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City rally, guided city tour and welcome party

The orientation week for more than 330 newly enrolled international students of TU Chemnitz finished with a welcome dinner

  • Dishes from all over the world: The international buffet at the Welcome Dinner was prepared by the new students who brought traditional dishes from their home countries. Photo: Maren Besand

The beginning of study is often like a steeplechase - especially for international students. In order to complete this course, the International Office of TU Chemnitz together with the Student Buddy Program offered a multifaceted program for new international students. The orientation week took place from 30 March to 02 April 2015, welcoming international freshers to TU Chemnitz and accompanying them during their first steps at university and in the city. Overall, more than 20 percent of approximately 11,000 students at TU Chemnitz are international students.

As in every semester, the kick-off event of the orientation week was the introductory lecture ‘Learn, Live and Laugh in Chemnitz’ to which all new international students were welcomed, no matter whether they came for an exchange semester at TU Chemnitz, plan to do their entire degree or a doctoral study here. On Monday, 30 March, in the first part of the event, the participants received important information about forthcoming study at TU Chemnitz. Experienced students of higher semesters from the Student Buddy Program and Student Representatives were ready to answer their questions about studies. They provided information about the courses and helped with the schedule. The day ended with a presentation by a representative of the University Computing Center.

Despite hard rain and snow, approximately 30 internationals joined the traditional city rally on Tuesday, which started at the cultural center DasTIETZ. The students got to know the sights and important institutions of the city of Chemnitz: from ‘Nischel’ through the main railway station to the city registration office and Opera House. Those who wanted to learn more about life in Chemnitz could attend the second part of the lecture "Learn, Live and Laugh in Chemnitz" at 2 p.m. Representatives of Studentenwerk who were present at the session gave important tips and tricks concerning life and job opportunities in Chemnitz.

On Wednesday, students met for the campus tour to explore the campus part in Reichenhainerstraße. In addition to the library tours, new students attended guided city tours on Thursday. They had the opportunity to take a look on their new home from high above the roofs of the city tower. The orientation week finished with the Welcome Dinner on Thursday in ‘Club der Kulturen’. The big international buffet was prepared by the new international students themselves - everyone brought traditional dishes from their home countries and tried them all together. German and international students of higher semesters were also welcome to join the event, in the end there were more than 200 students celebrating the start of summer semester 2015.

The Student Buddy Program as well as the international students are highly satisfied not only with the course of the orientation week, but also with the matching of student buddies this summer semester. The aim of the Student Buddy Program, which is part of the International Office, is to ease the start in Chemnitz for international students and support them during their first steps in Chemnitz, i.e. enrollment and administrative procedures. Its successful implementation is only possible with the help of committed students of TU Chemnitz: Therefore, tandems are created between experienced students - ‘Local Buddies’ - and international freshers – ‘International buddies’. Local Buddies help international students and may go with them on excursions offered by the Student Buddy Program. Thus, the Student Buddy Program gives you the opportunity to make friends from all over the world, to prepare for a semester abroad or to improve foreign language skills. Local buddies receive a certificate of participation as a reward for their highly acclaimed voluntary work.

The Student Buddy Program is very grateful especially to the highly committed Local Buddies of TU Chemnitz. Thanks to them, over 90 percent of more than 130 newly registered International Buddies could receive support from an experienced student. Next semester, many international students are expected to come to TU Chemnitz, too. The Student Buddy Program team would be grateful for any help and hopes for many new participants who are ready to support our international freshers. If you are interested in the Student Buddy Program and want to be engaged in our activities, you can find more information and the registration form below: https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/international/incoming/patenprogramm/index.php.en

(Source: Student Buddy Programm)

Katharina Thehos
10.04.2015

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