Afbeelding
For her online minor Eva moved back to Germany which is why for the online classes there also was a time difference of 5-6 hours. This is how a typical day at home looked like.
“Most of the time I have classes at 9 am which is why I get up at around 8:30 am to get a bit of breakfast before the meeting over Teams starts. Luckily, our classes we have include a lot of discussions, so it´s not just pure listening, which helps to keep me engaged. Because of the time difference we only meet till 1pm latest. Nearly all of our classes are live and only some are pre-recorded because there is so much room for debates and discussions. This is their way of keeping it as personal as possible. A good thing about studying from home is that most of the time after my classes, lunch is already prepared and sometimes I have company of my little cat. In the afternoon there are no scheduled meetings but most of the time we meet with our group to prepare something for the upcoming but there is also enough individual stuff to do. A day of Online studying isn´t of course as exciting as an offline day but our teachers and tutors are still trying their best to engage and socialise with us.”
What Eva liked most about her online Grand Tour journey is the organization of the module which offered a lot of structure but also the amount of knowledge she has gained of the Thai culture without being there. She had the opportunity to learn the basics of the Thai language including the behaviourisms of the locals. During the Thai culture classes, she was able to talk to locals about different topics like religion, sexuality and traditions, which enabled her to not just learn more about Thailand but also Asia. Her tip for people who have to do their minor online: “Take the situation as it is and make the best out of it. Everyone is in the same situation, sitting at home and all that, but you are offered to learn something new from afar and I already know that when I will be visiting Thailand in the near future, it will be an even greater experience, with all the insights I have already gained!”