ERASMUS in Bucharest, Romania

I’m Eerik, the author of this post and want to highlight some of my experiences and tell you some pros and cons of being an Erasmus student.

I’m an lvl2 International Business Management student, and in my case Erasmus+ was not just an option that the university offers for students, it was something I knew I wanted to experience myself. I’m originally coming from Finland, so that makes me one of the international students of University of Lincoln. The first time I ever heard about the Erasmus program was when I was studying in my upper secondary school in Finland; that’s when I met my first Erasmus friends for life. By seeing the students who participate in this program made me feel like they are part of something bigger – they were part of the Erasmus family.

Of course the first time I thought about the concept I wasn’t thinking about the studies only, the Erasmus organisation is well known from their parties and trips around the countries. For me this has two meanings, firstly the change to meet amazing people alike who enjoy a good time and secondly seeing a different culture and their way of having fun.

However, after moving to England and actually paying for my education for the first time, I also wanted to ensure that this exchange program would enhance my future skills and that it would create competence for me against the others in the labour market.

Why Romania? – The question I’ve been asked the most.

The land of Dracula, mountains, hundreds of castles, cheap booze, Black Sea and Constanta. The list continues as long as I could write. To make it short there is a lot to do here and due to its location it is easy to travel to other countries from here.

When deciding the country, I was given three options: US, Malta and Romania. The reason I was given these three countries is because one can travel to these three countries w/o knowing a second language. This is something that the University of Lincoln normally doesn’t promote, as I heard about this only in the end of my first year. I was slightly upset in this moment as I speak German but the University didn’t recognise my skills in this language as I hadn’t picked the language as a part of my options in the first year. – So make sure that if you want to get to countries like Mexico and France, you will be having a proficiency in those languages acquired by the modules taken in University or to be recognised by other ways.

The final reason for me to pick this country was due the fact that one of our lecturers is originally from Bucharest (Dr Georgiana Els) and she emphasised the country’s attractions and the opportunities the university offers to their students. Also, this was a once in a lifetime chance for me to get to know the Eastern Europe better.

Application Process

Pros and Cons:

+ The ease of changing modules and the LA
+ A lot to choose from
+ Friendly academic Staff
+ Erasmus Coordinator, Andreea, who helps a lot
+ Possibility get to know a lot of people
+ The undergraduate modules are easy to follow
– Organisation of the lectures (some were cancelled barely often)
– No access to the student platform (local Blackboard)
– Some material is in Romanian only
– Information about the dates and information of mobility and accommodation was hard to find.

Studies

The Romanian American University is a great place to have your Erasmus from a studies point of view. When I applied to the school and started picking up my modules, I was glad to hear that I can pick my modules from all the English taught programs including the Masters Programs in Entrepreneurship, Strategic Marketing and so on. Also, the school offers intensive modules, from international lecturers coming from countries like Spain and USA, just to mention a few. These modules can be included to one’s learning agreement or can be additional modules depending on the needs of the student. They are very on point and have always a contemporary point of view, normally with a final presentation. I got so excited from the modules that I ended up taking and finishing 50 ECTs worth of modules, mainly from the Masters Programs, but I also took a lot of modules from the Intensive Modules and two from the Bachelor’s Degree.

I personally enjoy studying, so for me the experience was giving a lot, and I only received the 1st class honours from my modules during my stay. Of course, the approach to education is different here as the students are expected to participate more in the lectures and seminars. To give an example, sometimes I felt like the lecture was actually a group conversation rather than theories explained by the lecturer. I believe this is something that many of the students of British system should experience as for me it was a new way of learning.

One of the modules I particularly learned most from was the International Business Negotiations module, where the teams were assigned to make a demo of a real life negotiation.

Here are the all the students represented before the negotiations took place. The Student body in the Masters Program is very diverse and allows meeting new cultures. Some of these students became one of my best friends during my stay.

Nightlife – The city of many bars and cheap drinks.

Many nights out, many new faces, sometimes we had a blast and we forgot how to get back home before 9am. The bars are open till very late, so the people normally hit the clubs around midnight. That was perfect for me as I had the change to finish my lectures at 9pm and I still had the time to freshen up! The drinks are normally with cheap prices but some of the pubs in the old city are good at asking extra from foolish tourists.

My first impressions of Romania were that the streets would not be safe, but after a short period of time none of us ever felt scared whether we were walking alone or in a group. This city is full of nice people who are willing to help you to find a taxi or the pub you don’t even know the name of.

The Subway works fine, maybe the schedules are not accurate but the four operating lines are easy to learn and there’s always taxi (which is 1,39lei/km, around £2 to get four people from the dorm to city centre)!

Pros and Cons:

+ cheap drinks
+ lot of places to choose from
+ easy & cheap transportation
+ locals are nice
+ Clubs with no dance floors
+ Hard to make reservations
+ The nightlife is far from the university

Trips

Romania as a country has a lot to see. Whether you enjoy hiking, a beach holiday or the city life, Romania has it all.

The Erasmus organisation in Bucharest offers some trips, but luckily RAU also offers their own trips and those were the events I ended up liking the most. Places like the Dracula Castle and local wine yards were a great way of spending a day off from school.

Constanta is located at the Black Sea, and it is a beautiful city full of life during the summer. This year the Easter break was in the start of May here which brought many locals and tourists to the sands of Mamaia. There were many concerts and the clubs were open 24/7. Also the restaurants in this area serve the best sea food dishes I had during my stay in Romania. The weather was nice and the city has many beautiful attractions for people who have the time to explore.

One thing I enjoyed in Romania the most was the presence of nature. The land has many great parks where we spent a lot of time by playing sports and hanging around. In overall experience Romania taught me a lot. Once I got passed by my cultural norms of being very organised and all, I enjoyed what the country had to offer.

One thing I will always remember is that nothing is simple. Just have fun, go with the flow and worry things later. They will be sorted out.

 

For more details about studying in Romania, please contact the academic Erasmus coordinator:

Dr. Georgiana Els (Ciuchete) – gciuchete@lincoln.ac.uk

or

The International Erasmus Department – erasmus@lincoln.ac.uk