It’s just a few days before Christmas Eve 2022. After a ten-hour flight, Swapnila Rai lands in Frankfurt with two suitcases, a backpack and still a long journey ahead of her. But fortune or rather Deutsche Bahn does not favour her: her train has been cancelled. “I was so stressed,” she remembers. “I kept thinking: how am I supposed to get to my destination with my A1 German language skills?” Overwhelmed and jet-lagged, she catches the attention of a few bystanders. They help her find an alternative connection. “I was so thankful and honestly surprised by how friendly people were,” she says. “Before, I had heard that Germans just minded their own businesses. But that kindness really gave me a good start in Germany.”
Swapnila Rai is 29 years old and grew up in Mumbai, a city of around 20 million people on India’s west coast. Back home, she completed a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. After graduating, she knew she wanted to continue her studies abroad. “I had always heard that Germany is one of the best places to study engineering,” she says. “But at first, I thought it would be way too expensive.” After doing some research, she realised that the overall costs would be similar to studying in India. Another important factor for her decision making was her cousin, who had already studied in Germany. “She was really happy with her experience,” Rai says. “Hearing that made my decision much easier.” Her choice brought her to the HAW Kiel to study the Master Industrial Engineering.
After a long and bumpy journey, Rai finally arrived in northern Germany. But touchdown was not as assumed Kiel, but Lübeck. “For the first weeks, I stayed with friends of my cousin,” she says. From there, she began looking for a place to live in Kiel. In her first days, she encountered one of the most traditional German winter scenes: a Christmas market. “It was so beautiful,” she remembers. “All the lights, the decorations, the smell of food everywhere.” For a moment, her anxiety and exhaustion faded. But when Christmas passed and New Year’s Eve arrived, the mood in Germany changed noticably. That evening, she sat alone in her small room - in a new country, far away from home. “It was really sad,” she recounts. She then picked up her phone and called her friends in India. “That was the best thing I could have done.” They included her in their party through a video call, and the distance felt a little smaller. “After that, I thought: okay, the new year can start now.” And it did. In February, she finally found a room in a student accommodation on the HAW Kiel campus, just in time to properly arrive for the start of her second semester.
Rai’s first semester at HAW Kiel officially began in September 2022, while she was still in Mumbai. Visa issues delayed her arrival in Germany, but studying from abroad turned out to be less of a problem than she had expected. “The professors were very cooperative and allowed me to join the courses online,” she says. Once she was finally able to attend classes in person, she noticed obvious differences between studying in India and in Germany. “Especially the way presentations work is very different over here,” she explains. While it is common in India to read from prepared notes, students in Germany are expected to speak more freely and engage with the audience. She also noticed a shift in content. “In India, the focus was mainly on engineering,” she says. “Here, we also learn a lot about management.” A difference she appreciates: “It helps me understand the bigger picture of how engineering works in practice.”
By now, Kiel is more than just the place where Rai lives – it’s her home. On weekends, she is always out: one evening at a bar, the next at a cooking night or a board game evening with friends. “When I first arrived, I went to events by the International Club to meet people,” she says. The HAW Kiel initiative connects international and local students and hosts regular activities. “I still remember the karaoke nights and the bar quizzes,” she says laughing. Some of her friends she met at her student residence: “You meet people without planning it,” she says. “And then you just go out together.” What she values most about living in Germany is the freedom. “I can move around on my own, meet people, go out whenever I want,” she says “Back home, that wasn’t always as easy.” In Kiel, she feels independent.
Even though she is happy in Germany, Rai still misses India - especially the festivals she grew up with in Mumbai. “Mumbai is such a diverse city. We celebrate festivals and holidays from all over India,” she explains. Not long ago, she travelled back home for the first time since moving to Germany. Seeing her family and friends again felt comforting and clarifying. “It was the best feeling to be back,” she says, “but it also made me realise that I want to stay in Germany for at least a few more years.” After finishing her master’s degree, Rai hopes to gain work experience in Germany before deciding what comes next. Looking back, moving abroad has changed her. She has learned to be more independent, to speak up and to trust herself in unfamiliar situations. Her advice to other international students is simple: “Don’t be afraid to take the step. It will be uncomfortable but you’ll grow so much.”
