Met wie moet je als erasmusstudent het eerst contact opnemen als je aankomt?

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1 Erasmusbestemming: University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK Academiejaar: Één/twee semester(s) Universiteit Waar is de universiteit ergens gelegen (in het centrum/ ver uit het centrum)? For law students, the main building is called old college. This is located on South Bridge, which is right in the centre of old town. The law library is in the same building. Some of the lectures could also take place in David Hume Tower, or Appleton Tower. These are located on George Square. This is also where you can find the main library and is very centrally located and close to old college. Everything is thus very centrally located in the old town and close to each other. Hoe is de opvang van de Erasmusstudenten georganiseerd? The Fresher s week is an introduction week organized by the local student association named EUSA. I highly recommend to attend this week. It is a great opportunity to start meeting people. EUSA consists of various smaller associations, and they will all organize activities during this week. This way you can decide whether you would like to join any. Examples: the international law students society, the post-graduate society, exchange 360 society, several societies regarding sports or dancing, but also a chocolate society and even a Harry Potter society! Basically they have a society for everything. There will be a couple of meetings especially designed for Erasmus-students as well. They will be announced through My Ed which is the university s equivalent for our Toledo. Other things you are need to do are register with a doctor (cf. the UK s health care system if very different from ours, but it s very simple to sign up and once you re registered complete free of charge) and open up a bank account. To open a bank account you will need a letter from the university. You can ask for this letter on the university s website. So far, this might seem like a lot, but it s all very straight-forward and most of this will be explained upon arrival. You could to make things easier take a look at the website, which answers many questions for new students. Met wie moet je als erasmusstudent het eerst contact opnemen als je aankomt?

2 Your Director of Studies. You will be linked to a professor in old college who you can go to if you have any questions. He/she will discuss the courses you wish to take up and sign you forms for Erasmus. I have heard that starting next year, they are going to change this system, so this person might not be called Director of Studies. You will however still have a contact and they are very easily approachable. Wat wil je je opvolgers-erasmusstudenten zeker vertellen i.v.m. de universiteit zelf? The university is of a very high quality. The lectures are different from what we re used, in a way that there are less lectures and more individual studying to be done. There will be tutorials that you need to prepare for and the honours courses require extensive reading weekly. Other than that, for most courses you will need to write a paper which counts for up to 40% of the final mark. Taal In welke taal worden de cursussen aangeboden? English Waar en wanneer heb jij een taalcursus gevolgd? I don t think it is necessary to take a course. If however you feel the need to take such a course, the university provides them for you. Heb je concrete gegevens over de organisatie van de cursus? Waar men zich kan inschrijven, prijs e.d. I don t know how and where these courses are organized. The information will be given to you during one of the meetings designed for Erasmus-students in the first week. If you are interested in taking up a language-course in addition to your university work, you can visit the website, Students of the university pay the discounted price. Wat is je algemene indruk van de taalcursus? \ Cursussen Heb je specifieke opmerkingen i.v.m. de cursussen die je gevolgd hebt of met het aanbod van cursussen?

3 I found the courses to be all very interesting. Since they are worth more study points (ECTS), than we are averagely used to in Leuven, I only had 4 different courses throughout the year. As I said before, papers count for a significant percentage of your final mark, so most of the time you will spend working on them. However, I found that for the ordinary courses the expectations are much lower, so there is no need to panic. Heb je specifieke problemen ondervonden i.v.m. je vakkenprogramma? Not at all. In Leuven I chose the English master with a major in international law and a minor in European Union law. This gave me enough latitude to design the vakkenprogramma. Huisvesting Op welke manier heb jij een kot/studio gevonden? Erasmus-students for a full year are guaranteed university accommodation. However another girl from Belgium wanted to share a flat together and since she spend august in Edinburgh she found something by consulting various letting agencies. For the second semester, I went to look on my own for another flat with some friends. We consulted websites from letting agencies, but also gumtree is very popular and highly recommended by other students. Most of my friends here live in flats that they share with 3 or 4 other people. They used the same method to find a flat as I, but they also used facebook groups, such as the one from the post-graduate society or the exchange 360 society to find flatmates. If you choose to take the student accommodation you don t know who you ll end up with either, but this way you can meet up beforehand and find something nicer and/or cheaper. They all say that if you want to look for a flat on your own, it might be easiest to stay in a hostel for a while until you find something. Most of the flats that are online are available for rent right away, so if you were to come in the summer beforehand, the chances are that you ll have to rent it right away to get it. (Also, take into account that Edinburgh is famous for its festivals in august and that it will be swarming with tourist if you come during that time) In welke periode heb jij je kot gevonden? End of august and the second half of january for the second semester. Hoeveel is de gemiddelde prijs van accomodatie in de stad?

4 I can t really say what the average is. It depends a lot on the location. My flat costs 350 with utilities. It is a very nice flat and centrally located, this is why it s quite high compared to my friends rents. Marchmont is a very popular area where lots of students live. They pay less, but less than 320 is rare. Waar hou je het best rekening mee bij het zoeken van een kot/studio Edinburgh is bigger than Leuven, so you will do more of walking to get to your location. In my opinion, this is something you will get used to and didn t bother me at all. You can also always take a bus if you re going further. The busses are very well organized. I would ask whether the flat has double glazing because it will get very cold in winter and your gas bill could get rather high with single glazing. Algemeen Heb je formaliteiten moeten vervullen voor je vertrek? Zo ja, welke? This is the same for any Erasmus destination and can be found on the KULeuven website. Wat vind je dat je "opvolg-erasmusstudenten" zeker moeten weten i.v.m. je erasmusbestemming? (i.v.m. de stad, de universtiteit, ontspanningsmogelijkheden...) In my opinion, coming to Edinburgh was the best decision I could have made. The city is beautiful and very lively. People are friendly and if you attend the fresher s week you will meet so many new people right away. If you are a sportive type, you should join the gym. It s only 100 for a full year membership and it is absolutely amazing. This includes also the swimming pool and several classes such as zumba, kickboxing, etc. As I said before, if you can imagine it, then there s a society for it. I joined a couple of societies myself and I was happy to continue some hobbies of mine or take up new ones. The International Student Society (ISC), is something you will want to stay in touch with (cf. facebook). They organize daytrips and weekend-trips almost weekly. This way you can fully explore Scotland s treasures and make the most of your stay. In my opinion this is also part of the Erasmus-experience. If you are interested in exploring, a membership of historic Scotland will give you a free entrance to all historic Scotland s attractions. Kan je in het algemeen iets zeggen of het leven er duurder of goedkoper is dan in Leuven? Life is definitely more expensive. Mostly this is because of the pound which is valued at about 1.25 euro. There are several ways to get discounts though. If you are aware of this,

5 it can save you some money. For example, don t be shy to ask for a student discount because most shops and place have a 10% discount but don t advertise it clearly. Other than that, if you can get your hands on a snapfax that will give you loads of discounts as well. Mogen kandidaat Erasmusstudenten contact opnemen met jou? Zo ja hoe kunnen ze je bereiken (tel/gsm/ )? You can reach me by lotje_25_5@hotmail.com