My Erasmus stay in Klaipeda

A. Introduction

1) Why did I choose an Erasmus Program?

My Rrasmus is the most wonderful experience I ever had.

By entering Sainte-Marie my main objective is to get a job which could make me discover new countries, new cultures and which could give me responsibilities. Thanks to my bachelor in foreign trade the opportunity to spread my linguistic knowledge by practicing my English within the framework of a linguistic exchange, was given to me. Erasmus program allows us to bloom in several domains such as the autonomy, the sense of responsibilities, the sense of resourcefulness and how to deal with a budget.

The control of English which will be a significant asset in the exercise of my future job is a plus in my curriculum vitae.

Erasmus helps you to become stronger for your future and teaches you more english skills and knowledge.

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2) Why did I choose Lithuania?

I chose the eastern countries in general as main destinations. These destinations instigate my curiosity by the fact that they are unknown but seem to be so close. Several times I had the opportunity to discuss with students who have been there and most of them don’t dry up in enthusiastic eulogies. The financial aspect also influenced my preferences of destination.

Being by nature curious and always studious of new things, the meeting of an unknown culture is a formidable opportunity to discover new horizons.

B. The arrival

We arrived in Kaunas Airport late in the afternoon and took the minibus express straight away to Klaipeda immediately. It is a long trip of 3 hours in a minibus on the railway. We reached Klaipeda late in the evening and Anastasija has to pick up us at the bus station at about midnight to drive us to our apartment. We arrived earlier around 10 pm. We were starving and decided to take a taxi to the first place that came to our mind: McDonald's! Here came our first surprise, there was only one McDonald's in entire Klaipeda!

Finally we reached the apartment with Anastasija who gave us some interesting advices about the city and the way of life in Lithuania.

As we arrived on Thursday, we spent 3 days just 3 of us together because other students where spending their last weekend of holidays in their houses in the countryside. It was a bit strange because we didn’t hear news about anything during this period. But like in every happy ending story, on Sunday some students from our college offered us to make a tour of the city which ended up as a tour of the pubs of Klaipeda in a friendly atmosphere. That’s how our amazing adventure started.

C. The apartment

1) Description

Our apartment was located in Kareiviniu gatvé 4-21, not too far from everything. Situated 3km away from the school, it took us only 15 minutes to reach it. We could find many shops around there. On our street we had a bakery, some convenience stores (called iki), a pharmacy, a bookstore, a hairdresser, some restaurants (chinese, kebab, pizzeria), and a sport club. It was quite enough for our everyday life. In the neighborhood was also situated the biggest and most fashionable nightclub in Klaipeda: Kiwi Klubas where we spent most of our parties. The big shopping area called Akropolis (famous in Lithuania) was situated about 10 minutes far from our street which was really useful for our shopping afternoons.

We chose to rent an apartment. We had 6 rooms: 2 bedrooms, a lounge, one little kitchen area, a bathroom and a hall. Quentin and Boris, my roommates, chose a bedroom each, and I decided to change our lounge area into my bedroom. Every bedroom was equipped with a TV, a bed, some wardrobes, some chairs, a desk and some pillows and blankets. I had the biggest room in the flat so everything took place there, the boys were watching TV there, we organized parties, dinners and it was also a guestroom when we needed. It was a quite animated room as the kitchen.

Our kitchen was completely equipped; the only thing we needed to buy was the food. We had a gas stove, a microwave, an oven, a fridge, a refrigerator, even a washing machine and all we needed to cook and eat as glasses, plates, pans, etc.

The rent for the flat had to be paid every mid-month. Each of us had to pay about 90€ to 110€ every month, which included the rent, the utilities and the wireless internet we bought for 120€ for 6 months. It was really cheap for this really big flat that we loved so much!

I really loved to live in Kareiviniu gatvé 4-21, we never got bored and the owner of the flat Tomas, was taking care of us like a father. Tomas and his wife helped us a lot! Tomas visited us regularly to make sure that everything was ok, to drive us somewhere, to fix problems in the flat, to invite us for some trips, and so on. Also Lithuanians and other Erasmus students from all other colleges visited us a lot; everyone knew our address and spent time in the “magic flat” as we like to call it. This Erasmus flew by so fast!

D. The school

1) Information

Klaipeda Business School was founded on the 11th of july 1997 as a non-profit public educational institution. In 2001 the school acquired the status of higher educational institution (school). The founder of the school is assoc. Prof. Dr. Irena Sabaliauskaite. Today the school is well-known not only in Klaipeda region, but all over Lithuania. More and more students from different regions of Lithuania, as well as international students, come to study at Klaipeda Business School. The school is located in Tilzès gatvé. We had to take the bus number 2 or 5 to get there and it took us only 5 or 10 minutes. It is a nice place, quite small… even more than Ste-Marie! It consists of 2 parts: building I and building II. It offers 8 study programs such as English, law, finance, business management, banking, international business, business economic and accounting. As the school is small every student knows each other. The teachers together with the students form a big family and the atmosphere is enjoyable. The school organizes a lot of activities and it is a pleasure to spend time there. Our coordinator's name was Lina. She is a pretty young woman who is really friendly and helpful. She is responsible for the international department. She helped us a lot, and was always available for fixing problems related to health or student life. We are extremely grateful for everything she did for us.

2) International Student Club

International Student Club was founded on September 9, 2010. It means when we arrived in Kvam. Students who like communicating in foreign languages, who have personal study or practice experience abroad are welcome in the club! The club members will perform “peer student” role, will organize events, excursions, and simply have pleasant time in the intercultural environment. We were member of this club, and we took part in many activities. The International Club is full of friendly students and is really welcoming. Lina was also responsible for managing the club with the students.

3) English Club

The English Club is rather the same as the international one, but it is more informal. They are organizing meetings and debates about actuality or thematic subjects. We also were member of this club and took part in 2 activities.

4) Erasmus students

Everyone thinks that when you’re going on Erasmus, you will meet only Erasmus students from all over the world and that’s it. So thought we. When we arrived at Kvam, we were a bit surprised to hear that we were only 5 Erasmus students: Kate, Idïl and us 3. Idïl is from Turkey, she didn’t really spend time with us because of her English skills. She also was shy. She was attending the same lectures as us. Katalin is from Hungary. We became inseparable. She speaks English as a native speaker. In Hungary she studies law. She had less lectures than us. We were spending all of free time together. To be the only 5 Erasmus at school was not a problem for us. We met the other Erasmus from other schools or universities. We met Turkish guys, Latvian girls, Polish guys, Indians and Russian guys. But most of the time we were spending time with Lithuanians. The students from college are now good friends of us. They made their best to make us to feel good in Lithuania. They are really kind and they helped us a lot with our new life there. In fact, we didn’t really spend time “without” them! As a matter of facts, we were totally immersed in the Lithuanian culture.

E. Activities organized by the school

During our journey in Lithuania, we had a lot of formal or informal excursions and activities. Here are the main activities we had:

1) International day (30/09/10)

It was the first informal meeting organized by the English Club to learn more about the English Club activities, translation issues, languages and many other interesting things. In addition, we had an opportunity to get acquainted with students from Hungary, Turkey, India and Lithuania studying at Klaipėda Vusiness School. We had to bring something typical for our country to spread the national authenticity as well as to try something typical (in the form of food) from each of the different countries.

2) Camp zilvitis (26/09/10)

For that occasion we spent 2 days in the countryside with Lithuanians from college. We were about 40 students. For me it was one of the best activities we had the chance to take part in.

During these 2 days we had the opportunity to make acquaintance with our classmates and other students from college. Many games were organized by a team and we also had a party in the evening which was supposed to be with a DJ, but which finally ended up at the beach or somewhere else in the countryside.

3) Meetings of students from International Club

Sometimes the International Student Club organised some meetings to help us to improve our oral English skills. We were going somewhere as ice-skating, bowling, or at a pub and we were discussing about everything that happened during our Erasmus or talking about any subject.

4) Nida (01/10/10)

The excursion around the Curonian Spit was with an English speaking guide. It was free for all the students. We had a walk in the forest along the Curonian lagoon which was animated by some stories about Lithuanian legends and old stories. We took the bus and the boat to reach the spit. It was amazing!

5) Basketball trainings + competition (every thursday)

In Lithuania, the basketball is the most famous sport. When Quentin and Boris asked for a place to play, Lina made a demand to rent a hall and the next week we had it! Every Thursday we had the opportunity to play basketball altogether for 2 or 3 hours. Before going there, I didn’t like basketball. But with Quentin and Boris who were watching the NBA home and playing basketball 3 days a week with our owner, I started to appreciate it. Finally I became a big fan of those trainings with other students. On 2 occasions we took part in a competition against other colleges and universities. I didn’t take part in those events as a player but as a supporter! It was quite nice!

6) Day of 1st year students (14/10/10)

Unfortunately we didn’t take part in this event because of a huge homework. Like in Belgium, every first year student celebrates a traditional "student baptizing ceremony for all 1st year students" which includes lots of games and fun.

7) Horror short movies contest (28/10/10)

In the framework of the English Club, we had to create a short movie about the theme of Halloween. By team of students from every year and program we spent time to develop a scenario, to play the comedy together, and finally to take part in the competition for the first place of the “best well made” film. For the occasion, together with 8 students (dream team), we made a film called “lost in déjà vu” and we reached the second place! Because of our performance we won an evening at the bowling.

See our short movie.

8) Vilnius (27-28/11/10)

We went to the capital city in the framework of a school excursion. We took the 5 hour bus to reach Vilnius and came back the next evening. We spent the 1st day with the students and decided to stay the night and spend more time there.

During the trip we visited the office of the President of the Republic of Lithuania and the Museum of Genocide Victims with a guide. It was really interesting to discover the capital city. The weather was rather cold but we spent such a good time there. After the sightseeing with the school and teachers, we had free time to see around the city. In the evening we reached a hostel and went out in the night. The next morning we left the hostel and continued the tour of the city.

Vilnius is a beautiful city full of things to see and visit. We were a bit sad to leave so early but we had to go to college the next day. I hope that I will have again the opportunity to go there.

9) The conference about competitiveness (18/11/10)

This conference was the most important meeting we had at school. If somebody takes part in the conference by presenting a project, they can escape from English exams. It was the biggest project which we had to present. Kate and I analyzed the problem of the system of Bologna in universities and colleges in Belgium, Lithuania and Hungary and its impact on the obtaining of a work after the acquisition of the diploma.

We presented it in front of the teachers, the director, some students from Vilnius and other universities, and also Lina. It was also a competition. The 3 best presentations received a price and the participants were given a certificate. Boris and Quentin reached the 3rd place and Kate and I didn’t reach the top 3 because of the length of our presentation, as our English teacher explained us: “It was so well-made and interesting but too long! ” indeed, our presentation took 30 minutes in front of 15.

10) Parties

• welcome party (5/09/10)
• karaoke (16/09/10)
• marselis evenings (every thursday evenings)
• goodbye Katy’s party (02/12/10)
• christmas eve (22/12/10)
• an so on... Party boy was our "veto".

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F. The lectures

Our program was the “Erasmus program”; it means that we had lectures from several different programs. We were attending lectures with 1st year or 2nd year classes. We had 15 hours a week and Friday off.

We had this lecture 2 times a month on Wednesdays.

We started our school year on September 6 and finished it on November 30. During November we had our examination period and during December we had a project period.

We were attending lectures till mid-november. For each lecture we had to prepare a personal project to present in front of our classmates at the end of October. When November arrived, we had lectures and examination. It was our hardest period, but teachers were really comprehensive and deleted some lectures to give us time to work. It was such a surprise to hear our teachers asking us to fix the date and time of our examination at our best convenience!

Every lecture was given in the form of Power Point presentation. We just had 2 books, one for business English, and another for Lithuanian language. Here are short descriptions of every lecture we had to attend:

• Information search:

The aim of the course is to teach to the student how to use the universities databases on the web. The student will have to find the most relevant publication to the project which it will be necessary spirit to analyze.

• Lithuania in the EU

Students are acquainted with the European Union institutional and material law. The formation of the European Union, its legal status, goals, legal system and origins, EU institutions and their functions, four basic liberties (of goods, persons, capital movement, establishment and service supply) as well as the EU community labour law are analysed; these are compared with the legal systems of other European countries.

• Lithuanian language and culture

The objective of the course is to provide the students with the basic knowledge of the Lithuanian language and culture, which could be useful during their period of stay in Lithuania.

• Business opportunities in Lithuania

Students are acquainted with the indicators of Lithuanian economy and their tendencies, investment opportunities and experience as well as business planning in Lithuania and europe.

• Business English

The objectives of the course are: to enrich English vocabulary in a range of business contexts; to achieve fluency in expressing ideas in both written and oral form; to improve skills in dialogue and monologue speech.

During the course the students will listen, read and discuss on various current business topics. They will write reports on the information read; discuss and negotiate in English; give presentations and take interviews.

• Multicultural society

The objectives of the course are: to provide to the students an idea of what is a multicultural society and to teach them how to debate about an idea and how to manage with different cultures and backgrounds.

• Business risk

The objective of the course is to train the students to analyze and assess the specifics business risks; find the most favorable way to deal with it and to analyze their impacts on the company.

• Marketing management

The objective of the course is to train professional management specialists to understand the goals and features of contemporary enterprises as well as the importance of strategic management; apply the analysis data while forming strategies of enterprise operations, oriented towards progress, development and innovations.

• Project task: the analysis of the changes of international trade of the EU

The project comes from some additional courses within international management program. Our task was to analyze and present the:

• changes of international trade policy in international market
• priorities of the EU internal trade and trade with third countries
• changes of indicators of the EU internal trade and trade with third countries

The presentation took place on the 21st of December.

G. Klaipeda city

“Lithuania is an independent, democratic republic in central Europe, on the coast of the Baltic Sea. Independence was restored in 1990 and in 2004 Lithuania joined European Union and NATO. With 65 000 sq. Km lithuania is the same size as Belgium or Ireland. It has population of around 3 million and shares borders with Latvia, Belarus, Poland and Kaliningrad region (Russia). Lithuania has a rich historic background, old living traditions, and unique natural beauty. In Lithuania amber has been adopted as the symbol of the country. ”

1) Identification

Klaipeda is the third largest city of Lithuania, situated in the western part of the country.

It is an ice-free port with favorable geographical position on the coast of the Baltic Sea and Curonian lagoon, within close distance to other Baltic Sea ports: Kaliningrad (Russia) and Riga (Latvia).

The city covers 98. 35 km2. average monthly air temperature in Klaipėda in January is –0, 6 °C, in July - +19, 4 °C. Average annual temperature +8, 4 °C.

When we arrived in Klaipeda, the first idea that we had was: “Oh, it looks like Liège! ”. Then we visited the entire city and we realized that Klaipeda is much more beautiful.

Old styled, clean, and really quiet it is pleasant to have a walk through the streets.

Klaipeda consists of 2 parts: the old town and the new city. We had been living in the new city next to the old town. Klaipeda is a harbor city, and there is water everywhere. From my window I could see the harbor and the top of the giant boats that were carrying goods and stuff.

In Klaipeda you find many things to do, to visit or events to take part in. For example: Lithuanian Maritime Museum, Klaipeda Musical Theatre, International Klaipeda Castle Jazz Festival, International Folklore Festival, Sea Festival, and so on.

About leisure and entertainment you can find: bicycle routes, cinemas, bowling, yachting, casino, night clubs, beaches, gliding and skydiving, tennis courts, swimming pools, billiards, etc.

2) Seaside (port and beach)

As mentioned before Klaipeda is the only seaport of Lithuania. When you arrive in the city you can’t see the sea, but the big port. This port is one of the most trade areas of the Baltic Sea. There are more and more amateurs of yachting who are arriving to spend great time there. This port is an international place. (Read more about it).

The originality of Klaipeda is that if you want to rest or have fun on the beach, you have to take a 3 minutes boat ride, have a walk (or a ride) through a beautiful forest to finally arrive on the beautiful beach of Klaipeda. We were a bit surprised but eventually we went there several times because of the nice environment. On the beach you can also go to those small houses which are offering people some sauna and hamah sessions in the course of which you can run through the beach, dive into the cold sea and return to cleanse your body.

All the students recommended us to come back here in the summer, telling us that it is “the beach to be”! And for sure, we will!

3) Akropolis

Akropolis Group, UAB is a leading shopping center developed in Lithuania and one of the largest companies in this area in the baltic countries. The Klaipėda Akropolis has the huge area of over 75. 000 m2 and was opened in december 2005. Currently it has 238 operators – Hypermaxima xxx, Eurovaistinė, apparel stores Zara, Bershka, City, Apranga, and other footwear, domestic and household appliances, beauty goods, variety stores as well as an ice skating arena, a cinema and a bowling alley. In 2009 the shopping and entertainment center Akropolis had over 10 million visitors.

We were spending time there when the weather was too bad. The Akropolis is the biggest shopping center I had ever seen in real. When you are inside you feel like in Disneyland. The decoration is amazing and the atmosphere is great. You can find anything you want; it is like a big “belle-île” (in Liège).

4) Nightlife

In Klaipeda nightlife from Monday till Thursday is quiet. During the week the pubs are open till 9 pm on average. The clubs are opened from Thursday to Sunday.

The city is rather safe and with Kate, we went out alone several times at night. The city is full of light and offers beautiful views on buildings, museums, churches, and the seaport. During Christmas the square in the old town in amazing!

As we had 4 days of school a week, we were going out every weekend. In Klaipeda there is such a wild choice of nightclubs: Kiwi, Martini, Manhattan, Dr Who, El Calor, Piteris, and so on. On Thursdays the clubs offer student’s free entrance during the whole night.

The best club of Klaipeda is situated near our flat. It is the Kiwi Club, it is safe, welcoming and it has 3 floors, 3 atmospheres and 4 bars.  

H. Spare time

1) Sightseeing

Nida, the beach, Kaunas, Vilnius, Zilvitis beach.

2) Sports

Basketball, sport club, ice-skating, ultimate frisbee.

3) Nightlife

Kiwi Club, Marselis, Memelis, and restaurants.

I. Typical food

During our stay most of the time we were cooking for ourselves. But as the cost of living wasn’t high, we went to the restaurant once or twice a week.

We decided to taste every Lithuanian typical food we could find in the restaurants. It wasn’t such a big deal because most of the restaurants, you can find in Klaipeda, are some non-typical food restaurants. In Akropolis, where we went for everything we needed even eating, there was a lot of picerija (pizzeria), and other untypical restaurants.

During one of our International Student Club meetings, we tried famous meals in Lithuania. Here are some of them:

Šaltibarščiai (cold beet soup)

2 cooked red beets, peeled and coarsely grated, 2 fresh cucumbers, finely cut, 2 hard boiled eggs, 100 g (6 tablespoons) sour cream, 1 l (4 cups) sour milk or butter milk, 1 cup boiled water, 8 sprigs fresh dill, finely chopped, 1 cup scallion greens, finely chopped, salt to taste

Šaltibarščiai are usually served with hot boiled or fried potatoes on the side. Sometimes a sliced hard-boiled egg is added into the plate as well. It's a great meal on a hot summer day.  

Didþkukuliai (cepelinai) (zeppelins)

1 k (2 lbs) raw potatoes, peeled and grated, 4 cooked potatoes, salt to taste

A cepelinai is basically a potato dumpling filled with meat and floating in a mushroom sauce. The cepelinai comes from the rural parts of Lithuania. Taking several hours to make it was perfect for the cold winter days when it was better to be indoors cooking something warm to eat. It is “the national dish”.

“Užkandžiai prie alaus”(snack to beer) fried bread with garlic, cheese and mayonaise

These are a national favorite beer snack, as they’re called, also available on nearly every menu.

Alaus (beer)

Beer has been brewed in Lithuania since ancient times and even today is a popular, traditional drink.

The most famous place to drink “homemade” delicious beers in Klaipeda is the “Memelis” pub.

J. Cost of living

In Lithuania the cost of living is much lower than in Belgium.

Pib par habitant (en usd): 17080 [2011]

For more information here is an explicative video

During my journey i was using my Maestro credit card.

My expenses of account withdrawals were little expensive and it didn’t really change anything on my expenses.

I have to mention that I didn’t really check on my expenses while staying in lithuania. I wanted to take my chance to live this experience completely.

Every excursion organized by the school was free or nearly for free. But every time we decided to enjoy these excursions more than expected and we stayed one day more somewhere covering expenses by ourselves. I will never regret spending such money on this Erasmus.



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