'The moment I saw the photos of the UT campus on internet I knew that I wanted to come to the UT for a student exchange.' Browsing the internet in Graz, Austria, Michael Böhm (25) made up his mind. And after studying for seven months at the faculty of Technology and Management in Twente, he has not regretted it. One reason is the short distance here between students and professors. 'In Austria there is a wide gap between them. Here there is more of a relationship, it is easier to make an appointment with professors and more common to ask something about a lecture.' Another revelation Michael had was the 'open-book' exam: an examination in which students can take their study books with them to the test. 'It's great, you can focus on understanding the material. I am used to knowing a lot of theories by heart, going to the exam, and after that forgetting everything. Maybe it's a cultural difference, the Germans also have that problem: the principles of studying have not changed for two centuries. The practical work here is much better for learning.'
There was however one thing he was dreading when going abroad: reactions to his Austrian nationality. Michael explains that since the right-wing Freedom Party (FPÍ) is part of the government in Vienna, people look at Austrians differently. Fortunately, it turned out quite all right. But there were exceptions. 'I met some Indonesians who asked me if they could safely go to Vienna, with 'the nazi's all over the country'. So even on the other side of the world we still suffer from an image of 50 years ago. But hey, people do not change into nazi's by just one election. Even now people in Austria are still protesting against this government. It was an accident that the FPÍ has ended up ruling the country. I hope that they will have vanished after the next elections.'
Michael Böhm
