Nikol Rejmánková

Short-term individual mobility

• SIEBOLD GYMNASIUM • WÜRZBURG • GERMANY •

In May 2025, I had the opportunity to spend 4 weeks in Würzburg, Germany. I stayed with a host family who lived on the outskirts of the city and attended Siebold Gymnasium.

My whole journey began on May 4th, when my parents drove me to Florenc in Prague, where I boarded a direct Flixbus to Würzburg. After 6 hours, my host family welcomed me at the station. From earlier communication, I had a feeling they would be very kind, and this was immediately confirmed when I arrived. I had 4 siblings – a brother my age who lived with his mom in Thuringia, a sister and a brother three years younger, and a sister of preschool age.

I arrived on Sunday evening, so there wasn’t much time to get settled. The very next day I went to school, where I rode by bike each day with my host sister and her best friend. The teacher in charge of me took me to my class, introduced me, and my classmates immediately took me in. Everyone was very kind and welcomed me almost right away. I was pleasantly surprised that the school was quite internationally oriented, and most students had visited various countries in Europe and South America through Erasmus. In my year, there were three foreign students – two Italian girls and me.

During the first week at school, I sometimes struggled with the language. I didn’t understand the teachers’ explanations very well because there were too many impressions and too much information at once. But later I got used to German, and everything went fine. I noticed a big difference between our school system and theirs. Most of their lessons were conducted as discussions, and only in a few subjects were the lessons purely teacher-led. Some teachers tried to involve me in the lessons – I gave presentations, answered questions, and participated in group work.

In my free time after school, I usually explored Würzburg. It’s a beautiful city, there’s always somewhere to go, and there’s always something going on. When there was a public holiday and no school, I took the train alone to the medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. On weekends, we usually had plans with the family. One weekend we visited the Würzburg Residence, another time we went to Frankfurt, and on the last weekend, we spent time with an aunt and uncle who live in Denmark and came to visit. The whole family was very international – they had relatives on almost every continent.

My stay met almost all of my expectations, and I can confidently say it was the best experience of my life. I had never been away from family and friends for this long before, but I learned a lot and it moved me forward.

We asked...

Why would you recommend your classmates to participate in the Erasmus+ programme and what advice would you have for them?

My answer probably won’t be very original, but if you’re thinking about going somewhere with Erasmus, do it. It is definitely a step out of your comfort zone – going somewhere where you don’t know anyone, where you don’t know what it looks like or how things work. But it’s a huge experience that no one can ever take away from you, and you’ll remember it for the rest of your life. Not only will you improve your language skills, but you’ll meet new people, both from your host country and others, and you’ll get to know what local life is really like. You’ll gain countless experiences. If I had to give some advice to others planning to go abroad, it would be not to be afraid to speak. No one will judge you if you make grammar mistakes or hesitate – that’s exactly why you’re going, to improve those weaknesses. The second piece of advice would be not to be afraid to approach people and talk to them. You might feel like you’re bothering them, but trying to connect is the best way to make friends.

How did this experience affect you in terms of personal development?

I must say the entire exchange was one big challenge for me. Erasmus was my first real test of how much I can rely on myself – practically, linguistically, and socially. At home in the Czech Republic, I’m among my own people and I consider myself more of an extrovert. But once I’m around unfamiliar people, communication isn’t always easy for me. And that’s exactly what I wanted to change. I was determined to form new relationships and be more open. The most stressful moments, like for most people, were two: arriving to the host family and the first day of school. Being in a situation where I didn’t know anyone at all was really difficult. But it also pushed me to actively reach out to others. At the same time, Erasmus helped me see exchange students from a different perspective. I realized how important it is to create a pleasant and friendly environment in class – because school is a big part of their experience. It helped me rethink my attitude and become more open to new people who join our group.

What experiences and highlights from your stay are worth mentioning?

It’s not exactly an experience but I’d like to mention the phone ban at school. Students had to turn off their phones before entering school, put them in their bags, and weren’t allowed to use them until the end of the school day (not even during breaks). This rule turned out to be something I was very grateful for. Students actually talked to each other during breaks, and no one was staring at their phone, which made it much easier for me to spend time with classmates and communicate. In general, I remember how nicely I was welcomed into the family and the class. In the evenings, the whole family would gather, play board games, watch movies, or have karaoke nights. I liked how, even though everyone had different things going on during the day, we always came together in the evening. The best memory I have from my exchange was saying goodbye to my friends. On the last day, the girls from my class gave me a letter they wrote in Czech using a translator. It was a gesture that showed me they really liked me. In the end, when we said goodbye after school, we promised we would meet again—whether in Germany or the Czech Republic.