My IAESTE Internship in Kaiserslautern

My last day in K-Town

My name is Iordanis and I am from Greece. I am studying Civil Engineering and I came in Kaiserslautern through a program called IAESTE to spend three months doing an internship in the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. I should admit that these three months were the most joyous and exciting period of my life.

First of all, I want to share a little about the kind of work I did in the laboratory. The subject of my internship was Bodenmechanik und Grundbau (soil mechanics). During this period that I worked in the laboratory, I performed many tests such as tri-axial test, shearing test, permeability test, blue test and many others. These tests gave me an insight into the practical aspect of my job. and allowed me to stop being limited in the theoretical knowledge that my university, back in Greece, offers to me. Everyone I worked with in the lab were really knowledgeable in their field and I got the best training and help from them, in performing the technical tests. Furthermore, my work was not very tiring for me as my supervisors didn't pressurize me beyond my limits and also because I had another intern working with me. The first two months I worked with a Canadian intern and the third month I worked with a Finnish intern.

Besides training, we also traveled to gather and I had great time with both of them. Spending time with them, I learned many things about the cultures and how completely different they were than from my Greek culture.

Trip to Amsterdam

Apart from the hours I spent in the laboratory, I had much free time that I spent strolling around the town or doing sports. There was also the AIESEC|IAESTE regulars' table every Wednesday that took place in different cafeterias or restaurants every week. I always attended the regulars' table because I had the chance to get acquainted with various people and because I got to meet the AIESEC|IAESTE members who were great companions and would help me if I ever had a problem. On the weekends I  journeyed around Germany and other places. For instance, I went to Hamburg, Berlin (twice), Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Karlsruhe, Koblenz, Aachen, Mannheim and many other places in Germany. Along with that, I went to some places outside Germany like Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Wissemburg (France). These travels have helped me to broaden my horizons as I came in contact with other cultures and I also made some new friends from all over the world. It's difficult to describe these journeys because I will need to fill in many pages.

In front of the Reichstag

What I want to suggest is that , if you do an internship in Germany do not miss the AIESEC|IAESTE weekend trips that are organized in various cities in Germany like Berlin, Munich, Dresden and so on. It is there that you can meet almost all the trainees in Germany (there are 50 AIESEC|IAESTE committees, so the number of the trainees is HUGE compared to other countries). AIESEC|IAESTE weekends are quite well organized by the local committees. They take you on city tours and give you a taste of the nightlife of these cities; all by paying only 35-40 €. I should add that in these AIESEC|IAESTE trips the accommodation and the transportation are included in the money you pay. I went to the AIESEC|IAESTE weekend trips to both Berlin and Munich and both trips were incredible!

Finally, I want to thank all the AIESEC|IAESTE members of the local committee of Kaiserslautern for their assistance and the their will to help me in any problems that I had. I am very happy that I had this amazing opportunity to work abroad with IAESTE, because this experience has definitely helped and will definitely help me in my career in the future.

AUF WIEDERSEHEN DEUTSCHLAND!