German students here on exchange

Prof Chuah (right) with the students: (from left) Tobias Siegfried Walbrunn, Eugen Knoll, Anja Filbrandt, Julia Annemarie Winkler, Wiebke Steffen and Christiane Koenig.

Six German students under the international student exchange programme arrived in UTAR for semester studies in early October 2015. They are Tobias Siegfried Walbrunn, Eugen Knoll, Wiebke Steffen, Anja Filbrandt, Julia Annemarie Winkler, and Christiane Koenig.

“We welcome all of you to UTAR and we hope that your stay here will be enriched with more inter-cultural and knowledge exchanges and that you will tell us more about your country and experience as much as our students here will tell you more about Malaysia,” says UTAR President Prof Chuah Hean Teik.

All of them are taking semester courses in the Faculty of Business and Finance, UTAR Kampar Campus. Both Walbrunn and Knoll are currently pursuing the Master of Business Administration in Corporate Management whereas the rest are in taking semester courses in the Bachelor of Business Administration degree.

Tobias Siegfried Walbrunn and Eugen Knoll are from Regensburg University of Applied Sciences (OTH Regensburg, Germany) while the rest are from West Coast University of Applied Sciences, Germany. OTH Regensburg is an MoU partner of UTAR and almost every year UTAR students from the Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology enrol in OTH Regensburg for semester studies and internship under the exchange programme.

When asked about the reasons they chose UTAR, all of them replied in an interesting yet sincere way.

“It’s indeed a great once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live in Southeast Asia for the semester. UTAR made an effort to maintain good communication via emails to facilitate our studies here and finally we are here,” mentioned Filbrandt.

“I’ve beenlooking for a university in Asia on exchange and I am glad to have found UTAR. I like the new experience but the weather is way too hot compared to Germany,” said Walbrunn.

“I wanted to experience living in an interesting country with a great cultural diversity. The unforgettably friendly staff from UTAR helped us with the preparations for the exchange and we now we are here,” mused Winkler.

“The fact that UTAR offers courses for both disciplines, Psychology and Business Administration, raised my attention. Also, the homepage and the structured and thorough support from UTAR as well as the courses offered convinced me to come here for a trimester,” replied Koenig.

“I wished to improve my English Language skills, get to know the country, the people and the cultures of a Southeast Asian country and also to escape the cold winters and bad weather in my home country,” said Steffen.

“I wanted to have an exchange experience in Asia and this is a perfect chance. UTAR is also a known university in Asia,” answered Knoll.

When prompted with the question of what they hope to learn from this exchange, they shared similar thoughts.

“I wish to learn more about the perspectives of business that differ from those that are taught in Germany,”mentioned Filbrandt.

“Everything about the Malaysian cultures, the people and friendswill help to improve my social competency skills,”said Walbrunn.

“I wish to learn a few words from each of the Malaysian languages, learn more about the cultures and traditions, and interesting inputs from the lecturers,”mused Winkler.

“I am interested to find out more about the student and social lives in Malaysia, gain deep knowledge of the local culture including its history, tradition, religions and rituals, and learn some basic knowledge of the Malaysian languages,” replied Koenig.

“I hope to gain a lot of new experiences about student life in Malaysia especially a huge university like UTAR as my home university is really small,” said Steffen.

“Through this stay in Malaysia, I hope to improve my English, and gain new cultural experiences,”answered Knoll.

Their first impression of Malaysia is that they found Malaysians to be really hospitable and friendly.

“There are a lot more trees than I expected. I feel warmly welcomed by the Malaysians!” mentioned Filbrandt.

“I am intrigued by the spicy and interesting meals, and extremely friendly people. Most of them want to know us and take photos with us,” said Walbrunn.

“The warm weather hereis so different from Germany. UTAR is a spacious university withvery guest-friendly staff, and I feel very welcomed here,”mentioned Winkler.

“People here are very nice, caring and welcoming. The landscape is beautiful with lots of jungles and lots of palm trees and the spicy food is delicious,”replied both Koenig and Steffen.

“Everyone is extremely friendly but the traffic is rather confusing,”answered Knoll.

These students on exchange here from Germany are part of UTAR’s initiatives to encourage more student exchanges to enhance diversity within the campus and to promote more inter-cultural and academic exchanges with its overseas MoU partners.

From left: Eugen Knoll, Anja Filbrandt, Julia Annemarie Winkler, Christiane Koenig, Wiebke Steffen, and Tobias Siegfried Walbrunn