Type of housing: Apartment/House

Arranged by: Independently - I had no other choice

If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House

Why? Sharing a students-apartment I lived together with other young people including native spanish speakers. It`s was the best way to know a lot of people and to improve my spanish.

Personal comments:
I had no accommodation at the University. Generally the "collegio mayor" are more expensive than normal apartments. And there are a lot, so it´s not hard to find one.

Describe host city: Students interact with the local community without much university involvement

Activities: Takes place mostly within the university/student environment

Nightlife: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment

Travel: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment

Personal comments:
I loved the old town part "El Carmen" but that´s not really an inside info because nearly everyone goes there. My best insider: ask for the "circulo teatro". A bunch of bars and cafes organize entertainments at night, the program changes every two month. The entrance is for free, you only have to drink something.

Course recommendations:
Don´t join the courses in "valenciano", you don´t understand a word and it´s real extra-work.

Personal comments:
The university of Valencia doesn´t have an introduction week at the beginning of the semester. And most of the teachers still don´t have fixed hours of attention. It would be nice to organize a meeting for all the international students because you loose a lot of time until you really start studying.

Language of instruction: Spanish

Main source of funding:
Family

Other sources of funding:
Personal savings
An ERASMUS grant

Work opportunities:
I didn't explore any work options

Personal spending habits:
I didn´t have a fixed telephone so I had to call from my mobile or from a public telephone. Generally the rents are cheaper in Spain. The nightlife is less expensive than in Germany, but I went out more than at home! Even after a few months you still feel like being on holiday! I traveled more than I do in Germany, because I had only a few months to get an impression of the country.

Travel, Nightlife, Overall, Telephone: was more expensive than at home.

Food: was the same price as at home.

Housing: was less expensive than at home.

I wish I had known...
I am glad that I didn´t have a ERASMUS grant for one year because I would have prefered to make an internship than going another semester to the university. The quality of the courses wasn´t so high and I didn´t improve so much. While you are working with spanish people, I think, you still get to know more about the country and you have more opportunities to improve.

In my opinion:
I loved it but I'm not sure everybody would.