I General information about the school

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1 Study Program: Bachelor Psychology Exchange semester: Spring 2014 Academic year: Host University: University of Padova Country: Italy I General information about the school Padova is like actually every Italian city really beautiful. It is a quite small city, just a little bit bigger than Tilburg, but way more beautiful. It has got three main squares where the buildings are amazing. You can find some faculties in the citycentre, but a lot of faculties are located outside of the citycentre, next to the river. I studied Psychology and that was located next to the river and I loved it. There were places where you could sit next to the river and have a nice coffee. The faculties next to the river look a bit like a real campus. There is also a big mensa where you can have a really good lunch or dinner. For 5,70 you get three courses and drinks you can refill and the food is really good. During summer suddenly little bars appear at the riverside and everyone gathers there. Also in the citycentre there are a lot of nice bars at the squares to have a nice drink and enjoy the beautiful city. With your ESN membercard you get a lot of discounts in the city, like a spritz for 2 euros at St.Clemente. That is a bar you will visit a lot being an exchange student. There are also three main discos in town: Factory, Fishmarket and Bimbo. They are located ten minutes from the squares. As an exchange student you will visit Fishmarket and Factory a lot. During summer, Factory will close and open a summerclub. Factory simply opens the roof and you can dance till the sun comes up. For eating you can go anywhere, since Italian food is always good and always better than Dutch food. Interesting things to see and do in town are visiting the Scrovegni Chapel, where you can see nice frescos of Giotto. You have to make an appointment to visit the Chapel, but it is worth it if you are interested in art. You can also visit Palazzo Ragione and see the wonderful building from the inside. The church of St. Antonio was my favourite church in Padova. Huge and beautifully painted from the inside with a lot of little chapels. One faculty of the University is located in Palazzo del Bo where also the International Office is located in. You can do a guided tour in this palazzo and see the anatomical theatre that Galileo Galilei invented. The university does not have a sports centre, so that is quite different than Tilburg. I always went running alongside the river and enjoyed the view of the nice buildings in town. The guys (and ofcourse girls can do that to) always got together to play soccer. They even had a tournament and played soccer every week at least once. So not having a sports centre is a thing where the University of Padova differs from Tilburg. Also there is not one complete campus, but a sort of campus with a river dividing it and some faculties in the city centre.the university has got 16 canteens you can find across town. So there will always be one near to your house, different than Tilburg, which only has got one big university restaurant and several canteens. Every restaurant had a different menu and differed also in quality (I loved it all). I loved the campus being next to the river and enjoy a

2 drink while watching over the water. There was also a bridge with a nice arcade over it which you had to go underneath before coming to the university. Every morning I was so happy that I could walk underneath it, it was really beautiful. The University of Padova has got students with graduating each year. The University was founded in 1222 and has a very good reputation in Italy. It has a Botanical Garden, which is the oldest university garden in the world to have retained its original location and layout over the centuries. With your university of Padova card you can enter the Garden for free. There are a few hundred exchange students every semester and if you join ESN you will have a great time with all of them. There is a semester system and you have an exam and a few resits a year.the grading system is a lot different than Tilburgs grading system. They count with 30 points. 18 points is passed and you can even get a 10+, a 30 e lode. It is not that hard to get a 10, sometimes even really easy for Erasmusstudents. Also, if you are not satisfied with your grade, you can always ask for an oral exam to pimp up your grade. II Practical Information Information before you left Before I left, I received a few s from the university with my username and password for Uniweb, Padovas Blackboardsystem. On the University website in the International area you can find a lot of information for incoming students about which forms to fill in and what to do before you leave your own country and come to Italy. University of Padova has got 14 residence halls where you can subscribe for. There is one deadline per semester, so make sure to apply on time if you are interested! There is one residence hall that is located outside of the city centre, it is the Colombo residence. I first was offered a room here, but I declined it and found another room for myself on Facebook. ESN makes every semester a facebookpage for incoming students, so make sure to check that page if you are looking for a room and other information. Other students are really helpful. In the residences you are not allowed to have people staying over for the night or stay longer than 11 o clock in the evening. On you can find all the information about subscribing for the residences and there are pictures of the residences on it. The only difficulty that I had was that I did not receive the Acceptance Letter way in advance. I only got it a week before I left Tilburg and I really had to very often. But I hear that this is quite normal if you are going on an exchange and especially everyone I spoke in Padova about this problem, recognized it and also had to ed often to receive it. Arrival When I arrived in Italy, there was no one to pick me up. University does not take care of that, so you are on your own. That is fine I think, but different in Tilburg where exchange students get picked up at the station and are being brought to University. I had to find out everything myself at the University, but that is not that hard. Everyone also gets a buddy if you subscribe for the buddy system, but I have never met my buddy, because I found out everything myself. They have to help you, because they get paid for it, so be sure to contact

3 them when you have any questions. The SASSA office, International Office and Student Secretary were really well prepared for my arrival. I got a lot of papers to carry with me from office to office, but all with useful information. Italian people are really helpful and also at University they will always try to help you. One let down was that the Welcome day was a week (or maybe two) after the start of the classes, so that was not really helpful or welcoming. In Italy there is a lot of bureaucracy, so get used to that. You have to take numbers for everything and always wait in lines. You have to go and get a codice fiscal, so you can sign a contract for your room. SASSA or your buddy will explain you where to go. Orientation/Introduction activities ESN, the student association in Padova is very active and they also organize a Welcome Week for the incoming students. That consists of partying and also a citytour. They organize a lot of activities during the semester, like trips to other parts of Italy and they are usually really affordable. It is a must to join ESN in Padova, every exchange student is a member and you get a lot of discounts. You also meet a lot of people during the activities and that is why you are abroad! Housing Like mentioned before, you can subscribe for housing of University in one of the residences. You can always decline them if you do not like the one you are getting. Be careful, in Italy it is normal to share a room with one or two other persons. That is different than at home, so if you do not like it, make sure to get a single room. You can find housing easily on different housing websites and especially really easy on the incoming exchange students facebookpage which ESN makes every year. Also use this page to get tips where to find housing or to get answers on questions about location or to find a bike, because you will really need a bike in Padova. It is like Tilburg: everyone gets around on their bicycle! I did not hear any problems about the residence halls, except that they do not allow visitors over night. But no bad stories about contracts or not getting back deposits. It is also not a problem to decline your room, you just have to send them an that you are declining your room. SASSA will always ask you to send them your home address so they can reach you, even when you do not sign up for the residences, you have to do it. University wants to know your address, for if there would be any problems and SASSA is connected with University. They will also give you the useful papers. Living costs While being abroad I financed my exchange period with the grant we get from the government (studiefinanciering), my Erasmusgrant, the money you get to compensate for the not using of your Student public transport card and personal savings. My expenses abroad were a lot bigger than in Tilburg and most of the money I used for trips and going out for a drink or bite. I would really advice you to save enough money so that you do not have to

4 think about every euro you spend. That would really be a shame if you had to do that on Erasmus, because in my opinion you should not say no to anything. Go on a lot of trips and always join to have dinner somewhere or having drinks if someone asks you. You will really regret it if you had to say no a lot because of lacking money. Monthly budget: - Housing: for bills - Food: Transport: Bicycle: 40 for 5 months - Books: 20 for two readers, rest is learning from powerpoint slides - Miscellaneous: o Drinks: at least 6 a day, since you will go for Aperol Spritz every day. Academic Calender I arrived on Wednesday and the welcome week would start on Sunday. I really liked this so that I could take care of all the bureaucracy stuff before I had to start the introduction. On facebook some people made an event to have drinks on Friday and 60 people showed up at least. On Saturday we went via another facebook event to Venice and so I knew a lot of people before the Welcome week started. The welcome week was organized by ESN Padova and consisted mostly of partying and city tour. I would really recommend to go earlier than the Welcome week starts, because everyone was there earlier and knew some people already. Also I think the Welcome week is not at all comparable to the Topweek in Tilburg. The Topweek is really intense and you participate in a group. In Padova it is just doing stuff in the evening and not in groups. But I did not mind because I got to know a lot of new people and on Sunday before the first Welcome party I was already having dinner at someone s place with friends. The first day of the Semester was the second day of the welcome week and I had to start my classes immediately. I had to find out everything myself, but I managed and so did the rest. Do not worry, it will all be alright. It is easier to manage it on your own than you would think before. It is a semestersystem and there is no mid-term break, at least not while studying Psychology. Some other studies did have midterms. The last day of classes was a week before my finals. Some courses offered us to do the finals earlier than that week, so that you would not have everything in once. I grabbed that opportunity so that I spread my finals over two weeks. The examination period was pretty intense for me, because in Tilburg I do not have a semester system and never four exams in a few days, so I did not know what to expect, but most exams were pretty easy. I think that the level of most courses are lower than the level of courses in Tilburg. Also the studymaterial is less than the material in Tilburg. I studied for some exams only one night and an evening and got a ten, so that is motivating! So actually, in my experience, you only spent two weeks in total of studying and then have a lot of weeks of only fun. The international office You can find the International Office in Palazzo del Bo. It is a really old and very nice building located in the middle of the city centre. You can even do a guided tour in it. During opening hours there is of course always someone who speaks English, because that can sometimes be a problem in Italy. But if you start in Italian to ask if someone can speak English, they are always trying to help you out. The International office helped me during my arrival and also when I had to send my changed learning agreement. There is one woman responsible for the incoming students and when you contact her personally, the chances are not that high that she will respond to you, since she has hundreds of exchange students. You can better the international office or the Erasmus exchange coordinator of your faculty. Also every exchange student gets a personal exchange coordinator, but I only had to go see her when I

5 needed her to sign my changed learning Agreement. At the end of your stay, you have to go past the International Office to hand in some forms and get the Transcript of Records send to you. To be really honest, I always got a bit lost in Palazzo del Bo, but that is really not a punishment, since it is a beautiful building and I only had to be at the Office three times. I am satisfied with the information and help I got at the International Office. Everytime I came by, they were well prepared for the students to help. Exchange promotion During my exchange period I had to promote Tilburg University. I asked a lot of people if they knew Tilburg and they almost never did. But I invited a lot of people to come over and explore the city. I also knew that Tilburg has got a big I*ESN section and since this was a very active organization in Padova I promoted Tilburg by telling about our ESN and that the city is quite similar to Padova (only not as beautiful!) and that it is great to study in. Social activities As I told before, there is a very active ESN section in Padova. They organize at least once a week an activity for members. I think as an exchange student you have to be a member of ESN. Everyone I knew was a member and could join the activities and trips ESN organized. In Padova there are a lot of exchange students, but almost half of them are Spanish. They always get together in Spanish groups and usually you do not get to know them, or at least not a lot of them. But the rest of the exchange students are always very active in participating in ESN activities so you will get to know a lot of people or at least everyone by face at the end of your stay. I think that I was very lucky that the World Championships took place during my exchange. Every exchange student got together for every match at two different places in the city and that was really good for bonding with a lot of people. At the end of my stay I knew almost everyone. I loved this thing about Padova, I loved that it was not that big and that if I cycled through the city to go to classes, that I would run into at least two familiar faces and say hi. I did not have much contact with local students, since I did all my courses in English and in my classes there were most of the times only exchange students. I personally liked that a lot. But I got to know two Italian students very well and I even visited one of them in Napoli for a week and stayed in that Italian family. I really enjoyed doing that, so I got to know how things are going in a typical Italian family (and also I loved it when la mama cooked). Besides Napoli, which I travelled to with friends, I also went to Rome for a few days. And with ESN we made a trip to Tuscany, to visit Pisa, Firenze and Siena. ESN organized a lot of trips, daytrips and weekend or week trips. They went on a trip to Croatia, but unfortunately I had visitors coming over that week. During my stay in Italy I travelled to all the places around Padova, like lake Garda, Vicenza, Bologna and of course I have been often to Venice. Venice is only 25 minutes by train and local traintrips are very cheap in Italy compared to the Netherlands. The train company also has got great deals if you book in advance. For example, I booked my traintickets to Rome 5 weeks in advance and only had to pay 9 one way. Normally those tickets cost you 75, so always check is they have SuperEconomy tickets! They are not promoting them, but if you know where to find them, they are the cheapest way to travel. Italy is a lot bigger than the Netherlands, so when I went to Napoli I took the plane. During my exchange period I also went to Madrid, to visit a friend there that was doing Erasmus too. I loved Madrid, but I was glad when I was back in Padova again. I loved living there and I was glad I did not go to Madrid or to Budapest, which was actually my first choice. Padova really suited me very well. I made a lot of day trips and some weekend trips, but I now wished that I did even more trips. I still have not seen half of Italy, sometimes because of visitors coming over. Make sure you save some money to go on a lot of trips, because if you do not, you will regret it. Fortunately, Italy is not that far away and I am afraid that I will spend a lot of summers in Italy. The country got me hooked and I can not wait to go back for a few days to Padova.

6 Culture and language I did not experience a real culture shock while being in Italy. Yes, the culture is different, but it is not shockingly different. It is different in a very good way. The Italians are more relaxed than the Dutch people and they do not rush all the time. They walk slowly, are used to be patient and wait a little bit longer than what we are used to here in the Netherlands. I had to get used to waiting. Before I went to Italy I was not patient at all, I hated waiting. Now I am more relaxed and it is okay if I have to wait a little longer than I wanted to. In Italy no one cares if the cashier in the supermarket keeps on talking to someone in front of the line. Everyone just waits till the conversation is over and till it is their turn. In the Netherlands people would start to complain, that they do not get paid for talking but for working. Italians really do not care. The bureaucracy in Italy is way worse than it is in the Netherlands. You have to get a number everywhere and stand in line a lot. Even to pay your bills for electricity and stuff you have to go to an office and pay in person. I thought that was very strange. You see the relaxed atmosphere everywhere: they have long lunch breaks and have wine with it. Or go after work for an aperitivo before going home for dinner. You saw that when the weather got better, the life outside the houses started. People everywhere having a drink and a little bite. They really enjoy live more than here. In the Netherlands you go home after school or work and have dinner and watch TV. I never watched TV or went home straight after classes. Always an aperitivo if the weather allowed it or just walk around in town to enjoy the city. No hurry, no rush. Just relax. I started walking more slowly, I cycle more slowly and am not stressed out that much anymore. That is what I really like about the Italian culture. Okay, I have to admit that I was annoyed in the beginning about the slow movements and talking cashiers, just because I was not used to it. One thing I did not expect was that the Italian people are so friendly and helpful. If you are walking around with your city map in the beginning, there were always people who asked you if they could help you. Italian people are also very open, maybe a little bit less than the Dutch people, but definitely open. I did not speak the language well and unfortunately a lot of Italian people do not speak English well. But they will always try to help you, especially when you try to speak in Italian. Just ask in Italian if they speak English and they will always be a little bit more helpful and friendly than if you start speaking English immediately without trying it in Italian. At the university I only did courses taught in English. The English of most lecturers was okay, not great and definitely not perfect, but really better than most Italians. Even a lot of Italian students had a lot of problems with English, so there were not a lot of Italian students in my classes. Most of them were Erasmus. I followed an Italian course in the beginning of my exchange period, but I did not finish it, because it was really early in the morning after going out. Not a good excuse, but I just could not do it. In Tilburg I did an A1 level course and I really wanted to do the A2 in Tilburg too, before I left for Italy. But they only teach that course the second semester, so please pay attention if you want to do it! I could not start earlier with my Italian language course, because I did not know earlier that I was going to Italy, so try to start as early as possible. I was also too late to subscribe for the Intensive Language Course that Erasmus offers, so check the deadline if you are interested! I have learned some Italian to get around in restaurants, bars, supermarkets and asking directions. I also spend a week in an Italian family in Napoli and I noticed that I could understand a lot. If you listen to it for five months, you understand quite a lot so do not worry about that. You will survive. I think I learned a lot about the Italian culture and also the staying in Napoli helped with that. I saw that Italian guys are real mamaboys, his mom was calling him every hour and she really took care of us with cooking and cleaning. We were not allowed to do anything. Italians are really caring and sweet people. As told before, I went to Madrid during my exchange. I find the Spanish people different than the Italians. Italians are really more helpful and open. The culture itself, like the relaxed atmosphere is quite the same as in Italy, but I prefer Italians over Spanish. One other thing that I thought was different in Italy, is that Italian people are always talking on the phone if they are walking alone. I was not used to calling people, I always used whatsapp or textmessages, but Italians really like to really talk to a person over a phone, not to text. Also

7 the driving style in Italy was a lot different than at home. A lot of cars were damaged, so that says enough I think.. Personal development I have been home for a month now and I miss Padova every day. I miss the city, the atmosphere and mostly all the people I have met. I have met a lot of people from all around the world and I became friends with people I would never approached at home. That sounds strange, but I made friends who I first thought would not be my type of people. I never expected to have such a strong bond with people I only knew for five months. They became my family. I saw them every day and we did everything together. If you do not see people for two days on Erasmus, that feels like ages. And now I have not seen them for a month and I miss them so much. I think Erasmus changed me. I am even more open than I was and I am better in talking to people I have never met before. Being on Erasmus is so different than travelling, you are really living in another country for a few months. I am really having a posterasmusdepression right now and everything seems boring at home. That is why I joined I*ESN Tilburg mentor after returning from Italy to stay in the international environment and guide exchange students during their best months ever. I really can say, though it is maybe a cliché, that I had the best months of my life on exchange. I enjoyed every day and I do not regret anything. Maybe that I stayed a few evenings at home during the first two months. I would not do anything different if I could choose. I would definitely go for Padova again. The only thing I would do different is maybe go on trips even more. But I can always go to Italy to go on a holiday. I fell in love with the country, so it was the best decision ever. It was not my first choice to go to Padova, my first choice was Budapest, but the exchange coordinator thought that Italy would fit me better. And she could not have been more right. I loved it and I would like to thank her so much for sending me to Italy. I never heard of Padova before I saw it in the list of exchange destinations. There also had been only one girl from Tilburg, so I did not have a lot of people to ask for more information. She told me she had the best time, so that made me more excited and I hope that this report will make you excited to go to Padova too! It is such a nice city and there are so many things to do and bars to go to. I was surprised how quickly you form a group around you when you arrive on your destination. It was so easy to get to know people, because everyone wants to know people. Most of the people do not know anyone in the city (like me) and so they have to go out and make contact with others. I was so surprised that after three days I was having dinner with a group at someone s place and even more surprised that at the end of my exchange period we were still with the same group. Of course we got to know a lot of people outside of that group too, but you will always have a base group where you can rely on. What I have learned from the people that I have met, is that some cultures are different, but the people are actually the same. The people that were my closest friends in Padova, were from a lot of different countries, but they would definitely be my friends in the Netherlands too, if they would live here. I will never forget my exchange period, it was so good. I did not have any negative experiences, only good memories. I would give everything to do it once again, because it was so awesome. The most important lesson I have learned about myself is that I can do it on my own. I think I grew more mature while being on exchange. It gave a kick to go abroad on your own, not knowing anyone and get around in a unfamiliar country. I now know I can handle it and also that I can be on my own somewhere, that I can learn a language, build up a social life and also can enjoy it. I am a different person now and unfortunately that affected my relationship. I had a boyfriend for five years and all went well, but when I came home I noticed that I had changed a lot. Erasmus can be killing for your relationship, I saw it all around me. But I also know that it is still totally worth going, even if it can be the end for your relationship. I regret nothing, I had the best time of my life and I would do it all again if I could. III Academic Information

8 Academic level at a host university The university offers courses in Italian and English. My courses were all in English, because my Italian was really not sufficient to do courses in Italian. I took courses from the Masters degree, since all the bachelor degree courses were being taught in Italian. This meant that I could not use my courses for my bachelor diploma, so all my courses were just extra courses. I did courses that sounded interesting and also courses that sounded easy, since I only needed the credits and not the grades. I would really recommend the course Anthropology applied to Psychology. I enjoyed this a lot, since we do not have it in Tilburg, at least not in the direction of Health Psychology. It was also an easy course, so you do something you think is interesting and you get your credits easily. I think for a lot of courses the academic level is lower than the level in Tilburg. I only had one course that challenged me. The material to study is less than in Tilburg, so also the workload is less. The Italians were in the library all day to study the material and I did not do anything till the finals were coming, so I think it is harder in Tilburg than in Padova. In Italy, Padova is a very good university, also for Psychology. So it is really not bad to study Psychology in Padova, it has one of the best faculties of the country. Also the teachers know where they are talking about, but sometimes their knowledge of the English language was not sufficient to tell their story how they would have liked it. So sometimes it stayed a bit vague, because of language barriers. I only had lectures, but since we were usually with only students, they could be very interactive. There was a nice atmosphere in the small groups, so that it was okay to ask a lot of questions or to discuss some topics. Some teachers wanted to be more international oriented and since we apparently have a lot of interactive classes ( I have not got a lot of them in Tilburg) they wanted to do that too. So, we had to give some presentations about journal articles or read a paper and discuss about that. It was not bad and you got extra credits for participating in extra assignments, like the presentations. The relationship between lecturers and students is quite formal, but they are really accessible. You can always when you have a question or when the computersystem is not working for registrations. Some of them can be pretty strict and do not want to help Erasmusstudents more than Italian students, but I only had one of them who was like this. The other lecturers were really helpful. You had some deadlines to register for exams and to register for the registrations of the grades and you really had to do the registrations before the deadline, if you are Erasmus or not. Sometimes they are also quite slowly in ing you back, but then you should just go by their office. In my opinion, 4 of my 5 lecturers were really helpful and really nice. I am satisfied with my academic achievements abroad. Two of my courses I actually already had in Tilburg, while these in Italy were actually master degree courses and the two I had in Tilburg were first year bachelor introduction courses. The other two, Anthropology and Neuropsychology of Aging, were new for me and I learned a lot of new stuff. I only needed the credits and I managed to get all 24 of them, so I am satisfied. (too bad the grades do not count for my bachelor diploma, because they were very high). Exams In Italy it is quite common to do oral exams, but I only had written exams. Two exams consisted of multiple choice questions, one was multiple choice questions mixed with open questions and one exam consisted only of open questions. If you are not satisfied with your grade, you can do it like the Italian students: just ask during the registration of your grade if you can do an oral exam for a better grade. This oral exam is during registration and I thought it was weird, because I was used to get a grade and if you are not satisfied, you have to do a resit and study better next time. Other

9 To access the library of your faculty, you have to fill in a form at the desk at the entrance. Then you will get an username and a password, so you have an account to use the computers. Compared to Tilburg, they did not have a lot of computers. If you want to print out papers, you had to go to two computer rooms and there were only 20 computers in total. These are never all occupied, so you do not have to worry that there will not be one free if you need to print something. You get 100 free pages to print, so that is really nice. Every faculty has got their own library I guess, since the Psychology faculty had their own. You also have a lot of study areas spread over town where you can study in silence. They do not have got computers, so you have to bring your own if you need one. I liked studying in one of the aulas and I did not mind bringing my own computer, I always do that in Tilburg too. Description of Courses Course Prerequisites Exam ECTS Comments M1C Neuropsychology of Aging None Written 6 Extra credits for doing presentation, multiple choice M3 Experimental economics: Decision making, Altruism, Cooperation and Competition M1C Laboratory in Experimental Psychology M3 Anthropology applied to Psychology None None None Written Written Written Open questions You have to participate in experiments, multiple choice Midterm, open and multiple choice questions Tips for the future students The question is: would you recommend an exchange period? The answer is: absolutely!!! It is really the best period of your life! You learn a lot about yourself and you meet the best people ever. It is so much fun to live somewhere abroad for a while and do that together with awesome people. I have a delay of one year now, because of going abroad, but it is so definitely worth it. I was afraid and crying a little bit when I left home to go away for five months, but I cried way more when I had to return home again. I had the most amazing time and I really wish that I could do it all again. I would not change anything, not the city, not the activities I did. I would only try to enjoy it even more than I already did and go on more trips to see the most beautiful country ever. I loved it all, was never homesick (only when I broke the watertap in the bathroom and did not know what to do, only moment I wanted to go home, but just for five minutes). Really, believe me, if you have got the opportunity to go and spend some months abroad: GO GO GO!! Do not worry about the money, it is all worth it. Do not worry about the study delay, totally absolutely worth it! This is an experience I will be thinking of with a smile for many many years and I will always be talking about it. I would

10 definitely recommend my host university. The location is awesome and the education is good. The staff is helpful and kind, even if you do not speak any word Italian. But if you are thinking about going to Italy, just start early with your language courses, you can do two for free at the university and also one for free at the University of Padova. So after three courses, you can speak Italian quite well!! I wish that I had done two courses of Italian before I left home, but it just was not possible and it is such a beautiful language, so I regret that I still do not speak it well. If you are thinking: but Padova is so small, I have never heard of this city before! Contact me and I will convince you that it is the best place where you can go. It has got it all: beautiful buildings, a nice atmosphere, nice modern bars, also a lot of authentic Italian places. Good restaurants, the best pizzerias and a lot of student bars! Also going out is a lot of fun, because there will be always a lot of Erasmus people around you (and Erasmus parties are craaaazy). Also the ESN association in Padova is really active and will help you with everything and take you on a lot of trips. Another tip; if you are already convinced that you want to go: start getting used to Spritz Aperol (I am sorry, I know I should not advertise drinking alcohol, but let s face it: you are going to drink a lot of alcohol while being abroad, so better get used to the local drink). This is the end of my report about my experiences in Padova, do not hesitate to contact me!