My Stay in Halle

I participated in a four-week program at the Excellence Center in Europe. My first week consisted exclusively of Foreign language classes, participants are given the option to chose between Arabic and German. The classes lasted four to five hours and were dense with language instruction. I chose to study German for the first week, because I already knew some basic level Arabic and wished to communicate with people in Halle (Saale). My teacher's name was Muhammad and he proved to be a very adept instructor. I learned much more German, especially grammar, than I would have originally anticipated.

The other three weeks consisted of presentations about the Syrian Refugee Crisis, Syrian society, and the History of modern Syria. These presentations proved to be exceedingly interesting and very educational. I was under the assumption that I had a good grasp of the Syrian civil war beforehand but I ended up learning so much more than I thought I would.

After the most week is when we began teaching English classes to refugees. The classes were the most memorable part of the experience because of how eager the students were to learn. Some of the classes consisted mostly of teenagers, and some were exclusively adults, so you met a wide range of people, all of whom were very pleasant to teach and to work with.

The other participants and I made several presentations about ourselves and our home countries, and about the Halle as well; and had the opportunity to present them to the entire staff at the Excellence Center and for some of the students.

The staff at the Excellence Center were some of the most genuinely friendly and splendid people I have ever met. They were great to work with and very personable as well. This experience was certainly life changing for me and I made such amazing friendships and connections in Halle that I hope will last a lifetime.