It was clear to me even before I started my studies that I would spend this practical phase in Mochov. That’s why I applied for the Erasmus+ scholarship after the call for applications. A CV, a letter of motivation and current FHDW certificates are required for the application. After I was accepted for the scholarship, I had an information meeting with Ms. Schwabe from the International Office. Here, all scholarship holders were informed about the next steps and initial details about the internship country.

My permanent partner company, the Universal Transport Michels GmbH & Co.took over the communication with the Czech branch in advance and clarified my questions regarding travel and accommodation.

Due to the fact that I was seconded by my company, I did not have to take out international health insurance. I didn’t find it necessary to take out any other insurance from my side.

I traveled to Mochov by car, which was provided by my partner company. As I assumed that the Czechs have a similar toll system to the one I was already familiar with, I didn’t find out about it in advance – which was a mistake! Here there are so-called vignettes, which you have to buy at the last parking lot before the border. As I wasn’t sure exactly what a vignette was and the container in the parking lot where you could buy one didn’t look very trustworthy to me, I initially crossed the border without a vignette. In the Czech Republic, I couldn’t find another place to buy a vignette, so I had to drive on country roads and my arrival was delayed by an hour and a half. Therefore, always buy a vignette at the last parking lot!

When I arrived in Mochov – Mochov is near Prague, by the way – I received a very friendly welcome from my colleagues and was given a tour of the building.

I lived above the office on the second floor. The company provided me with an apartment here. This meant that I didn’t have to pay for accommodation and my commute to work was also very pleasantly short.

In the first few days, I was explained various tools of the internal system, general processes in the branch and the areas of activity of my colleagues. My first tasks included, for example, entering orders and creating quotations.

In the second week, I was able to take part in a steering committee for which colleagues from other branches had come to Mochov. I found this very pleasant, as I was able to get to know my Czech colleagues better during the evening boat trip in a relaxed atmosphere.

My later activities during my internship focused on specific customers of the company. In other words, I did everything from entering orders, preparing quotations and solving problems to fulfilling requests. As my colleagues were very friendly to me and took a lot of time for me, I was able to settle into the company very quickly and really enjoy my time here. At the weekend, I occasionally went on trips with colleagues. But I also had the opportunity to visit customers during working hours to prepare transports, e.g. a customer in the southern part of the Czech Republic.

The website czechtourism.de presents the sights by region with a short description and pictures, but I also received very good tips on the must-haves from colleagues. I can highly recommend Lednice Castle, the stalactite cave in Koneprusy and the Adersbach rock town.

I had already been to Prague once before, where I took a closer look at the city. So this time I was more interested in visiting the sights in the Czech Republic – because there are a lot of them here. However, if you haven’t been to Prague before, you shouldn’t miss out on a city tour and a boat trip on the Vltava after dark. The praguetoday account on Instagram also provides a wealth of information about upcoming events in Prague.

Public transport is very good here, both from the village and in Prague, and you can reach all parts of Prague. I always drove to the P+R parking lot in the car I had available and then took the metro to Prague. Tickets for public transport are priced by the minute, for example a ticket for 30 minutes costs 24 crowns, which is the equivalent of about 96 cents. However, I only used the car for my weekend trips. So I can’t say to what extent this is possible with public transport.