Erasmus+ study program in Lithuania - pandemic edition

Erasmus+ study experience during the a.y. 19/20 (jan-jul) in Kaunas University of Technology - faculty of Civil Engineering, while attending my last year of Bc. Before the starting of the pandemic and distance learning, I had the opportunity to attend lectures in my faculty for few weeks.

_added 3 stars to the price but as Erasmus applicant, I didn't need to pay any tax in KTU

-UNIVERSITY-

KTU has different poles around the town, but engineering faculties are almost all located in the same street. The Civil engineering building is recent, with wide open spaces, daily kept clean, neat, silent. Heatment is good. You can find all you need to start the day right: a coffee machine if you're sleepy, an efficient panoramic elevator if the coffee wasn't enough - can happen when sun rises at 4:30.

A digital screen in the main hall will show starting time, classroom floor, code, of all the courses. In my faculty there was the cantine in the basement - I recommend it.

Civil engineering labs are setted in a peripheral area of the faculty - concrete moulds, dumpers, mixers, steel reinforces, various construction site stuff are in there. Axcessing without authorization is strictly forbidden, and dangerous too. I enjoyed my time there; learning is highly interactive, you'll be focused on taking data on which work to at home, and doing practical work with supervisors. Projects impact the final mark more than the theorethical tasks. Can't define if the finals are easy to pass, it depends on the subject and on the teacher. Most of my exams have been easy, one of them scared me a bit. But in general, nothing compared with the italian required standards of preparation.

Theorethical lectures are good too; KTU organizes several english courses, and it's easy to find the ones matching your sending istitution subjects. Usually these courses haven't a big amount of adherents - only erasmus people or foreign full time students. The professors are always helpful and available for individaul explanations. Difficult to interact with local students, cause they attend lithuanian courses.

Lectures are compulsory for a % of the whole course, while labs are mandatory every time.

-LIFE-

I stayed in a KTU dormitory and the feed was medium-low for the offered service. I recommend to stay in a (renovated) dormitory instead of an apartment, because you can easily make friendships, attend parties, share little daily life moments. It has been determining when we didn't have chance to go out because of COVID restrictions.

The cheapest daily things are: food (groceries, but expecially restaurants), trasports cards, rents in general (from citybees to apartments), baltic states brands. International brands mantain the same prices. I noticed, instead, stationery and selfcare products have higher prices than Italy.

Kaunas is a quite, wary, silent town. Forget about loud people in the streets, crowded roads, and forget desrespectful behaviours in the center. Police is severe and local people tends to respect all the rules. I also realized they have some..let's say prejudices, about foreign people.

But Kaunas, as the whole country, has a young population age average, and can offer nice opportunities for your freetime (according with the locals's attitudes. I'll write all the infos an Erasmus to-be student would like to know in way to spend his time in healthy and responsible ways. You will do te rest..

With your friends, you'll surely look for some places where to party. Cheap beers are everywhere, but Dzem Pub and Republic are the beating heart of Kaunas's students movida. Despite it, still in Laisves Aleja, few little cafes (away from prying eyes) transform themselves in nightlife clubs where mostly lithuanians go. Electronic live music (but I've also heard some lithuanian folk), cheap drinks, late night convos with strangers, informal context. Nice if you'd like to feel part of the local community.

Having a meal out in Kaunas is usually a pleasing experience. Everything is cheap, and you have a wide range of choice in the main street: georgian food (recommended), lithuanian food, italian food (italian owners), spicy food, street american food, and several coffees and cakes shops. Lithuanians are specialists in cakes.

If you enjoy contact with nature, you should appreciate this town. Kaunas is crossed by Nemunas and Neris rivers, wich touch different parts of the town, giving birth to singular landscapes; all of them are reachable by walk or bike. A big fairytale wood is located nearby Molas mall. There are squirrels and swans there, but also basketball and calisthenics areas; long roads where to practice jogging, hidden fields where to relax. Some kms out of the town, there's a lake. I highly recommend the bothanical garden in springtime - is delightful (and has a park with a lake and baby swans too. I like swans).

Kaunas have way more to offer than what is written in this page. My good opinion is in part influenced by the people, thus memories, I had here. I'd like to write more about some places, some of them are neither mentioned. But now I wonder if it makes sense, or could help you... and if a person can be jealous of a memory and its setting :-)

Hope this experience can make your approach to Kaunas easier.