Living in Antwerp

Hello guys!

Today I will write to you about another city in Belgium where I have had the opportunity to live for 5 months (and I still have 7 more left!). Yes, about Amberes, Antwerp, Antwerpen or Anvers, whatever you want to call it... I don't know why the name has to be changed in the different languages, but they all refer to the same city. It is located in the region of Flanders and so that you know a little more about its history, I will tell you why the name.

Legend has it that a monster lived in the Schelde river, the river of Antwerp, and that this charged every ship that wanted to cross it. If a ship refused to pay, this monster would cut off the ship's captain's hand and throw it into the river. "Ant" in Dutch means hand and "Werpen" means throw, so that's where the Dutch name for Antwerpen comes from. You can see the statue of the famous hand, which has ended up being the sign of the city, on the main street called De Meir.

It is a very beautiful city, with beautiful and wonderful buildings and where you will find many, many clothing stores of the best brands. So if you like fashion, you are going to enjoy it a lot.

First of all, but, I would like to point out that my experience in this city has not been as an Erasmus student. Even so, I am working as Au Pair, and yes, it is much more responsibility than Erasmus, but I have enough free time and I can explain more or less the feeling I have about this city and if I would recommend or not to do Erasmus. Also, to warn you that, I suppose that inadvertently, I am going to compare it quite a bit with my Erasmus city (which as you probably already know from my other publications, it was Leuven).

First of all, Antwerp, although it is not a city of enormous dimensions like Barcelona or Madrid, it is already a city. By this I mean that, of course, there is a student atmosphere but it is nothing like what you will find in small towns "dedicated" and inhabited almost exclusively by students. By this I am not only referring to Leuven, I would also fall into this category Ghent, Leiden (Netherlands), Utrech (Netherlands), etc. It is not that I dislike it, but going out and knowing that you are always going to find some activity or that something is always happening, is going to help you socialize, meet many more people and bring you more unforgettable moments than in a city where students are already in the background.

If you come from a big city, like me (my hometown is Barcelona), the fact of going to a small, student city is not going to be a problem for you. You are not going to miss the crowd of people, nor are you going to get bored for a single second. Hmmm... I suppose what I am trying to tell you with this is that I have visited cities with much more Erasmus atmosphere than the one in Antwerp.

Even so, the ESN here organizes many activities (at least 2 a week), so you won't be bored either. I leave you the link of their page and the group that there is this year on facebook in case you want to gossip and see what they do: Grupo Facebook.

What I really miss is the typical square full of bars (comparison with Oude Markt de Leuven, sorry). Yes, there is a similar one, but the atmosphere is nowhere near the same. Knowing that you are going to find something every day of the week to do in one place, and that you can go from bar to bar and "pub-crawlear" is something that adds up a lot in an Erasmus. And the student bars? There are very few here, and drink prices are just as expensive (or sometimes even more) than in a regular bar. So I don't see what the advantage of attending a student bar is... (Sorry again, but for example, in Leuven's case, there are about 10 student bars, or maybe even more, called the FakBar's - you will find it información aquí where the price of beer is one euro).

However, if there is something that I cannot speak to or comment on, it is from the University of Antwerp, since I am not attending. I am sorry.

For the rest, it is a city that has many facilities to travel, with their own airport, although sometimes the flights are more expensive than those you will find if you fly from / from the international airport of Brussels or Zaventem, and where any buses that go to Holland, France, Germany, etc. eventually they have stop.

And that's it. I think I have touched on the most key points that must be taken into account when deciding your destination to live the Erasmus experience. But to remind you once again that I am not living my Erasmus here and that with this publication I am only trying to give you a vague image of what Antwerp is from a vision, perhaps a bit more objective. Obviously, I doubt very much that if you now ask an Erasmus student who has lived his experience here, he will tell you more than two bad things about this city. However, I have met people who are currently living here with this experience and in none of them have I seen them speak with that illusion, that desire to continue living the experience. I do not know if I explain myself quite well... Of course, if by chance you read this and you have already assigned your place at the University of this city, please ask for another opinion and keep in mind that friends and the people you are going to meet also do a lot, not just the place.

Until here I can write. I bring you new information very, very soon!

Goodbye!

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