“From Cologne Business School in Germany to KU, Faculty of Economics as an EEBA exchange student”

My name is Gianna and I’m from Germany. I am studying International Business at the Cologne International Business School. Currently, I am finishing my Master’s thesis and accordingly, I did not need to take too many classes at KU.

It is my second semester at KU. The first time I was here was during my Bachelor’s and then I came back again for the holidays last year as well. I’ve learned to know how things work here and obviously, I love living in Thailand. I managed to travel a lot and moved several times in Bangkok, as I love to discover new areas by going on daily walks in the neighborhood.

As everything was and is still moving online, I believe KU handled the current situation well. I enjoyed my online classes here. It was a similar situation from the last two semesters back at my home university due to the pandemic. In my opinion, the professors did a great job in supporting the students. However, I think it’s safe to say that I do miss studying on campus a little bit.

How is Thailand different?

First of all, the people are very friendly and nice. Everybody tries to help you and I get the feeling that the people here love what they do. In my country, the focus is solely on earning money and being as efficient as possible. But the way I perceive it here, is that if you work hard enough, you are allowed time to rest and enjoy. It’s nice to see it in a new perspective and I believe it makes people more grateful.

Life during the pandemic…

In Germany, it is much worse and everything is closed. That’s why I am making the most out of my time here before I go back. There are restrictions here, yes, and I am not underestimating the situation, I still make sure that I’m taking care of myself. Having a little more room for my walks and, of course, the food to go are just some of the simple things that are quite enough for me to enjoy every moment of my stay here.