on a stu­dent-pro­duced movie, tak­ing care of every­thing from the script to edit­ing.

There were also the­o­ret­i­cal cours­es like Per­cep­tion, where we dis­cussed how ele­ments like cam­era move­ments, col­or grad­ing, and sound design influ­ence sto­ry­telling. In addi­tion, cre­ative cours­es like Pro­cre­ate and Blender allowed me to learn new tools and apply them to per­son­al projects. Class­es were larg­er than at my home uni­ver­si­ty, but the struc­ture made it easy to adapt. Lec­tur­ers were always approach­able, and tutors pro­vid­ed extra sup­port when need­ed.

Life

Ham­burg is an incred­i­ble place to live. Ger­many is often under­rat­ed as a des­ti­na­tion for a semes­ter abroad, but it offers so much more than peo­ple expect. Even if you already speak the lan­guage flu­ent­ly, it is a reward­ing expe­ri­ence. The city, espe­cial­ly the har­bor, is stun­ning. Hamburg’s diver­si­ty is what makes it spe­cial. It com­bines water, beach­es, parks, a bustling har­bor, count­less muse­ums, the­aters, com­e­dy shows, sports, and so much more.

I stayed in a female-only stu­dent dorm arranged through the uni­ver­si­ty. Each floor housed around 12 to 15 stu­dents, who shared a kitchen and four bath­rooms, while each stu­dent had their own room with a small sink. The loca­tion was ide­al, just a short walk to the uni­ver­si­ty and pub­lic trans­porta­tion. The shared rooms were not always clean, but it was fine for six months. It always depends on the floor.

Highlights

I was most impressed by the work-life bal­ance in Ham­burg. Lec­tures often didn’t start until 10 a.m., which gave the morn­ings a more relaxed atmos­phere. Every­one ate in the Men­sa, where the food was not only deli­cious but also extreme­ly cheap. The city’s cul­tur­al scene blew me away. I had a “Freikarte” that gave me free access to muse­ums, the­aters, the opera, and even the gym. Ham­burg also hosts a wide vari­ety of events, so there was always some­thing excit­ing hap­pen­ing. The har­bor, in par­tic­u­lar, became one of my favorite spots, offer­ing a peace­ful escape in the mid­dle of the vibrant city.

Recommendations

Spend­ing a semes­ter abroad at HAW Ham­burg is an oppor­tu­ni­ty like no oth­er. It allows you to see life through new eyes, try things you would nev­er con­sid­er at home, and gain prac­ti­cal expe­ri­ence in your field. Beyond aca­d­e­mics, I learned so much about Ger­man cul­ture, life itself, and even pol­i­tics. Ham­burg is a city that offers some­thing for every­one. It has water and beach­es for relax­ation, parks for nature lovers, and a live­ly cul­tur­al scene. The var­ied expe­ri­ences here helped me grow and made my time abroad unfor­get­table.

To make the most of your semes­ter, here are some of my favorite spots:

• Enjoy a giant “Schnitzel” at “Erikas Eck”
• Try authen­tic Japan­ese food at “Iza­kaya by Dokuwa”
• Treat your­self to deli­cious burg­ers at “Dulf’s Burg­er”
• Vis­it “Katze” for afford­able and deli­cious Caipir­in­has (5 euros until 10 pm)
• Explore “Enten­werder”, a beau­ti­ful river­side loca­tion
• Dance the night away at “Uebel & Gefährlich”, a club inside an old bunker
• Check out “Broke & Schön” for unique shop­ping expe­ri­ences
• Read a book in the cozy “Bücher­café Kapi­tel Drei”
• Sing your favorite song karaoke in the “Thai Oase”

Take the oppor­tu­ni­ty to dis­cov­er small towns near­by, such as “Schw­erin”, “Lübeck” or “Lüneb­urg”