Enjoying Münster

Münster is really great! Don't hesitate to come to Münster! :)

There are many reasons why Münster is the perfect place for spending your Erasmus semester:

- It is a really lovely town. It's quite small (which is the reason why many people are not interested in it), but if you are more of a small-town person, then it's a place for you. There is a lot of small lovely cafes and places to chill, the streets are not too crowded and the people are extremely friendly.

- I was studying at the faculty of history. For some reason, I was the only Erasmus student there, which was challenging, but really great, because I had to integrate with the local students and really speak German ALL THE TIME. The teachers were all very nice and helpful.

- In general, the school is really welcoming for the international students, I had no problems with the organization of my studies there. There are also plenty of activities (usually cca 2 per week) for the international students to meet up.

- Münster is a city of bicycles (pretty much like Amsterdam, for example). There are plenty of bikes in the streets and since the town is small, you can get everywhere in max 15 minutes on your bike. When the weather's nice (remember Münster is in the north, so it rains quite a lot), there are a lot of nice places to go for a biking trip.

- When you pay the tuition fee at the university (300 euros), you can use the public transport (buses and trains) in the whole North Rheine Westphalia for free. This is an amazing opportunity to make a lot of trips, I went to see Düsseldorf, Köln, Aachen, Detmold, Osnabrück and Aachen and also it's quite close and cheap to go to Hamburk, Maastricht, Amsterdam or Brussels.

- There is quite a big offer of part-time jobs, I think everybody who is interested to work a bit during the stay will manage to find a job. I was, for example, selling tea at the Christmas market and it was a nice experience that helped me to practice my German in practice.

- There is a huuuuuge offer of sport activities, which are offered by the university (which means they're really cheap, cca 15 euros per semester). I, for example, took aikido classes, which was a good deal of fun and also another nice way of integrating and getting to know the locals.

- There are several school canteens around the town. The food is cheap (I suppose it would cost the same if I cooked it), delicious and it gives you a good insight into the German cuisine.

There are naturally several negative things about staying in Münster:

- It's a small town, which I personally see as a benefit, but if you are interested in discovering new places every day and a lot of various activities, then you may want to look for a bigger city.

- It's quite a challenge to find accommodation, there are always people who end up at the emergency accommodation at the beginning of the semester. You should definitely start looking for a room as soon as possible!

- But that is actually pretty much it. I'm trying to figure out what else I didn't like about Münster and I can't think of anything. It was a really amazing experience.