8.00 a.m. You wake up by a loud spotty noise…you try to find the snooze button, trust me, you will not find it. This isn’t your alarm clock, these are the noises of sea gulls, which belong to Kiel, like Pierogi to Poland. You will see them everywhere, always circling over the city!
Kiel is the most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 240,000, it’s situated approximately 90 kilometres north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location on the south-western shore of the Baltic Sea, Kiel has become one of Germany’s major maritime centers. It hosts three public universities. For that reason, a good student’s life is guaranteed.
10.00 a.m. Time to leave your flat and go to university. You can choose between living in a student dormitory or in a shared flat. The rooms in dormitories are limited but usually Erasmus students get a room easier than other students. If you prefer to live in a shared flat, WG called in German, you have a lot of opportunities to search for it. The prices for the accommodation differ, in general a room in a dormitory costs 800 PLN/month and a room in a shared flat between 900-1200 PLN.
On your way, you can stop at one of many bakeries and get a coffee or a tea(price for a coffee 8-12 PLN). My university, FH Kiel – University of applied science, is located at the east side of the Kiel Fjord, how to get there? Of course, by ferry boat!! During the passage, the refreshing breeze wakes you up and you can enjoy the beautiful view to the cruise liners that are on their way to Scandinavia.
The University is with more than 6,400 students one of the largest institutions of its kind in the north of Germany. Bachelors and master degrees are offered by six faculties, one of them is the faculty of Business Management. Usually lectures are given to small groups and the lecturers combine theory with practical experiences. Due to this, especially at master courses, you have practical projects during the semester. In my opinion, the concept is very useful because it helps you to understand things and you can directly use your knowledge, which also helps you to remember things easily. At the end of every term, there are two weeks of exams. Usually the exams are written, but it depends on the lecturer and the course. All in all, I think the level of studying is same like here at the UEK. If you need to study I can highly recommend you the ZBW – the German National Library of Economics. Its the world’s largest (Serio!!!) specialist library for economics, with more than four million publications in printed or electronic format. Detailed information about possibilities to study at the FH Kiel, requirements and types of courses you can find on the webpage of our International Office. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask the team of the international office, they are very friendly and kind.
2 p.m. After finishing your day at university, it’s really time to eat a Fischbrötchen. It’s a typical snack of the northern part of Germany and you can buy it almost everywhere (maybe similar to Zapiekanka in Kraków ;-)). If you don’t have the appetite for fish, you can stop at one of the canteen for students where you can get a meal for around 12-15 PLN.
How you spend your afternoon depends on your interests. Due to Kiels location directly at the sea, a lot of people go sailing or kite-surfing. If you prefer watching sports instead of doing, Kiel is the home town of one of the most successful handball teams in Germany: THW Kiel.
In the summer you can go to the beautiful beaches, take a sunbath and refresh yourself in the Baltic sea. Germany isn’t famous for good weather, but trust me, is also not that bad -not for nothing, we have beaches called „California“ and „Brasil“.
If you forgot your swim stuff at home, there are a lot of shops where you can buy some. Directly in the centre is a big mall and right next to it starts the pedestrian area.
I’m pretty sure you won’t be bored during your stay. And if it, just take the next train to Hamburg! It takes one and half hour to get to one the biggest (and most beautiful) cities of Germany. For a weekend trip, you can travel to Sweden or Norway by ferry, or by train to other place of interests like Berlin, Cologne or Munich.
9 p.m. Gradually the night life starts. The place to go for partying is a street called „Bergstraße“. Here you’ll find a lot of pubs and clubs – something for everyone! At least you should go one time to „Tucholsky“. A very good old-fashioned club in the basement which always has special offers for students. The prices for drinks depend of course on the club/pub. In general, you pay for a beer around 12 PLN.
Once a year, in June, there is a special event, Kiel week. In this week the world’s biggest sailing event takes place in Kiel. Every year 3 million people from all over the world arrive, and in the last years the Kiel Week has become a large festival: a lot of bands are playing on different stages for free, all around the kiel fjord, you can find booths and stands with food and drinks. On the „International market“ you can find different food specialties of more than 30 nations. (Here I tried my first polish piwo ;-)) and of course, every night party!
Finally, I hope, I could convince you that Germany is more than beer, sausages and Volkswagen and that it’s worth to have a look especially to the north of Germany. Whenever you have a question, you need more information or more reasons why living in Kiel is the best thing to do, don’t hesitate to ask me!!!
Christiane