How to Spend 24 Hours at HSRW - Part I

How to Spend 24 Hours at HSRW - Part I

00:00:00: Stephan Hanf: ​

00:00:05: Stephan Hanf: Welcome to How to Hochschule, our audio guide about tackling life and work at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, one of the most international universities in Germany. So grab a cup of hot serenity slumber tea, put on your comfiest headphones and join us as we explore the world of Hochschule Rhein-Waal.

00:00:55: Stephan Hanf: Welcome back. We are launching into the end of our very first season with an exciting series called 24 hours at Hochschule Rhein Waal. Over the next four episodes, we are traversing the vibrant life of Rhein Wahl University of Applied Sciences every tick of the clock. And we start out with part one, Nightfall.

00:01:19: Stephan Hanf: Today, a journey that starts with the setting sun and doesn't end until a new day begins. There's a transformation that takes place here as day gives way to night. It's more than just dimmed hallways and muted lights. The Nocturnal HSRW is an anthology of stories waiting for its pages to be turned.

00:01:54: Britta Klinge: Yeah, my name's Britta Klinge, and I'm a student at Hochschule Rhein-Waal. I study international business and management, and I also work at the Zentrale pub in the Kleve town.

00:02:08: Stephan Hanf: We begin our journey into the night with Britta Klinge. She toggles two worlds, one under the sun, studying international business and management, and the other under the stars, serving drinks and stories as a bartender.

00:02:22: Stephan Hanf: How does one person balance these contrasting lives? So... I guess you came here because of your studies, or did you come here because of your work in a Zentrale? Did you hear from

00:02:34: Britta Klinge: Zentrale? Oh, no. The Zentrale was actually just a mere coincidence that began last year. I came here for my studies. I started shortly before COVID.

00:02:44: Britta Klinge: And now I'm writing my thesis at the moment, so I'm not going to be here that much longer. And the Zentrale started Way later, after all the lockdowns, when I came back from my semester abroad, I went there a few times with a friend and we befriended the barkeeper. And he told us that he was going to move away to Münster for studies.

00:03:09: Britta Klinge: And I told him, I want your job. And then he pointed me to the owner. So I went up to the owner and was like, I want to work here. And he's like, okay, you can start on Wednesday. And that's how I got the job. Did you ever went

00:03:21: Stephan Hanf: in this field?

00:03:23: Britta Klinge: Well, bar keeping or bartending. I didn't have previous experience except I grew up in a small village and

00:03:29: Britta Klinge: when you're young, you, of course, go behind the counter and pour the first beers. Yeah. That was my experience with it, but not with the close contact. But shortly before that, I worked for like three or four months in Venga as a waitress. And that was all the gastronomy experience I had.

00:03:49: Stephan Hanf: Yeah, so you weren't like really fresh to this field.

00:03:54: Stephan Hanf: But of working, you might say you had some experience, but still it's

00:03:58: Britta Klinge: different, right? I would say I was quite inexperienced when I started. If I compare it to how I go to work now, how I treat the guests, how I do the chores that need to be done like in any job, it's more routine than it was in the beginning.

00:04:17: Britta Klinge: In the beginning, it was still... Oh my God. Now I have to do three orders at the same time, even though multitasking is all right from the beginning. It's just, you get more in the flow, the more you do it. Of course. So looking back, I think I was quite inexperienced when I started. Did you have

00:04:34: Stephan Hanf: any experience with the Kleve nightlife or HSRW nightlife before?

00:04:40: Britta Klinge: Yes, I would say so. Not as much, of course, as now, because when you just go there as a guest. You can't really go five times a week because that's a problem or at least it would worry a bit. I did get in contact, especially in the beginning of my studies, there were more house parties still. Yeah, it's still going

00:05:06: Stephan Hanf: on, right?

00:05:06: Stephan Hanf: The house party

00:05:07: Britta Klinge: scene? A few. It's gotten quite low during COVID and afterwards. Before that, the Villa Kunterbunt did more. We had For a short period of time, the tribe house and the pool house used to do more, I think. Oh, I never heard about

00:05:23: Stephan Hanf: this one. The pool house. No, I heard about all the other ones. The crack house, of course.

00:05:28: Stephan Hanf: Yeah,

00:05:28: Britta Klinge: crack house. I've actually never

00:05:29: Stephan Hanf: been there. Yeah, I've never been to any one. The only one I ever went to was the, uh, the Castle WG.

00:05:35: Britta Klinge: I think I've never been to that one. But I've heard of the castle. Yeah, it was featured in a podcast actually. No, the pool house is actually really cool because they have this kind of winter garden as a chill area.

00:05:47: Britta Klinge: And right next to it, there's an empty pool, which is in the ground. And they always put the DJ

00:05:54: Stephan Hanf: set up. Wait a minute, I went there. Yeah. I think I know that. Is it in Kärten? I

00:05:59: Britta Klinge: don't know. I always arrive there with other people, always at a good level. So I never know how to get there. I just follow

00:06:07: Stephan Hanf: the other people.

00:06:07: Stephan Hanf: But is it in a, is it in a resident area or is it in the

00:06:12: Britta Klinge: subway? Question mark? Not sure. The pool is just so cool because you have the pool and the ground and that's always the dance floor. And then the DJ is like a bit on top of that playing. And it's just, you look up to the DJ and it's just the. Cool vibe when you're in the pit with the other people, because even if you're just two people or alone or 30 people, it's just, it's nice.

00:06:37: Britta Klinge: But other than that, Kleve nightlife, it was just, we have a few pubs, a few of them nicer, a few of them I wouldn't recommend going into. So there are a few places you can go. It's just that there's not really a lot of... Going out party. Yeah, yeah. You'd have to go to Nijmegen or, which I did once in my whole time here, or Düsseldorf.

00:07:03: Britta Klinge: Yeah,

00:07:04: Stephan Hanf: it was quite

00:07:05: Britta Klinge: far away actually. Yeah, but the trains go back at already like 5am. Ah, right. So, it's fine. Alright,

00:07:11: Stephan Hanf: alright, alright. And, but Zentrale, it's like a meeting point for students for at least on certain days,

00:07:17: Britta Klinge: right? Uh, partly. So what I like about the Zentrale, I always say it's the Reeperbahn of Kleve.

00:07:24: Britta Klinge: Because it's not only for students. We have all generations there. And that's cool with the setup because the front part is more of the typical bar feeling. And the back part is more of this. community center kind of thing. So in the back you can also play your own music. You can always throw around the tables and the chairs, take them outside or wherever.

00:07:49: Britta Klinge: So it's more of like a living room where you can just get together, meet your friends, meet strangers and just start a chat with them. You can just go there by yourself and you'll find someone to chat to usually or in a big group and you'll still find space to sit. And it's very diverse. We've even had a couple of dance parties there where it's just somebody turned up the music and We put on dance music and in the front nobody sat anymore.

00:08:15: Britta Klinge: We had 30 people in the front just dancing. Oh, it sounds

00:08:18: Stephan Hanf: cool How did you find out about it the first time? Because he said I want to work here. So probably you went there before once or twice

00:08:25: Britta Klinge: or not that much actually All right. It was more of like a spring in the moment kind of thing. So it's just I went there, it was cozy, and I went there a few more times, but not that much, and actually about the day with the students, that began because the friend that I mentioned earlier, and I went there on a Wednesday, sat down, that was like the second time I was there in total, looked at each other and like, wouldn't it be nice if this happened every Wednesday?

00:08:58: Britta Klinge: So we started going around for the next week and just telling people next Wednesday we're all going to Zentrale to like random people on the campus and then the next Wednesday it was full and Two weeks later was when I went to the owner and was like I want to work here now And I want to work the Wednesdays

00:09:16: Stephan Hanf: All right But did you ever have the experience that you were working at a Zentrale and someone came to you and said, I want to have your job?

00:09:24: Britta Klinge: No, it actually happened. And it happens quite a lot where people ask, what do I need to be able to work here? Plump, I guess, as I did and just going to the owner and saying, I won't work. Uh, it's more of like, do I have the right qualifications to be able to work here? And it actually happens step by step that more and more people, for example, the friend, she.

00:09:49: Britta Klinge: At one point, all I said at the bar when I was working, and once there was a lot to do, so she helped me clean the glasses, and the owner saw that, and we integrated her. But because it's such a friendly atmosphere, the people that come there as guests a lot, Also want to help. So for example, if they see there are plenty of empty glasses, they pick them up and carry them over.

00:10:13: Britta Klinge: So it's not really just a bar where you go to drink and we serve them, but that's why this personal connection is also important. And that's why with the kind of getting to know how the cleaver mind works, that's how you get into the communication and kind of marketing. Yeah, I learned a few of my studies.

00:10:34: Britta Klinge: Yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:10:35: Britta Klinge: yeah. What

00:10:36: Stephan Hanf: is like the main thing you learned of the nightlife? Can be connected to Zentrale but don't have to here in Kleve. Like one, one lesson you learned or one main takeaway?

00:10:50: Britta Klinge: Nightlife in Kleve. What I've learned to appreciate about Kleve nightlife We don't have the big parties, the ones that go until seven, eight, usually sometimes when we work until the end of our shift, we go to hikes and it opens up at 5am because it took that long, but usually it doesn't go until deep in the night or it's the big parties, but it's more of you go to the places and you see the people, the same people that you saw last week and It's not the deepest of friendships that you have, you don't have to have them, but it's like this kind of, you're coming home and it's, it just feels cozy.

00:11:32: Britta Klinge: So even, even if somebody had too much to drink and you know, the person, you know, okay, we've all been in that position. We're going to help that person because next week maybe it will be somebody else and if somebody is in trouble, then there will be at least 10 people. Going there standing up for the person that's for example My mom is always scared when I work alone at night in the pub and have to walk home at night And if there's some drunk stumbling in at 1 a.

00:12:02: Britta Klinge: m. Making trouble and I always say you don't have to be worried because the moment Somebody even looks at me funny. I know Ten guests are already in the position where they will back me up if somebody were, something were to happen. And that's what I really appreciate about the Clever nightlife is that you care for each other.

00:12:23: Britta Klinge: So even though we have plenty of weird creatures in Clever, which I appreciate as well because they're always It's just nice to have these just as many as Frankfurt I feel like. But With that There are so many people that you can just chat to, talk to, and just sit down next to. In a cafe you'll meet the same people that you meet at night, usually just a whole family.

00:13:03: Stephan Hanf: Coming up, we send a familiar voice and special guest, Dr. Joost Kleuters, to a rave right here in Kleve.

00:13:26: Mahmoud Karssli: I'm at the gate entrance. I will have a podcast and I will be gone. Yeah, from the Hochschule.

00:13:35: Mahmoud Karssli: Tell me. Yeah,

00:13:39: Mahmoud Karssli: yeah, yeah. We can check the armbands now. I will do that. armbands.

00:13:47: Mahmoud Karssli: Alright.

00:13:49: Mahmoud Karssli: I will see where we can go. Yeah. Okay. Thank you for letting me know. You might remember Dr.

00:13:54: Stephan Hanf: Kleuters from our very first episode How to Start. Tonight he takes us on a trip to a techno festival in Kleve. A phenomenon that evolved from student parties not too long ago. It's a story of celebration, community and the spirit of Hochschule

00:14:12: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Rhein-Waal.

00:14:12: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Okay, so I'm standing here with Mahmoud. Who is, uh, still, uh, very much busy organizing the, uh, the Beatroot Festival. Uh, you just got a call, uh, is there some business you need to attend to or can

00:14:23: Mahmoud Karssli: we just talk for a couple minutes? Uh, it's actually a little problem. Some, they were telling me about some people trying to trespass through the area because it's really huge, kind of, the park, and we were not able to kind of secure it all completely with fences.

00:14:35: Mahmoud Karssli: First of all, because of the cost, the high cost, and second of all, just because of the The environment and the grass around the area. Another issue was just happening right now because he was calling me that he found a proof of people doing fireworks just nearby us. And he took pictures of that proof in case the ordering on has any questions on that regard, because it's It's not, it wasn't on our area, but the sound was very loud.

00:15:00: Mahmoud Karssli: It attracted our attention to check it immediately. Uh, other than that, everything is going really smooth. The place is amazing. The people are amazing. Um, everyone's having a good time. We're really happy with what we have achieved and yeah, that's a great, uh, it's a great time. Okay. So you're happy with the

00:15:22: Dr. Joost Kleuters: way things are going now.

00:15:23: Dr. Joost Kleuters: The festival is a success. Can

00:15:24: Mahmoud Karssli: you already? Yes, I can already say it's a success. Uh, we're still not, like, not too many people are informed about the festival. Um, we need to promote it more, but we're... Uh, but it's... What we see is a successful, uh, festival from all sides. From, like, uh, the light shows, the fire shows, uh, the music, sound systems.

00:15:44: Mahmoud Karssli: The tents that we have, uh, despite this weather, it was really tough in the beginning. Like, Friday was showering the whole time. It was really challenging. How did you,

00:15:53: Dr. Joost Kleuters: um, end up

00:15:53: Mahmoud Karssli: here organizing this festival? Well, it's actually started, uh, we were having our events in Kleve. Uh, since Kleve is a really small town, it doesn't have much to offer in that sense.

00:16:05: Mahmoud Karssli: Uh, we were finding our ways to kind of connect the community that we had, our friends, and having the meetups. Kleve was offering something special than other big cities like Berlin. In Berlin, the community is... Um, are not much connected, for example, if you go to a study at a university in Berlin, you don't get to see, meet everyone as you get to meet everyone here in Kleve.

00:16:27: Mahmoud Karssli: Since the town is really small, activities are much less. People tend to coincidentally, uh, meet everyone every day, perhaps, if not every day, every week. And that actually creates a stronger bond between the people. One issue is that Kleve is really small for like development, future development, and most of the students want to continue their careers.

00:16:48: Mahmoud Karssli: Uh, Kleve doesn't offer much in that sense, uh, it's very limited in options. However, it's, the connection that can be built is very unique. Um, Coming to the idea of the festival, it actually happened, like, strongly, it came after our friends started to graduate, and they started to leave to pursue their dreams, careers, and so on, and we wanted to create this festival to happen once a year.

00:17:16: Mahmoud Karssli: to kind of bring the people back and offer them the safe space to kind of express themselves, uh, stay connected despite the challenges and all the responsibilities that come with life. When we grow up, the more, uh, more responsibilities are going to come, family, career, et cetera. Most of the people. And if not, everyone won't be able to connect with everyone, all their friends, all their old friends, old school friends and so on.

00:17:41: Mahmoud Karssli: So we were trying to pursue this idea to create this space in Kleve for the people who are studied here mostly and who are locals here. And from the community, the same community, perhaps the guests visiting them who kind of got to see Kleve and enjoy the beautiful vibes in Kleve. To give them this opportunity to really meet once a year.

00:18:03: Mahmoud Karssli: Uh, without any stress without any stress or without the challenges of connecting with each person because like having 200 people, as I said, this really challenging to connect with everyone. So this space is basically kind of a hub to once a year, give the opportunity for the people to come. And connect and strengthen their bonds again, and that could also offer them more opportunities in that regard.

00:18:30: Mahmoud Karssli: Um, it's kind of more like a student reunion. It's kind of a reach out to exactly like a student reunion. And at the same time, it's a give back to the clay that I personally grew up here like for six years. I was born in Damascus and I grew up here like six years. It was a significant time in my life.

00:18:49: Mahmoud Karssli: Yeah, I studied in Rhine-Waal University. It was pretty challenging in the beginning, but after having the community and everything, it was, it was much easier to live in a place, uh, outside of home. And today I feel Kleeve is my second home, actually. And if you ask the rest in the festival, most of them would say the same.

00:19:09: Mahmoud Karssli: They have a, like a unique connection to Kleve and everyone is looking forward for the next festival. Like, uh, within our applications for the tickets, everyone was selecting. Yeah, I want to hear updates about our upcoming festival, and that makes us really happy that the people are really satisfied with what we brought, and we're really looking forward for much more time and more people to get to know and promote our emerging artists.

00:19:35: Mahmoud Karssli: So, uh, mainly when we created this idea, which was kind of a reunion. Uh, we needed also a purpose, and the purpose was is to support our emerging artists, and that was how it started with our parties, our events, we were, we had some artists who started producing here, started DJing here, and we were, we were, we started with like seven people around them, dancing, supporting them.

00:19:59: Mahmoud Karssli: Slowly, slowly getting bigger, bigger, bigger. Today we are like around 500 people, uh, supporting them. Yeah. Um. So basically now it's a very large

00:20:07: Dr. Joost Kleuters: group of students and volunteers who organize

00:20:10: Mahmoud Karssli: their own festival? Student and non students actually. Okay. Like, uh, there are so many non students who are supporting in that.

00:20:16: Mahmoud Karssli: Um, I'm actually not a student anymore. Right. I graduated last year. And, yeah, basically it's... It's, uh, the community of Kleve. Right, so you're looking to expand, right? We're definitely looking to expand. The only way to make it self sustained is to expand. Yeah. And today we are going more into public and offering this space to even more people to invite them and allow them to join us in this journey.

00:20:45: Mahmoud Karssli: So today's theme, actually, it's like galactic beats. It's like journey in time. We have three stages. This stage is like, uh, designed with a dinosaur style, takes you to the past. We got the present stage where you can jam and play music and do it now if you are interested. And that's like, non planned artists, it's just people who are interested, they can just go and use the instruments and try their best.

00:21:11: Mahmoud Karssli: It's in the present moment to do the action now, and we have the third stage, which is the future. We try to get decorated a little bit with future vibes. Uh, yeah, that's the theme basically. We will see what next year will hold for us looking, looking forward very much. So,

00:21:30: Dr. Joost Kleuters: uh, what's very important for you and for the organization, it's not just about students or former students, it's also to reach out to people in Kleve.

00:21:38: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Um, how did you do that? How did you find, uh, people who were not your former fellow students, uh, to join in?

00:21:47: Mahmoud Karssli: Most of the people who are joining us, uh, have the same interests with the music, with the type of music, electronic music, techno house. Um, or the festival vibes. If

00:21:56: Dr. Joost Kleuters: you are, um, if you look around, you see a lot of familiar faces, right?

00:21:59: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Because you have been a student here yourself. Yes.

00:22:02: Mahmoud Karssli: Yes. Yes. I do see a lot of new faces. I'm happy to see the new faces. And, uh, and even more happier to see the old faces. It brings me such a big joy to see the people to be able to reconnect. It was hard to say bye for the people we have studied with, lived with, laughed.

00:22:20: Mahmoud Karssli: Had a good time and everyone was going to a different city, different place. It was kind of heartbreaking to see that, to go through that. And the only solution would be is just to meet up again and to meet up again. It needs to be like worthwhile and enjoyable. So we're trying to make it more attractive for our friends and everyone to be able to reunite and connect again.

00:22:43: Mahmoud Karssli: Hoping to strengthen the bond and stay connected. Right. It's all about the connection basically. Right. And are you

00:22:50: Dr. Joost Kleuters: still living in Kleve or did you move

00:22:52: Mahmoud Karssli: elsewhere? Uh, I'm planning to leave Kleve. And, uh, I'm planning to leave Kleve to pursue my career. I worked for four months as a clinical research associate.

00:23:02: Mahmoud Karssli: And I would like to continue in that field in research. Um, Kleve doesn't offer me, uh, opportunities in that part. So I'm willing, uh, and happy to go somewhere else to pursue that. Uh, and looking forward to this two or three days in a year to meet everyone in this space and be back in this really unique spaces live is really unique space with what it offers with the people and with what it offers around.

00:23:34: Mahmoud Karssli: Yeah, right.

00:23:36: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Yeah. So at least you were out as a part of, Oh, there's two bikes. Um, So you're looking forward to, uh, you know, even if you move elsewhere, you'll once a year, you'll know that the festival will be here and you can meet up with

00:23:48: Mahmoud Karssli: all your friends. Yes, exactly that. I'm very looking forward already for next year because some people were not able to join us this year and they're already on our list.

00:24:00: Mahmoud Karssli: And I'm hoping to see them like this time I also got friends coming from Italy from different places were like even friends who did not really studying play. They were able to join us and meet us in this time, like my friends who I know him from eight years ago. Actually, we only had the chance to meet in Germany four times.

00:24:19: Mahmoud Karssli: Twice were outside the festival and the other two were in last before two years, 2021. And this was the second time. And he's really happy with this opportunity to come, to be able to meet me, see me, and at the same time get to know more people and have fun and enjoy the time. And he's also looking forward for next year, as I am.

00:24:41: It's

00:24:58: Stephan Hanf: actually in the middle of the night here in Niederrhein, Lower Rhine area in Germany. Let's see, it's 4:35, actually. Yeah. Now we are deep into the night, and we jet off to Shanghai. Luis Götz, our globetrotter from HSRW, has been soaking up experiences halfway around the world. Joost Kleuters,

00:25:21: Dr. Joost Kleuters: I'm the director of the Center for Internationalization and Languages, at this time also in Kleve at this early hour of 4.

00:25:28: Dr. Joost Kleuters: 30 in the morning. But still happy to be here and talk with our students, who is now studying in Shanghai.

00:25:34: Stephan Hanf: And he's got stories about Shanghai after dark, about cultural contrasts and about the lessons learned

00:25:40: Stephan Hanf: far

00:25:40: Luis Götz: from home. Yeah, hey, I'm Louis. I'm currently studying in the seventh semester IR here at HSRW.

00:25:48: Luis Götz: And right now I'm not in Kleve, but I'm in Shanghai, China, doing my semester abroad. And I already had breakfast, so it's already 10. 30 here. I think that's quite a difference in time here. So what did you

00:26:02: Dr. Joost Kleuters: have for breakfast? Noodles, probably? Or something in that direction?

00:26:06: Luis Götz: I just had a very fast breakfast.

00:26:08: Luis Götz: Just some rice packaged together with some egg and meat. Yeah, from a convenience store right across the street.

00:26:16: Dr. Joost Kleuters: What made you decide to apply for a semester

00:26:18: Luis Götz: abroad in China? I thought about where I want to go, and within Europe, I already traveled a lot in the last years, and I've been outside of Europe only for the first time this year anyway, so I really wanted to get some experience a bit further away from Germany, from Europe, and in China here, we have an amazing partner university, the Shanghai University, and Uh, as I saw the study program here and also the difference in culture, the difference in language and everything, I thought that's an amazing opportunity to spend some time outside Europe, dive into another country and culture and.

00:26:54: Luis Götz: Yeah, I'm really happy that I took this decision now.

00:26:57: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Um, so are you the only Rhein-Waal student there or are there more of you?

00:27:02: Luis Götz: Yes, I'm the only Rhein-Waal student here, but there are also other international students and also actually a lot of international students from Germany. So I'm not the only international student now.

00:27:13: Dr. Joost Kleuters: And how is that studying there? Is it the international students being all together and also living together? Or are you also in touch with Chinese students as well?

00:27:24: Luis Götz: That really depends, I would say. Within the university, within the study program, there are a lot of Chinese students, so I would say even 70 or 80 percent of students come here from mainland China.

00:27:36: Luis Götz: And the dormitories where I live, for example, I live in the international dormitory, so only exchange students or students that study the whole degree here, but come from another country. They live here, so, and university is quite mixed, but then again, I share my room with another German so that I don't have that much exposure to other Chinese people.

00:27:56: Luis Götz: Yeah.

00:27:57: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Language obviously, I guess, is a challenge when it comes to Chinese and for everyday life. Yeah,

00:28:02: Luis Götz: definitely. The language barrier I would say definitely exists as, I also don't know almost any Chinese, to be honest, yet because I didn't study it before. But I would say it's quite different in society also here when it comes to topics like digitalization, so it's also very easy to communicate with people just using a translator or yeah, in the end, if you're not too introverted, I would say you can also communicate with hand and feet and you can get by, but.

00:28:31: Luis Götz: The difference is huge. Yeah, definitely. And how are the

00:28:34: Dr. Joost Kleuters: classes? Is that a big difference from from studying at Rhein-Waal?

00:28:38: Luis Götz: Yeah, I think I could say so. I wouldn't say the whole system is completely different. So the courses are similarly scheduled into blocks and then you have breaks between the courses.

00:28:50: Luis Götz: But it's different when it comes to, how do you say, the teaching style, maybe it's probably more Comparable to what I had in high school and in Germany. So a lot of front centered Teaching around the teacher and maybe not that much class participation, like in seminars, what we have sometimes in clever, at least my degree, what we have quite a lot.

00:29:16: Luis Götz: Yeah, that's different.

00:29:19: Dr. Joost Kleuters: And how about the city? How about the city of Shanghai? Do you

00:29:22: Luis Götz: enjoy that very much? Yeah, definitely. I never experienced a city like this before, and that was also a reason why I came here. Uh, I think it's quite different from Kleve, from our little town, which is nice and quiet and then you come to the city with around 25 million people or so.

00:29:38: Luis Götz: You have to get used to it, I would say, but the transportation, for example, is amazing. So the metro system works great and you, yeah, you can travel quite fast. For example, I have to travel every day to university because I live on another campus and I study on a different campus from where I live. So that makes me travel already around 28 kilometers just to campus.

00:30:04: Luis Götz: But then again, with, for example, also the transportation infrastructure from the uni here, I take a university bus directly to the other campus. It's quite comfortable. So.

00:30:16: Dr. Joost Kleuters: I guess one of the exciting things of being in China, if you read a lot about it, right before you go, and especially about the politics in the country and how, as you said before, and it's, I think that's interesting if you say that's something that can easily talk about digitalization, but also how sort of the state is watching everybody, how it becomes more difficult for foreigners to operate in China, not just companies, but also NGOs.

00:30:39: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Obviously, there's often a lot of difference between what you read in the papers or see on TV and how the situation really is when you get there. So how is that for you? Do you feel free? Do you feel like you're being watched all the time or you need to watch what you're saying or do you sense that with the Chinese students?

00:30:55: Dr. Joost Kleuters: How is that, or what was your perception in that regard before you left and how was it once you got there and how was your experience there?

00:31:01: Luis Götz: Yes, so it's definitely true. I also studied China quite a bit before I came here. Obviously, also as I studied politics and economics in my degree, it's a very interesting country, of course, and also in the region.

00:31:14: Luis Götz: And also as I arrived here, obviously in my everyday life, I don't. You this kind of effect on myself directly, but especially compared to Europe, compared to Germany, where I come from. I can see the differences in small things. Like when I go to campus and they go through the gates and that's an automatically face ID check that checks my identity and I entered the gate without anything.

00:31:42: Luis Götz: Oh, really? Wow. So. They can definitely see these kind of steps that we will talk about for four months and probably not approve of in Germany as we have very strict data regulation, for example, and that's just very different here. And I think also for other foreigners. It's probably the case that you just.

00:32:01: Luis Götz: Know that already when you come here and then also consider that. So I wouldn't say that I actively now think about what I can say or what I can write to other people. But I would say I definitely have that in the back of my mind and that definitely plays a role here as well. But on the other hand, when I talk to other students, I talk to Chinese people.

00:32:21: Luis Götz: Then I also often see that they often talk about politics quite openly, quite freely and. I can interact with them. And it's very interesting to see different perspectives in that regard. There are definitely two sides to

00:32:35: Dr. Joost Kleuters: that. So we have several universities in China, in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and also in Shanghai that are relatively new, but yeah, it was for a very long time, not possible to exchange students because of COVID.

00:32:46: Dr. Joost Kleuters: And in China, of course, they were very late in giving up the restrictions. So I think Louis is our first student after the Corona pandemic to travel to

00:32:52: Luis Götz: China. That was great. And another thing that was great, for example, here is that they have student buddies, just like in Cleveland that can help you get around and get to know the university, the city, the day to life.

00:33:06: Luis Götz: Without that, that would also probably have struggled quite a

00:33:09: Luis Götz: bit. Yeah. What is like

00:33:10: Stephan Hanf: the difference between the nightlife in, if you compare it to Kleve and to Shanghai, it's not only different country, probably completely different worlds,

00:33:21: Stephan Hanf: right?

00:33:21: Luis Götz: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So when you go out in the evening, it's still so much going on the streets.

00:33:28: Luis Götz: There are the motorbikes everywhere, cars going around, people walk in the streets and that's just. Life doesn't stop here, it feels during the night because so many shops open, so many restaurants and places to meet, to drink or whatever. And that's definitely a big difference because It's so densely crowded also here that even in the parks where you can usually see in the evening and in the night, a lot of people, especially seniors that meet up there and play games or dance or listen to music.

00:34:00: Luis Götz: It's just really nice. And I think if you spend some time here, get used to life here, you can definitely find something for yourself, whatever your interest is in that aspect. So if you want to go to restaurant or if you want to chill in the park, there are. Options for everyone. That's

00:34:17: Stephan Hanf: great. You're German, right?

00:34:19: Stephan Hanf: So you, uh, grew up in Germany. So for you weren't like the fact that after 10 o'clock or eight o'clock, everything is closed. Wasn't that

00:34:27: Stephan Hanf: unusual?

00:34:28: Luis Götz: Yeah, of course. I'm completely a certain Germany. That's normal. Yeah.

00:34:33: Stephan Hanf: Because a lot of people are completely confused that everything live, it stops after 10 o'clock.

00:34:40: Luis Götz: Yeah, no, to be honest, for example, here in the dorms, it looks a bit different because there we also have a policy of kind of don't make noise in the evening and don't disturb other students. So that's quite well. Organized and also enforced, so you can't be that loud in the evening or night. And also, we as students, we can, I think, only come in up until 12 o'clock during the night here.

00:35:05: Luis Götz: And after that, we have to fill out a form or something to come home during the night. So, that's different, that's a bit restricting. But nightlife itself or what goes on in the streets, there's a big difference.

00:35:19: Stephan Hanf: Did that ever happen to you? Did you come to the dorm after 12 o'clock and have to spend the night somewhere else

00:35:25: Luis Götz: or?

00:35:26: Luis Götz: Not yet. No, unfortunately. But I heard about other people, this happening to them. And Yeah. Yeah. I think that's still working in the end because we have groups group chat also in the dorms here and in the end, if someone comes at 3 a. m. home and wants to get into the building, he just text in the group chat.

00:35:45: Luis Götz: Please can someone open the door? Mostly, there's still someone awake at that time anyway, so then someone just comes and opens the door. So that works out in the end.

00:35:54: Stephan Hanf: What was for you the biggest difference in comparison to clear the first time you came to China? Of course, besides the obvious facts, it's a lot bigger and it's Chinese and German.

00:36:06: Luis Götz: Yeah. And in general, the whole experience here feels so different that it's right now hard to like single out one factor because it just feels like almost every aspect is just quite different. Works differently. Hmm. That's a good question. So

00:36:21: Stephan Hanf: maybe I give you a comparison. I never went to China. Maybe yours can chip in, but first time I heard from people coming back from China, they all said, Oh, I'm back from the future.

00:36:31: Stephan Hanf: There are like e bikes everywhere. There are supermarkets without people where you can enter with your cell phone and it's unbelievable. That's, that's, it's so modern and Germany is so far behind. That's like the first stories I heard about China, especially the biggest cities comparison to like the normal stuff.

00:36:50: Stephan Hanf: Oh, you can pay with WhatsApp. They have WeChat, you know, that it's

00:36:54: Dr. Joost Kleuters: crazy.

00:36:54: Luis Götz: And yeah. Like this aspect of digital life here is definitely a huge difference. That's true. And not just in paying and navigating or something, but in general, more social life as well works over these platforms. I believe that's also a bit confusing for me to see because the men's are here.

00:37:14: Luis Götz: Sometime I see that a lot of people are on their phones or. Uh, during daily life, like I see the motor scooter drivers driving like crazy around the corners, but then they still have a phone in their hand and look on it. And that's different. I would say, because that doesn't work like that in Germany and also in Kleve.

00:37:34: Luis Götz: And also then in the university, that's also the case. So a lot of class materials, for example, are shared in these group chats and not on the. Separate platform itself. So that was a big difference. Was it also already the case back when you were there?

00:37:50: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Yeah, I think so. I think people who are complaining that people spend too much time on their phones.

00:37:55: Dr. Joost Kleuters: If you go to China and then go back, I think, okay, maybe it's not that bad. And of course it's very modern. Shanghai still has an old city center, but everything around it, you can see how quickly that has expanded and all the new buildings that are coming up. I talked to a colleague at the university and we were having lunch somewhere.

00:38:12: Dr. Joost Kleuters: And he said, when I was young, this was all grasslands, right? There was nothing here. That must have been a very Chinese experience to grow up there and see how fast these mega cities are growing. And from him to, to coming from there and just before that, just being a rural area. And now it's just part of a big city.

00:38:32: Dr. Joost Kleuters: It definitely has that feel of modernism of yeah, expanding large city life. And yeah. You have that feeling more, you hear this when you visit people from the U S who came to China, right? Americans always see themselves are like, Oh, we're at the forefront of what's going on in the world. But then you go to China, you have like high speed trains and what an infrastructure and new roads and everything.

00:38:56: Dr. Joost Kleuters: It's even more interesting because for Americans, their perspective is so much different. So that the shock when they go to China is even bigger than, than when we go, right? One thing that, that came to, came to mind, we have a lot of Chinese, um, students at Ryan Weil University from, from the beginning. Do you look at them differently?

00:39:14: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Do you think when you get back now that you've experienced where they're from and do you think that you might be in touch with them more now that you've been to China yourself?

00:39:23: Luis Götz: Yeah, definitely. I think that's also going to be easier in a way that I also have been to their country and not only they have been to mine, right?

00:39:30: Luis Götz: That's always. I think a big part of understanding each other better and connecting better. I've only been in touch briefly before I went here with some Chinese students, but when I come back, I think I'll also have a bit of a better understanding, at least from the surface level, from what life in China looks like, what everyday life looks like here, and Also, for example, the, the studying, the differences in university and teaching and these kinds of aspects that will help me to have a different perspective

00:40:02: Dr. Joost Kleuters: on that.

00:40:02: Dr. Joost Kleuters: And you said the university provided like a buddy that we do at Vanuatu as well. We always couple our incoming students who come to Kleve or Kamp-Lintfort with our future outgoing students who then go to their university abroad in the next semester. Was it a Chinese student as well that you were in touch with and that sort of supports you while you're there?

00:40:23: Luis Götz: Yes, exactly. And the

00:40:25: Dr. Joost Kleuters: connection with this person as well. Are you in closer context still? Or was that just at the beginning?

00:40:30: Luis Götz: No, that's that's also the great part as you spend a lot of time just like discussing everyday life and they have you set up and set up a not bank account, but an Alipay account here and.

00:40:42: Luis Götz: Yeah, show you how the Metro works at least for me that. Directly involved the two kind of friendship and we spend a lot of time here together. He showed me different restaurants already and yeah, it's nice. It's definitely a huge benefit of having an active international center here. That's yeah. And have you

00:41:01: Dr. Joost Kleuters: managed to, to promote some students to, to come to Germany as well the next

00:41:05: Luis Götz: semester or next year?

00:41:06: Luis Götz: Not yet. Not yet. I've not been actively asked to do that, but I can definitely try to recruit some students. When I always say that I'm from Germany, if people ask me where I'm from, usually the reaction is quite positive and they're interested in the country or they know some German companies and.

00:41:21: Luis Götz: Another lecture. I was talking with just the other day. He said, like, yes, colleagues, PhD students that went to Germany to do a career there and academia as well. So. There's definitely an interest in that area, I would say. Lewis,

00:41:35: Stephan Hanf: at the beginning of your studies in China until now, what is like the main thing you

00:41:40: Luis Götz: learned?

00:41:41: Luis Götz: Probably to just be open, to not be afraid to just talk to other people on the street and ask them for help. Because in the end, if you go to a foreign country that is this much different, and then you also don't know the language, in my case, you just have to be open to get around because there will be a lot of challenges you face and a lot of Yeah, unknowns that you cannot plan for, even if you try to plan them ahead.

00:42:04: Luis Götz: Yeah, no matter how scary the people look like or anything like that. No, the people are usually quite friendly and my experience with that has been great here. Yeah. Don't be afraid to ask for help. I would also encourage other students also maybe from lower semesters to try this kind of experience, to go abroad, to also go to a country where you maybe don't know the language yet or don't have a lot of experience in, just do that step and go that step and I think you'll be rewarded with a lot of experiences and challenges that in the end Give you new perspectives on this kind of country.

00:42:41: Luis Götz: And I think in China, that's a great example because I think a lot for a lot of people, they think some foreign country like this, I have to know the language on C1 level to even survive here, but that's not true and you can get by for sure, so. I'll encourage anyone that thinks about

00:43:15: Luis Götz: this.

00:43:20: Stephan Hanf: And our final act for the night.

00:43:22: David Bale: I'm David Bale from the security service here on the campus. Every

00:43:26: Stephan Hanf: institution has its watchful guardian and he's ours. Through David's eyes, we'll see the untold and often overlooked tales of Hochschule Rhein-Waal at night. Now, standing outside in the very early mornings, so it's getting a little bit...

00:43:44: Stephan Hanf: So darkness disappears slowly. Do you remember like the first night you spent here at the campus site?

00:43:51: David Bale: Yeah, the first night is always a bit daunting because the campus is big. It's dark. There's always lots of people walking about because it's all open. There's all public footpaths and cycleways through the campus and people like to gather here and drink a few beers or Yeah, sometimes they're a bit loud, a bit of a nuisance, so we have to move them on.

00:44:11: David Bale: But it's, it's, uh, Good experience when you started when you're alone. And when I started, we just did the night shift on our own. And when you go to ask a group of people to move on or something, you don't quite know how they're going to react or how they're going to behave. So you have to be a bit cautious.

00:44:31: David Bale: And now we're with two men on a night shift. So it's a little bit easier. Yeah.

00:44:38: Stephan Hanf: Yeah. Yeah. Do you remember like the first time you saw this? It looks different, right? Not only because of the type, but also like the lighting. It gives us the,

00:44:46: David Bale: yeah, it's a nice atmosphere when, when you have the summer. And, and the banks of the canal are full with people, students and people enjoying themselves, having a quiet beer or playing the guitar or playing games, it's, it's, it's fun.

00:45:00: David Bale: It's almost like a holiday sort of feeling. Yeah. But naturally in the winter, it gets quieter, it gets darker, and then the, um, yeah, say undesirables start gathering on the campus, and then you have to be very careful. bit careful because when they get bored, they start vandalizing, leaving rubbish and graffiti if you're not careful.

00:45:17: David Bale: So we're pretty hard. We move them on, pass them to, uh, go somewhere else. Yeah.

00:45:23: Stephan Hanf: And you, you allowed to do it only to a certain degree, right? Because it's a public space. Yeah. We need

00:45:29: David Bale: the police. We call the police or what the Germans call the Ordnungsamt, which is like the civil, civil security firm or service.

00:45:37: David Bale: good working relationship with them. They come and help us. And when there's too many people on the campus, it gets too loud. Then we call the police and we go together with the police and we clear the campus and get our peace and quiet back again. But it

00:45:52: Stephan Hanf: happens that often,

00:45:53: David Bale: right? At the beginning when everything was new, it happened a lot.

00:45:57: David Bale: Now we've got everything a bit more under control. It stays quieter, more relaxed and people can enjoy it. You got a lot of. Students, you get a lot of older people, families, it's a really mixed sort of atmosphere. And it's really relaxing and nice work when it's quiet and people

00:46:14: Dr. Joost Kleuters: are having fun. I remember when we started, when the campus was new, both of us started out working in the library from the warehouse, yeah, student service center.

00:46:22: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Was that the first time you started out with the new campus and then? Yeah.

00:46:28: David Bale: That's where I started, in the library, the student advisory service. Yeah, it was interesting because it's a small building, it used to get quite crowded. And at the beginning, all the new students and others used to arrive all at the same time to sign in and register.

00:46:46: David Bale: And because it's a very high ceiling building and it got very loud. So I really had to, uh, sort things out some days. You really had to shout above the noise, get the students to quieten down, had to send a few of them outside to make more room, and generally, like, organize it. A bit like a kindergarten, but it was fun.

00:47:05: David Bale: Everybody was squeezed in like sardines, and... Yeah. Good old days. You remember that, yes. Yeah. So you tend to get a bit hoarse sometimes from shouting at the... to organizing quite... And, and so the people in the student advisory service could work, the people get, could get through in and out from the library, and it was just chaos, wasn't it?

00:47:26: David Bale: Yeah, sometimes

00:47:27: Dr. Joost Kleuters: it was a little chaotic. How did you end up working here, or coming to Kleve, from all the way from the UK?

00:47:33: David Bale: Yeah, well, I was posted here in the 1980s with the Royal Air Force in Wietse, which is, it used to be RAF Larbrook, it's now Weeze Airport, that used to be a big NATO base. And I was stationed there with the Royal Air Force Police.

00:47:47: David Bale: I did nine years service there. In the nine years I was stationed there, I met my wife, who's German. And when I finished my time in Wietze at Laarbruck, yeah, I stayed in Germany with my wife. My wife's a nurse, she works in Goch Hospital. So, I've been over here over 30 years now. I've probably lived longer in Germany than I have in England.

00:48:09: Stephan Hanf: What was like your first experience of Germany? Do you remember? I mean, it's very long ago, but...

00:48:15: David Bale: Yeah, first experience in Germany. I think it always starts with beer and ends with beer in Germany. I think, yeah, remembering is okay. But it's good fun. No, I always had a good time because being in the military police, we used to do a lot of work off base.

00:48:33: David Bale: We used to have to go to all the road accidents and punch ups and the discos and pubs and things. So we got to know the German police. We used to work with them very well. And, uh, got a lot of contacts off base. And a job at time. Yeah. It's normal. Last time on the base, we had all the clubs and facilities on the base, most of my free time I spent off base, that's how I met my wife, really, in the local pubs.

00:48:59: Dr. Joost Kleuters: So you went from dealing with rowdy UK soldiers to dealing with rowdy students. Exactly.

00:49:06: David Bale: What is different? Is

00:49:07: Stephan Hanf: there a

00:49:07: David Bale: difference? Okay, I find students a little bit easier. With the military. Yeah, okay. That's a different mindset. And bigger guys, fitter guys, and, uh, yeah. Yeah, you can't compare them really.

00:49:24: David Bale: Although, oh, okay, no. It's, uh, interesting. We had, not just the service person, we had to deal with the families and everything as well. So, there's no real problems. If we had to deal with teenagers then, or young people then. Or now it's much the same and in my spare time I do a lot of work with the scouts and uh scouting as well.

00:49:47: David Bale: I'm a group scout leader at our local scouts in Uden. Organization of shouting at kids and keeping them under control is, yeah, becomes naturally in a way. Well it's a good skill to have actually.

00:50:02: Stephan Hanf: Yeah. If it works like... All other different people and age

00:50:06: David Bale: groups and, uh... That's right, you just have to change the tone of your voice to be a bit louder or a bit quieter and it works.

00:50:13: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Yeah. So what does your sort of routine look like at night? For the night

00:50:17: David Bale: shift, we start in building four in the office. We take over from the day shift. If there's any, anything happened or anything we need to know, then we sort of exchange information. Yeah, all the contractors and workers on the campus come back and hand in their transponders and we sign them back in.

00:50:40: David Bale: Students want their music room or they want to do something. Then they come to us, the cars, the buses, minibuses, they're brought back to us with the keys and their folders, we have to look after that. Then, yeah. If there's any special functions on in the campus, we have to be aware so we don't get in the way or make sure that people keep away and the function runs.

00:51:04: David Bale: Then later in the evening, just before 10 o'clock, we have to start... Before 10 o'clock we start walking around and shutting all the windows that are open, all the doors and making sure the buildings are empty or there's nobody hanging around inside that shouldn't be. Uh, just before 10 o'clock we give an announcement that the buildings are going to be shut and then we, uh, basically shut the buildings, lock them from the control room and, uh, set the alarms.

00:51:35: David Bale: All the lights go out, and the campus is then hopefully finished, shut, closed. How

00:51:43: Stephan Hanf: often does it happen that people are voluntary or involuntary locked into

00:51:48: David Bale: their offices? It happens. That's why we always give an announcement before we close. So if somebody's staying longer, they can give us a ring and let us know in building 10s.

00:51:58: David Bale: There's somebody working until 11 o'clock or 12 o'clock, that's no problem. If they don't do that, then the alarms go off, we go and check. And if we're not sure ourselves, we'll call the police. And, yeah, we have to go with the police and check that the building is empty and not been broken into or anything.

00:52:16: David Bale: Does that happen often? Not very often. We know roughly which professors or which buildings are being used a bit later. And most of the... We always get a telephone call to let us know that they're working later, so there's no misunderstandings or problems. And then after ten o'clock, eleven o'clock, we start checking around the campus, making sure there's, everything's quiet and the people are behaving themselves, and everything's not getting out of control.

00:52:46: David Bale: And then at midnight, we try and advise the people then to move off the campus and the place is shut down, because after midnight... We like to keep the place empty and then anybody coming through is no problem, but actually sitting is not tolerated really, because we've had so much problems with vandalism and rubbish and things in the past.

00:53:10: David Bale: Yeah. The university. Yeah. Maybe we can

00:53:13: Stephan Hanf: go on a bridge because I think what's quite special about the university is the fact that. It's right near,

00:53:20: David Bale: which is a bit too near at times, but we've, we always have to fish at least two or three people at the canal every year. That's part of our job as well.

00:53:28: David Bale: Nights when they're drunk and coming back from the pubs or clubs or whatever, they tend to wander a bit too close to the edge. And a few times we've had to pull people out of the canal. How do you do this? We've got the rescue rings, which are situated in strategic locations. And we've got a few long poles with rings on the end and then, uh, yeah, if we hear it or see it, then we're the first to respond, pull the person out and call an ambulance and make sure they get checked over in the hospital first.

00:53:55: David Bale: Did you ever had to jump in after someone or? No, I avoid that if I can. But no, the poles are usually long enough and most people manage to scramble close enough to the side that we can get to them. Yeah, mostly carnival time or when the festival tent is on the. car park when there's the fair is here that they tend to wander and fall in.

00:54:16: Stephan Hanf: But do you see it or do you hear it or because it's quite

00:54:19: David Bale: long like the yeah, we sit in building four So we've got quite a good visibility of most Occurrences here in this part of the canal. Yeah, we can see or if we don't see them then yeah Okay. Yeah, of course

00:54:33: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Did you ever hear that story about how a student from bangladesh saved a fireman?

00:54:39: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Who landed up in the water during carnival time, drunk?

00:54:42: David Bale: Yeah, there's several other students of, as I said, there was an old lady, fell in, over 80. She was walking across and didn't see the edge of the canal and unfortunately she fell in. And there was a couple of students sat on the tables and they saw and one jumped in and they pulled her out.

00:54:59: David Bale: And they got the ambulance and she was saved. Wasn't seriously injured, but just shocked, I think.

00:55:05: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Yeah, and it's pretty deep, right? It's three meters deep because it used to be an official waterway. Yeah. So it's pretty dangerous to fall in.

00:55:13: David Bale: Yeah, and there's a lot of hidden objects in the bottom if you're not careful, like old bicycles and shopping trolleys and things, so gotta be careful.

00:55:22: David Bale: But it just makes the campus atmosphere. It's nice in the summer when people are just sat on the canal here. Enjoying themselves and how often

00:55:31: Stephan Hanf: do people try to swim in it voluntary? It's

00:55:34: David Bale: something it happens in the summer, especially when it's hot people gather around the Mensa and it's tempting and why yeah Okay, shouldn't do it.

00:55:41: David Bale: I wouldn't do it. And if we see them doing it, we call them. I pretty quick because Unfortunately, the water is not the cleanest of waters and you can pick up some nasty things if you and the hidden objects and they get caught It's not safe. Yeah. Yeah. There's probably a few bombs from the Second World War lying in the bottom here.

00:55:59: David Bale: Yeah. Surely. Well, yeah. Yeah. That's, that's bombs or

00:56:02: Dr. Joost Kleuters: shells. So this canal's been here since the 17th century.

00:56:05: David Bale: Yeah. It was a main, I've seen a lotion connection to the Rh. It's, uh, just a shame. The locks are outta action. And, uh, it used to be good at the very beginning. The boats used to come from the Rhine through here and spend the weekend or overnight here and, Really good with all the boats tied up and having a barbecue on this.

00:56:26: David Bale: It's a nice atmosphere really like holiday

00:56:28: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Yeah, if you see the pictures from the day, we opened the campus in Clever. You see all the boats here Yeah, a couple

00:56:34: David Bale: of times at the bigger Dutch was it Dutch school boats or something here for different functions the bigger barges. Yeah

00:56:41: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Yeah, and from over there was on weekends you could take the boat and then it would drive out to the Rhine River Yeah cross the border and then go back.

00:56:48: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Yeah,

00:56:49: David Bale: so hopefully one day it'll be Repaired

00:56:51: Dr. Joost Kleuters: and rebuilt. Yeah, apparently it's very expensive. And it's, I don't

00:56:55: Stephan Hanf: know. Yeah, but the bridge where we're sitting on right

00:56:59: David Bale: now, it's still able to move up? It's functional, yeah. In the summer when the uh, grill boats, uh, go back and forth it raises and lowers to let them through because when they've got their sun umbrellas up, they can't get under.

00:57:11: David Bale: Ah, but it's quite uncommon that it opens? No, it's opened very rarely. At the very beginning we used to open it a lot because there were more boats coming up then. Police boat, Customs boat, uh, It had different size motor yachts coming up then, which was... But, I say, we used to be responsible for opening and closing the bridge at the beginning.

00:57:32: David Bale: But, the last time we did that was years ago. Yeah, it gives

00:57:34: Dr. Joost Kleuters: the campus a little bit of a Dutch atmosphere. Yeah. I think it's actually a Dutch bridge they ordered somewhere, because they obviously make them in the Netherlands where there's more need for them.

00:57:42: Stephan Hanf: But you're right, it's really got the Dutch atmosphere.

00:57:45: Stephan Hanf: I never thought about it, but

00:57:46: David Bale: yeah, it does. So you had the, you've got the railway bridges there as well. Hello.

00:57:52: Stephan Hanf: Morgen. Yeah.

00:57:55: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Because you're, you're about to retire, right? In a couple of weeks?

00:57:58: David Bale: That's right. In a couple of weeks, uh, I'm retiring, but because I enjoy the work here so much, I'm staying on working part time.

00:58:06: David Bale: Oh. Just having a bit more free time to enjoy and relax and keep up with my hobbies. So you're looking forward to it? Yeah, I think so now. It's got to do it. I mean, you only get one chance. Yeah. Yeah.

00:58:19: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Yeah. So looking back on the years you spent on campus, what are the things that you'll always remember? Or what are the most recent stories that you'll...

00:58:29: David Bale: The couple of times I've pulled people out of the canal, there's always... We've had a couple of accidents with people. falling off their bikes here, where you had to get the ambulance and things, or you've had to move drunks out of our buildings here. We had to get the police or things. So there's so much really, it's no, no, no day is the same.

00:58:51: David Bale: It's always very variable. Yeah, never a dull moment. You just enjoy it when it's quiet and get on with it when it's not

00:59:01: Dr. Joost Kleuters: busy. I know it's early now and it's of course it takes some getting used to yeah But isn't the night shift a little bit more romantic, right? You're there by yourself. You're alone with your thoughts.

00:59:09: Dr. Joost Kleuters: I know. You can write a book if it's not, you know.

00:59:13: David Bale: I'll say that. With two, two guys, uh, on for the night shift now because of in the past one It's better to have two persons. Yeah, you've always got your colleagues to talk to, and, uh, Yeah, it's always better when you're going up to a crowd of people with two, to, all the things.

00:59:31: Stephan Hanf: And if you look back, I mean, you, you, not really retiring, you're part retiring, I would say, right? Uh, what is, like, the main lesson you learned working here?

00:59:42: David Bale: If there's, there are many lessons, but one... Nothing will surprise me anymore, I think. You just see so many things, you think, what the... Sometimes you think, okay, and just get on with it.

00:59:55: David Bale: It's that, let's say, there's been so many funny things and strange things that you think. Uh, is this real? But it happens and you get on with it and you think, oh, well, okay. It's not boring. And that's

01:00:10: Stephan Hanf: the reason why you're not really retiring.

01:00:12: David Bale: That's right. You know, and of course, with so many foreign students, being able to speak English is a good thing.

01:00:17: David Bale: And most of the foreign students, they, yeah, they like to talk in English because their German is just starting. They're just They don't feel so confident. Yeah, when they get talking, some of them, you sit there and they talk and pour out all their sorrows and problems. Most of them know people in England as well, which is quite funny.

01:00:36: David Bale: They always ask where you come from and tell them, oh, I know somebody who lives there and that. Yeah, no, it's interesting. I like it.

01:00:43: Dr. Joost Kleuters: Did you ever have any students that kept returning to you? That you had like a special relationship with? Yeah,

01:00:51: David Bale: there are a lot. Once they know I can speak English, and know what routine and what things are, if they can't talk to anybody else, they come to me and talk to me.

01:01:00: David Bale: Yeah, that happens a lot. Different students, different countries and things. Poor at their problems and they ask for a bit of advice or whatever. I think, yeah, they see a sort of father figure or something. Okay. Yeah? Yeah.

01:01:20: Stephan Hanf: So how about breakfast?

01:01:22: Stephan Hanf: We owe you breakfast.

01:01:46: Stephan Hanf: Thank you for listening to the How to Hochschule podcast. We hope you enjoy the show and feel free to follow us and recommend us to your friends. If you have any thoughts or suggestions or just want to let us know how you liked the episode, please don't hesitate, take courage and do reach out to us at podcast at HSRW.

01:02:05: Stephan Hanf: We are always looking for ways to improve and we appreciate your feedback. Also, be sure to check out our show notes and links and more information on today's topics and guests. Next time on the How to Hochschule podcast, part two of our four part special 24 hours at Hochschule Rhein-Waal, the most international university in Germany.

01:02:23: Stephan Hanf: Thank you very much for joining us today. I'm Stefan Hanf, this is the How to Hochschule podcast. We are looking forward to hear you next time. Tschüss.