Dr James Roberts and Erasmus students at the Athenaeum _320
“This seemed to be proved when I came by bus from the airport and I saw all these houses with boarded-up windows and I thought, ‘Oh my God, what have I come to?’
“In fact, it’s been very nice and the city centre is good. Although I think we could have been better prepared for our arrival here.
“The best thing was meeting all the different Erasmus students. There were also French and Spanish ones who could not come here for the reunion.
“There are similarities between Bremen and Liverpool. Both are city ports with strong characters and both have football clubs. But I have to say that German beer is better than British!”
As with the others, it was the unexpected friendliness of the people and the heritage of the city that so impressed Angelika Reichstein, 23, from Bremen University.
She was in Liverpool to study English literature and history. Her only criteria was for a university in an English-speaking country.
“I didn’t mind where I went, but Liverpool had the most places available and it turned out so well. I’ve loved it here.
“The music scene is great. I was surprised by the contrast between the modern architecture and the fine, historical places. I found this a great place to live and study.
“Bremen’s University is a bit left-wing and the campus is outside the city, so it’s not integrated with ordinary people and so is not as friendly.
“In Liverpool, people talk to you rather than stare and walk away. I remember one old lady showed me around the Anglican Cathedral, because she saw me on my own. My biggest difficultly was finding somewhere to live at first.”
Oliver Born, also from Bremen University, was really looking forward to undertaking a bio-technology project at Liverpool John Moores University.
“I wanted to come to England for the experience, particularly in partnership with JMU, but it was really difficult to get information at the beginning,” says Oliver, 25.
“I didn’t feel like giving up as I really had looked forward to coming and now, looking back, it’s been a really worthwhile experience. The worst thing initially was not being able to find a place to stay, and I was in hostels for several weeks before finally getting a flat privately.
“Doing the project was brilliant. My colleagues here were very friendly and helped me a lot. Liverpool is superbly placed and I enjoyed the trips to the Lakes and Snowdonia.
“There are very beautiful buildings in this city, but I hate the modern architecture. The new buildings are really terrible – how can you allow this to happen to Liverpool?”
Apart from this kaleidoscope of memories, what will they take home? Robin says: “Well, naturally, I bought a guitar!”
