I study English Language and Culture, and I tend to mostly follow modern literature classes.

1. ​ ​Your study programme or your internship programme

I study English Language and Culture, and I tend to mostly follow modern literature classes.

2. ​ ​Language

The languages spoken at Cardiff University (and in Cardiff and Wales as a whole) are English and Welsh. This mostly pertains to the PSAs and the signs. The University offers Welsh classes, but you have to enroll in these before September already, if I recall correctly. I think that’s a really cool opportunity that I wish I’d known about in time, as the language is such an important part of Welsh culture.

3. ​ ​Finance and other conditions

I was able to get the Erasmus+ Grant by filling in the necessary documents, as well as

compensation for public transport from the NS (OV-vergoeding). I also upped my DUO loans (the governmental loans) in order to afford extra trips and rent during my time in Cardiff. I know a few exchange students chose to open a UK bank account, which is supposed to be quite easy, but I didn’t. However, I would definitely recommend getting a Mastercard or something of the like before you go, as the buses in Cardiff, for example, did not accept my Maestro card. They also pay with cash a lot more than we do in the Netherlands. On the bus, they generally want you to have the exact amount in coins (2 pounds) to pay with, if you can’t pay by card. The bus from Cardiff Airport into Cardiff itself is 5 pounds (if I recall correctly) and they do have change. That one is also free a few days a week, as are some of the other bus lines that go out of Cardiff, so I’d recommend looking into that!

4. ​ ​Preparation and contacts with the faculty before, during and after your stay Contact with the University was good, even if the whole process began a lot later than for many of the other universities that take part in the exchange, which was stressful at the time.

However, Mrs Lesley Edwards, who is in charge of the ENCAP exchange (that is, the school of English, Communication and Philosophy), was very lovely and helpful, both before and during our stay. She’s almost always available for questions and very ready to help.

For me, I know the weeks before the term was supposed to start really seemed to rush

by and it felt like I wouldn’t have enough time to manage all the paperwork, but it all worked

out. Which is saying something, as I’m quite a chaotic person. Something that really helped

me was checking in with the other girl who was going to Cardiff and figuring things out

together, even if we didn’t know each other beforehand, as well as asking others to help out

or make sure I’d do everything in time.

Any time there was something up with my schedule while I was in Cardiff I could simply go by Lesley’s office and ask her, for example when a certain class was full or if I wanted to change classes. The first week of the term – from the 23 ​

of September on – was all about introductions and fairs, as well as a tour of the University buildings, and a treasure hunt with the freshers (the first-year students), as it was basically freshers week that we could join. The fairs displayed all the types of organisations and sports we could join, and we could sign up at any of them for a free trial class or social. I’d definitely recommend trying a few out, it’s a good way to meet people or to try something new (even though I’ll admit I found it a bit nerve-wracking for sure, people at these events generally understand that and plan for that). During that first week you will also be told how to get a university card. This may sound like a lot, but the University sent out an email with the schedule and handed out a booklet, so it’ll all sort itself out!

5. Housing

Housing was a bit tricky to figure out whilst still being in the Netherlands. I know Cardiff University says they sometimes offer housing to students who are only there for the autumn semester, but in our case they told us about one or two weeks before the start of the term that this would not be the case, which was really stressful. I talked to someone who’d been on exchange to Cardiff before me though, and he said that most people end up finding something easily enough. I was lucky that the girl who was also going went to Wales a bit earlier with her mum, and they talked to an estate/letting agent in Cardiff, who showed them a few

different rooms, as they stayed at an Airbnb or hotel for the night. She ended up being offered a ground-floor apartment for two people, so I could share that with her. Our landlord was Charly Tabash, from Atlantic Property Services, and though I suspect we may have paid a little more than strictly necessary, he was always lovely and accommodating, and helped out whenever needed. There are a few apps and pages (on Facebook and through the University, I think) that can be of help in the search for a room. Particularly Spareroom (which also has an app) is a well-known and well-used website in the UK.

6. Culture

I didn’t find Welsh culture to be that different from Dutch culture in terms of personal contact, although they are of course a more high-context culture, meaning that they’re less direct and more formal. Still, in class, for example, we would be encouraged to call our teachers by their first name, and they were always open to hearing from you. Beyond that, Wales is of course a Celtic country and they’re sometimes called England’s first colony – so you can imagine how they feel about the English. Some of them want to be independent, some don’t, but they’ve fought hard to keep their language and culture.

7. ​ ​Free time

In my free time I mostly went to the cinema (it’s only 3ish pounds in Cardiff!), visited

Cardiff Castle (you can get a special entrance pass which allows you free entrance after your

first visit if you let them know you study at Cardiff University) (not to be too Dutch, what

with all the finance suggestions, but you know, we’re all students), or went to the Bay, which

is especially lovely on the (rare) sunny days. I also visited the arcades, which have some

really nice ‘hidden’ shops, and went on a few trips, which brings us to the next point.

8. Travelling

The University and its affiliations organise quite a lot of trips that you can sign up for (often through ‘Give It A Go’, you can find the trips they offer on their website), and those are a lot of fun. They’re also often special opportunities to see places, as they rent a bus, which means you don’t have to struggle to get somewhere with public transport. I’d recommend saving up to go on these trips or any other trips in the UK, as we had quite a bit of free time because of reading week (a week where you have no class, which you can spend studying or travelling (or lying in bed, as I’ll confess I did)). Bristol and Bath are both lovely cities that are only about an hour away from Cardiff if you feel like visiting those, and of course I’d also

recommend exploring more of Wales. Anyone will tell you that a trip to the Brecon Beacons, a national park, is well worth it. There are a few bus lines that go there, and I was told to make sure I’d go before the days got shorter, so I’d recommend doing that before the winter months. I also took a bus to Hay-on-Wye, which is a famous village in Wales that’s full of second-hand bookshops, it’s lovely.

9. ​ ​Other

A few apps that I’d recommend:

- Cardiff Bus: shows you the time tables of the buses, as well as which one to take, and you can buy a day ticket on there too (though to be fair, google maps generally also does a good job of telling you which buses to take).

- National Express: this is their version of the Flixbus. So is Megabus, but as far as I know that one doesn’t have an app. Megabus is sometimes a bit cheaper than National Express, and with it also a tiny bit less comfortable. Both have been pretty reliable, though.

- Trainpal: this app splits up your train journey so it’s as cheap as possible. You might get two tickets for a single trip, for example, but you’ll just have to see which one to show when.

- Great Western Railway or Trainline: you can use both to plan your train journeys and to buy tickets for them. It depends on where you’re going which is cheaper to use, I think.

- Uber or Dragon Taxis: Dragon Taxis is basically the local Uber. I wasn’t able to use it because I don’t have a UK phone number, but still.

- Deliveroo: the UK’s Thuisbezorgd. You can also use Uber Eats, I think.

- The Cardiff University app: this works just like Nestor, basically.

Most of all, I hope you enjoy yourself! Cardiff has quite some charm when you figure out

where to find it.