faculty of arts
University of Groningen, NL Groning01 Erasmus+ KA1 Mobility 2019-2020
ERASMUS+
Study Report
This form needs to be completed by every student who has completed an Erasmus+ mobility.
Last name*As shown in your passport van der Veen
First name*As shown in your passport Esther
RUG student number S 2950618
Please enclose a 2-page report on your experiences abroad, using the following headings:
1. Your study programme 2. Language
3. Finance and other conditions
4. Preparation and contacts with the faculty before, during and after your stay
5. Housing 6. Culture 7. Free time 8. Travelling
9. Your host and home institution’s response to Covid-19, and the extent to which the virus (countermeasures) affected your mobility
10. Other
I hereby give permission to the International Office to publish my report on the Faculty of Arts
Repository to inform future students
Yes No Future students may contact me for additional
information Yes No
Signature Participant Esther van der Veen
……… Date: 23 July 2020
1
Study Programme: MA Euroculture; First semester at the Rijksuniversiteit
Groningen, second semester at the Palacký University Olomouc in the Czech Republic.
Language: When it comes to the university and the courses, our programme itself is
in English and most of our courses were already fixed before even arriving there. However, there was an opportunity, too, to choose a number of courses next to the fixed ones. Luckily, despite English not being the main language of construction at the university, there was/is still a huge variety of courses which are taught in English. When it comes to normal daily life, there are varying levels of English. Sometimes it can be quite difficult to get by with just English, while other times it is no problem at all. However, people will always try to help you and to understand you! Speaking German can help too, especially with elderly people. And if you are afraid that this is still not enough, you can always take free Czech classes, which are actually really nice!
Finance and other conditions: Olomouc is incredibly cheap! Whether it is paying
rent, eating out or going to a pub with some friends. Personally I would say that finances in Olomouc is one of the last things you should worry about. Going out eating every night is still very much affordable! Also, you will get a student card which will often give you discount for many varying things such as eating out and travelling.
Preparation and contacts with the faculty: Our programme is officially part of
the Faculty of History in Olomouc with a separate department and the contact with their team has been perfect. The coordinator is nothing but incredibly nice and helpful and knows answers to all your questions or will try everything in their power to find it. In addition, the coordinator as well as the professors are not only concerned with official and university-related matters, but are also there for the students
personally. Even during the situation concerning Covid-19, we could always reach them and they were always there for us. Overall, there is just a very friendly atmosphere!
Housing: The faculty reserved rooms for us and arranged everything. I had a single
room at the Neředin dormitories which was actually quite spacious and very light and all necessities were there (e.g. a desk, many cupboards, two closets, book shelves, fridge). The dormitories were really nice and a good place to make friends with people from all over the world.
2
In every building there are washing machines, dryers and a drying room. It is also possible to rent an iron, an iron board and vacuum cleaner from the main hall. If you face any difficulties, you can always ask staff of the reception desk. They are incredibly nice and very helpful.
Culture: I have been to the Czech Republic many times and have to admit that I
don’t necessarily notice anymore when something is very Czech since I feel like I’ve gotten used to the Czech Culture too much. But the people are really nice and make you feel very welcome all the time.
Free time: There is much to do in Olomouc itself. There are many nice cafés and
restaurants, big malls, a waterpark, a zoo and much more. So, it is quite difficult to get bored in Olomouc. Also, many surrounding cities are good places to visit and because of your student card, travelling around the will be very cheap.
Also, the university makes sure that you will still have ample time to discover the city and the entire country next to your study.
Travelling: As mentioned before, you should definitely travel as much as you can as
it never gets boring. The Czech Republic’s architecture is absolutely gorgeous as it’s very bright, light and colourful! Also, there are many gorgeous cathedrals, churches and castles to explore. However, not only travelling through the Czech Republic is very interesting, due to the country’s central location exploring Europe is quite easy too! Countries like Austria, Poland, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia are all closeby and definitely worth a visit! You will probably get an ISIC card (a student card) too which gives you discount for so many things, including bus tickets, train tickets and even plane tickets. So, travelling is not only nice, but cheap too!
Covid-19: Obviously, Covid-19 has affected our stay abroad. The first month was an
incredible experience and that is definitely the reason why I am still recommending going to Olomouc. We met amazing people from all over the world, got to know the quaint, historical and beautiful centre of Olomouc, and were really having the time of our lives. However, all of this was stopped quite abruptly as the Czech government, without warning, decided to close all schools and universities effective immediately in the beginning of March. Everyone was really helpful and kept sending emails as soon as there was more news and within a week we already had online classes. So, the host university handled the entire situation really well. Again without warning, the Czech
3
Republic decided to close its borders completely and only flights back home to the Netherlands were possible. The host university told us that we had to do what felt right, whether that meant staying or going home. The home university, however, kept insisting that we should stay instead of travelling back home. In the end, the situation got so bad (not because of the university!) that we decided to take the very last flight back home at the end of March. This angered the home university somewhat, but in retrospect I am still convinced that it was the right decision. Personally, I think the host university handled the situation better than our home univeristy. All in all, although it was also a very difficult period for everyone at the host university, they were always there for us and helped us with everything.
