Our university offers a wide range of internship opportunities, but I was rather attracted to Germany so that I could improve my language skills. Since German is my second language, I knew I had no chance competing against my classmates who applied for ŠKODA AUTO Deutschland and that I should probably find an internship myself. I therefore began sending my CV to many companies like Audi, Porsche and Daimler, but unfortunately, unless you have a C1 level German, you have no chance. I therefore sent my CV to Opel, where English internships are offered, and I was offered a position.
Since Opel does not offer accommodation, I had to find it myself which was a little stressful, because not many roommates want someone for only 6 months. However, I was lucky to find a place and I started living in Mainz last July.
Adam Opel AG is located in Rüsselsheim in the federal region of Hesse. My department was called Rental & Remarketing and I had no idea what that meant before I started working there. My colleagues were very nice and kept repeatedly explaining everything to me, and I began to understand the secret of Remarketing. My job included mostly work in Excel and PowerPoint, but I also visited many meetings, conference calls and I also had the chance to participate in the selection process of a new external car sales company, since there was a large contract announced when I began working there. My co-workers were really great, very nice and most of all, it was fun working with them. But most importantly, they took me as an equal, which means I went to all meetings, held both in English and German. Another aspect I enjoyed was that many other international interns worked at Opel so it was really easy to find friends. In a foreign country where you don’t know anybody and are at work all day, it can sometimes be hard to integrate with the local community and find friends outside of work.
Since most of my colleagues were not German, I spoke English 99 % of time at work. I also spoke English to other interns, because a few of them only knew a little German. My dream of improving my German therefore did not really come true, but of course in my everyday life, in shops and on the street but also with my German friends, I used German so that I learned at least something. In the end I can say I see some improvement.
As already mentioned, I did not live in Rüsselsheim, but in Mainz. It is 15 minutes by train from Rüsselsheim and thanks to Johannes Gutenberg University, student life was really intensive. That means a lot of clubs, restaurants, but also a lot of Weinfests, Bierfests and Oktoberfests and the like. Mainz has the river Rhine flowing through it so summer barbecue parties by the river were a must. Hesse, but also Rhineland-Palatinate has beautiful nature, so travelling is also excellent. The only thing in which I did not have a great time with was roommates. I lived with two students, a girl who was studying medicine and a boy who I have no idea what he was studying. The girl was at home all day, studying and did not go out at all and the boy was the exact opposite, he often got home around 6 am with a group of friends and they made a mess around the house, etc. So they were two extremes.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed my half-year internship, I met a lot of new people and found many new friends, but also got to know the German culture. I can only recommend internship in Germany, but if you are considering going somewhere abroad, either to study or to work, do not hesitate to go.