Austauschstudentin Maria Mazana Ariño berichtet von ihren ersten Eindrücken an der Ostfalia

Hi, my name is Reina Mazana Ariño, I am an international student from Spain and this semester I started studying Sport Management at Ostfalia in Salzgitter. I come from a coastal city called Castellón, an hour from Valencia. In my country, I am in my final year of a degree in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, and during my studies I have been able to learn about performance, health and management.

One of the things I particularly like about Germany is all the green spaces. I also chose Ostfalia because of its rural location and because, unlike many other universities, it offers courses in English or in an English-friendly way. In my spare time I am interested in sports and I do crossfit, climbing and swimming. So, I was happy to go on a hiking trip in Bad Harzburg with the International Relations Office of Ostfalia. However, I do not want to deny that the sun shines more often in Spain.

When I first came here, I was curious about German social dynamics. They're seen as cold and rigid, but I got to know them as friendly, funny and quite similar to Spanish people. For me, the language is the biggest barrier, but Germans are very good at English. I've met lovely people with a great sense of humour. If I wasn't struggling with the language, I'd be laughing all the time. How much you Germans love to make jokes! At Ostfalia some of my courses are completely in English, such as Business English, while in others the material has been translated to make it easier for me to understand. In my university, only 50% of English courses are taught in English. Spanish students often have a lower level of English, which is why I like the approach of this subject in Sport Management at Ostfalia.

At my university in Spain, we study three years of the four-year degree in core subjects such as management, education, sport, health and performance. In the fourth year, we choose our area of interest by choosing seven electives and doing internships and a final project. I like that we can make this decision in the fourth year. After getting to know the sports sector, we can choose the area we are most interested in. In my opinion, the content of our studies in Spain and Germany is more or less the same. At Ostfalia I like the fact that the course focuses on sports management and I think I can learn about it from a more practical perspective. Something that has caught my attention and has surprised me is the subject 'Kongress' we have in fifth semester. I think that being able to create such an event helps you learn a lot. Besides, physical education is the only subject I have that involves physical activity, and I love the fact that we do our running in the middle of the forest.

To sum up, I still have a long way to go in my German studies and I am very grateful to all the people who work at Ostfalia for treating me so kindly and helping me to feel comfortable here.

If you see me on campus, don't hesitate to say hello, I'll be happy to talk to you.