I have never heard of Aveiro before I was offered an internship there by my teacher. I was excited to try something more extraordinary than just working at a company everyday in Denmark. By studying abroad I would not just learn about working at 3D environment, but also learning about another country and culture there as well. And since I still live with my parents I would also get the taste of being independent.
But before my journey everything was a mess. The teachers from my school kept saying that the Portuguese university would find a place for me to stay at, and everything would be okay, and the answers from the teachers from the university varied from person to person. Even the last day before my journey it was still not decided whether I should sleep at the streets or not. It was like everyone didn’t care about me, and was only interested in having this transfer as a proof that both of the schools had an international connection. When I arrived I and my Erasmus buddy searched for a rooms rent the all day. I was walking around from 3PM to 23PM with my luggage on the streets until we finally got a room! And the room I got was more expensive than usual, and all the problems with the room where hidden very well. First at night when I wanted to turn on the heater I realized that they didn’t work or smelled burned. One of the rooms had ants if you left anything sweet there, and the toilet seems to be very loose if you sit on it. I was pissed, but it’s hard to complain to an old woman that don’t speak English, and who apparently don’t need her stick to support her poor little legs the next day you see her at the streets. Manipulating bitch!
When you go to such a trip you realize how much everyone juts tries to take advantage of you in every way they can. While writing this I remember how much I had to mail my teachers all the time to get things signed and arranged. You most do everything yourself, if not you can just forget about it. Nobody cares for you. I don’t feel like answering the question: “Were you well welcomed and informed” if you know what I mean…
But when you finally are up and running at Aveiro, and you are not depended on the lazy teachers and manipulating old ladies then everything is nice at Aveiro. Just don’t go at February and March since it cold and rains A LOT! The grant + SU is not enough even though the prices on groceries are a little less than in Denmark, but if you save some money before you go, you should be okay. The only things you spend your money on at Aveiro are food and beer.
Aveiro is a city of students, and every Tuesday to Saturday students are at the city having fun, even though they have classes. “The Erasmus students stick together” that was one of the first words I heard at the Erasmus meeting with all the new Erasmus students. They have some different arrangement for Erasmus students where they visit different places around Portugal. They even have a Facebook group.
The people here love the social life. Aveiro is full of cafés with you people doing homework and some of them just hang around. The cafés all have free internet, so don’t worry about it, if you room like mine doesn’t have any internet access. Of course you will have to buy at least one drink for being there. But being at the café is sometimes hard to have a video conversation with you parents, so if you wish to do such you can go to the university and find a empty room to talk to your girlfriend, friends, parents etc. Video conversation is highly recommended, since I think it seems to be more personal than just texting to them. Then they can see you are fine and still living…
People hug and kiss when they say hi, even though you don’t know them. Obviously you don’t kiss a male, if you are a male. Some of the Portuguese are much opened, so don’t get any weird thoughts if you get invited to some family dinner or so. That is a big cultural difference for me, since my generation in Denmark are very embarrassed about our parents, but here they really appreciate their parents…
Thoughts on the overall experience
I did not have any expectations, since I had so many troubles at the beginning. I was close to give it all up, but I’m glad I did not. It was really worth visiting Aveiro, the city of students, and being a part of the young life there. Too bad I did not really get into the Erasmus community that well since my teacher didn’t care much about me, and never gave me my student card and signed me up for the Erasmus community, but I had a great time with them, and even joined some of their arrangements.
I would recommend everyone to study in another country since it really is an indescribable experience, and many of those I have met can only recommend staying abroad for at least one year. Six months is not enough! And what I can I say with my silly two month?!
I really love my life as an Erasmus, Jeffrey Lai
Ps. while writing this in Aveiro just one week before leaving, really makes me miss the city even though I’m still here…
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