In the sunlight they sit on the benches in Wiesenstraße, keep their distance, turn their negative self-tests between their fingers somewhat forlornly – they have taken off their masks. Often they have not seen each other in real life. And yet Eduardo Andrei Rocha Pinaya and Michael Melbourne Schmidt know each other well. They were in digital contact almost every day during the winter semester. Because Andrei and Michael are "buddies", i.e. a team of one local and one international student. The programme of the International Office of the THM is intended to make it easier for people new to the region to get to know their university, their city and central Hesse better. For Andrei it was the most important connection to a university that was unfamiliar to him for months.

Because he was stuck in Bolivia, freshly enrolled for a master at the THM . Forced to digital teaching like everyone else, but with a huge difference: he separated him six hours of time from his lectures. "I had to get up at 2 a.m. at 2 a.m. and went back to bed at 6 p.m.. It was difficult, but it worked," says the student of the "Control, Computer and Communications Engineering" at the Friedberger Department IEM. In terms of content, he was satisfied, but still gnawed doubts: Why study abroad when studying abroad flickers over the screen at home? In addition, most of the lectures were in English. "But I wanted to improve my German," says Andrei. The buddy programme saved him from being terminated.

"I heard about the programme for the first time in September 2020 in a zoom call with other THM internationals," recalls Andrei. He met Michael right away at the first digital meeting. Since then they have been in constant contact. Michael sees this as the most important "task" as a buddy: being a reliable contact person. Even if it is at least as important for him to have found a good friend. That's also what convinces him about the programme: "I was a buddy at my old university in the Black Forest," says Michael, who also knows the value of a "local" from his own one-year study visit to China.

And with Michael, Andrei could – or had to – practice his German. "My Spanish is rather mixed," says Michael modestly and laughs. His buddy describes the Zoom conversations as ideal training for his previously rusty German. Already in 2013/14 he was a student in Coburg for an exchange. The corona pandemic then set him in motion to consider returning to Germany and adding a master's degree to his Bolivian bachelor's degree in mechatronics. Although Bolivia is not a high-incidence country and, according to official data, has not come through the pandemic much worse than Germany, he was tempted by the idea of ​​completing his studies outside of his home country. “Also because studying with us takes much longer,” he adds. And then, after a positive confirmation from THM in summer, he was still stuck on his home PC in autumn and winter.

"It was clear to me from the beginning: The exams have to be taken in person", March 2021 would be the month in which the future of his master's degree would be decided after just one semester. Would he come to Germany at all? What vaccination or quarantine rules would apply? How can he stay afloat financially without a mini-job when shops, cafes and restaurants are closed? “I talked a lot with my family,” Andrei recalls. In the end it was clear: He would try, with family support. The formalities for his visa began in November. “That arrived three days before the booked departure,” he reports.

The entry could have been taken from the script for a comedy: while he was attending a digital Buddy Café of the International Office while changing planes in Paris, the airline lost one of his suitcases. Then Corona broke out in the shared flat, which he, curiously enough, came to via a former Coburg classmate who was studying in Gießen . "I would have had to go into quarantine immediately and would have missed my exams," says Andrei. So Michael quickly organized a bed with a friend. A challenge, because his buddy was not allowed to leave the apartment for ten days due to the entry quarantine.

It worked, he passed his exams successfully. "Thanks to Michael, the flat share and the buddy programme, we have found a solution for every problem," says Andrei about his path into the second semester, which is certainly not easy. Now he is hoping for an extension of the visa until he completes his studies. “Then I would like to find a job here,” he adds. And at some point, being “local” in the buddy programme is also an option.