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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Year abroad anyone?

13 replies

tobee · 06/10/2015 13:06

Bit late starting this thread. My dd has just gone to Germany to start an Erasmus year there at the university. Problems so far have included instruction to get internet access clear as mud and awkward admin.

Just wondering if anyone else has stuff to share. The unis at open day all made out that students get tons of support but there hasn't been much. All part of the experience....

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Ricardian · 06/10/2015 13:30

Problems so far have included instruction to get internet access clear as mud and awkward admin

Students don't need to go to Germany to get that, plenty of UK universities will provide that experience to their own students without having to travel.

tobee · 06/10/2015 15:51

Eh? Don't quite get that comment.

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asilverraindrop · 06/10/2015 21:23

My DD is currently in Russia. Problems so far, in a Soviet era tower block shared flat, include sleeping for months on a sofa in a room with no door, having no hot water, and having no internet for such a long time that I don't know what most of the other problems are, as she can only contact me from Internet cafes anyway. I think Ricardian just meant that the problems you mention can be found in England as well as Germany! It's all very character building, hopefully :)

gallicgirl · 06/10/2015 21:27

It's the best experience ever!

I did it years ago before the internet existed and it meant we got out and lived alittle.
Admin probably aren't being deliberately awkward. It's just limitations of language and expectations.
Personally I'd recommend taking every opportunity possible to travel and meet people. Hope he has a brilliant time.

noblegiraffe · 06/10/2015 21:28

I did a year abroad in Germany. I seem to recall having to register in various places all which needed forms from one another and all which operated opening hours like '2-4pm on the Tuesday of the last full moon before Oktoberfest'.

It took me till about Christmas to settle but then it was bloody brilliant.

tobee · 07/10/2015 00:46

Thanks for replies. Dd has borderline aspergers so worries a lot but is shy of communicating even in English to people she's known for years.

I just wanted to feel a bit less lonely (didn't think I would as this is year 3 of degree) and was keen to here from others, out things into perspective etc.

It all seems madly romantic to me but when you have the internet you over rely on it and all your emails and attachments to admin are inaccessible your stuffed.

Haven said that dd internet now up and running. Because she is so shy she gets comfort from watching comedy on YouTube and contributing to chat rooms.

But just really interested on how others were going.

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tobee · 07/10/2015 00:50

giraffe definitely with the opening hours. Also first weekend made fun by supermarket being shut Sundays but also Saturday because of reunification day. Most of the kitchens are being refurbished so she has nowhere to store stuff. Saving grace being dh, who took her, remembered seeing kebab house opposite halls!

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tobee · 07/10/2015 00:52

raindrop. Yeah that does put dd situation into perspective !

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Tokelau · 07/10/2015 00:56

I also did a year in Germany, but it was about twenty years ago! There was no internet obviously, no laptops or mobile phones. When I wanted to phone home I had to go and find a phone box.

I wasn't in a university, I had a placement teaching English in a Grammar school.

I hope your daughter has a great time. Smile

Millymollymama · 08/10/2015 17:23

My DD did Erasmus in Italy and Switzerland. Her university told her that the only organised universities are in Switzerland and Germany, so at least you have got that one sorted - althoughit maynot feel like it for a bit!

I can tell you that Italy was utterly disorganised - be thankful your DD is in Germany. The brief details are that you have to find your own accommodation as there is no student accommodation because most Italian students live at home. OK, but you have to be really organised to find it! She found it whilst still in Switzerland and I booked her into a hotel in Bologna while she finalised viewing of flats and secured one.

Lectures were OK - but they did not examine on the lecture content - oh no! Something completely different because the syllabus was huge and the exam questions were not based on the content of previous study. Only the name of the artist remained the same. You had to know, in detail, all his works (100 plus). If you guessed right, hopefully you may stand a chance of passing. Not that she had to pass, but she wanted to. The Italians mostly failed. They had loads more exam dates so they could try, try and try again. The successful written exam candidates had to do an oral exam to pass. Except the Japanese students who were told they only had to do the oral. When they turned up to so it, they were told they were not allowed to because they had not sat the written papers. They produced the email exempting them. Chaos!

During the lectures, which never started on time because the lecturers were outside having fag, a sizeable minority of the 100 plus students then chatted, ate and snogged all the way through. A few sprinkles of snow - no lectures. Lecturers not turning up - all the time. Change rooms and not tell the students - all the time. You get the picture..... The city and travelling around was fun and she made loads of Erasmus friends from all over the world.

Switzerland - super room allocated by the university overlooking the Alps, complete with balcony and hammock. Wonderful Swiss students in the flat and at the University who really helped. Invitations back to Switzerland - including a wedding. First class lectures as you would expect from a world class university. Bologna has slipped down the world rankings but it is still the top university in Italy and the oldest in Europe. It has 88,000 students though!

If there are problems - find other helpful Erasmus students who speak English! Bound to be some Brits/Australians about! Usually they make contact at specially arranged Erasmus events. I think you do have to be resourceful to do an Erasmus year. When DD was asked recently at a job interview what was her proudest achievement (is that English?!!), she replied, the Erasmus year! A young person really comes of age doing one. Your DD will be fine. Germany is not far. Book in for a long weekend!

Just one thing your DD might like to consider. Upon return to university there are very few year 4 students left. Lots of friends will have graduated. Therefore do say to DD to keep in touch with people doing her course! Also, people she may know doing other 4 year degrees so she has a group of friends to return to. This is vital if she is relying on them to find a flat for year 4. In my DDs university city, this took place in January - not when she returned in July. It might be different elsewhere, but she said she relied on others to find the flat and include her. You definitely do not want to be Billy No Mates.

Hope all goes well.

fussychica · 08/10/2015 18:58

Ds went back in hall on his return sharing with other 4th years and this worked well. The uni gave those returning from a year abroad priority for accommodation. He did 3 months in Germany as an intern in a language school and 9 months as a teaching assistant in the French Basque country where he was very isolated and had to go to the coast to socialise with other assistants which wasnt ideal. He lived in a room in the school and was completely om his own on the site at weekends which was a pretty odd experience and initially I was a bit concerned for him. Anyway, he landed up loving his year despite the issues and is still with the girl he meet during his first month in France. Good luck to your dd, hope it all works out.

tobee · 09/10/2015 17:53

Thanks for these stories. They're great, both funny and useful. Fortunately, dd's closest friends are doing year abroad.

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Notsoskinnyminny · 10/10/2015 14:51

DDs currently in Japan for her year abroad. She picked a uni that only took a small number from the UK because she 'didn't want to end up in an english clique that didn't mix' the downside is she's the only english student and she's missing having someone to natter to as so much gets lost in translation even with english speaking americans.

She's struggling to find things to eat - she always was a fussy beggar but unlike our supermarket meat that lasts for days the stuff there has a very short shelf-life so she's having to make a daily detour to the 'supermarket'. Most food's cheaper except for fruit - a bunch of grapes cost her £5 but she's loving the clothes shopping as she's japanese-sized and at the rate she's spending her travelling budget will be gone by Christmas Grin

Since arriving she's experienced an earthquate, been on tsunami alert and had a typhoon. The morning of the typhoon the uni sent a message saying if the trains were running by 6am students were expected to attend their 9am lecture as it was they didn't restart until 6.10 so she didn't have to be in until the afternoon session began at 1pm - can you imagine if that happened here the whole country would shut down for a week!

She's sorted out her 4th year accommodation before the end of Y2 so that's on thing she doesn't have to worry about but the logistics of getting everything home ...... Grin

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