IAESTE Edition 2012

Internship Booklet

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Are you ready for the international experience?

IAESTE IS ALL ABOUT INTERNATIONAL INTERNSHIPS. IAESTE provides a fun way to discover the world, by working abroad. In this internship booklet you can read stories written by students, just like you, who went abroad last summer with IAESTE. The goal of this booklet is to give you some impressions, to remove all doubts and to give you the chance to get this great experience for yourself! IAESTE is active in

Enjoy reading and we hope

to see you on the next IAESTE Brussels, Leuven and Ghent. The co-operating institutes are activity; sometime, someplace, VUB, ULB, KUL and UGent. If somewhere in the world. you are in your 3rd Bachelor or master years in bio-engineering or engineering at one of these institutes you are able to participate in IAESTE.

Max Verhofstede,

LC Ghent President 2012-2013

Visit www.iaeste.be Don’t hesitate to e-mail us! Brussels: [email protected] Ghent: [email protected] Leuven: [email protected]

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CHINA Abou-Messaoud Merwane I chose to perform my 2012 where the summer internship in the frame of my fifth year of study. Besides the incredible experience that IAESTE provide, my university

quality of the lightings is certified by an impressive amount of

evaluated my work. I had indeed a professor “following” me during 3 months, to who I had to explain the kind of projects I was working on and

means (photometric, material, temperature, humidity,

the skills that I was able to develop within Xingyu. In the middle of my internship, a mandatory “Skype meeting” took place during which my

water spray and dust tests). The machines used there have a high technological level and I learnt a lot. Shortly after, I arrived in the R&D department,

professor and my Xingyu supervisors were able to talk and share their opinions. On that occasion and at the end of my internship, my manager

in the part responsible for the production: I spent most of my internship there. I worked mainly on projects related to the assembly process of new

12 weeks @ Xingyu Automotive

and the chief of the department lightings of VW, which were going to come on the market. filled several evaluation grids The only difficulty all along my about me. internship was related to the language: it was sometimes Xingyu make lighting systems for the biggest automotive companies in the world (VW, Audi, Toyota, Nissan, etc.). I have worked in several departments. In the very beginning, I was in the

quite complex to understand and to be understood. However this was one of the reasons why I decided to perform this internship: in my

opinion, one should be able to production department in order adapt and to cross the language barrier. to understand the assembly process. Then I was moved quickly to the testing centre

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This is a very important aspect in Chinese companies. We all had a lot of fun by having dinner together and mostly by doing sport (basketball, football, PingPong, boxing, etc.). Accommodation The accommodation was arranged by Xingyu and was irreproachable. The apartment was very clean and comfortable and my friends and me did not miss anything during our stay. I feel very lucky to have worked for Xingyu: it was an amazing experience for me. I met incredible people who became my friends, and I sincerely think that I could not arrive in a more bounteous company. the IAESTE China team is really great. During the weeks

before I left for China,

professional and technical

everything was well explained, they helped me a lot and gave me a lot of advice. When I arrived in China, the organisation was perfect. A

aspects mentioned before, I deeply think that traveling is one of the most straightforward ways to grow, by getting mature and tolerant, as you

friend picked me up at the Shanghai airport and we went to the train station. My train ticket was already booked by IAESTE. When I arrived at

meet people with a completely different culture, education and

organise station, colleagues from Xingyu were waiting for me.All along the year IAESTE China organise great activities that allow you to meet the

how the humanity and the earth is diversified, both huge and small, both complex and simple. This wish to open my eyes was my main motivation

other interns. Personally the trip that was for me the greatest and is for sure unforgettable was the one to Huang Shan, namely the

for this experience.

Yellow Mountain. I love IAESTE China! The team is dynamic and was always very helpful and available whatever the

to be visited. Of course I was really impressed by what we know in the West about the modern China: very fast growing, huge cities and

situation. I simply advise to whoever is interested to have a technical experience in China to go through IAESTE China.

amazing infrastructures. But what seduced me more was the traditional side: beautiful parks, people practicing by ten synchronised movements,

I met incredible persons during my stay in China. They were the colleagues from Xingyu, the interns of IAESTE

beautiful temples, the incense in the air, beautiful landscapes and a wisdom in people that we miss sometimes in western countries. It was undoubtedly

and the persons I met during my different trips. Besides the

the greatest journey and the greatest experience of my life.

daily life. This kind of experience makes you aware of the world we are living in, of

China is nowadays essential in the world we are living in; it is a country that has

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CHINA

GERMANY Alain De Hertog After being part of IAESTE for two years, I finally had the time to go on my own internship this year. Destination: Germany. Not the most exotic of locations, but I had my reasons going there. It was a good opportunity to practice my language skills and to check out the work ethics in a country I was thinking about moving to

DRESDEN, GERMANY

someday. The internship description was initially quite vague and unclear. I knew where it was and that they required a mechanical engineer that was supposed to be able to work with finite element software. I ticked both marks, so I must

After settling in and going

which allowed me to be pretty

for a drink with the local crew, I went hiking with some other trainees the next day. We immediately hit it off and we appeared to be colleagues at

free in my work hours. I got an assignment and a deadline; how I spent my time was completely up to me. This made the internship a nice and

work as well. These guys would turn out to be the bane of my life for two months.

independent experience without leaving me helpless. If I ever needed help, my boss was always there to help me. And if the work got a little

have been perfect for the job. A local IAESTE member picked The internship itself started me up from my train at the out rather boring. Reading station and helped me arrange articles and getting all everything immediately: My paperwork in order. It is true public transport, housing, meal what they say about the card… Germans, they can be strict in some ways. But I was lucky to work for a Polish PhD student,

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boring, I could always count on my fellow IAESTE trainees to cheer me up and have a chat. But work isn’t everything, and IAESTE knows this. Every weekend, a trip was arranged

to another LC or inside of

riverside and wonderful

Dresden. And if you didn’t feel like going tripping, you could always party with the lot that stayed home. I fell in love with the city, because it had

architecture. I loved my stay in Dresden and will definitely go back. Also, the friend I made there will stay with me for the rest of

my life and I am sure we will everything a student needed. Cheap housing, lots of bars, a meet each other somewhere in the future. tram line that rides 24/7, a kebab place near that tram line Greetings, Alain that is open 24/7, an amazing

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GERMANY

BRAZIL Andreas De Smedt If you look for Ilha Solteira on google maps is hard to find and if you would look closer it looks like it’s located in the middle of a swamp. Ilha is indeed very small with his 25 000 citizen and 5 000 students. (although the most IAESTE-students coming to Brazil are located in Ilha) And it’s not located in the middle of a swamp but just at the border of a

ILHA SOLTEIRA, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

river. That river is also the reason why Ilha exists. The whole city was built for the workers of the dam and the university was constructed in

The university is small and

looks a little like Ghent campus: ”De Sterre”. Each department has his own order to deliver knowledge and building. There are not that much departments in Ilha: research for the engineers. agriculture, Once the dam was finished animal science, biology, everything just continued because it is good living in Ilha. civil engineering, electrical engineering, mathematics, There’s no violence at all and mechanical everybody is very friendly,

engineering and physics. Because all those departments attract mainly men there are only a few girls. good buffet cost you only 10 euro and one litre beer will cost I did my training at mechanical engineering department and you 3 euro. more precise at department heat dynamics. I had to learn there are many bars and small restaurants. It’s also not expensive to live in Ilha, a very

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Fortran in order to be able to write my own CFD-code. Once I finished my code I to validate a program written by other students. I was accompanied at my department by two German students, two Croatian girls, one Portuguese and one Belgian. My supervisor was prof. José Gashe, he always gave us a lot of work but was also very committed to us. I feared at the beginning that I would not succeed because I don’t study mechanical energy but mechanical construction but thanks to his help I did. But not all the professors in Ilha had the same attitude, 50% of

them just told there IAESTE-

the laundry, cleaned everything

students: “have a good time man, enjoy Brazil”. Nevertheless I was happy with my work, I didn’t came all the way to brazil to do nothing.

and prepared lunch. In the evening we went together to BBQ’s and parties. Through them I got into knowledge with many new people. They stood

7 Brazilian students offered up for me, I was a part of their family. I would go back me hospitality, it was a small immediately. house with a garden. There was a woman that took care of

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BRAZIL

CYPRUS Arne Van Damme During the summer of 2012 IAESTE provided me with a fantastic internship in the IT department of a hospital in Limassol, Cyprus for two months. As I will explain in this short summary of my internship, there are three main advantages for doing an IAESTE internship: The

LIMASSOL, CYPRUS

useful insight and professional knowledge you gain, the incredible amount of fun and the fact that you can add a great asset to your curriculum vitae. The first important thing you gain from the internship abroad is of course the work

with numerous complex

IAESTE internship is that it is

technologies and a lot of different aspects of managing and creating all kinds of IT projects. So I learned a lot about IT-related problems and I

an unforgettable, fun experience where you get to meet a lot of new people. The setting IAESTE creates in every one of its internship-locations

learned how to put the theory I learned into practice. But more importantly, I learned a lot about myself. Working in a team of complete strangers

is just right for meeting new people. Almost every weekend a trip is planned that enables all trainees to get to know each other and the country they

experience. As a 1st year master’s student in computer science I searched for a handswith different habits and on internship that could principles, enables you to really complement my theoretical widen your horizon. So from a background. An internship in professional point of view, this the IT department of a private was a very successful journey. hospital proved to be the best Secondly, another very possible fit. I was introduced remarkable thing about an

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visit. Personally I met people from all over the world that will be friends for the rest of my life. I am sure that every single one of my fellow-trainees would let me stay over if I

would ever travel to their

your future employer can’t

country. The third important thing is the fact that doing an internship abroad is an asset

ignore. He too knows all the things there are to gain from this experience abroad.

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CYPRUS

SLOVENIA Aurély Laureys This summer I spent 8 weeks in Slovenia (city Maribor) to accomplish an IAESTE internship. This was, as to be expected, a very fun and interesting experience! In the beginning the prospect to leave all alone for a strange (ok, it is still Europe, but nonetheless) and unknown country where the language is

MARIBOR, SLOVENIA

totally incomprehensible (Balkan languages, try to get something out of that!) is a little since everything went very scary. On the day you leave smoothly! you don’t know anything I had the idea that Maribor concerning the place you will would be a very large city; it is stay, what you will do in the the second city of Slovenia. company, which hours you will Nothing could be less true! have to work,… The only thing With 120.000 inhabitants it is you possess is a phone half as big as my hometown number and the place you will Gent. Little surprise there, but meet someone on the first day eventually one can imagine when you arrive! Considering I that this also has its charm! am a person that likes to plan The only disadvantage is that things ahead, you can imagine such a small city has little this was quite hard for me. But nightlife to offer. Luckily, we at a given moment I just had to went every weekend to another relax and go with the flow. city or place where we always Everything is organised for you, found great parties. Every without you having to do weekend we visited one part of anything! Why would you not the country; this is how we enjoy that? Of course, all my discovered a large part of the worries were unnecessary, beautiful Slovenia, including the coast, caves, castles, the

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Slovenian mountains, rivers and lakes. We also did some rafting on clear blue rivers and even did a motorbike trip across the hilly landscapes. What I really liked concerning Slovenia is that it is a really diverse country, where everything is still untouched and non-touristic! At the end the IAESTE internship students group counted four people. This was not much, but luckily these were fun people and we had a nice time together. We also got to know a group of foreign medicine students who organised numerous activities, what certainly turned out in our advantage, since the IAESTE organisation of Maribor was

practically non-existing. When

was actually quite boring, but

these students left at the end of July, we had a calmer period. Luckily we had the genius idea to go visit Austria the last two weekends, to party

luckily the people of my department showed me the whole company and explained me all its activities. Since this is a huge company, consisting of

with the local IAESTE groups. This brought with it some unforgettable moments. Of course I still have to mention my work! I had a lot of

1200 employees and actually consists of 12 smaller

luck with the company I ended up in. I am a student material science: Metallurgy and the company was an aluminium factory. I was stationed on the

interesting! I surely recommend an IAESTE internship! It is an amazing experience and you learn to know people all over

R&D department to do research on a computer. This

the world!

companies, these little excursions took quite a lot of my time and they were really

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SLOVENIA

SCOTLAND Bernard Imschoot Scott, beside his nationality also his first name, waited for me at the airport of Edinburgh. As we were driving to Glasgow, this was one of our conversations: Scott: “Y’upfirrit?” Me: “For what?” Scott: “Fir peddling some craic in Glasgow.” Me: “Aye.” Scottish is the English equivalent of West-Vlaams. A very colourful language, but at times incomprehensible if you’re not a native. Scottish is full of idioms. One of them being “Peddling craic.” It’s Scottish for having a great time, why craic is pronounced as crack is something I won’t explain… Scotland is it’s language, but also rain, highlands and whisky. In Scotland it rains 60 seconds per minute, 60 minutes per hour, 24 hours per day, 7 days a week… Or at least the first two weeks I spend there. In my first weekend, we went on a trip to Edinburgh in apocalyptic weather. The walk through the centre gave the expression

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND

‘paddling’ a whole new

bottle of whisky (and this is

meaning. We were soaking wet. The wooden benches in the city park were floating away… You haven’t really visited

why). The hiking weekend was one of my best weekends in Scotland. Practically no one lives in the highlands. They are

Scotland if you didn’t go to the Highlands. There is only one way to get to know the highlands: hiking. One night in a pub, always the place where

still using steam trains because it’s too hard to put electricity everywhere. On a hike you always meet random people. And for some reason, people

crazy stories start, I asked Matt and Gerrit if they wanted to walk part of the West Highland Way. Two weeks later the three of us went into the highlands

are really open while walking a path like the West Highland Way. You’re talking about a lot of stuff like Belgium, Scotland, hiking… But always the

with two sleeping bags (we were fully prepared) and one

conversation comes down to one question: did you bring a bottle of whisky. We used our

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whisky bottle for an ingenious

for my liver combined with all

ritual: whisky bridges. Every time we crossed a bridge, we did a shot. Only in the evening, we grasped what they were talking about. If it rains, it is

the drinking games. The farewell party was one of my best parties and a fantastic way to say goodbye to everyone I met.

pretty hard to build a fire. And then whisky is a nice alternative to keep you warm. We had a farewell party for my last evening in Glasgow.

Glasgow was an awesome experience. I will never forget the trip to the Isle of Skye and my encounter with the highland cows. Or the conversations

Last year I did an internship in Serbia and we had a barbecue for my farewell party. This year I wanted to do the same. To make it more special, Matt and

with Abdullah. Or the ‘Fuck Scotland’ story with Darek and Suzanne. Or that our flat got flooded after a crazy and drunk night. Or the North-Korean flag

Gerrit decided to tell everyone it was also my 25th birthday (an utter lie). And so they gave me a present: Belgian beer. It was a welcome change for all

incident at the Olympic women’s football. And so many other stories. IAESTE Glasgow: you were amazing. I’ll haste me back!

the Scottish beer… But a killer

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SCOTLAND

SWITZERLAND Caroline Van den Hauwe Eight weeks in Switzerland! I departed right after my last exam, so I could be back in time to retake some others. Upon my arrival I was greeted by Mitko of LC Lausanne and escorted me to my apartment, a rather big bed/living room to myself and a kitchen and bathroom to share with two Swiss students. Right after dropping off my luggage we went for a tour around the town and local bars. My first day of work went

meetings where I got to know a own. Every week and weekend

very smoothly. As a Software Engineer, I got to make part of a team of Mechanical Engineers at Asyril, a young company in mechatronics. I got

lot of other trainees from Poland, Portugal, Italy, Brazil, Canada and so on. After the first exciting week I packed for my first IAESTE weekend: the

were filled with making a lot of new friends from all over the world, parties, barbecuing, laughter, swimming wherever we could and some more

to help shape their robots’ software. The internship was challenging, never dull and always enjoyable. I got to brush up on my French,

rafting weekend in one of the most amazing areas of Switzerland. Next to rafting, there was a lot of partying, swimming in natural waters

adventurous things. We went hiking in the mountains, bungee jumped off of James Bonds’ 220 meter high dam near Italy, biked 60 km high-

learned a lot more about C#, new frameworks, design patterns, a new field and a bunch of soft interpersonal skills.

and even a surprise swimming pool with self-built slide for daredevils. My IAESTE summer was in full swing. Weekend after

speed downhill in between the mountains en spent even more time in boats filled with drinks and BBQ on the water. August 11, we went to the Zurich

In my first week, I went out for some drinks with a colleague and went to one of the many weekly IAESTE

weekend I joined IAESTE although you can decide to explore the country and neighbouring ones on your

Streetparade, an unbelievable street party. We even went to an extra indoors afterparty with live DJ sets from Tiesto, Avicii

FRIBOURG, SWITZERLAND

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and Afrojack. All good for a

experience in a diverse field

truly crazy international party of 16 hours. Saying goodbye came way too soon. Coming back to UGent, I earned 6 ECTS points

and even saw some of my IAESTE friends again, here in Brussels. I truly wish I could go back and I recommend you to take this chance to travel, work

and have to do at least one course less. I have an international work and living

and meet interesting likeminded people abroad.

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SWITZERLAND

FINLAND Chaîm De Mulder Amazing. It’s a word not even remotely strong enough to express how I feel about my internship in Finland this summer. Let me tell you why. It all started a bit hesitatingly. Was I really sure I wanted to do this? When I had to turn in my résumé, I decided to completely go for it, but even when it became clear I really

FINLAND

could go, I was a bit day, first IAESTE activity, first scared. I perfectly knew what I was leaving behind (a girlfriend, new people. summer parties with friends, The next days, I explored festivals, trips…), but what the campus of the university would I get in return? where I was about to work a When I arrived, the weather bit, got my things in order, was very good. Lucky enough, settled… and went to the sauna. The sauna I would be because I couldn’t reach the going to every week during my guy (a Greek) who had picked stay. Coming with every sauna, up the keys to my room, so I had to wait in front of his door there was a presentation of another IAESTE trainee for about an hour. But he showed up, eventually (Greeks presenting his or her country. The perfect way to get to know always show up, eventually), I the other trainees and their dropped my suitcase in my room… and went bowling. First cultures a bit. But obviously it’s not through a presentation that you

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really get to know other people. The fact that you’re all engineers and scientists creates a certain bond to start with, but the real bonds were forged during the many activities and trips in the weekends and after work. Visiting Tallinn, Stockholm, Santa and of course Helsinki were amazing experiences, as were the traditional beer-boat rowing, the Finnish equivalent of a “cantus” (Sit-Sit) and the wild-life weekend. And on top of that, we had some ‘normal’ activities too of course, like movie nights, club nights,

picnics, paint-balling and so

laboratory environment. And

on.

the things I learned, I learned by doing, meaning I won’t forget them as easily as theoretical knowledge.

As for work, during the first days, I was welcomed warmly. No sign of the so-called coldheartedness of Scandinavian people. I was introduced to the different people I was going to work with or for, got a tour around the buildings and

I could easily fill up the rest of this booklet with a detailed description of my adventures, but I’ll leave some room for the other trainees, because if their

laboratories and some articles summer was even half as good to read, so I could more or less as mine was, they’ll have a lot to write too. understand what I was about to do. Since I only had a And as last words, to bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering, I had never really worked with catalysts before. Frankly, I doubt I ever will again, but still, I learned a lot of useful things

emphasise the purpose of this booklet: if you have any doubts concerning going on an IAESTE-internship: forget about them! Just do it!

by working independently in a

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FINLAND

GREECE Alicia Van HamMeert Hello there! If you’re reading this, you must be interested by an internship. Before I start relating my experience, let me assure you, it’s really worth it! Last summer I was on internship in Xanthi, Greece. Xanthi is a lovely student-city (a little comparable to Leuven in Belgium) in Trace, North-East

XANTHI, GREECE

Greece. Before telling you about my experience, let’s talk about what happened before. I wanted to have an experience abroad so I looked on the BIAS and read all the offers for chemical engineers. There I found an offer for Archaeometry (if you’ve never heard about this, that’s absolutely normal). I’d always wanted to see this field of study on the edge of physics, chemistry and archeology for

on my head, you’re going to a

Thessaloniki. I immediately

land in crisis? As a matter of fact yes, but of course I went there for something so totally different, an experience in a subject which has fascinated

caught the “IAESTE-spirit”: Yes we are here for training, but also for a wonderful human experience; meeting people of all horizons, social classes and

me for some years now. Before I had fully realised what was happening I was accepted and a few months later I was on the plane to Greece.

spiritual beliefs. - At first this might seem a little frightening, but remember, we all have something in common, we’re all engineers to be, at least we

I arrived in Greece 5 days before the start of my myself, so I looked up from my internship, enough to visit computer and told my parents, Thessaloniki, the city where I I’m going to Greece. They both landed, and to go to Meteora looked at me as if I had fallen with the trainees of

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can all complain together about the enormous amount of work our studies represent ;).During my stay I’ve had the chance to visit many places, I traveled from Istanbul to Athens, seen the beaches of

Chalkidiki and went to

to ask for directions, the

Thassos, a small island, about 60 km from Xanthi. During my stay in Xanthi I have also been able to experience the city’s annual

waitress explained us what we could visit, and even invited us to spend the night at her house if we didn’t find somewhere to stay. Afterwards she

festival. One week of dances, music and souvlaki (meat on a stick sold on every corner of the street in Greece). For me this was the occasion to learn

introduced us to a woman who’d studied in Germany and

a few folkloric dances, some easy, some not that easy… Greek people are extremely nice, they really want you to feel welcome. I visited a city

doesn’t stop when you come back. Some people I met in Greece already came here to visit, others are planning to come over, and who knows I

called Drama with one of my colleagues. We entered a café

might very well visit them in a few months…

toured us through the city, in German! The IAESTE-experience

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GREECE

OMAN Diede Ruelens This summer I had the privilege of going on an internship to Oman for 6 weeks, through the IAESTE organisation. It was an experience that I will definitely never forget and will surely influence my future career choices. The thought of going to a such a warm country as Oman during summer (we saw up to 50°C!) might be a little offputting, but the heat was something I tolerated

OMAN

gladly and actually got used to pretty quickly. It did cause me to stay in the shade almost all the time though, so sunbathing was out of the

less work, there was not much

seen the most important

question! My work there was a mix between Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. I worked together with a

pressure put on me. Apparently the mentality with Omani researchers isn't overly ambitious. Work hours were pretty short as well: 9am till

landmarks and sceneries in the entire country. We visited forts, mosques, wadi's (a type of oasis to swim in), slept in the desert...

4pm, and 9am till 2pm during Ramadan; two weeks of my stay there coincided with the Ramadan period. So actually working was

The biggest trip was by airplane to Salalah on the other side of Oman, but unfortunately I missed that one as it was scheduled after my

professor at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat, Oman. I developed algorithms in Matlab to aid with digital logic design. Hopefully we can publish a

only part of my stay there. Luckily, the reception by IAESTE Oman and its volunteers was incredible. paper on our work somewhere. Every weekend we went on Work at the university was organised trips to other regions actually quite laid-back, I could in Oman, so that by the end of choose myself to do more or our internship everyone had

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internship ended (Moadh or Said, if you read this, I am still very disappointed by this!). But also almost every evening during the week one of the volunteers would stop by to see if we wanted to go out somewhere close, like the

cinema, bowling or to the souk. from such different I remember on my first evening there we went ice skating, certainly not something I had expected to be doing in Oman! In general the Omani people

backgrounds (Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Tunisia, Serbia, Indonesia, France, Germany, India, Thailand, ...) could get along so greatly! It was really a

were extremely nice. They would really do anything they could to make us feel welcome. Even people we met at the university or while hitch-

group of awesome, beautiful people that will surely remain

hiking, who had nothing to do with IAESTE, were extremely helpful. All the IAESTE students shared four apartments in the

shared, really are memories to be treasured. I have already met three of them afterwards and we are planning a rather large reunion in Prague soon.

same building. Therefore we were together all the time and this created a great ambience in the group. It was really amazing to see how people

For anyone considering an IAESTE internship in Oman: just do it, I guarantee you won't regret it.

friends for a lifetime! So many things we experienced together and laughs we

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OMAN

OMAN Dorien Margiela Yes! I was going to Oman, my first choice! I knew it was a country in the Middle East and after some further internet research I could even find it on a map. But that was everything I knew about the country I was going to spend 6 weeks in. When my father texted me to congratulate me and notify me that I completely forgot about Ramadan, some worries did start to rise. What was I going to do in an Arabic country as a woman in the middle of summer? Where did I get myself into now? But before you know it, forms were all filled out, tickets were booked and weeks had

OMAN

25 students from all over the

interesting and all employees

world. That night we already went for shisha with the group in a big Bedouin tent with carpets and pillows on the floor. With IAESTE you have no

were incredibly nice. You wouldn’t believe how nice Omanis are. If you would walk somewhere, at least 5 cars would stop to give you a ride.

passed. It was time to get on time to be shy, you get thrown my plane, first to Frankfurt, next to Riyadh and Muscat. My into the group and they will arrival was a little bit confusing catch you. The next day was my first because my baggage got lost day in the office. (by the way, in Riyadh, my driver spoke

still without my luggage, so I was still wearing the same clothes I wore on the plane two days ago. But that night they The next day I met the other would finally find everything and until today I have never IAESTE trainees and I got to live with them in a building with worn those clothes again). My apartments that were all for us. supervisors were really great, I think at that moment we were my projects seemed quite poor English and my temporary roommate had no idea I was coming. But everything got better after that.

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And people you just met gave you their phone number, just in case we ever needed anything at all. During Ramadan, you only work half time. So in the afternoon you can easily squeeze in an afternoon nap (after finally eating something, because during Ramadan, you don’t eat or drink in front of Muslims). Those naps were really important, because in summer you live during the

night, when the temperatures

memories of the trip were

are more bearable. And the nights were fun. We often went swimming in the ocean in the blackest of night. A great experience, due to the weird

definitely the bus rides, filled with Arabian music and funny Arabian dance moves. It was a party all the time. Live got back to its

plankton that lights up green when you move the water. Other nights we went for shisha, or held a barbecue in the middle of nowhere

“normal” rhythm after Ramadan, but since I had

(literally). Or we drove around and visited Muscat, which is a beautiful capital with a lot of impressive buildings. On these outings we always

had already arrived and we filled them with hiking, visiting castles, climbing wadis, spending the night in a sand desert, riding 4 by 4 cars over

had some local Omanis with us. Students from the university that guided us around. They became some of my best friends and they were

the sand dunes, even going to a night club once… It was all unbelievable, but then the moment came to go home again as so many students had

always there for us when we needed them. I can’t thank them enough for the amazing time I spent in their country. After three weeks,

before me. I really had a hard time leaving and I still miss it every day. The people I met there, the country, the culture, the sunny weather… We

Ramadan was over and the Eid festivities began (a week of holidays). That week, IAESTE took us on a trip to Salalah, an area in the south of Oman

already planned a reunion in Prague where I will see most of them again and I’m definitely going back to Oman someday! This summer was

never experienced live outside of fasting everything became new again. My last two weeks

unforgettable and I thank where they experience a IAESTE from the bottom of my monsoon rain in the summer heart for making this possible. months. Everything there is green and humid. Strange to Shukran! see after three weeks of breath taking desert landscapes, but even stranger when you see how happy the Omanis are with rain and mist! My best

Ma’a Salama. Dorien

[23]

OMAN

HUNGARY Elisabeth Cnockaert BUDAPEST, SZERETLEK! When I think back of my Iaeste-adventure last summer, I immediately get a smile on my face. When someone asks my how it was, I just need to choose one of the words "fantastic", "super" or "great". Trying to explain why it was such a great experience takes more effort, because there are so many things to tell. I'll do my best to share my enthusiasm about this (great!) organisation. Before I left, I was already excited because of stories other trainees had told me about their internship and how great it was. Iaeste-

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

with people I had never met

before. When I arrived, I didn't know if anyone was going to pick me up, but two girls were members assured me it was there waiting for me. They were going to be the best summer of very nice and took me to the my life. I didn't want my hostel. It was a student dorm, expectations to be too high, so just one long corridor with a but now I have to admit that lot of rooms at both sides. It they were absolutely right! Leaving my family, my boyfriend, my friends and my beloved Ghent, was quite scary. For 6 weeks I was going to live in a completely different city in an unknown country,

we quickly became friends. During the next week, I met the other trainees, most of them had been there for a month and were leaving in a few weeks. But I'm glad I still got to

know them quite well. One of the greatest things of IAESTE is that you get to know people from all different countries. I was not really cosy but it was clean. I felt home right away. In learned that even though we the evening I met my roommate, Monika from Poland. She immediately offered me some Hungarian beer with lemonade (or better,

speak a different language, we are all quite the same. Now I can say that I have friends in Germany, Poland, Sweden, Spain, Tunisia, Greece,

lemonade with some beer) and Slovakia, Syria ...

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I quickly understood that a

was no pressure at all. I

period of six weeks is quite short if you want to get to know a city, a country and its people. It was great to have the opportunity not to be just a

couldn't work with the software they used and I wasn't going to be able to work with it (it was completely in Hungarian), so I chose to make some models

tourist, but almost being a local in this beautiful city. In the evenings, we usually went to drink something in the center. There were some great "ruin

and I made some drawings for new designs. My boss ("please

bars". In the weekends we usually organised a trip to another city. When you wanted to go somewhere, there were always other trainees excited

about his country, the Hungarian people, the Hungarian architecture and most of all about the things that should be different. He

to join, whether it was to go to have a drink, enjoy the amazing view on top of Gellert hill, go swimming, have pancakes at midnight, visit the

wanted my stay to be fruitful, so we made some trips with the colleagues to visit a monastery or castles. I realise I was very lucky to work in this

parliament... That's the great thing of IAESTE: you're never alone. And when something is wrong (you lose your wallet and you need someone to

specific office.

translate in the police station), the people of the LC are there to help you, even when you woke them up in the early morning :)

summer with IAESTE was an experience of a lifetime! If you also want to do this, then don't hesitate, fill in the A-form, and once you're there don't forget

just call me Attila") was extremely nice. When we had lunch together, he told me a lot

I can go on for a long time, but in the end the most important thing is that my

to say "yes" to everything! Of course, since I was there to do an internship, I also had to go to work. I worked in an architecture office that had a very good name in Hungary. Since it was summer, there

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HUNGARY

FINLAND Els De Lepeleer During my whole study career, I was looking forward to go abroad because I’d like to know other countries and cultures and I’d like to meet new people from all over the world . So going on an IAESTEinternship was an ideal opportunity for me to do that. I chose an internship at the Aalto University School of Chemical

ESPOO, FINLAND

Technology at the Department of Forest Products Technology, located at Espoo, SouthernFinland.

and drain were broken. But

something about my free time

after solving all this, it went only better and better. Luckily.

in Finland. The nicest thing was that everybody lived so close to each other that it seemed like you lived together the whole time, but you still had

When I arrived in the My task was related to beginning of July, a not so nice research about spinning fibres surprise was waiting for me. out of cellulose-ionic liquid My room and also the common dopes. It was very interesting kitchen were very, very dirty and the people at work were and I had to clean it myself. I very kind and helpful. Because can tell you that I was busy of the fact that at my with buying all kinds of department a lot of other cleaning materials and also the IAESTE-students were actual cleaning took many working, the working hours days… The building was old passed by smoothly. We talked and everything inside was in a bit and worked together. fact ready to be replaced. Just Speaking about other an example: my chair, toilet IAESTE-students, I can tell you

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your own room and this is what I found really fantastic. There were a lot of activities organised by IAESTE. Every week there was a “sauna and presentations” which means that every week there was another country presented and there was a possibility to go to the sauna. I was lucky that there was another student from

Ghent in Espoo and we did

Stockholm, St-Petersburg,

the presentation about Belgium together. We served some Belgian beer, chocolate and waffles. There were also boat trips to neighbouring islands.

Porvoo (Southern-Finland),... As you can see, I visited four different countries during my two months stay in Finland. Those trips were really nice.

The nature is Finland is very beautiful. There are a lot of lakes and trees, squirrels and so on. There was also a board game night, a salsa party,

We saw a lot of things and had fun together. If there are two things I learned about Finland during my stay , it concerns more

visiting Helsinki which was nearby, a picnic, only one BBQ (because the weather was not so nice and this a whole summer long...), an

particularly: 1/ no Finnish party without sauna and 2/everything is very expensive, especially the alcohol. They have special shops for selling that...

amusement park evening, a chocolate factory visit (“Fazer”) where we were allowed to eat as much chocolate as we wanted, a sleepover, paintball,

I’m very glad I had the opportunity to do this internship. I learned a lot of things, also about myself, and met so many nice people. My

and finally a “last big party” at summer of 2012 was really amazing. I will never forget it. the beach sauna. During the weekends we organised some trips to Tallinn,

[27]

FINLAND

TUNISIA Griet Juwet It’s been some weeks now since I came back from my internship with IAESTE in Tunis, and believe it or not, but I still really miss the people I met there and the atmosphere of the place where we lived. The amazing thing about IAESTE is, that it is so much more than just an internship. Yes, you learn a lot when you work in a

TUNIS, TUNISIA

company abroad, you develop your professional and suburb outside the city centre. communication skills, you learn The stairs that connected to work in a team, but you these apartments became our learn to take independent common living room, where we responsibility as well. But ate, played games, talked, or what’s more: without even just sat down after a long realising it, you learn so much working day. We all had to get more through your everyday used to this new place and experience in a culture and a culture, and had to deal with place different from your own, the same kind of experiences, and through the conversations like the chaotic public transport you have with people from all in Tunis, the bargaining over the world. discussions in the souk, the In Tunis, all the trainees way taxi drivers always tried to lived together in apartments of cheat us, the seaside at five six people, all located in the minutes walking distance, the same building in La Goulette, a sounds of the call for prayer

[28]

five times a day, the lack of hot water to shower, the life during Ramadan, the spicy food... This really brought us close together and in the end, your fellow trainees had become your Tunisian family. Moreover, the IAESTE-guys from Tunisia were always there to solve our problems and organise activities. I’m not sure how they did it (I think they secretly have superpowers) but if we all had the summer of our lives, it’s thanks to them! Almost every weekend, they took us on a trip, to cities close

by, and even to the desert in

delicious crêpes, the coffee

the south. From enjoying the beach to site-seeing in the old medinas, from dancing on the bus to watching the stars, from barbecuing to paintball games,

bars at the seaside, the big ships in the harbour, the cats trying to steal our food, and so on. It all became part of our life in Tunisia and the memories we

these were really moments to remember... But at the same time, at least as valuable were the simple everyday things that coloured our life in La Goulette.

share. To conclude, I only want to

The old prison building (Karaka!) that became our orientation point, the cheap restaurant where they made delicious couscous, the even

Sharing stories and experiences with people from the other end of the world, enriches your life in so many ways that you can only

cheaper fast-food place that was so crowded, the main square where they sold

understand if you try it yourself.

say that every single person should have the chance for an experience like I had in Tunisia.

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TUNISIA

BRAZIL Hanne Vrebos Brazil is a country spreading over 8,5 million m2 with around 195 million inhabitants. It is this country that is hosting me for my IAESTE internship, an experience that gives me the opportunity to learn about architecture and languages, discover beautiful wild nature and meet some amazing people. I started my trip traveling for one

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

month through Brazil to discover some amazing places. Besides the moving beaches, favelas and sugarloafs in Rio

more inhabitants than Belgium!

Next, I started my

internship in the beginning of August. This internship is my de Janeiro, the African heritage first work experience in my jams and the constant flow of of Salvador de Bahia and the field after finishing my studies people on the streets and in waterfalls of Iguaça, I visited the metro, make this city a very in civil engineering and the Pantanal. This part time intense place to live. A moment architecture. I started to work wetland houses tons of in a small architectural office in of silence doesn´t exist… On alligators, birds and beautiful the center of São Paulo. the other hand the city offers plants. Bonito, literally Beside my boss there are 3 some beautiful and relaxing beautiful, is a small village places, like the Ibirapuera Park. other interns in the office. We surrounded by crystal-clear work on projects of different This park, by the hand of the lakes and rivers. Snorkelling in size, going from the interior famous Brazilian architect one of the surrounding rivers, I design of a bar to the complete Oscar Niemeyer is a place to saw thousand fishes. design of a whole new social enjoy nature, sports and After this relaxing trip I area with around 400 houses. culture. arrived in São Paulo, a city with My job consists mainly of The 15 000 skyscrapers, the pollution of non-stop traffic

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drawing the ideas in

Portuguese is written very

Photoshop or CAD or make scale models. I learn how to deal with restrictions concerning money, time, building regulations and

close to French or Spanish but verbally it is more difficult to understand. Furthermore as an international intern I have to follow a course at a university

clients. These factors were of less significance during my studies. Luckily the atmosphere in the office is very relaxed. My colleagues are very

for reasons of the visa. During this workshop we experiment with organic concrete forms. As important for a pleasant stay as an interesting job, are

sweet. They show me around in the city and often we have drinks together on Friday. With the office we go to many important architectural events.

the people. Brazilians are very warm people, trying their best to make you feel comfortable at any time; some of them invited me already to their

I already met Paulo Mendes da Rocha and Thom Mayne, 2 Pritzker-prize winners. Even if my colleagues speak English with me, I

homes for tasty dinners. Besides that, I made a lot of new friends through Couchsurfing. My time here is not over

decided to follow some Portuguese classes with the other interns, who work in other bigger companies.

yet, I have almost two more months to go, but already I can say that my time here will be unforgettable.

[31]

BRAZIL

PORTUGAL Janwillem Swalens This summer, I did an internship in Lisbon (Portugal) thanks to IAESTE. When I arrived on July 1st, I didn’t know what to expect. During the first few days, I met a lot of new people, most of them also IAESTE interns, who would become my friends for the next three months. We visited the tourist attractions of Lisbon, and explored

LISBON, PORTUGAL

the city. Because Lisbon isn’t that large (you can almost walk offers you all possibilities. The everywhere, and else you take the subway), it is easy to get to Miradouro, also called “the balcony of Lisbon” because it know every neighbourhood, offers a panoramic view over and visit all sorts of different the whole city, quickly became places. There are parks, the our go-to place at night. zoo, the castle, the statue of During the weekends, we Christ, and so on... went to the beaches around At night, we continued our Lisbon, to play football under explorations and found a lot of the hot sun and then take a pubs, discos, bars and other dive in the (surprisingly cold) places to go out. Whether you sea. want to sit and relax in a bar, Of course, during the week dance the whole night in a there was work to do. I worked club, or buy something in a bar at wTVision, a company that and drink it in the streets (no creates graphical software for problem in Bairro Alto), Lisbon television channels. At work

[32]

there, I gained a lot of practical experience. Furthermore, during the second half of my internship, another IAESTE intern worked together with me, so I was never alone, and during every little work break we had we could plan trips, parties and other events for the weekends. Throughout the three months I continued to meet a lot of people, from many countries spread over the whole world. I now have friends in Brazil, Slovakia, Cyprus and Iran. Unfortunately,

I also had to say goodbye a lot, the opportunity. You’ll meet but through Facebook we are already planning a reunion. In conclusion, I would recommend everyone to do an IAESTE internship when given

new people, get work experience, learn to live on your own and take care of yourself, and just have a great time!

[33]

PORTUGAL

NORWAY Joachim Ciers “You are going to Norway? Very nice country... But very expensive.”, is what I heard from everyone that could know it. My conclusions from 5 Norwegian weeks: It's a nice country. Beautiful scenery, a lot of pristine nature, well organised cities (not the bunch of randomly placed buildings we have in Belgium) and a very high standard

OSLO, NORWAY

of living. Even homeless people have smartphones there. Where the f*** do they charge that thing?

immediately got a guided tour The most memorable from my Internship is definitely the IAESTE-experience. They turned this nice trip into an overwhelming experience.

Norway is really expensive. Food is almost twice as expensive as in Belgium and alcohol prices are crazy. A Beer in a pub costs around 60 NOK IAESTE guides you through the paperwork, finds you a place (€ 8,20). For some reason, you to sleep (the reception officer see very few drunk people in even relinquished his Norway. Also public transport, apartment to me for the first rent and fuel are priced very highly. The only things that are two weeks) and makes sure you don't get bored. cheaper in Norway, are phone The first weekend after I calls and text messages. arrived in Oslo, the Oslo Maybe that's the reason the Weekend took place. I homeless people can afford it.

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through the capital, met the IAESTE LC (local committee) and other trainees from around Norway. It's amazing how easily you get a bond with people at an IAESTE-event. Everyone is there with the mindset of meeting new people and learning new things. The second weekend was Mountain Weekend. I arrived at Åndalsnes with a delay of 3 hours (damn you, NSB), but from then on, the weekend was truly wonderful. We went into a

cave, hiked op a mountain to

IAESTE doesn't only take

1300 m above sea level, did canyoning in water of 5°C (that's not cold anymore, that's burning) and had a lot of fun. There was only one not so nice

care of you during weekends, but also on evenings in the week. Parties, dinners, going to a football match, … together with the LC and the other

thing during the weekend: a girl broke her back when she hit the water after jumping from a cliff during the canyoning. Luckily, no nerves were

IAESTE trainees. Some of them became real friends in that short period. It was of course not all fun. I had to work as well, but I

damaged and she is almost back to full strength at the moment. There was no IAESTE-event in Norway at my third

enjoyed my work a lot. I worked at the University of Oslo, Dept. of Computational Physics. My job was to test out a project for the course of my

weekend, so I went to Sweden. There was a Crayfish Weekend in Göteborg and this too is a lifetime memory. We spend the whole weekend on an island

supervisor (cool guy, by the way). The project consists of solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for a 3D harmonic oscillator with two

electrons numerically in C++. named Styrsö. We went to a sauna, did kayaking in the sea, My program skills sure got a boost with this internship. hiked around the Island, paintballed and of course as The only downside on this top of the bill: the international evening with drinks and food from all over the world and a lot (and I really mean A LOT) of crayfish.

whole story, is that it was already over after five weeks. Time flies when you are having fun.

[35]

NORWAY

AUSTRIA Jonathan Orbie After a boring and brainless holiday job in the summer of 2011 last year I was sure the next summer I was going to look for something more practical where I could learn new things. At the internship fair of VTK I saw that the thing about IAESTE internships is that in addition to the practical experience you gain in normal internships too, you get a whole

LINZ, AUSTRIA

international experience with other students that come from everywhere the world as well. Except for the two first

and home for almost two

shared an office with a Scottish

months. Alone is definitely not the right word actually, you and all the other trainees have the same ‘far-from-home-on-myown’-feeling so all you do is

trainee, working together was often quite fun. During the week we enjoyed the summer weather (my prejudice that Austria is al mountains and

weeks, I didn’t have plans yet for the summer holiday so I took a walk on the wild side and confirmed for seven weeks of internship in the Institute for spending your time together, making it a great summer and Technical Mechanics at the enjoying as much trips and university of Linz in Austria. On activities as possible. my long train trip I did a lot of At university I had to work curious thinking of how the very independent, which was a other trainees would be like, good think because I was free what my work was going to be to make a lot of decisions about and how I would myself, in a company they hold experience being alone your hand most of the time. I somewhere far from my friends

[36]

snow turned completely wrong) swimming in the lake, drinking Don Simon sangria, going out in the city centre, playing games in the dormitory, going for roller blade trips, doing barbecues and international cooking events, going to allyou-can-eats... In the weekend, we applied for some

of the trips organised by

was on another on time

IAESTE (weekends in Prague and Budapest were brilliant) and went on some trips we organised ourselves. We visited Salzburg, Vienna and

Ryanair flight back home. There was always a next activity coming up to look forward to and this really made the time fly by.

Bratislava (sleeping accommodation was arranged, knowing local IAESTE trainees where we could stay) and took three days

Looking back at my internship, I’m very satisfied and happy I did it. It’s enriching in many ways and the memories of all the great stuff I

off from work for Frequency, an did with the friends I made there will stick in my memory awesome music festival. for the rest of my life! In no time, half of my internship had passed away Jonathan Orbie already and before I knew it, I

[37]

AUSTRIA

AUSTRIA Laurens Stevaert Why would you do an IAESTE internship? Well, you earn some money, acquire some well wanted engineering experience and it looks really fancy on your curriculum vitae… But also, and this is actually the most important part, you get an opportunity to spend some time abroad in a unique situation. Of course, it might be hard to wake up early

LEOBEN, AUSTRIA

in the morning to arrive at your job in time and perhaps the shower water does not heat properly, your accommodation

through the eyes of the country join the American girl to the

of your choice’s residents (because IAESTE will not leave is a 40 minute walk from your you alone during your work and it tends to rain a lot, internship, you can count on right when you have to leave… that). But maybe you are going to You are going to meet a country you have never been people whom you would have to before. You get the chance never heard about normally, to live there for a while – not as from all over the world. You are a tourist in a hotel, but in a going to cook all kinds of local student apartment (provided to you by the ever so national dinners with them, listen to their own folkloric hard working IAESTE people!) – music and learn about their and get to know a new culture, sort of strange habits. Maybe maybe even more than one. you will even participate in the You will visit new places, seen Muslim guy’s Ramadan – or

[38]

local McDonald’s, whatever you prefer. You will hang out with them, dance and drink and party with them, you will make new friends. Perhaps, there might be some problems. Administration becomes messy, for some reason your internet connection does not work and you have to go Facebook-cold turkey, you cannot digest the local food, you drank a bit too much during the local brewery visit, you missed the last train

home and are hopelessly stuck would never do. You might in the middle of nowhere… No problemo, the local IAESTE members are always there to help you out and cheer you up, and they are constantly

take some salsa or capoeira lessons or end up sleeping in a park in a strange city. Who knows… maybe you will even meet the love of your life out

cooking up some crazy weekend in another city or even a different country. And maybe you will do or see something you thought you

there? So, you know, why would you not give it a try? IAESTE – It’s An Enrichment, Shame ‘T has to End…

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AUSTRIA

GHANA Maïté Martens Akwaaba The 31st of july I left Belgium for two months, to experience the african life. I lived in Ghana, and worked in a architecture firm in the capital. We lived in the cosy home of Beatrice, the Ghanaian big momma who cared for us like we were her own, with 8 IAESTE students. If your still doubting about going abroad this summer, and especially for my

ACCRA, GHANA

fellow architecturestudents, I’ll tell you a mate or busboy, hanging out of little more about what I the window and shouting the experienced. Because Africa is direction you are heading. quite the experience. Ghana is Traffic where ‘the law of the a very stable country, and the strongest’ is the only way of one thing you must admit: you getting trough the streets, and are very welcome. Everywhere streets where there are so you here en see akwaaba, “you many people singing and are welcome”. dancing, that you’re never bored in the hours you spend Trotro on the road. To get to work, you take the trotro. Imagine this: 15 till 24 Obruni people jammed in a small In this crazy busy city, you second hand vehicle (with come home to your little slogans in every european IAESTE-family. Beatrice cooks language you can think of). A

[40]

the typical Ghanaian dishes, but just a little bit less spicy so our European stomachs are not to upset. And together you go out to the rooftop-bar with a view over the little lights of Accra, if there is not an powerdown of course. Or you go to a reggae-night at the beach. Or you just sit in front of the house, laughing with the children of the neighbourhood who keep on shouting obruni, white man.

Medasa At your workspace you’ll

Ghana Elephants, crocodiles,

find out that even though you live miles apart, you know the same architects and buildings. You’ll have some talks that will make you realise how

monkeys and even an turtle heading back to sea! The nature is the main riches of this beautiful country. Every weekend we travelled around

passionate architects are, wherever they are from. You’ll be grateful for the time they spend helping you, talking to you, and making sure you

with the entire group. Waterfalls in the Volta-region, the beaches of Busua and Ada Foah, safari in the Mole National Park and the slave

enjoy every moment you are in their beloved country. Don’t be surprised if your colleague starts singing, and that they only show up at 10 because

camp in the very north, near the border of Burkina Faso, varied, adventurous, beautiful and especially: a lot, a lot of fun!

traffic was too hectic to start early that day.

Maïté

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GHANA

VIETNAM Jens Cooreman Asia has always fascinated me, so when I got the possibility to go to Vietnam with IAESTE, I didn’t have to think twice. More precisely, I would do an internship of 6 weeks at the “Thai Nguyen University of Technology “or TNUT. Due to circumstances I couldn’t stay longer in Vietnam, but even 6 weeks there looked like a great experience to me. The

THAI NGUYEN, VIETNAM

communication with the TNUT didn’t run very smoothly. Let’s say I took quite a step in the dark when I left Belgium. What

helped me a lot on this ‘adventure’ was that I left without any expectations. If you have (too high) expectations, Vietnam isn’t the right place for you! The first week of my stay there were some things that needed to be arranged. Common things in Belgium often need a specialised and timeconsuming procedure in Vietnam.

It took about a week to get

speak English, a few students

my assignment, the optimisation of a “Vertical Axis Wind turbine”. An interesting project with a lot of freedom. I liked working in this

and some staff form an exception. Their level is still not

atmosphere. Since the first week I was temporarily unemployed, I used the time to explore the city, its people, the culture and

conversation with a foreigner is a great way for them to improve their language skills. When they notice you, they will sure start a conversation. This

the cuisine. Thai Nguyen is a city 80 km north of Hanoi. For us this distance means nothing, but in Vietnam it can make a world of difference. In

way, you get to know a lot of people. But it can be tiring to have the same basic conversations all over again. I stayed in a room located

Thai Nguyen, people don’t

on the university campus. It

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great, but they are enormously motivated and devoted to learn English. An English

was the same building the

like to have a chat, drink tea,

students stayed in. I can describe it as very basic. After some (severe) cleaning and looking for a mattress, I could get into my personal 5 star

do everything but work … Stress is not something I noticed during my stay. Party wise, the Vietnamese party …. DIFFERENT ! I won’t

room. But I can imagine that others prefer to stay in another place. The Vietnamese culture is completely different to ours. At

go into further detail. In general I found the

the university, people wake up at 5-6 am and they work till 5-6 pm. You would ask yourself how they manage this. Well, the working pace is a lot lower

you get treated in Thai Nguyen or in touristy places. But if you always remember to smile and be nice, Vietnam is a great place to be.

than in Belgium. Vietnamese people like to look at their office as their home. So they

I sure had a wonderful time!!!!

Vietnamese people very friendly and relaxed. There sure is a difference between how

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VIETNAM

INDIA Rik Catthoor The choice India was not so obvious. People warned me beforehand for expensive plane tickets, unhealthy conditions, diseases like Malaria, TBC, lazy working conditions, etc. Why did I choose India then , having other possibilities like Finland and England? I wanted to discover a whole new culture, totally different from that of Western Europe I am used to.

MANIPAL, INDIA

My main purpose was to meet indian people, discover their way of living and thinking. Making the balance now, I can truly say

The advantage of being a

cricket, squash, (table)tennis,...

fair trainee in India is that indian people recognise you as « different ». they start to talk to you spontaneously, for example, when sheltering for a

On weekday evenings around six, when working day ended,

that I achieved my goals. The main purpose of this internship for me was not the practical experiences I gained during the laboratory work, that monsoon rain. That makes it easy to make indian friends. I was a nice extra. Manipal is a even found an indian student university town and though not who lived four years in a representative town in India. Antwerp, 20 kilometres away To discover the real India you have to travel to local villages, from my place in Belgium. One of my favourite places speak with local people, in Manipal was « The Marena ». discover normal life pattern of It's a huge building consisting indian people. of six floors where you can do fitness, badminton, futsal,

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some of the interns came together to play futsal, basketball or to go to the gym. I often played futsal with indian people. I was the only IAESTEintern who spent more time with indians than with trainees. I like to interact with locals, that’s the fastest way to learn indian culture I can say that I saw a lot of places in Southern India. Not only Karnataka, where Manipal is situated, but also

Kerala(south-West), Goa and

lunch for less then one euro (68

Tamil Nadu(South-East) were visited. We saw impressive views over huge rice plantations bordered by coconut trees. We saw a dam

rupees) .

where falcons flew over and a kingfisher bird flying in front of our bikes. I even spent one evening with a homeless indian named Babu. He slept in a

to do was not that difficult and I had plenty of time to do the

backpack on top of the roof of a hotel, together with cleaning people of the hotel. Babu talked about his financial and family problems. When you

the monomer, went fine but the second, preparation of the prepolymer, didn’t succeed. Research in new chemistry is unpredictable. My professor

meet those people you realise how lucky we are in Western Europe to have good education system, wealthy countries, and social insurances.

gave my some alternative work then. I had to grow a thick, pure crystal of the monomer to analyse its physically properties afterwards. The

Interns normally live in flats, but they were all full when I arrived, so they moved me to a house that I had to share with five other people. I don’t regret

crystals took me half an hour a day. I spent the rest of the working time with Shubha, a Phd student in chemistry at Manipal Institute of technology.

this shift, cause the house was more comfortable than most of the flats. Although, nobody had cooking facilities, so we had to go out two or three times a day

We had a great time together, sharing cultures. I realise now that all people in the world have lot of things in common. The biggest difference is just

to have our food prepared. Fortunately, going out to a restaurant is not so expensive if you know where to go. Multinational restaurants like

the culture surrounding. I’m back home for one month and now I realise how boring normal belgian life is. Everything in India was new

« Pizza Hut », « Dominos », etc. ask almost european prices. But if you go to a local restaurant you can get a proper

and exciting to me, but now it’s back the normal pattern of life. I will miss you, incredible India!

I was working in the chemistry department of Manipal Institute of Technology. The work I had

job. The chemical reaction consisted of three successive steps. The first, preparation of

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INDIA

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Salma Saadi Being a civil engineering student, it has always been my dream to visit Dubai, which is known to be the cradle of the most amazing and innovative constructions. Thanks to the IAESTE, I have had the opportunity to not only visit it, but to perform a 2 months internship in it. This experience is undoubtedly invaluable. Indeed, in addition to the technical experience I have gained every day at work, I have had the opportunity to discover the Emirati local culture in a way that would not have been possible otherwise. After all, where else in the world can you see human made islands? Indoor ski slopes? Skate rinks in shopping malls? The world’s tallest building? Seven stars hotels?

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

procedures under a completely construction schedule. different point of view. For example, where in most of Europe the building sites are open from 7 AM until 4 PM, in the Middle East, they are open

24h per day. Yes. They work at night. At first, one would think that these people are just Working in Dubai has first of crazy, but after spending 2 all allowed me to discover new days in the country, it actually construction techniques. makes sense. Temperatures Indeed, living –and studying- in can reach 50° around noon, Belgium, I have most probably which makes working spent 75 percent of my life under the rain. Working in a country with a totally different climate is a unique opportunity to consider construction

conditions a living hell. As engineers, it is important to

Working during cooler nights, is therefore a really good alternative, and helps the projects to be completed much faster. Knowing that time is money, especially in the construction domain, this is a non-negligible success factor. Another difference lies in the choice of materials used. These are very different from the ones used in Eastern Europe, due to the climate difference and the proximity to the sea.

However, my experience in consider the working conditions on a building site as the United Arab Emirates could not be defined solely by my a crucial parameter in the

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professional experience.

I am currently still in the

During this internship, I have had the occasion of living intense moments with several other interns coming from all over the world (Germany –

United Arab Emirates, so my crazy adventures here are certainly not over (and neither are my Saturdays spent under the sun at the beach in

especially Germany–, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, Italy, Bosnia, the USA…), and this experience would definitely not have been the same without all

October and November), but after a month here, I can

of them. Being all together in a different country, and living the same experience, made us bond very strongly in a very short amount of time and build

therefore advise anyone having the opportunity to, to do an internship abroad; it really is an amazing human experience, you won’t regret nor forget!

already say I am filled with invaluable technical experience and great souvenirs. I would

unforgettable memories.

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UAE (DUBAI)

CYPRUS Sören Dhoore Amazing and worthwhile. Maybe these two words summarise my six-week adventure in Cyprus the best. My IAESTE internship really has been one of those “oncein-a-lifetime opportunities”. To all hesitating students wanting to do an internship abroad I can only say that it’s definitely worth taking the plunge. Everything had started a few months before the actual internship, by the time we had to hand in a motivation letter for an IAESTE training. I had been very decided to do an internship but I wasn’t really sure in which country I’d want

NICOSIA, CYPRUS

now become genuine.

mail contact with the company

Certainly the feeling was double. It would mean a step in the unknown with uncertainties about the atmosphere between other trainees and whether or

where I’d work, it was only one day before my flight to Cyprus I received a phone call by the

to spend a large part of the summer. In the end my choice went to Cyprus. A small country with 12 to 13 hours of not the training itself would sunshine a day and an average meet the expectations. Worries that proved unnecessary after temperature of 30°C during all. summer just couldn’t go bad. I was favoured to spend my An assumption that luckily turned out to be true. On the day I was announced to be accepted for training in Cyprus I felt a big relief. I had been very eager to participate in an IAESTE-like program and this want would

local IAESTE officer with all practical information concerning my housing and arrival at the airport. She told me that because of my late arrival (2 p.m.) it wouldn’t be possible for one of the

time in the very heart of the country, Nicosia. This capital knows a very rich history and is nowadays still divided in a Greek and Turkish part by the

volunteers to come pick me up at the airport. Luckily the lady had informed me very well and I experienced no problems getting from the airport to the

so-called “Green Line”. Notwithstanding the fluent e-

student dorms. However, upon my arrival I was still bothered

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by the lady’s finishing sentence electrical measurement on the phone: “Oh yeah, there won’t be air-conditioning in your room. A fan might be useful.” It certainly was. Already on my 1st day in

equipment, sensors and so on. My main task was to support a senior engineer in applied research on heat losses in buildings and automatic fly

Cyprus a trip to the beautiful city Pafos was scheduled. It was also the place where I met all other trainees for the first time. From the beginning I

traps. Although it was very nice working together with all engineers and being part of the research team, the work itself wasn’t always that challenging.

sensed the atmosphere was totally right and it would only get better as weeks passed by. Literally all weekends were full of amazing activities. A boat

However, the chats with the lovely coffee lady nicely made up for that. To finish I can only confirm the rumours about an IAESTE

party in Limassol, a trip to the Troodos mountains, a fantastic stay at the beach in Larnaca and a night at Guaba beach bar are only few of them. There

experience: you establish a lot of friendships with people from all over the world (I lived together with students from Austria, Croatia, Portugal, Iran,

really was no time to get bored. My internship itself was at CNE Technology Center, a quite small company in Nicosia which has expertise in the field

Israel and the United Arab Emirates), you learn to know a country and its culture very profoundly and most importantly you enjoy life!

of materials testing machines,

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CYPRUS

BELARUS Stig Viaene On July 26th last year I got up very early. In my case, that is a telltale sign that something special was about to happen. And special it was. On that very day, I left for my IAESTE internship in Minsk, Belarus. I believe (based on my humble experience) there are really three important aspects about doing an IAESTE traineeship somewhere, and those are the country you do it in, the people you meet and the job you get. To me, the country was the most striking. I don't know how much you know about Belarus, but as for me, I had no idea what I was getting into. Of course, I heard the stories of it being the 'last

MINSK, BELARUS

infringement of these rules will

at night. That set a standard,

get you in jail for at least a week. And every year, apparently about 40 people still get executed because they did something the government

and the Belarusians have never failed to live up to it. Oh, just one more thing. You may have

dictatorship in Europe', but I didn't think too much of that (and didn't tell my mother too didn't like. much about it). I could ramble Apart from the doubtful on about the things I found out government, though, Belarus is about the country for pages (I a wonderful, beautiful country. actually did, before I realised And the people... To keep it this was only to be about 2500 short: awesome. Just to give characters long). Suffice it to you a hint of how they are: my say that you can't talk politics first night in Belarus, we met (anywhere, to anyone, ever) and you can't do anything that remotely resembles public manifestation. Doing anything that is considered an

some Belarusians in a bar. After having known us for less

heard some stories about everyone wanting to marry a foreigner there. They're true. I never imagined the phrase "Hey, I'm from Belgium, how are you?" to be a pickup line. There, it's the best you can imagine (Austria also works). Then of course, lastly, there's the job. Funny thing, actually. You have to know, the Belarusians don't quite

than 4 hours, they offered us to understand the concept of IAESTE. Not truly. There, the crash at their place, since our dorm would be closed this late organisation is run by one

[50]

single man, and he's the

behind my desk. After that, a

Secretary of Education's assistant (both of whom I've met, but that would take me somewhat too far). Student organisation? Who are you

girl came up to me and said "you know you don't have to work eight hours a day, right?". Well, that did it. Starting then, I had a great holiday, getting up

kidding? So the logistics weren't always great. One Croatian Bosnian guy I met there, thought he was getting into a job where he'd have to

at 10 am, arriving at work around 12, leaving around 4. Best thing is, at the end of the internship, my supervisor told me he was impressed by my

code (just like me, by the way). Instead, he ended up building the office he was supposed to be in. Literally, brick by brick. Mine wasn't that bad, though,

work, said that I had "solved the assigned tasks brilliantly". So, to conclude, I can only say that my IAESTE internship was an unforgettable

it was way better. After the first day (7 hours), my supervisor told me they'd be delighted "if you come in for four hours a day, but if you don't, well,

experience. I met the greatest people, saw the coolest things, had the best time. And if given this incredible opportunity again, I won't have to think

we're not going to kick you out". Diligent as I am, though, I decided to go there anyway, and the second day, I had spent another seven hours

twice, heck, I won't even have to think before agreeing to embark on yet another IAESTE adventure.

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BELARUS

TURKEY Suat Malçikan An internship in Turkey was something I wanted to do from the very beginning of this academy year. However I didn’t apply for the first form in the IAESTE program. Luckily this internship in Turkey was one of the leftovers in Belgium, so in the end I was able to apply for this internship. From the moment that I’ve arrived in Ankara, I had the feeling that this was going to be an extraordinary experience. The first day, I met with my fellow trainee friends; they were all just great. Everyone was really kind from the very beginning; we were well conceived. In the first days of the orientation program we get to know TCK

ANKARA, TURKEY

Mr. Ilhan was with us; he has

He guided us through

got a really funny and nice personality. On the way back to Ankara, we visited Amasya (but not long enough). In my opinion Sinop and Amasya

everything. His funny personality was a nice addition throughout the whole orientation program.

the company and its different departments. We met a lot of were wonderful; you just have important and nice people, from which Mr. Ilhan Kavasoglu to visit these cities. After (Director of the Training Centre) seeing Amasya’s river, castle, was the most memorable one . mosques and charm, I will Although I’m originally from certainly visit this place again.

Turkey, I didn’t get the chance In our last days in Ankara we to visit a lot of places in Turkey. had some lessons about TCK and its different divisions. We So I was really glad that we also visited the famous Middle visited the Black Sea Region. We visited a lot of places such East University for Civil as Kastamonu, Amasra, Safranbolu, Sinop, Samsun and Amasya. During this trip

The first part of the training consisted mainly of the Konak Tunnel in Izmir; a really impressive and big project. Mr. Cetin Inan (the chief engineer), Mr. Müjdat Ciçek (the control chef) explained the details of the project. Next to the technical stuff they arranged a program to visit the most famous places in

Izmir and around Izmir. In the Engineering in Ankara. During these two weeks Mr. first week we visited Cesme, Ilyas Kambali was our mentor. Alaçati and Gümüldür. The

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beach, the sun and the view

concrete pavement of the

were great but the temperatures were too high; sun burning was inevitable, but it was worth it. During week 1 we also

Menemen-Manisa road. Next, we visited an asphalt plant belonging to özce asphalt (controlled by TCK). In the third week we also visited Bodrum

visited the control centres of the Karsikaya and Selatin Tunnels. In the second week we came in contact with the company Kolin Insaat, they are

and Marmaris, during these trips the most atmospheric moment was the dinner next to the sea in Bodrum. Our last stop was in Denizli,

in charge for the making of the North Motorway in Izmir. On the construction site of Kolin we had the opportunity to see their asphalt plant (imported

Pamukkale. My expectations of this internship are certainly fulfilled. Thanks to this Internship I have a better knowledge of

from The Netherlands). At the end of this week we visited the charming city Foça with its beautiful sea-sight, Ephesus with its authentic

Highways and technical methods used in Turkey. I get to see a lot of beautiful places in Turkey that I had never seen before. In these six weeks I get

remnants from the Roman Empire and Sirince known for its wine. In summary the first two weeks were a great combination of touristic and

to know a great company, a lot of nice people and the beauties of Turkey. In short this internship was a great experience.

technical activities. The second part of our training started again with Kolin, but this time we get to see the pouring of the asphalt

In conclusion I want to thank everyone who was responsible for this great experience.

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TURKEY

COLOMBIA Tim Schittekatte I was very happy when I heard at the nomination evening I could go to Colombia, this way I could combine gaining professional experience and discovering the world. The only two things I associated with Colombia that moment were Pablo Escobar and the FARC, but I was sure there was more to discover. The town I would do my internship in was Ibagué, never heard of it, but Google told me it’s known as the music capital of Colombia and is situated in between Bogota and the Andes. After a very long journey crossing Madrid and Caracas I arrived in Bogota in the beginning of July. There I took the bus to Ibagué, before we entered the bus all the passengers were filmed, it

IBAGUE, COLOMBIA

of Ibagué and the public one, Universidad de Tolima, which has a more anarchistic character. I did my internship in the engineering department of the Universidad de Ibagué. The

local IAESTE committee made me suspicious about the welcomed me very well, and safety situation in the country, took care of housing. I lived later I got to know it’s just with a Colombian family, like all protocol, nothing special. richer people over there they Ibagué is a very quiet town lived in a “conjunto”, a in the mountains, it has more inhabitants than Ghent, but the city center is way smaller. They are two universities, the private one, Universidad de Ibagué,

“conjunto” are a bunch of houses surrounded by walls and to enter you had to pass the security. In the middle of

the “conjunto” there was a crowded by the sons and pool and fitness, it was not daughters of the richer families such a bad place to live ;).

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My professor over there didn’t gave me a lot of work and I could chose my hours I would work for myself, so it was a pretty chill work situation, the working pace over there is a little bit slower than we’re used to. After working a few hours a day I could go to the pool or visit the city with some Colombian friend or other foreigners who were studying/working at the university. In the weekends we did a lot of very nice trips with the local IAESTE committee and the other foreigners. I met people from all over the world who were in Colombia for one

reason or another. People from

from Ibagué, we hiked till more

from the real world. From

Brazil, Guatemala, Poland, Mexico, New Zealand,.. very quick we were a group of friends exploring the country, it was a bit comparable to the

than 3500 meters, the top was at more than 5000 meters and we didn’t had the equipment to go that high. At 3500 meters we could bathe in natural hot

Leticia you could go on excursion to the jungle to spot animals as crocodiles, tapirs, snakes, all kind of strange birds, pink dolphins (no joke!)

“Erasmus-feeling”. If we didn’t went for a trip we stayed in Ibagué and visited the local clubs. It’s very nice to go out in Colombia, everybody is

terms, that was very welcome because it was very cold at that height in comparison with the city in Ibagué. Another strange thing about Colombia

and a lot more. As well we went fishing piranha’s and visited a native indian town. Leticia was really worth visiting, I hadn’t seem some

dancing from 9pm (and they know how to dance ;)), drinks aren’t expensive and oh I didn’t mentioned yet, the girls are extremely beautiful. The

is that there aren’t seasons, the climate at a place is the same all year long. The average temperature in a city (almost) only depends of its

place comparable. So to conclude, I had a very nice time in Colombia, it is a very beautiful country with very gentle people who want

weird thing in the club is how they mix the music, one moment they’re playing reggaeton (strong, very sensual music) and a few

height, the higher you go the lower the temperature. Médellin, the city know for drugs and beautiful women, has the perfect height, it’s

to get rid of the country’s reputation of drugs and violence. The economy is growing very fast, if you have a good degree you can make a

minutes later there’s valleto (slow traditional folk music) while their showing videos of “Tomorrowland” at a big screen, it’s a bit of a crazy

called the city of the eternal spring, all year long the temperature is between 17° and 28°. I was there for a few days, I don’t know about the

very nice career. The country still has some (minor) issues with rebellions and safety but if you don’t search for trouble you won’t

scene. Surely the nicest thing about my stay in Colombia were the weekend (or longer) trips we did. Colombia is such

drugs, but I can’t deny what they’re saying about the women. The most memorable trip I did was together with a

face trouble. There is still a gap between rich and poor, but the gap is reducing. I’m convinced that if the right politicians step to the fore, the

a “rich” country, there is so much to see. There’re worldclass beaches at the Caribbean cost, the mountains of the Andes, the Amazon

Belgian and Czech friend, we took the plane in Bogota to go to Leticia. Leticia is located at the point where the border of Colombia, Brazil and Peru

country has a great future and this way the life standard will rise up to unknown heights. If you go to Colombia it’s advisable to have a basic

jungle, the old city of Cartagena and so much more. One weekend we went to the highest mountain of Colombia, it’s only half an hour driving

come together, it’s in the middle of the Amazon jungle. Because the town is surrounded by jungle it gave me the feeling it was cut away

knowledge of Spanish, some of the young people speak English, but in the streets they will only understand Spanish.

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MONGOLIA Tim Verbelen After a somewhat stressful and at times hectic year, it can't hurt to explore more quiet and peaceful horizons. An internship in Mongolia seems ideal to accomplish this, so off I went last summer. When I touched down at Chinggis Khaan Airport in Ulaanbaatar, the first thing I saw were grassy hills all around me. I would see many, many more. And more after that. A passport control later I

ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA

was already outside and being greeted by my of protecting the dorm Mongolian supervisors. They extremely seriously. took me for an initiation tour The next day at work (the along Mongolian administrative university two blocks away), I authorities and some rather received a detailed schedule crazy traffic. It ended with me explaining everything I had to being dropped at the dormitory accomplish during my six for engineering students, weeks. On the top of the list where most of the IAESTE was learning some elementary trainees were and would also Mongolian. This consisted of a be staying. We had the nicest woman dictating phrases in rooms in a newly renovated Mongolian, which I had to write corridor, a little basketball field down and basically learn by in front (one of the best ways heart. Luckily this only lasted to make Mongolian friends) for a couple of days, and in the and at the entrance a guard in end I even managed to learn an army suit who took his job the Cyrillic alphabet, say hello and count to 30.

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There was not really an active local IAESTE committee, but there was plenty of fun with the other interns. We ate out every night in one of the many restaurants in the neighbourhood. Take your pick: Indian, Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Italian, Uzbek, Korean,... or if you must insist: Mongolian! We would go to one of the karaoke bars, which you could say is one of the national activities in Mongolia. We also had a rather popular club at walking distance, which led to some legendary nights (we had to

wake up our 'army guy' to get

how to use CAD software. For

back in though). In the meantime, we attended the famous three day national holiday and festival called Naadam, which includes

lunch, I ate marmot or cooked mutton. And if I had had enough meat, I could still drink some milk tea, beer or vodka. My supervisor invited me to

horse racing, wrestling and archery. And we arranged trips to the 'countryside' (everything outside the capital), where we slept in the typical Mongolian

go hunting for wolves in the winter, and I'm actually

tents called gers, and rode horses ourselves. Of course, I still had my work, which now included going on field trips to coal

uniqueness of the land and culture. If you are looking for an internship which is even more fun and unexpected than usual, I would definitely

mines, where I taught flabbergasted local engineers

recommend Mongolia.

considering to accept the proposal, since I have been impressed by the beauty and

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MONGOLIA

INDIA Wouter Tielemans As someone who has traveled to many countries in my free time I was just spending my time during the year doing pretty much nothing useful when suddenly I heard someone say that day was the last day to apply for an IAESTE internship! I decided to quickly write a CV, choose some countries and see if I'd hear anything at all even. Eventually I got selected and it was only at that time that I really started to get psyched, but to be honest, that never really

MANIPAL, INDIA

them and all the other interns,

we went to the beach and played soccer during the heavy stopped! I was going to India! monsoon. A few days later Once I arrived the first I learned however it was time to start working, luckily this wasn't too was that Indians have a completely different idea about intense and I was very free to driving and traffic rules, or the work at my own pace and to change the course of the lack of them. Apart from the minor heart attacks on the way, internship according to my own interests.  I was welcomed very professionally and friendly by the local committee and I met my roommates the first day. The next day was the first of many great days to come with

daily weekday consisted of doing a few hours of work, going to the fancy gym nearby the university with many of the other interns to play football, basketball, tennis, ... pretty much anything was possible there: nothing like a good steam or sauna to end a training session! After this we went for dinner at one of the

many cheap, but good places With a few days of work behind to eat in Manipal and would head out to one of the few, but me, I could really say I had fun bars. It didn't take long begun my internship and was able to start enjoying life more before the interns started and more each day there. The

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getting special deals at these

bars which obviously resulted

little more than a week. Indian

in great nights as well! 

trains definitely don't deserve the negative reputation they have in the world, but I can't say they are fast!

Apart from Manipal there were many opportunities to travel during the weekends, the university also wanted us to explore India so they had no problem with giving us a few days or even a week off to travel throughout India. Since

I can honestly say that I was truly lucky to be allow to go on

there were so many interns, there were many trips as well, but I'll never forget traveling North to see the Taj Mahal amongst many other things.

I'm not even mentioning the crazy people I met there. Luckily it's quite normal to do a reunion and I'm looking forward to the first one already

During that trip we spent more than 100 hours on trains in a

so I can dig up some more great memories!

this internship and was able to do and see things I'll probably never be able to do again and

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INDIA

THAILAND Wouter Vermeulen Some of you might know Thailand from the movies The Beach or The Hangover 2. Or someone might’ve told you wild stories about Thailand. Well, it’s true, Thailand is crazy. After 11 hours of flying, I arrived early in the morning at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok. It was 6 o’clock local time and 1 o’clock Belgian time and the jet lag had taken control of my body. A nice Thai girl picked me up at the airport and with a van from the King Monkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB) we drove straight into the morning traffic jam. When we arrived at the university I was flabbergasted,

BANGKOK, THAILAND

know all my fellow IAESTE

delicious Thai food, … By the

interns it was nice. The advantage of living together was that we could easily arrange trips to everywhere with everybody. Some of the

way, Thai food is extremely delicious, but be warned that many dishes are quite spicy. The internship was very relaxed since Thai people are

IAESTE interns who had an internship in a different part of it was one big campus, (almost) like a mini-town. And it Bangkok (or Thailand) were quite lonely and had to make a was only small compared to another university in Bangkok. I big effort to meet with us. My internship was at KMUTNB found out that all the interns (max. 8) had to sleep together itself and my colleagues were in one common room in a dorm very friendly. They took me out for lunch, they showed me at the campus. At first it was quite a shock, but once I got to around in Bangkok, they bought me all kinds of

[60]

very relaxed themselves. I was surprised about the English knowledge of Thai people, it’s quite bad in general, even university students had a lot of difficulties with it. Every now and then I had to teach English to Ph.D. students between 28 and 40, which was quite funny being “only” 23 years old myself. During my stay I got to

know many awesome people,

common and advisory. It’s also

both other IAESTE interns as well as local people. During the weekends you’re free and you can travel around Thailand. I visited Ayuthaya,

quite easy and relatively cheap to book a flight to the neighbouring countries like Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia. The

Pattaya, Chiang Mai and Nontaburi. The city center of Bangkok also has much to offer, both cultural as nightlife related. It might be smart to

internship was an awesome experience and I can

bring a local person with you who can show you the good places, translate, and tell you when you’re getting ripped off. Thailand is in general quite

when you’re enjoying the nightlife, not all girls are real girls… So be careful when you get seduced, which will definitely happen in the more

cheap, but bargaining is

“touristic” nightlife.

recommend it to everyone! PS: one more tip for the guys: watch out for Thai girls

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THAILAND

SPAIN Xavier Van der Wee After the achievement of my Master thesis and the last exams of my final year, the month of July introduced a summer including a whole new challenge. The words ‘passed with distinction’ were the signal for me to leave for a two-month internship in warm and vibrant Madrid, Spain, three days later! Arriving in Madrid was like starting a new life: I got picked up at the airport, shown around the city and led to my apartment by one of the IAESTE-organisers and after that I had some days to explore what was going to be my natural habitat in the next couple of weeks. I got to know my roommates from the UK

MADRID, SPAIN

I had to travel with the metro/

different country. Although I

train for half an hour before getting there. After a couple days already I felt like a real local, knowing my way around the subway and walking down

didn’t speak a word of Spanish when I arrived, my co-workers

the streets of the Spanish capital. My tasks at Ardanuy and the US, met the other were drawing in AutoCAD, IAESTE interns and organisers calculating and checking and of course my colleagues at calculations of structures, work. The company I did my preparing the scope of works internship at was an for projects and so on. Nothing engineering company special for a civil engineer, specialised in railway really, but what made it so infrastructure. It was located interesting was the nice people outside the city, so to get there at the office and working in a

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made everything clear to me in English. Thanks to them I also learned a lot about Spanish culture: their language, country, habits and of course the famous ’tapas’. One of them told me: “Vas a apprender Español en los bares!”, and that’s what I did… Working hours were long (from 8:30 until six) but I learned a lot thanks to the other civil engineers in the company. The atmosphere was great, and

every Friday afternoon we had

the days after the parties, we

an obligatory visit to the bar across the street to start the weekend. On weekends and in the evening, I spent a lot of time

went outside Madrid to visit all kinds of things. Toledo for example, is a small city that used to be the capital of Spain for centuries, and worth the

with my roommates or the other IAESTE-interns. They came from everywhere: Poland, Hungary, Bosnia, England, China, Japan,... We

visit for the day. Other activities involved a pool-party-BBQ, swimming at a lake, salsadancing and other fun stuff. I was never bored, got to meet

had a Facebook-group where we could post suggestions to go for drinks or food, things we wanted to visit in the weekends or just to put some pictures

loads of new people almost every day and tasted the local culture and habits. After two months I could return to Belgium with a full-packed

from the night before! A lot of times, we just went to a park to drink (what they call ‘botellon’ in Spanish) and talk about our experiences and other stuff. Of

suitcase of nice experiences, great friendships and awesome memories. I would like to recommend an IAESTEinternship to everyone who

course, there was also fiestatime: mandatory on every Friday and Saturday night. We had no time to rest because

reads this. You’ll have a great summer and will never regret it! And I even think it looks good on your résumé… ;)

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SPAIN

SERBIA Nick Willems I was very happy to be accepted as IAESTE trainee this year. I was ready to go and open for adventure. Novi sad was the city I would live in for two months, it is the second city of Serbia, after Belgrade. Novi Sad is more or less the size of Ghent. It is localised at the Donau river. The trip went smoothly. I took a plane from Brussels Airport to Belgrade, and than took

NOVI SAD, SERBIA

a bus to Novi Sad. Marina, my Serbian host (or mom, as we called them) picked me up at the bus- example, there are over 60. But station. In most cities, IAESTE our gang of 14 lived closely together. After a while we knew students are put in university dorms or hostels. In Novi Sad, each other really well. Enthusiastic boys and girls we had comfortable flats. I from Novi Sad University lived together with Vitor from showed us the way around, and Sam from UK. It was a lot went out with us, travelled, supported and even arranged of fun, two other flats in the building were also occupied by administrational stuff, all under IAESTE students. One flat with the supervising eye of Bojan Gajic, who is a true leader. girls an two flats with men. In They are an example for the total, we were with 14 IAESTE world platform. international trainees. That’s For two months, the not a lot comparing to weather was unbelievable. It Belgrade or Budapest, for Brazil, Mohammed from Oman

was never below 30 degrees

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and sometimes even over 40 degrees. We were lucky to have air-conditioning in the flat and in the office. We also went to Exit festival for 4 days, we went on a camping trip and on a rafting trip in the south of Serbia. Every weekend we had lots to do. Quiet often and mostly after work, we went to the beach at the Donau river. As I am an Engineer and Architecture student, I worked in an architecture firm. Gardi is the biggest architecture and engineering office in Novi Sad. It was also the first private

design company in the

Serbian. After two months, I

province of Vojvodina, founded in 1989. It is owned by two brothers Darko and Marko Reba. Ph. D. Darko Reba is also professor at the faculty of

could actually understand some words. In the office, the boss ‘Mister Darko’ would enter the room every day to follow our

Architecture. The firm doesn’t work exclusively with architects, there are also civil engineers, electrical engineers, construction engineers and a

work. He comes with a sketch or a plan to discuss the projects. We could ask him questions if we had design issues. Sashka (Alexandra) was

manager. Although the firm has shrunk down due to the economic crisis, they still have some major project on the table. Gardi is very open for

the leader inside the office, she was my mentor and could help me anytime. I had two major tasks: the design of a apartment building with 21

local and international trainees. I felt very welcome and enjoyed working there because the atmosphere in the office was great. I worked with four

apartments and 5 shops, and also a smaller extension of a villa. These projects were serious, they were going to get built. So I actually had a lot of

girls in a small office and we had a lot of fun. Sometimes, they were trying to teach me

responsibility.

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SERBIA

ARE YOU READY FOR AN INTERNATIONAL INTERNSHIP?

Apply for IAESTE • A-form from 5/11 to 15/12: Choose 3 favourite countries • B-form from 30/1 to 18/2: Choose 3 favourite internships and write short motivation letters • Nomination at 25/2: Your internship is announced • C-form from 26/2 to 4/3

! ! !

! IAESTE BELGIUM GHENT ! LC [email protected] !

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