Already now the knowledge increase in my main field of work, solar heating, is great, because it was not possible to do a background study in Brazil before. An excellent research opportunity! My home university offers 80 different courses of study and thus brings together people of different views. THI is similar to the technology center of my home university. The students here are all polarized in a similar direction, as the students all focus on engineering. My hometown resembles Ingolstadt only in its size. Ingolstadt is much quieter and life does not take place on the streets as much as in Brazil. From 20 o'clock on you get the feeling that the city is asleep. But Germany is great; so well organized and clean. It is a unique experience for me to live here for a while. I only miss the Brazilian heat!

Fabio Tashima, Student of electrical engineering at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, takes part in the exchange program of AWARE and is in Ingolstadt for half a year.