Hey guys!
I’m leaving today from Hamburg to Ilmenau for a conference called International Student Week in Ilmenau (ISWI). We’re chillen in Hamburg waiting for the train…. So far we’ve missed 2 trains but half the fun of the journey is getting lost! Or that’s what everyone says anyway.
I’m a student at Laurentian University and last year had the opportunity to hit up the World Youth Congress in Istanbul, Turkey. This year the conference I’m attending is a little different. For one, another LU student Danielle was selected to attend the conference (yay!), and for another, it’s a little smaller than the last conference, about 400 students. The ISWI organization committee puts on this conference every two years and every two years they pick another worldly pressing theme. This year’s theme is Freedom. So to be selected I had to write 3 essays and pick a forum, AKA the group that I’ll be participating in during the week. I picked the Freedom and Culture forum. After you wrote the 3 essays it was put through a panel of judges and the top ranked essays were chosen to attend ISWI!
Last year in Turkey was definitely top 3 of the best experiences of my life. It was super cool to learn about another culture and meet great friends from all around the world, so I’m really looking forward to the conference this year, I’m wondering what new experiences it has in store for me.
So far my thoughts on Germany: A lot like Canada but they don’t understand what I am saying, it’s a little less polluted than Canada, there is a road where you can drive whatever speed you want on and not get a ticket…….. Oh, and you have to pay to use public restrooms. (What?!)
The conference is 10 days long from May 13-23, and its packed full of different workshops, presentations, events, and discussions that we’ll get to attend. We also get to take a day off to hike through the Thuringian forest. Unlike last year where I stayed in a dorm room with 2 other delegates at the conference we’ll be billeted with host families. Kind of cool I think we’ll get to see the German culture first hand.
After 2 missed trains, a late transfer, a wait for 2 hours in an unknown German town, and getting on the wrong train, we’re finally here in Ilmenau. Our hosts are a German, Turkish, and Greek student that live together!
Xo Jess.
