Type of housing: A room exchange

Arranged by: Host university

If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House

Why? just because i do not want to live alone in a room the next time i will go there. An apartment or a house could be fine if i can share this with people i like. anyway, i have had i good exprience in a room exchange so it is ok for me to take a room exchange again, if i have to.

Personal comments:
the team erasmus of the Universiteit Maastricht organizes quite good and interesting activities for exchange students. The problem is that as a student in Maastricht, you are busy, you have to work hard for your presentations and the preparation of the courses so you don't have time enough to participate to these activities. The members of the international office are really nice and they always try to help you whatever your problems or questions. It was the same for the people of the 3gust House" (the building where the exchange students live) even if i have had some problems with my checkout.

Describe host city:

Nightlife, Travel: Takes place mostly within the university/student environment

Personal comments:
i visited a coffee shop (Hooven 69), as many exchange students i think! i just wanted to feel what is the ambiance inside. the town of Maastricht is really nice and it is proud of its history! there are others cities like Amsterdam or Utrecht that many students visited. it is very particular.

Course recommendations:
the courses are organized accordind to the american system. So students are dived in small groups of 15 people. for each course a sub-group of students (most of the cases 3-4 people) is responsible for the presentation of the theoretical chapters. it is completely different from the system we have in Belgium. So i had to quickly adapt to this system and better organize my time so that i could do something else than studying! as student, we are quite busy with our work. My recommendation should be that you have to be really organized in all what you do, not only for your courses. I learnt to work with friends. i was not used to work in small groups and share informations. It is a good way to learn when you work with a friend, sharing information and asking questions when you don't understand something important.

Personal comments:
none

Language of instruction: English

Main source of funding:
Family

Other sources of funding:
None

Work opportunities:
I didn't explore any work options

Personal spending habits:
because the cost of life is higher than in Belgium.

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

I wish I had known...
no

In my opinion:
Everybody loved it, you will too!