Probably the best decision I've ever made!

I am studying mechanical engineering in my third year in Germany. Although my university doesn't have a partnership with any university in New Zealand, I definitely wanted to come here to travel and to experience how it is to study in a foreign country.

First of all, I have to say that finding a cheap accommodation in Auckland really isn't that easy. If you don't get a place in the student accommodation or don't want to live there, it probably takes you a while and a few visits to find a place to live. I eventually found a nice place in Mount Eden (which is 10 minutes by bus to the university) and paid $250/week.

Together with my German flatmate, I bought a campervan on my second weekend in Auckland. Due to the Auckland car fairs and the fact that a lot of travellers want to get rid of their car in Auckland, it is very easy to find a good car or campervan here. Buying a campervan was probably one of the best decisions we made here. We were able to make trips every weekend and travelled nearly all the North Island during the semester and the South Island during the semester break and after the semester.

Regarding the academic challenge of the program, I can say that the difficulty of the courses was lower than in my university in Germany. The lecturers were really kind and motivated though! In contrast to my university in Germany, I was expected to do a lot of assignments and tests during the semester, which already counted towards the final grade. This system reminded me a bit of school but is very helpful for people like me who are usually procrastinating and don't do much during the semester.

Because I was lucky enough to get a PROMOS scholarship from my university, I had to choose another course when I arrived in Auckland as I had to study full-time in order to get the scholarship. The international student coordinator recommended me to take a Māori paper and I decided to take the "Te Ara Pou - Māori Leadership" course which turned out to be the most interesting course I've taken so far and was a nice contrast to my other engineering papers.

All in all, I can recommend everyone to study a semester in New Zealand. I had one of the best times of my life, visited many beautiful places in this country and made a lot of friends from all over the world.