By Karen Yeoh Sy Chyi
Bachelor of Communication (Hons) Public Relations
Class of August 2005

Upon receiving the Eramus Mundus Scholarship, my dream of studying abroad came true. I had an opportunity to live in two countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the new member states of the European Union, the Czech Republic and Poland.

I spent the last two years in my life in these two countries. Previously I had no idea what they were like in terms of people, culture, food and norms.

A classmate from the Euroculture Master of Arts programme wondered why I was a Chinese but did not come from China? It was a very interesting experience for me as I always identified myself as a Malaysian Chinese. Nevertheless, I enjoyed explaining the Malaysian culture to my classmates and they were always amazed by our multi-cultural environment.

During class discussions, my classmates always had a lot to say and share. They read a lot and were very knowledgeable about political, religious, cultural and historical issues at a worldwide level. In the beginning I was quite ashamed of my limited knowledge and experience and had to work very hard in order to keep up with my friends.

In the classroom, the professors and students expressed their opinions freely and I enjoyed this friendly relationship between professors and students. Sometimes, we even had classes in pubs, cafés or tea rooms.

Beer drinking is part of the culture here, something like our "yum char" culture in Malaysia. In the beginning, I couldn't keep up with my friends and one beer was my limit. They always laughed at my face turning red after one or two beers and I had to explain that our "drinking culture" in Malaysia was not about alcoholic drinks. Nowadays my alcohol tolerance level has improved, as you can probably imagine.

Excursions were an important part of my programme. Our professors liked to show us around the museums and cathedrals and gave us lectures there and then. It was a very different experience from just reading books.

I learned how to appreciate European architecture and I travelled to countries nearby. Visiting cathedrals and castles became a must for me. During those two years, I visited Paris, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Budapest, Bratislava, Prague, Venice, Milan and Vienna. Rome is next on my list. Once these were just place that I know of from the media.

I have made quite a few good friends throughout my programme and it is always interesting to exchange views about their perception towards Asia and vice versa, as well as the way they perceived life. Dutch people are not stingy in any sense, they are just being themselves. Not every American is technology-savvy and some Czechs can speak English very well. All these remind me to get rid of my stereotypes and not to judge a book by its cover.