Erasmus Experience in Ghent, Belgium by Olga

Why did you choose to go to Ghent, Belgium?

At the beginning, I was looking forward to go to Wageningen University (Netherlands). However, the only two placements were already offered to other students with higher grades. For this reason, I was offered to go to Utrecht University(Netherlands)instead. I gratefully accepted, as it is a good University and the city is also nice. One week later I received an email from the International Relationship Office of my Faculty saying that a mistake was made when offering the placement, as a result I was not able to go to Utrecht University. Finally, I had to look up myself other destinations offered by the Faculty. That was the moment when I saw Gent University as a destination, and despite having to do Master level, I decided it was going to be a unique opportunity to go the 70th best University in the Worldwide ranking.

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How long is the scholarship? How much money do you receive to help you with living costs?

The scholarship I received was a total of 1. 750€ for 10 months.

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What is the student lifestyle like in Ghent?

Students go to class cycling and, depending on the program you are enrolled in (Bachelor or Master) classes will last 1 hour (Bachelor) or 3-4 hours (Master) per day. The schedule of the classes can vary from one week to another and courses are taught either in the morning or in the afternoon. It is possible to have lunch at the Faculty in the canteen, which is sometimes cheaper than buying food in the supermarket if you provide your student university card.

During the day, students study, do the laundry and shop in the supermarket.

At night, there is always party in the main street(Overpoort) where students normally go for a beer, party or haver dinner.

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Would you recommend the city and the University of Ghent to other students?

Sure! It is a great destination and international students can have the opportunity to learn from a very good bunch of teachers who are professionals and have a lot of knowledge on their field.

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What is the food like?

There is not much variety of food in the supermarkets and it is expensive, especially the fish. However, you get use to the taste of the food, which is not bad at all.

The most consumed food by Belgians are fries, and they always have sandwiches for lunch. Their big meal is at 6pm (dinner time).

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Did it cost you to find your accommodation in Ghent?

I didn´t have difficulties to find accommodation because as soon as I was accepted by Gent University as an exchange student I applied for the students Residence. However, I met people who struggled to find a home in Gent. There are plenty of exchange students, and not much accommodation for all the incoming people. In addition, landlords sometimes take the advantage of young students to trick them with the prices or stuff in the house that needs to be fixed.

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How much does it cost to live in Ghent?

It depends on the type of accommodation, kind of food you buy, how much you party, have meals you have out of home and how much you travel.

The average price of the accommodation is 250-400€ per month, food expenses: 50-90€ per week (depends how much you eat), party is not expensive because the entrance to the pubs is for free, you would only have to pay for beers, which cost varies on the type of beer: 2, 50-6€, laundry costs: 4, 50€; fast food such as hamburgers, fries, pizza, etc. are relatively cheap (5-12€)but restaurants are expensive (30€ per meal). If you decide to travel a lot, it will obviously cost money. However the good thing about Belgium is that is near other countries (Netherlands, Germany, France) and you can get there by train, which is cheaper than taking a plane and you can even go to London by bus with the company "Megabus" that offers really good prices.

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Is the language easy to get to grips with? Are there language courses available at the University?

In Belgium there are two different regions: the North Region, where they speak Dutch (e. g. GENT) and the Southern region where they speak French (eg. BRUSSELS). This is not an issue, due to the fact that Belgians are taught English since they start preschool, so they speak perfect English. However I would not recommend to speak Dutch in the South regions and French in the North regions due to some economic rivalry.

Dutch language is very difficult to learn. Gent University offers a variety of language courses: Dutch, Spanish, French, German, etc. and prices are very economic.

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What's the easiest or most economical way to travel to Ghent from your city?

I´m from Madrid, as such, the most economic and easy way is to travel to Gent is by plane. You can arrive either at the International Airport (e. g. Iberia) from which you will have to take a train to Gent or you can also arrive to Charleroi airport (e. g. Ryanair) and afterwards take a bus (flibco.com) that takes you straight to Gent station. The price both of the train ticket and the bus ticket are 15€ per journey.

You can also go to Gent with your own car.

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Where would you recommend to go on a night out in Ghent?

During the week I will suggest to go to Overpoort Street, where you can find all the pubs and everyone parties there as is it near the students residences. During the weekend, all the Belgians go to their hometown, as such, there is not much party, so during the weekends I would suggest to go to the pubs in the centre (e. g. Des amis, Charlatan, etc. )

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And for eating? Can you recommend some good restaurants in Ghent?

I could not afford going to any restaurants in Gent. But I liked a place in Overpoort Street where homemade pizzas where elaborated in the same moment you ordered them. It is called "PRIMA DONNA".

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What good cultural sites are there to visit?

There are plenty of places to visit, not only in Gent but in other cities in Belgium.

In Gent you can visit places as the Castle, the Churchs or Graslei. As it is very small you will be able to visit the city in a blink. So I suggest to visit other cities and countries to which are nearer.

My friends and I rented 2 cars and we visited places from Germany (Cologene, Achen, Bremen, Hamburg) and Holland (Volendam, Edam, The Hague, Utrecht) during one week.

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Is there any other advice that you could give to students going to Ghent in the future?

I will advice to the students that are looking forward to go to Gent in the near future that there is time for everything: travel, have fun, meet new people, study. So, don´t just party and take the advantage of being studying at one of the best 100 Universities in the World. This will be a very important experience to build your own future career.

Undoubtly, going to Gent was one of the best expericences of my life.

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