On 6th September 2019, the Singapore Students’ Association in Germany (SSAG) organised its annual Kennenlern-Dinner, or formerly known as the Pre-Departure dinner. Attended by new students and supported by current students and German Alumni members, this has once again been an excellent event for both parties to mingle and share their experiences. This year, we have decided to expand the outreach of the event by extending the invitation to students studying in Singapore embarking on an exchange programme in Germany, and vice versa.
We are pleased to share that the dinner was a rousing success with more than 100 attendees and we enjoyed getting to know all of you!
The SSAG would like to express their gratitude to the following groups of people for their valuable contributions to the event:
· Mr Matthias Cromm from the Embassy of the Republic of Germany, for setting aside time to attend our event;
· Ms Priyanka Nagarkar from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), who graciously offered to answer queries from potential students in Germany;
· Pasar Bella@Suntec City, for providing us with their venue for the event;
· Our long-time SSAG alumni, Jason, Augustine, Kheng Hui and Peggy for their unwavering support for our events; and
· The rest of you for participating in our event!
We are heartened by the positive feedback received and hope to see some of you in our upcoming events 🙂
Feel free to contact us at [email protected] should you have further queries about studying in Germany!
Here are some reflections by our participants for your perusal:
The SSAG Kennelernen-Dinner turned out to be a great socialising opportunity for me. I met (great great grand) seniors and friends who went to Germany before me and are super helpful in providing advice (and words of caution). There were also many exchange students to/from Germany and so there were plenty of people to meet. It was good ol’ German beer with great food and great company.
~ Yudong
The SSAG pre-departure dinner was an enjoyable session with a great turn-up rate! I got to meet new friends from Germany, new Singaporean friends who have done or are doing a semester exchange, fellow Masters students in Germany and the ‘old birds’ who have spent a large part of their lives in Germany. My table started the ball rolling by ordering a tower of beer and we had a lively conversation, the most memorable being the German students showing off their Singlish skills! I then went around talking to different groups of people, including a Taiwanese student in Singapore who is interested in doing an exchange in Germany. I felt that it is very cool that the event provided a platform for the less experienced Singaporeans in Germany to seek help and advice from the more experienced ones. However, beyond all that, it was a chill environment where people could just meet other new people, all connected by Germany in one way or another.
~ Jianhan
I had never been to the SSAG’s pre-departure dinner before and was pleasantly surprised by the huge turnout. Besides the other Singaporeans currently studying in Germany, I also got to meet those thinking of coming to study in Germany, those coming on an exchange, and also Germans who are currently in exchange in Singapore. It was a pleasant evening with good food and agreeable company. I was happy to be able to share my experience and answer any logistical/administrative questions that those prospectively going to study in Germany had. I even got to make a new friend!
~ Peirce