I have always thought that I am an independent girl, living away from family, in a totally strange city, studying in one of the best universities in the region. However, all these change when I embarked on this life enriching experience through an Internship in Physics Department of Essen University in Germany for two months, starting from February the 3rd, 2002. Since it is the first time that I go abroad, I know nothing, I am curious about everything and have a little worry about the coming future, but at the same time, there is the feeling of going to an adventure of my lifetime all by myself, a feeling of seeing a whole new world!

It is a total surprise to me to get an Internship in the Physics Department despite my majoring in Information Engineering. Anyway since professor Buck has agreed to accept me, I don't think I should worry about it.

Taking the flight from Pudong International Airport, I had to transit from Frankfurt International Airport to Dusseldorf International Airport before I met Helena from IAESTE (International Association for Exchange of Students for Technology Experience). The first problem is the language barrier that arose when I just alighted from the flight in Frankfurt International Airport. Most of the words used in the airport are in German, and being totally illiterate about it, I just depended on the signs and logos on the board to find my way around one of the biggest airports in the country. Being on the main hub of all flight operations in Europe, this airport had one of the busiest air traffic in the world, and the number of passengers I saw in the terminal was just unbelievable! I was totally impressed with the productivity and the efficiencies of the customs in handling all these passengers.

When I reached Dusseldorf International Airport, it was already ten in the evening. Luckily, I have already arranged some kind of pick up services offered by IAESTE. I was told that Helena would be waiting for me at the airport once I arrived. Helena, when I first saw her, would only be someone of my age, which made me feel quite surprise and she had no problem recognizing me from the crowd emerging from the arrival gate.

Helena is someone that has helped me so much ever since I stepped into Germany. Besides picking me up from the airport, she drove me right up to my accommodation in Essen and prepared some necessities like eating utensils and table lamp for me. The next day, she even drove me to the Physics Department in Essen University to look for the Professor in charge of me during the whole period of Internship. After talking to some others that came for the Internship arranged through IAESTE, I am considered one of the most fortunate to have such a helpful staff in Helena and I am truly grateful to her.

The accommodation that was allocated by the IAESTE is situated at a not too distant suburb. It is actually a hostel built for the nearby hospital staff. There were not too many people living in this building, from the original 4 in my floor when I got there to about 10 when I left the hostel. There is a balcony attached and also a washing basin in every room while we shared a common kitchen, a bathroom and two toilets. The cleaning staffs employed by the building administration maintain the common area, leaving the occupants with the sole responsibility of cleaning their own room.

Due to a common mealtime among all the occupants, it was during cooking our meals in the kitchen that I really got to meet and know people from all over the world. There were Indian, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Australian and also the locals. We had frequent meals together or what was known as potluck whereby everyone has to cook a cuisine that is distinct to their hometown. The Indian would usually cook curries out of vegetables and beans, I must admit that they do cook it very well, especially with the way they handle the spices which I still cannot make out what they were till this day. The Malaysian would cook chicken curry, which is delicious and very different from how we would handle meat. Vietnamese and Australians contributed Italian Pastas and accompanying sauces. As for me, I not only contributed my appetite and stomach, but also learnt something from them. This form of cultural exchange is something I have never thought of and I certainly welcome it!

Essen University is quite different from what I thought before. Even it is smaller than Yuquan Campus of Zhejiang University. However, it is a compact yet impressive university. According to two Chinese colleagues (Mr. Zhang and Ms. Qiao), the university has much more advanced and complete research facilities compare to what we have back home. As I am not from science facility, I can't justify their comment whether these facts are actually true or not. Mr. Zhang is a PHD holder from China and Ms. Qiao is completing her PHD degree in Essen University; they are both my colleagues in this research department. Since they have been there for more than 3 years, they definitely know more than I do and often provided me with useful advice on my work and also life around Essen. My immediate supervisor is Professor Buck, who is a lecturer of the Department and also directly supervised me on the research in Amorphous Carbon Film. He has been most helpful and approachable, always there to give guidance and help in things that I do not understand and always makes me feel comfortable too. While waiting for the test equipment being repaired by the technician, Professor Buck also provided me some materials in order to make me have a better understanding of the whole topic. Don't know whether I am lucky or not, the equipment took up nearly one month to be repaired, which also happens to be half of my duration there.

My main job is to find ways to improve the characteristics of the Amorphous Carbon Film, which is a very challenging task to me, as I have no idea about it before I came into contact with it. Luckily, I had time to find relevant materials from the Internet to supplement what Professor Buck gave me, all of which provided me with the basic knowledge on what it is and how to go about it.

Next is to talk about Essen, my home for the past 2 months. In general, the Germans are very helpful and friendly. Although we have language barrier and often have to resort to using sign languages, they are still most willing to offer help, even though it might meant going out of their way. Here are two perfect examples. There was one night while I was going back home alone from my job, the tram unexpectedly changed to a different route that I am totally unaware of. Being new to the place, I had no idea where I was and hence was starting to get worried when I went forward to ask a German lady for direction to get back to where my hostel is, through using a map of Essen. She was trying to tell me the way but she speaks only Deutsche (German Language) and me English. I could not comprehend that through at all despite her attempts to use sign and body language. To her avail, she decided to lead me by hand back to the place where I could take another tram to go home. The distance we covered was pretty long and with her baggage, which looked quite heavy, we had to rest a couple of times for her to catch her breath. I wanted to help, but my inability to speak Deutsche made me unable to express my willingness to help her with her baggage. I felt guilty that she was trying so hard to help a stranger in me. And it is only thanks to this German lady that I was able to reach home safely that night.

Another incident is the buying of contact lens. I had carelessly damaged my only pair of contact lens and had to buy a new set. After asking around, I realized that the disposable ones are sold in sets of six, which are too expensive for me. And I was only there for another month, so it was unnecessary to purchase so many sets. As I was just giving up hope, the boss of the last optical shop that I went to decided to give me a free trial set, which definitely made me so grateful that I didn't have to work with just one eye. These two incidents give me a big impression on how I felt about the Germans, and certainly that they are not as cold as they look.

One surprising thing that I observed while I was there is the ethical values of the people. The public transport, though expensive and not so regularly inspected by transport conductors, are very efficient and every commuters actually pay for their share of it. I am so impressed with the self-discipline shown by everyone and wonder if that would ever work in our society. It probably makes them think that they are buying more of a service that is always being improved to be better, and not one that is always only thinking of making profits and provides unreliable transport network. The timetables for the bus, trams and trains are always well adhered to, with an allowance of at most 5 minutes, and it basically provides services to everywhere you want to go, from the city to the country. Only the frequency of the trains makes the difference.

I feel that the people there do have excellent working attitudes. When they work, they work hard and always strive for the best; when it is time to knock off, everyone would just leave. As long as they work to the required number of hours and complete the tasks, the company is all right with how they manage the time they start to work and knock off. The taxation system is amazingly high, to nearly half of what they are earning. This includes the welfare services that they have, the various health insurance that is compulsory for all to have and also the pensioner scheme. It helps the citizens to save for the future when they retire. The welfare system is mainly cater for the jobless, to help train them if they are retrenched and to provide some basic living allowances. The education system is always free for all that want to study in Germany, including the foreigners, but only after they have passed a deutsche language test. That explains why Germany has such a huge number of graduates with at least a Masters Degree.

The other side of Essen is the sight of drunkards on the streets and trams, but they do not cause any problems to the others besides wanting to chat with whomever they see. I feel glad that this doesn't happen to my country and certainly do not want to see happening at all.

During my two-month job in Germany, I have traveled to neighboring countries like Netherlands, Belgium and France. Amsterdam is a true eye-opener, seeing for the first time, a legalized 'coffee-shop', or a place for people to smoke cannabis. The red light district is so amazingly full and packed; to see it for my own eyes is unbelievable! Paris is one of the most beautiful places in Europe, with mainly the museum tours and Eiffel tours taking up the whole 4 days there, it is one of the fastest 4 days I ever had, and so much to see with so little time. As for Brussels, it is a small city with just chocolates and some nice monuments; it is also the place where the European Commission is situated. If I had more time on my side, I would have visited more places like Italy and Greece. As for Germany, I have not been to too many places, just Koln to see the carnival and the famous church, Dusseldorf to see the old town and the Rhine River.

I first started doing moulds for my research in the beginning of March. It was not as hard and I first thought, just more tedious and time consuming. With the help of my colleagues, I learnt how to make carbon films of different parameters and how to extract physical data from the test specimen, which is about the only time that I actually did some practical work, and also the time I did something constructive for a cause and not just theories. With the research passed to another colleague when I left, I actually felt a sense of achievement though it is not related to my major. And now, I can actually say I know something about the Amorphous Carbon Film and not as ignorant as I first came.

The most rewarding part of this trip is the exposure I have gained. The experience that I had, being in contact with so many people and places, definitely gives me an edge over the others. The most 'terrifying' part of it is what I used to believe and thought would never change with relative to time, has been totally rebuffed. I am afraid and is trying to adapt to it.

I appreciate all the things that others have done for me to make this trip possible and successful. The experience has been most wonderful and I certainly recommend to all who ever want to try it!