German adventure starts. Fifty three young people from the Western Balkan get together in the heart of Berlin. This is the start of their internship experience in Germany. And this is what happens each June in the past 13 years.
Leaving your home country and taking with you the fear of unknown, a little bit of prejudice, 31 kilo of clothes that should be enough for a misty German summer and meeting other interns, most of which you see for the first time. Many of them coming from the neighboring Balkan countries you haven’t visited yet.
Six months later, many of those guys will become your closest friends with whom you shared travels, your impressions, ups and downs and your plans for the future. One is sure though, being part of the Programme changes you professionally and personally. You grow. And impossible seems nothing afterwards.
Berlin introductory week lingers in memory. Long after you catch your train from the Berlin Main station heading to your place of internship on July 1st. Berlin introductory week stays in your heart because it is when you realized it is happening. You are in Germany, surrounded by great young people, who have had, never mind where they come from, a pretty similar path as you. You worked hard, you took a chance, you wanted something more than only studying from the books at the university. You wanted to learn. To apply what has been learned. And to give your best to pursue your dreams. No matter the situation in your country.
Seven-day stay in Berlin is the time you become introduced to the Internship Programme, with the German culture and Berlin subculture, with your generation of scholarship holders and alumni of the Programme. This is the time the adventure starts.
