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New Town Hall, Munich, Germany

View from the Olympic Tower in Munich

Fountain

Pyrotechnics show 

Leyla Ozelsel, a fourth-year psychology student, won the Rod and Judith Fraser International Undergraduate Learning Award, an Endowed Education Abroad award, to help cover her tuition costs at in Munich, Germany. She also received a TA scholarship from LMU for her part-time work as an English TA, which helped cover her stay for 10 months. 

Taking that first step to apply for funding is also the first step to feeling more secure about the prospect of studying abroad. Leyla recommends looking at external sources such as  and opportunities for funding from the host university, such as the TA program at LMU that offered her funding. 

Born in Germany and raised in Edmonton, Leyla chose to study abroad in Germany because of a desire to connect to her roots. Although it was easy to feel at home since she already knew the language, she still found herself having to get used to the differences in culture. Stores closing on Sundays and having to pay to use public restrooms were things that affected Leyla’s everyday life and it took a while before she acclimated to it.

The best culture shock by far, however, was Munich's public transit. As someone who hates driving, Munich was Leyla’s dream city. “Being able to go everywhere by train was just incredible. Not only within the big city, but also in rural areas.”

Travelling around the country, she could see the richness of the culture first-hand. Through the local architecture, she saw her ancestry. In the people, she found familiarity. She was excited to be able to speak German, although nearly everyone spoke English. 

One of Leyla’s favourite memories was of the Olympiastadium, where big-name musicians from all over the world hold performances. Surrounded by the hills of Olympiapark, the music from the open stadium carries far beyond to the rolling hills where hundreds of people, Leyla and her friends included, could hear from their picnic blankets. Whether it was Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran, Pink or even a pyrotechnics show, there was no shortage of entertainment. 

The most tedious part of going abroad is making friends. Leyla’s advice is to talk to as many people as possible. In a place where you don’t know anyone, it might seem scary, but that’s exactly why you should do it — to alleviate the fear of loneliness and alienation. 

Try to find places where you can meet the same people repeatedly, like clubs, events for international students, or even classes. Those are the people with whom you’ll find yourself spending all your time — going to museums and seeing the sights or just spending weekends at your place, baking and watching TV. 

Leyla’s time in Germany made her realize the importance of community by learning to adapt to the cultures of others and finding herself within the boundaries of another country.

“The more you put yourself out there and sort of embrace the change and the challenge, the more you’ll look back at all the weird, wacky adventures you had while you were trying to figure things out, and laugh about the mistakes that you made early on.”