“The British are obliging and rely on your opinion as a 20-year-old student!”
Initiation of the internship
I contacted the International Office with my wish to do an internship abroad. Ms. Carroll-Scott then put me in touch with the English start-up company Crystalusion so the application process was quite simple. I sent my application to the International Office and from there it was forwarded to the company. At the same time, I was able to apply directly for the Erasmus+ scholarship, which I also received.
After my application was submitted, I was called very quickly by one of the co-founders of the start-up and we also spoke on the phone a few times afterwards. The company also offered to help me find an apartment, but that wasn’t necessary. I started looking on Airbnb, where I found what I was looking for very quickly.
Arrival
I arrived at Heathrow Airport and took a cab from there as my apartment was a bit out of town. Otherwise, it’s absolutely no problem to just take the train into the city and get around. Getting there is always exhausting, but the main stations in London are all equipped with lifts, so you shouldn’t have a problem with your suitcase.
Cost of living
The cost of living here is of course higher than you are used to in Germany. But to be honest, I was surprised at the beginning that it wasn’t as much as I expected. The cost of my apartment was around 550 euros a month, which is absolutely fine by London standards. Otherwise, you should be prepared to pay up to 800 euros a month in rent.
In addition to the rent, I had around 500 euros a month in additional costs. But since I also earned money, it balanced out pretty well. Of course, it always depends on what you spend the money on. I also enjoyed meeting up with friends for dinner or a beer in the evening.
Housing and public transportation are clearly the most expensive things in London. Public transport is well developed, but incredibly expensive. To get into London, I always had to take the National Rail Service – the most expensive form of public transport. Luckily I didn’t have time to travel into London every day, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to get by on the money. What many tourists in London don’t necessarily know is how well developed the bus routes are. It does take a little longer, but you also see more and you avoid the overcrowding and heat on the Underground.
Shopping in the stores is relatively comparable to Germany, as is eating out. My company provided me with a card that I could use, so I didn’t have to open my own account, but I’ve heard from friends that it’s very easy to open an account in the UK, even from Germany, so it shouldn’t be a big problem.
My stay in London was wonderful
London can open up many new aspects of life, as the city is very international and you can meet lots of people from all over the world. And there is a lot to discover in London. The museums are almost all free, while the churches all cost money. I have to say that I was very disappointed that you really have to pay admission to everything (except museums) – and not a little. Of course, I visited everything anyway, even though I waited for my parents to do most of it.
The experience I gained was definitely the most important part of my time in London. The company Crystalusion is active in the field of nanotechnology and wearable technology and offers liquid surface protection for smartphones, windows, glasses, windscreens and much more. I was able to do an incredible number of different things in the start-up, which is something you don’t get to do in Germany, especially not when you work in larger companies. For example, I really enjoyed the fact that I was able to talk to customers as well as run Facebook campaigns.
The best thing was definitely my time with my colleagues in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress, which gave me a lot of insights. The team was small and just incredibly great, almost like a small family. It was very nice that a lot was left up to me and that my opinion really counted for something. In general, you can say that it’s very different in England, because the British are more accommodating and rely more on your opinion as a 20-year-old student than you would ever experience in Germany.
