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Nacnano

Germany, Then Not Germany

2 min read
  • learning
  • travel
  • reflection

I got an exchange program in Germany.

Then I found out that for Computer Engineering, the courses available in English are all at Master's level. Almost everything at Bachelor's level is taught in German.

So I was forced to change universities, at a point in the calendar where most application deadlines had already closed. What was left: one in Finland, and a few in Taiwan. I chose Finland — TAMK.

Here is the comparison I actually wrote out.

If I choose Finland (TAMK)

Pros

  • Free tuition — around €6,000, i.e. 200k+ baht I don't spend
  • Six months living in Finland, new people, new environment
  • Realistically, travel to nearby countries too (Sweden, Norway)

Cons

  • Flights, living costs and rent are still on me — 200k–300k baht, which is all of my life savings plus borrowing from my parents (T_T)
  • No ML or data courses. Software development only
  • By the reviews, the courses are not especially challenging
  • I'd have to retake Chula's network and technical writing courses in my fourth year
  • I miss everything here — people, part-time jobs, courses

Unknown

  • Tech job opportunities in Finland. A part-time role there would change the whole calculation

Which brings it down to one question, and it isn't really about Finland:

What do I value most right now — travel and cultural experience, or technical skill and experience (plus keeping my savings)?

I have a vague answer in my head. I am still not sure it's the right one.

What I keep noticing is that the con list is almost entirely made of things I can measure — baht, course codes, months — and the pro list is made of things I can't. Six months of a new environment does not convert into a number I can put next to 300,000 baht. That asymmetry makes the spreadsheet lie in one direction, and I should probably correct for it rather than trust it.

The other thing: every person I have met who did something like this describes it as one of the formative periods of their life. Not one of them lists which courses they took.