Erfahrungsberichte

alle Länder anzeigen

weitere Erfahrungsberichte für Belgien

Land:
Belgien

Universität:
Arteveldehogeschool Gent

Semester und Studiengang:
4. Semester Bachelor International Management

Aufenthalt:
summersemester 2016

Über die Universität:
The programme I am studying in Belgium is International Business Management, which is entirely taught in English. This was not something new for me due to the fact that in Deggendorf, my programme is also completely in English. However there are a few differences. The education at the Arteveldehogeschool Gent is more practically oriented, involving lots of projects and paperwork during the whole semester, instead of having the whole examination done at the end of the term. This means that the work I was supposed to do at the beginning and middle of the term was a lot more. Although my final exams were not relaxing for sure, they were not that stressful as the ones I am used to at the THD.
The courses are on a high level. I enjoyed e.g. Intercultural Communication Skills, Dutch and local culture, Operational Excellence and Sales, Marketing. The lecturers will mostly let you do things on your own with not a lot of supervision, but of course in case of trouble they will always assist you. You will be evaluated regularly and also receive feedbacks for almost every report or paper you have completed.
There are a few campuses but you will not have to change a lot, since there is one main building for International Business Mgt. In general your timetable will not change a lot during the semester.
Something I would recommend is to carefully think about your learning agreement once you have arrived in Gent and determine if the classes you are taking suit your needs and expectations. I am saying this because I made some changes at the beginning of the semester after I went to some of the classes and this made my semester more enjoyable. Many of my friends chose a lot of subjects definitely of added-value, but too much time consuming and they are stressing and working way too much for Erasmus students.

Betreuung vor Ort:
Everyone has been extremely nice with me since day one here. Mr. Daan Braet and Jan Zuliani are the coordinators for this programme and they really make sure everything is settled and well organized for the Erasmus students. Even before I came here, I was already added to some groups where I could see my fellow class mates and also others. Also something that made a huge impression on me is the fact that being for 5 months in Gent without speaking the local language did not cause any trouble for me. Everyone, and I mean everyone speaks English in this city. Going to the gym, club, university, restaurant and starting to speak directly in English will not affect the communication.
The only problems I have encountered and had to deal with on my own were regarding my accommodation. The coordinators assisted me with a few contacts to people renting student rooms. It did not take a long time until I found an accommodation which is pretty cheap for the standards in Gent. I will definitely suggest you to try to find something private because it will be cheaper and also more comfortable. Dormitories here usually start from at least 400 euros and it’s likely that you will need to share bathroom and kitchen with the whole building, which would have disturbed me a lot.
Last but not the least there is an Orientation Week which I missed because I still had exams in Deggendorf, but my friends told me it was really nice and it will definitely help you acclimatize faster here. Registration in the city hall and creating your student card are done within hours so you will not face a lot of administrative issues here. In case you cannot participate in the OW, don't worry the coordinators will make special time slots for you and you will catch up pretty quick.

Tipps:
I would strongly recommend coming to Gent for your Erasmus semester. You will be able to enjoy your time a lot and gain valuable business insights as well. If you are a social person and you like communicating with different people then I believe it will not take long until you find yourself perfectly settled in Belgium.
I chose Gent because of two main reasons: the high importance of Belgium in Europe (the EU organizations are mostly placed here) and also because I wanted to travel a lot during my semester abroad. And this - believe me - was the best country to choose for this. It is placed straight into the heart of Europe and visiting cities such as Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Paris, Lille, Brussels, Antwerpen, Brugge and Luxembourg will take you less than five hours and will end up relatively cheap. I managed to visit 17 cities in 8 countries in the last 3 months for which I paid an amount equal to the total cost of life for a month in Deggendorf.
Even though travelling is close and cheap, be aware that the living standard in Belgium is higher than the one in Germany. Their wages are higher due to the highest labor taxes in Europe that workers have to pay here. Of course this reflects on the lifestyle as well. As I said housing is a bit expensive but if you search for something private you will be able to find something around 350 euros as I did. Food in supermarkets and clubs is not really expensive but eating out and leisure activities could be considered as a bit pricy.
In general I hope I helped you orientate what to expect and of course in case of any additional questions you can ask me on facebook. I believe choosing Gent will be one of the best decision of your life and I wish you enjoy it as much as I did!