My experience in Lithuania I will try to focus on the most important moments. Before arrival: I got an email from the Lithuanian coordinator that was very clear and rich for details, so there was no problem with filling the documents (simply follow each step and that s it). The orientation week was obligatory part of the exchange period but since I ve booked my tickets as soon as I got a confirmation from the International office I couldn t change the date of flight and was not able to come one week earlier. So I wrote an email and explained a situation and the coordinator answered no problem. Also I have registered myself for the VGTU dormitory ( first come, first served basis). The answer came just on 12 th of January, less than 2 weeks before orientation week (I have started already to look for some flat). In general all the procedure was quite well organised, both from German and Lithuanian sides. Arrival: Each student in VGTU should get a mentor. If you are male you get female one and vice versa. Normally a mentor should be very social and active person normally))). My mentor was a quite nice guy. He asked his friend to pick me up from the airport with a car. That was really nice of him; cause to take a taxi in the airport will cost you 20 euros (after you get some cheap taxi numbers so it is possible to get from airport to the dormitory just for 7 euros). Also you can take a bus, that will cost you just 1 euro (and 0 euro after you buy a student card), but you have to take two different busses, to cross some road, and after arrival to walk 7-10 min. more (its only if you take directly a right direction). So he picked me up and brought me to the dormitory. That was first time that I have seen him. The second that was actually also the last one was when I have asked him to show me the city. As he told me I was expecting to get some Spanish student that he/she could help me with my website - to translate it in Spanish. Unfortunately my Spanish (Buenos dias and Gracias) was not so helpful so I didn t hear anymore from him. In the first working day you have to pay a deposit for the dormitory- 115 euros- that you will get back before the departure. One my friend didn t get it back because the oven in the kitchen exploded when he cooked pizza. I don t think it was his fault but still rules are rules. You have to pay deposit in SEB, with commission 2-3 EUR, personally, with showing your pass. For each money transaction in Lithuania pass is needed. To use the public transport you need to buy a month s abonnement. It costs just 7 euros for a month. But it is valid only with an international student card. This card you can do just in one place that is 45 min driving from the dormitory. It costs 10 euros and its valid 9 months. The public transport work until 11 pm. There is no metro, just buses and trams.
A room in the dormitory was quite nice, a little bit small but comfortable. 110 euros. For 2 persons. Nice and tidy bathroom and toilet. Kitchen that we shared with 2 girls. In the beginning it was quite old, but then one month before departure they changed it with a new one (during the change we were 8 days without kitchen). A cleaning lady was coming once a week to clean the room. The way she did it was quite strange: it didn t matter if you are sleeping or taking shower or speaking with parents whatever, she was coming in without knocking and started to clean. There was no washing machine in the dormitory. But outside just 4 min on foot there was a wash salon, where you could wash and dry 5 kilos of you clothes for almost 7 euros. After 2 months they closed it. Internet was working, but just in some particular places. There was WiFi but for ex. on my floor students could connect their computers to the Internet just with cables; in some rooms even cables didn t help. Wifi was mainly available in the corridor. The University was just 7-8 min on foot from the dormitory (if you study architecture- 40 min driving). In the first working day I have visited International Relations Office and got instructions for some organisational moments (where to buy the international student card, how to get to this place, where to find a bank to pay my deposit etc.). Lectures. It s separate story. First 2 weeks there were no lectures at all. We were coming, waiting and going back to the dormitory. Good that it was so close (poor architectures). Sometimes there was a piece of paper on the door I am ill, but mainly no info. Also no emails. Spanish students were very happy, running back to rooms to play guitars and sing songs nonstop. Italians were coming back to cook pasta and have a nap after a hard day. German students were walking from floor to floor looking for a professor and complaining. Nice time))) After lectures have started I recognised that one subject from me was on Lithuanian. When I was reading a course description it was on English. Anyway I had to change my Learning Agreement. The procedure was quite easy. Just one thing: after I send my changed LA to HS LU I got an answer that professor Mobius can t confirm one subject that attention he has already confirmed before my Erasmus semester. Fortunately this problem was solved. Now few words about lectures and professors in general. I got two really brilliant professors, with a real understanding of their subject. Human Resources and Financial Institutions are definitely worth to visit. Explanations were clear, lectures very interesting; a lot of cases from real life, questions were just welcomed but a great amount of home works. But to do them was a real pleasure. Next. Few professors could barely speak English. Intercultural Communication was a subject I was waiting for very much. Big disappointment. I have also got a bad experience with one female professor, which was judging and giving marks due to personal/subjective opinion. Instead of this that some professors were just
reading their materials from slides, anyway in general I could say that the level of study was quite high. We got a lot of home works from each of subject. And it was not just one per months. Cases, reports, presentations, videos, calculations, researches, small tests, midterm exams, final exams The week of session I lived in the library. By the way, the library is amazing. Completely. Hardly to compare with the library of Mannheim University. Huge,4 floors with elevators with separate rooms to study (for 4, 2 and 1 person), soft sofas, places to have a nap if you stay overnight (24 hours access with an electronic card- just 4 euros for 6 months), with canteen, cold and hot water in case you want to have tea or coffee, computers for every table, free internet, available printer and scanner, thousands of books in English, Lithuanian, Russian etc. Calm areas for self-study and areas for discussions. Personal lamps and possibility to rent a room in advance. Only two words: amazing and comfortable. The City. Vilnius is quite nice. A little bit sad in the winter but in general nice. Old part of the city is full of churches. A lot of cafes, restaurants, pubs, clubs and discos, festivals and concerts. National food is quite similar to German: meat and potatoes. Thematic clubs, in case you want to dance salsa, enjoy minimum, techno, or to listen to good old-school rock as well as to visit disco with pop music. The entrance is mainly free, but in some clubs you will pay 5-15 euros for the entrance. Currency. Euro. So no need to exchange money. Security. From my own experience I can say that Vilnius is quite secure city. As well as the dormitory. My room was open 24 hours/7 days, even when I or my roommate was not inside. Nothing was stolen. Sometimes I couldn t find pan or some glasses but they always were return on the places. Sometimes there was some food or dessert waiting for me. The only thing I have heard that in previous semester some Azerbaijan guys broke someone s door and stole money. But money was return, and the guys were pressed to change the place of living. After this no similar accidents have happened. Food. If to speak about diversity you can find everything you want (just I haven t seen brezel), if to speak about prices the same as in Germany or even higher. I don t know how this people with their salaries can buy food with such prices. Only things that are cheap are cigarettes and vodka. Lithuanian people. They never smile in the public transport, banks, supermarkets or wherever you go. But they are good people, helpful and every time you ask for the direction etc they ask you from where you are, what are you doing and so on and so on. One time some granny told me the story of her life during 50 min driving in the bus. By the way, older people do not speak English, just Russian. When you ask them something in English they just move forward without answer, so no wonder. Young people have good level of English (in
general). Honestly to say they are a little bit distant, they will help you but you won t become best friends. Life in the dormitory. If your main and the only one purpose is to study day and night and to study hard - better you find a nice small flat far away from the dormitory. Guitars, songs, scream, pre-parties perfect place to enjoy and make friendship for years. If you want to listen to guitars- go to Spanish guys, if you want to have lasagne and good coffee- Italians are waiting for you, to play cards- Slovenian guys, to listen to funny accent Greek people and so on and so on. We were cooking together, watching movies with pop corns, organising trips and travelling, riding bicycles and going to discos, relaxing and playing games (football, basketball, volleyball every day outside after it became warmer). We were helping each other with study, sharing last food, organising thematic parties, learning each other our own languages. It was incredibly amazing time and I miss it so much! International Relations Office in VGTU. The Erasmus coordinator and her assistant are very helpful and understandable people. They explain everything clearly, try to help whatever you have done, listen to all problems and looking together for a solution. Full of tips. To work with them was a great pleasure. Social life. ESN office organised a lot of activities for Erasmus students, so there was no time for sadness. They organised trolleybus party, barbecue, trips in different cities (Riga, Tallinn, Krakow, Warsaw, Lapland etc.), workshops, tea-cake days, karaoke and intercultural evenings, sledging and many other nice things that I even can t remember now. Travelling. Since ESM office was doing nice offers for students and also that there were so wonderfully cheap bus lines as ecolines and polski bus to travel sometimes was cheaper than to buy food for the week. For example if you check regularly offers from these bus lines, there was a possibility to go from Vilnius to Riga for 1 (!) euro, or from Vilnius to Tallinn for 4 euros, and to Warsaw for 8 euros (one side). If you rent a car with 4 other students you pay just 15 euros a day (from 5 students together). So if you love travelling you should definitely go to Vilnius. The flight from Vilnius to Oslo for 15 euros!!!! Expenses. Let me do it short: Expenses before/when you arrive: Flights- min 150 EUR when you book two flights together (for me with baggage it was around 250 EUR, two separately tickets) Deposit for the dormitory-115 EUR (you will get it back but anyway when you arrive you should spend this money) Student card 10 EUR + library card 4 EUR Monthly expenses: Dormitory - 110 EUR/month
Food- around 150 EUR/month (it is without additional expenses, as some restaurants or drinks etc.) Insurance- around 80 EUR/month (in my case) Driving abonnement - 7 EUR/month Prepaid sim card (to charge)- 10 EUR/month Printing/copying/scanning 10 EUR/month Unpredictable expenses: Visit to the doctor- 20 EUR just that he takes a look on you (but I suppose the insurance will return money back). In general I can say that I was spending per month 500 EUR its monthly expenses+ few travelling. But it s because I had to stay very economical (I even had to work last two months of Erasmus). Others students that I have known had spent much more. But of course it s up to the person, social activity and lifestyle. But 500 EUR per month is a minimum that you definitely should have. Conclusion Erasmus is really unforgettable time, and if you have the possibility you should definitely use the chance and get such awesome experience. Lithuania is quite appropriate country for this. There you will meet a lot of Spanish, Italians and French people, you can travel a lot with just few money in the pocket, the study level is quite high, even when you have no wish to study you will have so many home works that anyway you will learn something (doesn t matter if you want it or not)))). International Relations Office is very helpful, as well as people around.