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Embassy of the Federal Republic of
Germany in Colombo, Sri Lanka
Placement Report
Thirusha Manoharan
Master program: International Relations
University Supervisor: Ms. Laura Wieseman
Placement Supervisor: Mr. Guenter Haselier
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Table of Content
Introduction ... 3
CHAPTER 1 ... 3
Reasons for the selection of an internship at the German Foreign Office ... 3
Preparation, application procedure, financial issues ... 4
Foreign Office... 5
Embassy of the Federal Republic Germany in Sri Lanka ... 5
Expectations prior to the placement ... 5
CHAPTER 2 ... 6
Activities and tasks ... 6
Evaluation of working attitude and placement supervision ... 7
Analysis of personal difficulties at German Embassy ... 8
CHAPTER 3 ... 9
Link between the placement and the degree program IRIO ... 9
Connection between the fulfilment of the tasks and to the chosen path of
specialization within the interdisciplinary character of IRIO ... 9
CHAPTER 4 ... 10
Housing, cost of living and social surroundings ... 10
Future career orientation and prospects ... 11
Appendix A: Overview of activities and tasks & Personal reflection ... 13
3 Introduction
Within my master program International Relations, I applied successfully for a study-related internship at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Colombo, Sri Lanka following a time period of nine weeks from 08. August 2016 to 07. October 2016. I was highly motivated to do an internship at the German diplomatic mission in Sri Lanka for several reasons, which will be also emphasized within this report.
The report can be divided into four main chapters. The first chapter describes the personal reasons for the selection of this internship and the preparation procedure, it also gives a broad overview on the institution of the German Embassy in Sri Lanka and highlights my expectations prior to the start of the placement. Within the second chapter the execution of activities and tasks are shortly discussed, an analysis of faced difficulties within the internship is considered and an evaluation of my working attitude and placement supervision is underlined. The third chapter examines the connection between the internship and the degree program IRIO and the specialization. The final chapter conceives concluding remarks, highlights my future orientation and prospects and it also elaborates some information on housing, social surrounding including some tips for students who also seeks to perform an internship at the German Foreign Office.
CHAPTER 1
Reasons for the selection of an internship at the German Foreign Office
There are various reasons to do an internship at the Foreign Office. In the following, my personal reasons are considered. Thus, the decision to do an internship at the diplomatic mission of the Federal Republic of Germany was highly motivated by three deep thoughts and considerations, which can be grounded within a combination of study-related and personal context.
One of these were the close connection to my study program. Within my interdisciplinary study program, I gained theoretical knowledge in various fields such as economics, politics, law and human rights. Thus, the Foreign Office is known for its interdisciplinary nature as well. In this sense, I liked the opportunity to deepen my theoretical knowledge into practical performance within this highly-bureaucratic institution.
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The final reason is rather a personal concern. Since I have started to study International Relations I was highly interested to gain insight into the work of the German diplomatic affairs. The reason for choosing a German institution and not another one can be based on two facts. Firstly, I am a German, who is simply interested in its country´s diplomatic affairs and secondly I liked its high qualified representation and activities in other foreign countries. The performance of this internship was very important for me, because I have never worked for such a highly bureaucratic and diplomatic organization before and thus it gave me the chance to rethink a little bit my future career orientation after finishing my master program successfully.
Preparation, application procedure, financial issues
The preparation to apply for this internship was easy-going. In order to apply for an internship at any German diplomatic missions in the world you firstly have to be registered in an online portal offered by the Foreign Office in Berlin. The website to the portal is as follows
https://praktikantenausland.diplo.de/praktikantenauslandextern/pwd_anmelden.php
In this portal you have the opportunity to upload your application and the obligation to rank around ten countries in which you were specifically interested to do your internship. Shortly after your profile has been established, including your application, your profile is made public for all foreign diplomats across the world. If they are interested in your profile they will contact you directly. However, you actually never know whether you will ever get a placement in one of the diplomatic missions or not, because there is a high amount of applicants who are also interested to do an internship in a German diplomatic mission.
My first choice was Sri Lanka, because my parents are originally from Sri Lanka. They came to Germany 35 years ago as refugees to avoid the bloody civil war there and to boost their living standards. Furthermore, I have never been there, as well due to the war and other circumstances. Concluding, I realized that this internship would be beneficial in two ways. Thus, it would allow me to go back to my roots while rethinking about my future career orientation.
Before I registered myself in the portal in March, I also contacted the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Colombo directly and asked them whether they will recruit interns within this year. Luckily, one of the diplomats, my supervisor, was so kindly to reply my request and was looking forward to my application. Shortly after the green light for the performance of the internship at the German Embassy of Colombo, Sri Lanka from August to October was given.
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Furthermore, a financial compensation of €300 per month will be granted by the Foreign Office in Berlin after you have successfully finished the internship.
Foreign Office
The Foreign Office with its central duty of employment in Berlin and Bonn as well as around 230 diplomatic missions, including 11.602 employees, maintains the relationship between Germany and other countries as well as intergovernmental and supernational organisations.
In this context, the Foreign Office promotes intensive exchange between Germany and the rest of the world within the competences of politics, economics, culture, science and technology, environment, development and many more. Furthermore, it works closely together with civic partners such as trade associations, trade unions, humanitarian and human rights organizations. Next to its role in foreign affairs it also plays an important role for Germans who are seeking for visa, thus in consular services.
Additionally, the Foreign Office is of an interdisciplinary nature. Thus, employees are confronted with multiple tasks and activities from various fields and their deployment location is the whole world. This also means that diplomats who are serving the Foreign Office have to change their
workplaces at intervals of three to five years.
Embassy of the Federal Republic Germany in Sri Lanka
The diplomatic relationship between Germany and Sri Lanka, which is existing more than 50 years, is a solid foundation of good cooperation. The German Embassy has 40 employees (including locals) and is in various ways active in Sri Lanka, e.g. Goethe-Institut, Südasien-Institut, Freundschaftsgesellschaften, Germany, together with its EU-partners and other Western states, is highly motivated with regards to the protection of human rights and the development of reconciliation process after the newly elected regime in Sri Lanka since 2015. After more than 30 years of civil war, the main interest of Germany is to create a sustainable and efficient reconcilement between the ethnic groups Muslims, Singhalese and Tamils. In this context, Germany is specifically involved in reconstruction and reconciliation process within the war-destroyed Northern and Eastern part of Sri Lanka. Apart from this Germany is also highly involved in boosting the economic growth, development policy, culture and education policy.
Expectations prior to the placement
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motivated to acquire knowledge about the different diplomatic strategies that has been used by German diplomats to enrich Sri Lanka´s development in various areas. More specifically I was highly interested in Germany´s involvement within the areas of political and economic issues as well as human rights policies.
Close to this expectation I was also curious about the issue how to transform my gained academic and theoretical skills at the university in the Netherlands into a more practical application at the Embassy in Sri Lanka. I expected to assist various fields and to obtain knowledge about their exclusive and intra-performance.
. My third and final expectation focused rather on social and organizational skills. I wanted to enrich my networking and language abilities, e.g. trilingual exchange within the diplomatic community. I also wanted to learn how to represent the Embassy properly on highly political and elite occasions.
CHAPTER 2 Activities and tasks
During my placement at the Embassy activities and tasks were of an interdisciplinary character. The main emphasis was in the area of politics and economics. In this sense, I have to write reports and make other contributions on relevant topics such as reconciliation, constitutional reform and understanding of democracy. This was necessary in order to inform the main department of the Foreign Office in Berlin about the current situation in Sri Lanka.
Furthermore, I also supported the area of development cooperation and economics. In this context, I was faced with the tools of micro projects. Thus, I prepared first drafts for application review. This was important for the Embassy in order to record the aims of the micro projects and the expected sustainability of these projects. Within this area I also had to prepare invitations for the visits of delegations from enterprise representatives.
Additionally, I also assisted consular and visa section. I was able to take part in foreigners- and visa formalities. In this sense, I was able to use my trilingual expertise. For instance, I was able to do an interview on a case of immigration of spouse in Tamil. Additionally, I also learned to draft remonstrations notifications on visa applications.
Moreover, I was also active in the area of culture and event planning. Thus, within the press section I was responsible for some posts on Social Media such as on Facebook and Twitter. Besides, with regards to the celebration of the Unification Day of Germany I also assisted the planning of the event and was involved in the creation and publication of the newspaper supplement.
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report the Embassy, either in writing or in person. One of the memorable external meeting was the trip to the UNESCO village in Kosgoda on the occasion of the 10. anniversary of the schools there. I really enjoyed it and the experience and vive there contributed to my personality and attitude.
A detailed list of performed activities and tasks including my personal reflections can be found in the Appendix A.
Evaluation of working attitude and placement supervision
During these two months I was highly motivated to perform every single activity and task that was imposed on me. I liked the interdisciplinary nature of the activities and tasks a lot. Thus, I was able to get in touch with different areas of the Embassy and my working attitude stayed mostly positive and I learned to improve my skills in independence and responsibility. I also learned to take my time in order to perform every single task patiently.
Within this placement I proofed to have the attitude that I can and I will manage everything well independently, particularly by preparing, structuring and planning everything well in my mind set before performing anything requested by the Embassy. I also looked actively for opportunities to take responsibility on most demanding tasks from different departments, thus to educate myself in several fields. Furthermore, when a task or activity was imposed on me, I developed the attitude to focus on what can be done and done right rather than on what cannot be done, even in stressful situations, where you simply felt overwhelmed by the high level of workload.
I also realized that my working attitude was very enthusiastic when attending external meetings beyond the service period. I liked the fact to get in touch with different topics and various high political personalities such as from International Organizations, NGO´s, scholars or state representatives. Thus, I was also able to practise networking and get to know people, who may be important for me in the future.
Turning to the placement supervision I have to state clearly that I really appreciated the fact to get in the most of the cases helpful feedback and criticism on my performed activities and tasks, especially on my written academic reports and texts on different topics. I received feedback and improvement options from supervisors of nearly every department, either in person or in written comments. These reasonable advises embedded in criticisms from experts taught me lessons, which were helpful and will improve myself in the future.
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and this was obvious, because I strongly realized the difference compared to the diplomats´ supervision from other fields in the Embassy.
However, I believe that the lack of supervision can be traced back to the fact that the time was super stressful and the workload was overwhelming, thus the supervisor of the department culture was not able to give me any inputs, feedback or criticism either in written or in person.
Analysis of personal difficulties at German Embassy
During my internship I come across two personal difficulties considering the performance of some activities and tasks. In this sense, I really appreciate the fact that I come across these difficulties, because they were good lessons to improve myself and avoid similar difficulties in the future.
In the beginning of my internship, I faced the problem with the use of trilingual language. Thus, it was sometimes difficult for me to switch between the languages German, English and Tamil, but very quickly I get to use to it. In this context, I also underestimated the fact to write a report on an academic level in German. Although I was born and grown up in Germany, I have studied in English in the Netherlands since 2012 and I recognized that it was much easier for me to write in English rather than to use German for academic purposes. However, by time, with the recommendations of my supervisors and increased practise, e.g. drafting reports on different topics, I improved myself. This difficulty taught me to focus increasingly on my mother tongue with regards to the style of academic contributions.
Another difficulty appeared within the second half of my internship, more specifically within the last couple of weeks. In this context, I had to increasingly assist the preparation for the celebration of the Unification Day of Germany and I was also responsible for the establishment of relevant content for the newspaper supplement. I felt tensed and stressed, because I additionally had to focus on other tasks and activities from other departments, such as conducting the preparations of invitations for enterprise companies or writing a remonstration notice on a visa application. Apart from this, due to the fact that the supervisor of the culture department was overwhelmed with the preparation for the Unification Day as well, there was no proper guideline or feedback given on the performance of my activity. There was also a lack of a proper communication between the responsible supervisor and me. I try to overcome this by sharing the activity with another intern and asking her for more information and ideas.
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during the preparation for the Unification Day of Germany and the establishment of the newspaper supplement.
CHAPTER 3
Link between the placement and the degree program IRIO
The connection between the placement at the Embassy and the degree program IRIO can be considered in three aspects. The main link can be based on the interdisciplinary nature of both. Within the study program I was able to acquire (theoretical) knowledge from different paths of specializations such as global governance, international security, international relations and international organisations covering different areas such as political, economic, legal and social. Similarly, within the placement I was able to assist different departments such as economics, culture, political, legal and administrative and I was confronted with multiple tasks and activities.
Another connection is reflected in terms of the working procedure. Within the degree program as well as within the internship I had to proof my abilities in academic skills. The study program taught me for example how to do reliable and valid research and how to express myself in an appropriate academic way. Similarly, at the Embassy I was also confronted with tasks and activities which were of a highly academic and diplomatic nature, for instance in the sense of writing political reports, remonstration notices or simply doing research on different concepts.
Concluding, I can state clear that the degree IRIO had a positive and valuable impact on the performance of my activities and tasks in the placement at the German Embassy in Sri Lanka. Especially the interdisciplinary character of the study program eased the quick adjustments to the interdisciplinary work at the Embassy. Additionally, I was able to deepen the acquired theoretical knowledge in actual and practical experiences.
Connection between the fulfilment of the tasks and to the chosen path of specialization within the interdisciplinary character of IRIO
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Thus, I acquired knowledge about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka (which can be also considered as a weak state) by attending some external meetings such as for example at the jubilee celebration of the Sri Lanka Federation of University Women, where increasingly the rights of women had been discussed or at the seminar, organized by ICRC, on the issue of missing persons, where aspects of human rights violations in the northern part of Sri Lanka had been strongly discussed and the rights of minority had been emphasized. Furthermore, the need for an improvement of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka also became an important matter at the symposium on the topic Bill of Rights in the New Constitution, organized by the CPA and DRI.
Furthermore, I also acquired knowledge on present national security issues in Sri Lanka. For instance, I attended a discussion meeting on the issue of biodiversity projects in Sri Lanka, where the importance of energy security has been elaborated. Another example would be the attendance of the public lecture on constitutional reforms, where the relevance of national security became visible. It was given by a well-known Sri Lankan politician and scholar.
Also, I was able to deepen my knowledge in (global) governance in practise. In this sense, some tools of governance became visible at the National Conference on Public Private Partnership Roundtable Discussion, which was organized by the USAID. This discussion highlighted the relevance of global actors such as the World Bank and other national states to improve Sri Lanka´s private financial system. Another example would be the report on the project of Colombo Port City, whereby some governance issues became visible, as well.
Concluding, I can state clear that there is a certain connection between the tasks I have performed at the Embassy and the different specialization paths but since the placement itself is of an interdisciplinary character, it is difficult to link it with only one specific path of specialization.
CHAPTER 4
Housing, cost of living and social surroundings
The housing situation is not that bad in the capital of Sri Lanka Colombo. In order to find a proper accommodation, it is better to look before the arrival. The following email might be helpful to contact expats, who are seeking for roommates colombo.machangs@gmail.com . However, if nothing could be found before the arrival, it is also possible to book a guest house or any kind of accommodation on site in Colombo. The prices of rooms are very cheap, compared to the prices in Europe.
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super difficult to find one within a short time. To serve as a guide: Colombo 7, a very beautiful but also expensive neighborhood; Colombo 4,5 and 6 are cheaper areas and the Embassy can be reached very easily by bus or tuk tuk.
The cost of living is cheaper than compared to the costs in Europe. In this sense, restaurants are very cheap which may vary from 1.50 to 15€, depending on the restaurant. Local restaurants are mostly much cheaper than foreign ones, but please be aware of the quality of the food. Not everywhere is the food good. Transportation costs are also very cheap in Colombo but also in the entire country and the prices vary from some Cents to some Euros, depending on the distance and the transport vehicle such as bus, train, tuck tuck or taxi. Further information can be found on https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Colombo?displayCurrency=EUR.
The social surrounding is comfortable. Colombo itself as a city does not offer many sights but as a typical Asian metropolis it is known for its terrible and noisy traffic system, especially during rush hours between 4.30pm and 7.30pm on the Galle Road. Nevertheless, there are some nice places, which can be explored. Colombo continues 12 km alongside the coast of the Indian Ocean and its main road is called Galle Road, which runs through the whole city parallel to the Sea.
There are no parks such as those known from Western World. However, a bigger green space, which are gladly visited by young Sri Lankans, is the Galle Face Green and is located in north of Galle Face Hotel or the Viharamahadevi Park. A must-do is the visit to the market in Pettah, which is nearby the central station and the Sri Lanka national museum in Colombo 7. There is also a Colombo Dutch Museum, which might be interesting particularly for Dutch people to acknowledge and experience the history of the Dutch colonization in Sri Lanka for more than 150 years from 1640 to 1796. Furthermore, since Colombo and the entire country are known for their multiple ethnic and religious groups, there are many Buddhist and Hindu temples, mosques and churches. Further personal tips can be found in Appendix B.
Future career orientation and prospects
The internship at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Colombo allowed me to have a small insight in the interdisciplinary work of diplomats and the bureaucratic working method. With regards to the content following an interdisciplinary nature and highly reflecting my master program International Relations I am motivated to work for the Embassy in the future. However, I am also aware of the fact that a placement of two months is too short to make a concrete decision for the future.
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serving different states, international organizations, enterprises, NGOs and many more. Additionally, it’s a bonus to travel across the world and simultaneously to serve a country for a certain period of time (mostly three to five years).
Although within the placement my main focus lied rather on the political and economic area, I liked the visa and consular section the most and I could imagine to assist this department in the future. Generally, I also liked the hierarchy and disciplined order system at the Embassy and I could imagine to work in similar system. Thus, everybody plays an important role in his or her department and is linked within the whole system.
However, the only issue which might be difficult when considering a job at the Embassy is the working atmosphere. Since it’s a highly bureaucratic institution with a hierarchy system, the working atmosphere and communication level may suffer to a certain extent. This again may have a bad impact on the personality in the long term, but I believe that you can work on it and this should not be seen as the main hindrance to join the Embassy.
13 Appendix A: Overview of activities and tasks & Personal reflection
Politics/Human Rights
Involvement in a discussion forum on the results of the report „Living with Uncertainty: Needs of the Families of Missing Persons in Sri Lanka “, organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Participation in a seminar “The Bill of Rights in the New Constitution”, organized by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) und Democracy Reporting International (DRI)
Visit of a public lecture: Constitutional Reforms in Sri Lanka: Prospects and Problems, organized by the United Nations Association of Sri Lanka:
Visit of and reportage on the sponsored workshop “Motivation of civilians in the transformation of existing political culture in Sri Lanka”
Trip to a symposium, organized Sri Lanka Federation of University Women – (SLFUW) Diamond Jubilee Celebrations
Establishment of condolence letters to the embassy of Italy on the occasion of the earth quake in central Italy and the case of death from the former president Mr. Chiampi
Personal reflection: Although most of the external meetings and events were settled beyond the service period, I enjoyed the attendances. It was very impressive and informative. I was able to practise and improve my networking abilities and acknowledged how to represent the German Embassy in a diplomatic way. I also improved my skills in independence and responsibility. The drafts of condolence letters could be seen as small challenges testing my ability in sensitive writing style. It was not always easy but I liked it.
Economics
Research on current on total debts/state budget of Sri Lanka
External meeting on National Conference on Public Private Partnership Roundtable Discussion, organised by USAID Short-Term Assistance to Improve Public Financial Management Reform (STAIR) Project
Personal reflection: The external meeting was very informative with regards to the involvement of global actors and other national states, especially to see the involvement of the US in Sri Lanka. The research on total debts was interesting and was more a side work while conducting other tasks.
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Research and summary of relevant data on commitments of international donor communities to Sri Lanka
Establishment of a short report with regards to the tripartite agreement on Colombo Port City Project between Sri Lanka und CHECH
External meeting to the ministry of finance on the matter of biodiversity projects in Sri Lanka
Personal reflection: The research was very interesting. Writing a report on the tripartite agreement was not easy as I have assumed before. I underestimated the fact to write a whole report in a German academic way. However, this was a good practise and lesson to focus on languages. The external meeting was very impressive and informative. I felt honoured to participate this alongside the deputy minister and to see the involvement of the state company GIZ together with the Embassy in Sri Lanka.
Development cooperation With regards to micro projects:
Establishment of application review notices Establishment of donation confirmations
Notification/Refusal of applications with regards to support payment Establishment of Factsheets
Personal reflection: The activities and tasks around the confirmation or refusal of an applied micro projects, requesting for financial support from the Embassy, were very interesting and impressive. The work was rather testing my writing, communicative and cognitive skills. I enjoyed it to check all the applications and to prepare drafts for diplomats to simplify their work with regards to the relationship with the applicants.
Consular and Visa
Preparations of drafts of remonstration notices in visa applications Questioning in Tamil on the issue “joining the spouse”
Translation and aid regarding visa applications/visa related issues
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a visa to join the spouse in Germany. It was a challenge for me and I could feel that the whole responsibility was imposed on me to do it a proper way.
Culture
Involvement within the establishment of a newspaper supplement on the occasion of the German Unity Day
Participation at the embassy-reception of the German Unity Day
Trip and draft of a speech with regards to the 10. anniversary of the schools within the UNESCO Village in Kosgoda
Establishment of Facebook-/Twitter-posts on several occasions
Personal reflection: The involvement in the creation of a newspaper supplement was highly challenging and most of the time really stressful. I even felt sometimes depressive and tensed considering the content for this newspaper supplement and these feelings can be traced back to the fact that I did not receive a proper guideline and feedback. The participation at the embassy-reception of the German Unity Day was impressive and I enjoyed the welcoming of important diplomatic guests, testing my communicative skills The trip to the UNESCO village in Kosgoda could be seen as the highlight of the entire internship. It was kind and impressive and I enjoyed it a lot. In this context, I was also highly motivated to draft the speech for the press officer independently. Furthermore, I loved to create some Facebook-/Twitter-posts on different occasions. This task was very varied, especially when performing main work in other departments.
Administration
Translations on security issues
Response of Emails on various requests
Dispatch of emails to external service providers regarding the Launch of Sri Lanka Vocational Education and Training Network
Draft of a refusal letter on unsolicited applications
Personal reflection: The listed tasks could be seen rather as side works, next to the tasks and activities in other departments. Translations, response letters, dispatch of emails were more of an assistance work. They allowed me to improve my writing and language skills but also my organizational skills.
Appendix B: Tips for students
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1. I highly recommend to do the internship within a minimum time period of three months. Two months are simply too short to have a deep involvement within the work of diplomats.
2. I suggest to contact first diplomats in countries in which you are highly interested and ask them for possible internship places. Sometimes, you are lucky and they reply.
3. Do not underestimate the application procedure. It is not that easy to do an internship at the Embassy even after you have applied online due to the high amount of applications (Be aware: There were 39 more co-applicants who wanted to do an internship at the German Embassy in Sri Lanka!). I suggest to apply for further internships in other areas, as well.
4. If you got the placement I highly recommend to create a Check-List where you simply list all things what have to be done before you join the placement.
5. Start looking for an accommodation very early, handle visa and health issues (check your vaccinations) as soon as possible and look for further important information about the country where you are going to assist the Embassy.
6. With regards to the financial compensation you can apply for scholarships such as Marco Polo, granted by the university and/or DAAD Kurzstipendium in Germany. These two may help to cover at least some of your financial burden. Apart from this you will receive a financial compensation of 300 € per month (Be aware: The compensation will be first transferred to your bank account after you have successfully finished the placement! So make sure that you have enough money to cover all your expenses!)
7. Be open minded to learn about and try to integrate within the new culture and society, which might be sometimes extremely different from the country where you are originally from. 8. Since the transportation costs are extremely cheap you have the chance to do weekend trips
across Sri Lanka very easily and enjoy its beauty in variety (Be aware: As a woman you should avoid travelling alone! It is always better to have a group or with somebody and is also more fun!)
9. The prices of food may vary a lot but local food is mostly very cheap, you can get a satiable meal for around 2-3 Euro (Be aware: Before tasting a food particularly at local’s places where the prices are extremely low, smell whether the food is really good. Sometimes they might be spoilt!
