Welcome to The Excellence Center! We are so excited to welcome you into our community, whether you are coming to learn German or Arabic, teach English or do our Media and Journalism program you will find your place here. In the following article, you will find a brief outline of information relevant to your stay here in Halle.

About the Center

Since its opening in 2018, volunteers and students have come to The Excellence Center from all over the world to teach and learn. When traveling to Halle from out of the country, the closest airport is the Leipzig/Halle Airport, about 20 minutes from The Excellence Center by train. It is also possible to fly to Berlin and take an ICE train, which would take about an hour.

Once you arrive in Halle, the Excellence Center is located at Ernst-Toller-Straße 15, 06110 Halle (Saale). It is only a 10-minute walk from the main train station (Hauptbahnhof) and about a 15-minute walk from the city center (Marktplatz).

About the Accommodations

When working at The Excellence Center, accommodations are provided, and there are three options: a female-only apartment, a male-only apartment, or a host family placement. 

1. The Female-Only Accommodation

The female-only accommodation is located in the south of the city, about 30 minutes away from The Center by tram. It is in a quiet residential neighborhood with a nice park nearby. The apartment has three bedrooms, a shared bathroom, and a shared kitchen. There are two women in each bedroom at a time, meaning up to six women sharing the same space. A balcony is also attached to the apartment, providing a nice space to relax after a day at The Center. 

2. The Male-Only Accommodation

The male-only accommodation is located in Neustadt, also about a 30-minute tram ride away from The Center. In the apartment, there are two bedrooms: one with four beds and one with two, meaning up to six men can reside there at a time. There is also a shared kitchen, bathroom, and living room. 

3. Host Family

The final option is to be placed with a host family. This placement highly depends on the availability of the host families that work with The Center. When placed with a host family, there are German host families as well as Arabic host families, and volunteers will have access to a kitchen, bathroom, and their own bedroom. These options are also around a 20-30 minute commute to The Excellence Center. 

Both the female-only and male-only accommodations are equipped with amenities for a comfortable stay, including access to Wi-Fi. Neither apartment has air conditioning, so make sure to bring clothes to stay cool in or a fan if you’d like to stay cool during the hotter months. 

About Shopping

While breakfast is provided at The Center Monday through Thursday, the rest of the meals are on one’s own. Grocery shopping is quite easy, though! Near the female apartment, there is a Lidl and an Edeka supermarket that are both within a 15-minute walk away. Near the male apartment, there is also a Lidl, an Edeka, and a Kaufland. Each of these supermarkets offers a variety of groceries and household items you might need, and if you are looking for more of a drugstore, there are also stores like Rossmann and dm in the area.

Closer to The Excellence Center, any store you could wish to find is only about a 10-15 minute walk away. All stores are closed on Sundays though! So if you are arriving on a Sunday, you might want to plan on eating at a restaurant or bringing food with you until stores open again on Monday. 

First Day/First Week

On your first day at The Center, you will start with the communal breakfast at 10 am. There you will meet your fellow volunteers and Center Staff. If taking a language course, you will be assessed on your level in that language and placed into a course. With the Teach English program, you will find out who your students are and begin setting up lessons for your time at The Center.

Lastly, if you are doing the Media and Journalism Program, you will discuss your ideas and come up with a timeline for completing projects. 

Daily Life

A day at The Excellence Center typically starts with the provided breakfast at 10 am. Everyone gathers around and enjoys the food in a lively atmosphere. Afterward, depending on the program you have signed up for, your day can look a little different and is pretty flexible. If you have signed up for a language course, that will usually follow breakfast.

If you have come to teach English, you schedule those classes with your students at a time that works for both parties. In the afternoons, if you are not in classes or volunteering, there are plenty of fun things to do around Halle, such as parks, museums, cafes, and the cinema. At night, you can cook dinner at home, or visit one of Halle’s many restaurants. Overall, the structure of the days is relaxed and passes at an easy-going pace. 

What to Expect?

Living and working at The Excellence Center is a shared experience, so what should you expect when you’re sharing this space with others? At the accommodation, there are at most six people living in a space at any given time, so it is expected that everyone respects the space and cleans up after themselves, including the common areas as well as the bedroom area.

The same expectations apply at The Excellence Center when using the shared kitchen area; everyone is expected to clean their plates and generally tidy up after themselves so we can maintain a well-kept common space. 

For those traveling to Germany for the first time, there are a couple of quirky things to expect when you come to live here! As previously mentioned, all grocery stores are closed on Sundays, so it is best to get your shopping done during the week. One exception to this rule is the grocery store in Halle’s main train station, which is open on Sundays but tends to be a bit more expensive than your neighborhood grocery.

Another difference you might encounter is the separation of waste into compostables, recyclables, and trash. This sorting system can seem complicated but is not too hard to adjust to, as there are plenty of signs on all trash bins outlining what exactly can go in that bin. 

What to Bring?

In the apartments, everything needed to live comfortably for your stay is provided, such as a washing machine, a dishwasher, bedding, dishes, and cleaning supplies, including a vacuum and mop. Personal products, such as toiletries, are not provided. However, there are usually extra products left by previous residents that you are free to use. Whatever is not found at the apartment can be purchased at the drug or grocery stores. The kitchen is fully stocked with shared dishes and cooking utensils. As with bathroom essentials, there tend to be communal spices, flour, sugar, and salt. All other food would need to be purchased individually. 

Some more recommendations for a comfortable experience here in Halle are to bring a reusable water bottle, especially during the hotter summer months.

A swimsuit is also quite useful during these hot European summers with no air conditioning because there are plenty of places to dip in the water and cool off! One item that is strongly advised to bring is a laptop for work, studying or entertainment while here.

Finally, as a part of our cultural atmosphere, please bring some item or trinket from your city or country so we can add it to our collection and remember all of the participants who have passed through our community! 

Language Courses Information

The Excellence Center offers German and Arabic courses to its volunteers for the duration of their stay. When applying for the Internship Program, there is the option of doing 3 hours, 6 hours, and 9 hours of a language course. The 3 hour course is included in the program fee while the 6 and 9 hours cost an extra fee. In the courses, the atmosphere is very relaxed as well, with patient and understanding teachers and the opportunity to improve your language in a judgment-free zone. 

If you are coming to The Center to do an intensive language course, expect to meet for 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. The language classes are typically small, but size depends on both your level and the level of fellow students. If you have previous experience in the language, you will be expected to take a short placement exam on your first day to help them determine your level. While students are expected to take their learning seriously while at The Center, there are no grades and ultimately you get out what you put in. 

Transportation

Getting around in Germany is fairly easy with the extensive public transportation system. There is a wide network of regional trains and, once you arrive in Halle, there are many options available to you, including trams and buses. The easiest way to access the abundance of public transportation is the Deutschland ticket. Currently, the cost of a Deutschland ticket is 63 Euros per month (starting on the first of the month). With this ticket, you get access to all regional trains, buses, subways, and trams.

The only modes of transport excluded from the Deutschland ticket are the ICE and IC trains. If you have a German bank account, you can purchase the Deutschland ticket through the Deutsche Bahn App (DB app). For those who do not have a German bank account, the ticket can be purchased through the app Mopla or other third-party apps that accept foreign bank accounts. Please note that the tickets renew automatically on the 10th of each month, so be sure to cancel in advance!

For travel, Google Maps is a reliable way to know when the trams and buses are arriving and how to get from point A to point B. When planning a longer intercity trip, say from Halle to Berlin, the DB app is helpful in finding connections between regional trains that are available to take with your Deutschland ticket. Direct train tickets are available for purchase, such as IC, ICE, and Flixtrain services. You can also purchase regional bus tickets through the DB app. One important note: Uber is not supported in Halle, but there are standard taxi cab services that can be called or hailed from the street. 

More Questions/Concerns?

We are so excited to see you at the Excellence Center! If you have any questions, feel free to reference the FAQs article or reach out to us at Info@eceurope.org or on WhatsApp at +49 1514 2022 224.