I wanted to come to cape town to explore a new country because I’ve never been to any African country at all. So that was the last continent I still needed to explore, and I thought it would be a good place to go because people speak English here, so I could speak their language!

I studied Event Management so I wanted to do something in events initially, but then I heard about the wedding industry in cape town, and how big and diverse it is. I decided to try something new and explore a different industry in the market.

It was better than I could have imagined! The wedding industry is so different from the more corporate events or fundraisers I’m used to.

Yes, it was just myself and my supervisor working together, so everything I did or worked on, my supervisor would be nearby keeping an eye out and helping me if I needed anything.

Yes, I got to do many projects by myself and was often given a lot of responsibility.

It definitely challenged me, because I had never worked in the wedding industry before. I found the wedding planning to be so much more personal and emotional. I had many opportunities to add a personal touch to my work and this was very rewarding!

Yes, I do feel like I made a valuable contribution to the company. It was a very small team so I often took on almost half the work that needed to be done!

Yeah, it was definitely a worthwhile experience and I had many many chances to grow and learn new things that I don’t think I would have learned in Germany!

I think I was mostly scared of the poverty and the crime in Cape Town.

I think my fears were a bit silly now looking back on it. You can’t really judge a country or city until you have actually been there. I heard all the stereotypical dangers and problems in Cape Town, and many people told me about how dangerous it is, but I experienced no problems at all while I was here.

I think Cape Town is so beautiful because you have the ocean, mountains, and Winelands all in close proximity to each other. Its also so diverse and you can really find people from all over the world living here. It's an amazing city.

Yeah I would recommend it to anyone!

Yeah, I had had many phone calls with Lucie during my placement search. My first placement actually fell through, but Lucie was so quick at finding me a new placement and it turned out even better than the first opportunity! I never felt left alone, or like we would never find a placement. It was really good!

Yeah, it was amazing! There was always someone available to talk to that could answer my questions, or help me through things like my visa extension. You were always really quick to reply and could meet up at a moments notice.

Yes for me I think it was the placement! I couldn’t have found this placement myself, and even my supervisor said she wouldn’t have wanted to hire interns who just came by themselves. She only hires interns that come through an agency. That way, she only needs to focus on my internship and the work at hand, and not the many other things that come along with doing an internship abroad. Like my accommodation, safety, social events and making friends, were all handled by Bridging Gaps.

Yeah, I had had many phone calls with Lucie during my placement search. My first placement actually fell through, but Lucie was so quick at finding me a new placement and it turned out even better than the first opportunity! I never felt left alone, or like we would never find a placement. It was really good!

Oh yeah for sure! I think it depends on the industry you are going for, but there are definitely somethings available in Cape town that you definitely won’t find back home.

I think its definitely worth going through an agency, because if something does go wrong, it's great to have that security, and someone close by who can help you through it.