My Exchange Semester in Myanmar 2019/2020

In these YouTube Videos I have summarized the mentioned information. The video is available in English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and French. There is also a small video on my exchange semester abroad.

I've wanted to go to Asia for so long (since 2015). During my studies in International Cultural and Business Studies, I specialized in the Southeast Asian region. Finally, I came across the country Myanmar - one of the less-known countries. After taking a Burmese course (the national language of Myanmar) in September 2018, I decided to spend my semester abroad there. The main reason was that I didn't want to go to other Southeast Asian countries, where a lot of other European exchange students go for their semester abroad. I wanted something different, something special, and Myanmar was perfect for that. Everything went without any major problems until I had to apply for my visa. At that time I was doing my internship at the German Embassy in Brazil so I needed to apply for a visa at the Myanmar Embassy in Brazil. I could not apply for a visa at the Myanmar Embassy in Germany because, between my time in Brazil and my time in Myanmar, I only had a few days at home. The Embassy in Brazil wanted me to send a very strange document, which proves that the University in Yangon is registered with the Ministry of Education in Myanmar. And the University couldn’t give me that document (somehow understandable). Well, after a colleague from the German Embassy got in touch and helped me, they no longer needed the document. I had the other documents ready weeks ago. Once I handed all the documents in, everything went really fast and I got my visa!

On the 7th of December 2019, I arrived in Yangon with a 3-day delay. Unfortunately, I got sick on my last week in Brazil and ended up in Germany with a hoarse voice and a bad cold (after a 24-hour flight). I couldn't take another 24-hour flight 3 days later and decided to postpone it for three more days. The university didn't really start until mid-December anyway. I flew via Istanbul to Bangkok and from there to Yangon. When we landed in Yangon, it was dark. On the 30-minute drive to the hotel, I got my first impression of the city. Funnily enough, the cars are made for left-hand traffic, but there is still right-hand traffic :D After checking in at the hotel, I went to the Shwedagon Pagoda (Buddhist temple). There I had to borrow a Longyi (typical skirt) and take off my shoes and socks (you can only go to holy places without shoes and socks). I always thought the Shwedagon was just a pagoda, but it’s like a city with so many small temples. People sit in the temples, pray and sing. I also saw some monks wearing their traditional orange costumes. In addition, a lot of people wanted to take photos with me. Then I sat down and just sat there. That was my personal magic moment.

Pictures at Shwedagon Pagoda on my first night wearing a Longyi and taking pictures with people like this cute kid

I first stayed in a hotel near my university called Wai Wai's Place for the first week and from there I wanted to look for an apartment (I had done something similar when I lived in Peru in 2016). The hotel was great! On the terrace, there was a super delicious restaurant, where I ate almost every day. After I had visited several shared apartments through a Facebook group, I decided on a shared flat in San Chaung (near the university), where I lived with a Burmese girl. We became really good friends.

Breakfast at the hotel and picture with my roommate  

My story university story is a little bit funny. Everything was very chaotic (especially the bureaucracy) because there were extremely few exchange students and therefore no international office. I had to walk around the campus for several days just to enroll. Fortunately, I got help from the university staff – thank you! Creating my timetable and choosing my subjects was also difficult. In the end, I took 3 subjects: Government and Politics of Myanmar, Ancient Southeast Asia, and Comparative Politics of Southeast Asia. The courses were supposed to be in English but were all held in Burmese with English PowerPoints. I didn't think that was bad, at least I could read what they were talking about. The teachers and fellow students supported me a lot with translations. In one class, the teacher even offered private lessons for me in English – lovely university teachers :)

University of Yangon: when you enter the teacher's room you need to take off your shoes as a sign of respect

In my free time, I went to the gym every day and partied a lot. I didn’t imagine that parties in Myanmar were as good as they are. Also, since we didn't have WiFi at home, I always went to a coffee shop near my house. Later I started DJing in bars and even did a bit of modeling. I also traveled, especially when my boyfriend at that time came from Mexico to spend one month with me in Myanmar and Thailand.

Pictures: 1 Bago; 2 Golden Rock; 3 Hpa-An; 4 Mawlamyaing; 5&6 Bagan; 7 Mandalay; 8 Mingun; 9 Innwa; 10 Ngwe Saung Beach; 11 Ayutthaya (Thailand)

My time as a DJ started with a lot of Latino music being played at the parties, to which I can dance quite well. That's why I became friends with a DJ, who then taught me how to DJ. At some point, I was good enough to DJ alone. It was Tuesday before a national holiday on the 11th of February. I was pretty unsure at the beginning, but the evening was perfect. I've never seen the club so crowded. It was probably a bit of luck and coincidence together with my music mix of current pop, Latino, and throwback songs. Anyway, the boss was very happy. Later I had a permanent job as a DJ in another bar on Saturdays. That was a lot of fun!

Pictures: 1&5 being a DJ at Pirate Bar; 2,3&4 Penthouse

At the end of February, a student from my university wrote me a message on Facebook asking if he could do a photo shoot with me at the university with a Longyi (Myanmar traditional clothes). I agreed and figured it was a win-win situation: He had cool photos of a foreigner who appreciates traditional clothes and I had cool model pictures for my collection. He posted the photos on Facebook and they got 2.000 likes straight away. I received an extremely large number of Facebook friend requests (in Myanmar Facebook is like Instagram, Instagram has not (yet) established itself over there). The photographer then asked me if we could do another shoot: this time in front of a pagoda (Buddhist temple) and I agreed. And then it happened. To be honest, I can't really explain it, but he posted the photos from the second shoot on a Friday evening and the picture had 1.000 likes within an hour. Every time I updated my Facebook, the number of friend requests, likes, and above all shares increased. It was scary!!! The next day the picture had cracked 10.000 likes and 8.000 shares (and I had received like 10.000 friend requests, that’s why I turned on my public following on Facebook). It was a total shock for the photographer and me. We never expected anything like that. But what shocked me, even more, was that the pictures were suddenly posted on different Facebook pages (like travel sites, or even news sites in Myanmar) and people on the street recognized me everywhere :D One time I came back from a party and wanted to take a taxi. The waiting taxi drivers there suddenly said: “I know you from the Facebook pictures”. Wow, this is what it means to get viral in Myanmar. Anyways, this is how my short modeling career began in Myanmar. I could hardly save myself from shootings and inquiries. And my privacy was basically over by then. In the last two weeks, I had five shoots and a few more video shoots should have followed. Unfortunately, these were postponed due to COVID and then I was no longer in Myanmar. But it was an amazing experience:

• a well-known make-up stylist styled my face and we had “Water Festival” shooting at the university
• had a photo shoot with the theme "Water Festival" in Kan Daw Gyi Park
• shot with a well-known singer, with whom I should have shot a music video as well
• shot with two professional male models
• had a photo shoot with three photographers, two outfits, and two locations

Photoshootings in Yangon; Pictures by @beingjasoncorleone and @aungshanehtet and Dost Malik

I have celebrated Christmas away from home several times, but there was always a little Christmas feeling - and I always had a family to stay with (both in Chile in 2016 and in Brazil in 2014). This time it was different. Christmas is not celebrated in Myanmar. Of course, the Christian minorities celebrate it, but I mean by the wide public. There are some decorations on the streets and in supermarkets, but that's it. Nevertheless, the 25th and 26th of December are holidays at many schools, universities, and in offices. On the 24th of December I had to go to university though - extremely strange for a German because for us this day is the main Christmas Holiday (not the 25th). In the afternoon I went to Shwedagon Pagoda with a friend. On that special day, I wanted to visit a place of rest and peace. There I doused my Buddha Rahu with water. In Myanmar, there are 8 Buddhas (and 8 animals) depending on the day of the week you were born – Wednesday as an exception has two Buddhas, one for the morning and one for the afternoon. I was born on a Wednesday afternoon, so my Buddha is Rahu and my animal is the elephant without tusks. After the pagoda, we had our "Christmas Dinner" at a Kachin restaurant and then we went to a party. Yes, for Christmas! And I had my first DJ lesson because I was supposed to play alone on the 27th of December. After the party, which ended at 2 am, we went to another club until 5 am. That was really a completely different and crazy Christmas!

Pictures: 1 celebrating New Year with my boyfriend in Bangkok; 2&3 Fullmoon Party at Ngew Saung beach; 4 recording dance videos in the park

While news of COVID was already circulating around the world, initially little was heard of it in Myanmar. I felt like I was in another world while sitting in my tea shop with my best friend Sophie. Myanmar was one of the two last countries in the world to have official COVID cases. Everything was just so normal. Then the first two cases became known and there were immediate restrictions. That was on a Tuesday in my last week when I actually would have written my last exam (which was canceled in the morning). I briefly considered staying in Myanmar, firstly because my model career was just starting and secondly because Germany was currently in lockdown. But since I could foresee that this would come soon to Myanmar as well and that I would then no longer be able to do shootings, I decided to go back to Germany with my best friend. Unfortunately, our options continued to shrink every day. We couldn't count on a return flight. It was no longer easy to get back via Bangkok, where 90% of all flights to Germany have to go through. You needed a health certificate to transit in Bangkok. But everyone was unsure whether the health certificate meant a COVID-19 negative test, which you couldn’t get in Myanmar at that time, or a Fit to Fly document, which you could get for 40 dollars in every clinic. It seemed that this rule was changed back and forth every day. So Bangkok was too risky for us. Second option: Flying via Singapore and Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, Singapore closed all borders for transit on Monday of that week. Then, the Middle Eastern Airlines closed all flights to on Wednesday. We were so desperate. We had one last chance: One of the Airlines organized two extra unscheduled flights to Qatar on Sunday. The price was 2.300€ per PERSON! Despite the price, we took the flight.

Still, I didn’t miss the opportunity to enjoy the last week. With Sophie, I did a little tourism in Yangon and showed her my favorite places. For example, we saw the sunset at Botataung Harbour and took the circular train that goes around the whole city. Fortunately, I had already said goodbye to all the teachers and had already bought souvenirs for my family in Germany, because the university and the souvenir market were already closed. Actually, I wanted to go to Shwedagon Pagoda again the last evening, but it was only open until 4 pm due to COVID. So we went there in the morning to take a few photos. I also gave flowers to my Buddha Rahu and thanked him for the wonderful time here.

Pictures: 1&4 visiting Shwedagon Pagoda and offering flowers to my Buddha Rahu; 2 discovering the city with my best friend; 3 sunset at Botataung

My last weekend was full of last times: the last time Mohinga (traditional Myanmar soup), the last time Penthouse (club in Yangon), the last time at Pirate Bar, the last time partying with my friends at Havana, the last time coffee shop, the last time restaurant, the last time tea leaf salad (traditional Myanmar food). Saturday night I had to say goodbye to everyone. We partied and danced together one last time. After 1.5 hours of sleep, Sophie and I had to go to the airport. Two planes went from Yangon to Qatar (full of white people). In Qatar, we had a layover of 14 hours (!!!). Thankfully the boyfriend of a friend of mine organized some Business Lounge tickets at Qatar Airport where we could eat, drink and chill. The next morning we landed in Frankfurt. It was super cold. We went home with the empty ICE (German fast train) and then after four months, I was finally home again.

It was sad to leave Myanmar. I remembered my arrival here. The taxi drivers at the airport were ALL wearing skirts and I thought this must be the “taxi uniform” in Myanmar hahaha (I'm a little embarrassed to admit that). Now I know this is a Longyi (traditional Myanmar dress) and at least 70% of people wear it every day. I bought my first Longyi very soon and got to know the new culture and country by trying new food and discovering new places. Myanmar is the 4th country I live, study, or work in, but there is something that never gets easier: saying Goodbye.

I laughed, cried, went to parties, drank too much alcohol (especially if the drinks were 1.500 Kyat (1$) – thank you Kosan bar), danced like crazy, studied, met new people, made new friends, saw some old friends, learned a lot about Myanmar, myself and the way I want to live and opened up my mind for new things. I smiled, traveled, took photos with at least 5.000 people, tried new food, got 13 (!!!) Longyi sets, started DJing and started modeling. I hitchhiked on a water truck in Innwa, partied with the staff in a restaurant on the Highway from Ngwe Saung Beach to Yangon, and made dance videos with people I didn't know in the park.

I want to thank everyone who was part of my life here:

• The beautiful people of Myanmar for making my days happier by smiling, helping, and welcoming me with their kindness
• My roommate and friend Berry Linn, who was always there for me with an open ear and some advice
• James and Monica for being the best dancers, friends, and party people
• YU university teachers and students who helped me get through the exams
• My university back home, my scholarships Deutschlandstipendium and Promos, my parents and friends especially Sophie and Raul for visiting me here
• The photographers and models that shot with me and who shared my posts
• Jay and Kt Cho for giving me the opportunity to DJ, even if I hadn’t so much experience
• The waiters at the Tea Shop, Coffee Shop, and Restaurant near my house, and street sellers who became my friends
• All the people I met here and with whom I partied and traveled (I can’t mention everyone here)

When I arrived to Yangon I stayed at Wai Wai's Place (which I really loved so much) and she had a panel on the reception with the sentence: “Your home away from home”. This is how I feel now. I leave Myanmar with a smiling and a crying eye and hopefully be back soon.

“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened"

Picture of the entrance of Wai Wai's Place "Your home away from home" and pictures of myself at Shwedagon Pagoda