Erasmus Experience in Swansea University, United Kingdom by Marta

Why did you choose to go to Swansea University?

My university in Spain recommended us to do our Erasmus at a university in an English-speaking country, so we could be able to completely perfect our leve. From the start of the course we were talking about the process and the paperwork and approximately half way through the course they gave us a list with universities that we could tues here: The system works like this: you have to choose the universities and put them in your order of preference. Those who had a higher average grade had first choice. My first choice was the University of Edinburgh and Swansea University was my second choice, The trouth is that I had looked at some photos on the internet and I noticed it was right by the sea. Another one of the reasons I chose this university ewas because I had never been in a capital or in an important city, which I wanted to do as the prices were not so expensive (in comparison to London or Manchester). Finally, the idea of a university campus really appealed to me, like something out of a field. They have a really big campus with lots of buildings, restaurants, sports areas and even supermarkets. I was a bit bored of living far away from my university in Madrid.

The truth is that I am very happy that I didn't go to Edinburgh (I would have died of cold) and although Swansea is a small city, I had an incredible year that I will never forget.

What is it like to live in Swansea? Would you recommend it? What is the city like?

As I said before, Swansea is a very small city on the Welsh coast in the United Kingdom. Don't be put off by the weather, as yes, it rains a lot and it is always foggy. But when a rare sunny day occurs, everyone goes to the beach, playing ball games, playing musica and have barbecues.

The public transport system is quite good, although wakng a bit as you can almost always get to everywhere by foot.

In the city centre there is the bus and train station and in a few steps you can find every type of service, such as clothes shops, restaurants, food shops, etc. THe only negative thing is that English shops are only open till 6. 30 pm latest, so if you are thinking of going shopping, you are better off going in the morning? The only things that open 24 hours are supermarkets.

There is a specific street where there is just bars and discos, or as they say here "clubs", which is called Wind Street. But well, we'll talk about this later on.

The city is very international, in general all of the United Kingdom has a fairly international atmosphere, which lots of different nationalities. And the welsh have quite a thick accent, but don't worry as they will help you as much as possible. As it is a city located next to the sea, it is full of seagulls everyewhere, but don't give them food and be careful as sometimes they attack.

In general, you could say it is a pretty safe city. Of course it has its bad areas, but being small it is not like big cities where if you are the least bit careless they will rob your card and phone

How long did the scholarship last?

How much money did you receive to help you with living costs?

I studied in Swansea for 8 months, and I received the grant for all of these.

In terms of economic support, you know that the amount of Erasmus money you receive depends on your destination, and I believe that in the United Kingdom it is 400 euros a month. But in practice it doesn't work out like this, as they give you 80 per cent of the grant at the beginning of the year and the remaining 20 percent at the end of the year, so you have to be careful and learn to be sensible with your money, as you need to trust yourself before having that kind of money.

What is the student lifestyle like in Swansea?

Swansea is basically a university city, and with being so small, the majority of people that the majority of people that you come across will be students. And the city is completely adapted to this situation. THe majority of houses are for students and their are lots of clothes and food shopps everywhere, but the university life takes place inside the campus or through the activities that the university offers.

The universities in the United Kingdom have a range of "clubs" or "societies" as they called them when you sign up during the first few days. The aim of these clubs is to unite people who share the same interests. For example, there is a Harry Potter society, a pottery society, a surf society or a Hispanic people society. It is a really good wya to make friends as they organise get togethers and events almost every week. They is so much variety that sometimes you will sign up to do many and it doesn't work out, although it can be a good opportunity.

Personally, I recommend signing up to a sports society. As there are so many people, you don't need to know the sport beforehand to sign up, as there is always a beginners leve. Then there are intermediate levels and even teams who play for the University. These last ones are really fun because at the end of the year there is a Varsity match against Cardiff University, our biggest rival. It's like a kind of derby where the two universities go face to face in all their different sports. The university that wins in the most sports matches, wins Varsity for that year. It a huge event and everyone loves it.

To sum up, the student atmosphere is great, really sociable, and the university offers a huge amount of activities, that you can do to get ot know people, to practice sport or to get into a new hobby.

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

Yes, a million times yes. As I've said, although the university is small, the student atmosphere is great and there are thousands of things to do. Also if you get bored, the capital of Wales, Cardiff, is just a stones throw away. From the bus station you can take the X10 bus, which departs from Swansea bus station every hour, and be in Cardiff in an hours time; and via train it's even less.

What is the food like?

Well, the UK isn't really renowned for its cuisine. The only thing they have is a Sunday Roast. It is a roast that they have on Sundays with their family or friends and they eat fit to burst. The rest of their food is a bit gross and is really expensive, especially in comparison to Spain A packet of chocolates from Cadbury is cheaper than an apple and this really affects your diet. At the end of the day, it's all too tempting and you'll end up eating the same rubbish as them. No one knows how to cook and their diet is based on buying pre-packed and pre-cooked food and putting it in the oven. Once, one of my flatmates had toast for breakfast, and then took the a can of those English beans (baked beans) and poured them on top, although with a lot of butter

The majority of fruit and vegetables come from Mediterranean countires. In fact, I remember that once their was a series of floods in Spain, and I went a couple of weeks without finding a courgetteor an eggplant in a single supermarket.

The milk is fresh and goes out of date a few days after buying it, so be careful. Pasteurised milk, the most popular one in Spain, is relaly difficult to find here.

Was it difficult to find your accommodation in Swansea?

Honestly, no. As it is a university city, there are so many offers everyhwere. Being an exchange student, I preferred to stay in one of the university's residences. I really recommend the halls Bay Campus, which are really new and come with an en-suite. The rooms in Singleton Campus are more usual, but definitely do not stay in Student Village, which is located really far away and doens't have any facilities there. In Bay Campus, for example, there was a laundry room and a small supermarket.

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It's also true that living in halls is a bit more expensive, so to make it cheaper you could always stay in a house or in a shared flat (although here there are mostly houses, to be honest). You can also search on this trustworthy page, or if not search on Facebook groups which there are loads of.

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How much does it cost to live in Swansea?

It works out a bit cheaper than in the big English cities, but to be honest in England the prices are generally quite expensive for a Spanish person.

My accommodation costed me £600 a month, with everything included.

For transport, I recommend getting the bus subscription at the start of the year, it is £300 for the whole year, but I promise that it's a worthwhile investment.

In terms of food, the cheapest supermarket is Lidl, and then Tesco. Sainsburys is the most expensive. My two-weekly food shop costed me £20 - 30.

In terms of entertainment, going to the cinema is really expensive, but it's not that expensive to go on a night out. Alcohol and tobacco are subject to a special tax, but then you can get into the clubs for less than £3.

I think that this information is sufficient so you can get an approximate idea of how much things cost.

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

To be honest, I found English relatively easy to get to ggrips with, the only problem I encountered was perhaps with the Welsh people having quite a heavy accent. However, being such an international university you will have almost no problems as there are lots of people there from other nationalities.

I think that it's possible to do a language course through the university, but I didn't go as I didn't need to. I don't rememeber if it was free or not.

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

This is the biggest problem. Swansea doesn't have an airport, and the closest airport to it is Cardiff, and there are no direct flights between here and Madrid. To travel there from Madrid I recommend flying to Bristol directly, with the low-cost company EasyJet, and then take a bus to Swansea (although normally you have to take several). Everything is three times as complicated when you really that EasyJet flights to Bristal are always in the middle of the night. Be prepared to get to Swansea at 2. 30 am in the morning.

The other option would be to fly to London and then get a train from there, but of course, London is quite far away from Swansea so I think the train would take around 6 hours. Decide what you like.

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

Without a doubt, if you go out you have to go to Wind Street. This is the street I talked about before where all the bars and clubs in Swansea are located. Personally I love the club Fiction, which is the most expensive out of all of them (£5 entry) but the others are cheaper and won't be more than £3: Bamboo, Revolution, etc. Anything on this street is fairly good to go to.

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In the UK, things are quite different to how they are in Spain. They have a lot shorter opening hours. Before going out, instead of doing the usual drinking in the street, they have "predrinks", where they meet up at home to have a drink with games and cards. Towards 11-12 pm they head out. The clubs always close at 3 am, some even close before that. But it does have its advantages, as you can have a decent night and manage to make it to class the next day.

And with this, forget about reggaeton and all that you have known. Their music is basically hip-hop rap and chart pop. The only Spanish songs they'll have will be Hips Dont Lie by Shakira, Gasolina by Daddy Yankee and some from Enrique and Inglesias. Oh, and since this summer, Despacito, but the version with Justin Bieber.

What is the food like? Can you recommend some good restaurants in Swansea?

As I've said before, the food is rubbish. There is a restaurant on the top floor of a building, called Grape and Olive. By all means, the food isn't anything interesting, but the views of the beach are quite pretty.

There's another restaurant at the bus station exit called Franco's which is quite good, I'd recommend the pizzas.

As for the rest, their is a very popular chain in the UK called Nandos. I didn'tgo because it's basically fast food but being sat in a restaurant, but I've heard that it's good.

What good cultural sites are there to visit?

In terms of cultural attractions, to be honest there isn't much. If you continue in the direction of the coast there are several interesting spots. From the bus station in Swansea you can get to Mumbles really quickly, which is a really pretty area with little colourful houses on a jagged coast with cliffs.

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There is another area called Rhossili, it's a bit further away but you can get there via bus. It is also really amazing, it has a hige beach and again, cliffs and a jagged coastline.

Then, in an hour you can get to Cardiff and visit the castle.

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

Don't shut yourselves off, this city is an incredible opportunity to get to know new people from all over the world and I am sure that you will have an amazing year. You will form beautiful memories with people that you will never forget.

If you really want to come to the UK for university (which I think you should! ) you should check out this link to the top 10 universities in the UK.

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