Online vs real life
Things in the real world are often very different from their representation in the digital world. That's why I always find it very exciting to see whether a person's digital image matches their real-life appearance. Now I had the opportunity to check this 32 times - 32 is also the number of my fellow students. In the winter semester, I started my studies online from Russia and therefore only met my fellow students online. Now, in the summer semester, I finally got to see them in person and get to know them. It's funny when digital avatars suddenly become real faces.
In any case, studying in person is much more time-consuming than I thought. For example, I live in Darmstadt and the media campus of my university is in Dieburg, which is about 20 minutes away by bus. Unfortunately, the connection between the places by public transport is not that good, because the buses don't come that often, don't keep to the schedule or ignore the bus stop. This is also the reason why many people are often late. Some even had to walk an hour across fields and meadows to get to the university because the bus simply didn't come.
On the other hand, studying in person is much more fun! We often meet up in cafés or parks to study together, do homework or just to get to know each other better - which is not so easy online. I also love that our group is so international and multicultural. I have fellow students from all over the world, including Mexico, Colombia, Canada, USA, India and Egypt. We all have different experiences and cultural backgrounds, which often shows in conversations or when we work together on projects.
Freetime
For me, Darmstadt exudes a beautiful creative atmosphere. Here I especially like the Waldkunstpfad - which is a free outdoor exhibition of contemporary art in the forest. Germans generally love being outdoors and going hiking, but to discover large futuristic sculptures made of wood at the same time really makes hiking a great experience. At the end of the trail, you come to a hill with a panoramic view of the Frankfurt skyline.
Frankfurt is an overwhelming city full of shops, offices and many more people coming from all over the world. You can do a lot there, but I find it very tiring because the city is also very dirty and noisy. I'd rather make my way to Mainz. It only takes me 20 minutes from Darmstadt. Mainz is also a big city and very lively, full of shops and also offers a wide range of leisure activities. However, the city still manages to exude a warm atmosphere and is home to many historic buildings as well as modern facilities. I will continue to explore my surroundings and discover new places, so stay tuned.