Name: Milind
Age: 24
Country of origin: India
Degree course: Computational Engineering
School: Ruhr-University

Hi, my name is Milind, I come from India and I am 24 years old. I am doing my Masters in Computational engineering, which is offered jointly by the department of Civil engineering, Mechanical Engineering and department of Mathematics. Presently, I am in the 3rd semester.

I liked the combination of the subjects offered under this course. Also civil and mechanical engineering are very famous in Germany which motivated me further to study these subjects here. I gathered information about this university on the website of DAAD (German Academic Exchange Services).

Language was one big problem when I arrived here in Germany. I had a very basic knowledge of German language as I had studied it in my home country for 3 months. At the beginning it was difficult for me to understand even the everyday conversation. Consequently, I enrolled myself for the german language course offered by the university. This made the situation better, if not the best. Being in Germany for a little more than a year now, I can understand most of the conversation and I can get involved in some basic conversations. The contact to german students is still poor. But I am sure, if the language barrier is eliminated, then the German students will be approachable.

Since three months I stay in a Studentenwohnheim (Sumperkamp Wohnheim near Uni-Center) offered by AKAFÖ. I was self-financed when I arrived here in Germany. Now, I work part time in the evenings, which suffices my monthly expenses.

The thing I found strange when I first came to Bochum was the culture. There is vast difference between Indian culture and the European culture. I miss the friendliness and the affection between people. There are some more things like good and cheap Indian restaurants which is not common here.

Bochum is a very lively place with a huge student population. As far as the university is concerned, I like some facilities like sports, dance courses, language courses, food in the mensa etc. In the city, I like the transportation and the punctuality of arrival and departure of public transport. After my Masters I intend to continue with my PhD research in the field of Biomechanics.