A Blog about Education Abroad

Category: Faculty of Law

Jesse Vernon Wheeler at University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Pre departure:

Initially, I wasn’t convinced I would be going to Amsterdam, the Netherlands to study towards an LLM (Master’s in International Trade Law). Those dreams were realized after being asked, “What would you be doing in the Netherlands?” at the Passport control at Schiphol International Airport.

I applied for the Stellenbosch Global Exchange Program. Those applications you apply for, knowing that the chances of it succeeding are limited. I was called for an interview and got accepted. The panel asked me where I would like to study. I replied, “In the Netherlands, somewhere close to Amsterdam”, after all, this is where the modern stock market was invented, it is also one part of the legal system we use (Roman-Dutch and English law). I was in, now I needed to prepare.

The visa application process was uncomplicated.

I applied for a South African passport which Home Affairs, in Wynberg, processed in 21 working days. I filled out the passport application form DHA-73; attach two photos and paid the application fee. Once the passport is received, continue as below.

The Visa application is done at the Dutch Consulate General in Strand Street, Cape Town. For the embassy, an online appointment is necessary. Do not show up at the embassy and expect to be helped.

After getting an appointment, I went to the Consulate. I handed over my passport document to be shipped to the Netherlands. This was approved and brought back, Schengen visa installed, the process took a further 15 working days. What this means is that if you apply for your passport on the first of June 2020 at the very minimum you would only get your passport, visa included, on the 20^th July 2020 (Roughly 36 working or 50 calendar days later).

During this time, you have to purchase flight tickets, spend time with loved ones, deal with normal life, worry about passports and visas, and focus on school. I spent a lot of time crying and enjoyed one or two mental breakdowns.

I made expensive mistakes regarding flight tickets. I bought a ticket, Cape Town International Airport (CPT), through Heathrow International Airport, in London, to Schiphol International Airport, in the Netherlands. This ticket was cancelled because I would need a transit Visa to transit through the United Kingdom. The flight center didn’t mention that all I needed to do was apply for this visa and instead cancelled the ticket. Another was booked from CPT to Schiphol through Dubai International Airport. Another practical route would be from CPT through Ethiopia to the Netherlands.

Instead of using the travel agency, flight tickets can be purchased on www.Skyscanner.com. If you know when you will be flying, booking tickets in advance is cheaper. I recommend this sight as they compare all available flights and let you chose the best fit. Do some reading before the time and make sure that everything regarding your ticket is valid.

There is a lot of reading involved when choosing accommodation or medical insurance (which is mandatory); You will get tired of reading, you will have to read the same document 50 times, but you have to read them.

I was lucky because the cheapest accommodation was also the nearest to the University of Amsterdam. I chose this and paid one month deposit for the room. There’s a housing shortage in Amsterdam; mostly due to high numbers of tourists and because of this you need to act fast! Even the locals do not have access to housing near campus.

Experience at Home University:

There is a significant difference between the academic program at the University of Amsterdam and Stellenbosch University. This is evident in the work load and the exam.

At Stellenbosch University the Masters courses are held only at night. There is a 15 week course block where a student takes two courses. The exams are spread out over usually a month block.

At the University of Amsterdam, the Masters courses are held throughout the day and night. There is only a 7 week course block where students take a recommended two or three courses. The exams are all scheduled in the same week.

Because the same number of courses have to be completed in half the time and the exams, (Typically 4 hours papers at each university), are not spread out over a longer time, the workload feels more intense. This is highly stressful and the limited time forces you to work twice as hard, pushing you past what you think you are capable of. Mental breakdowns in this time, for me and friends, were all over the place.

There are a few subtle differences. There was no language barrier, being a student at Stellenbosch University and having the ability to speak Afrikaans and then being in Amsterdam and having the ability to understand some Dutch conversations helped a lot. What also helped a lot was my ability to speak English. Most of my friends were not native English speakers and needed to adapt to my accent.

Both Amsterdam and Stellenbosch are student towns; there is always the perfect environment to talk about interesting topics. You are surrounded by Art, literature, politics, language, science, business and psychology students. It provides the perfect ground for learning as everyone that you interact with has a layer of education that can influence your learning style and way of thinking.

Students at Stellenbosch University do not realize how extremely lucky they are. At Stellenbosch University there is so much space to study. You can sit in the library, multiple cafes, in the Masters space in the library, or even in the Law Masters lab! At the University of Amsterdam, if you do not wake up at 6 am and run to the library, there will be no space…In The Entire City, To Study.

The academic program is extremely current; European Contract law had an element of block chain technology, smart contracts, and crypto currency. What helped a lot was that I could read about my studies in everyday news articles and blog posts. The relevance and focus on technology really opened my eyes to the future. I could only compare this with the course I took in Sustainable Development law at Stellenbosch which was also modern.

Return to Stellenbosch:

Returning to South Africa was extremely difficult for me. After finishing at the university I decided to extend my flight tickets to the last day of my Dutch residence permit. I had not seen enough and now I would have the opportunity to learn about life in Europe, out of school. Oh my, the mental breakdowns.

I had two weeks left before exams, before having to leave my student residence, without a job as my temporary working permit (TVV) expired. How was I supposed to do this…while having multiple mental breakdowns?

I quickly realized that the Netherlands had a housing crisis and shortage of available accommodation due to limited space and an enormous number of tourists. This made finding an apartment for Anna and me almost impossible. I stayed in 3 hostels for a week each before finding accommodation.

Thanks to being able to travel through the European Union with our student documents, we took a bus, through the Netherlands, through the entire country of Germany, and ended in Warsaw, Poland.

Moved into the apartment and I found a job without speaking a word of Polish, in a town where everyone either spoke, Polish, Ukrainian or Russian. Insane! I worked at a bar and spent a total of 2 months in Warsaw.

As COVID – 19 hit, the boarders of Poland closed. I applied for a government Repatriation flight after four of my airplane tickets were cancelled. I contacted multiple agencies: The South African consulates in the Netherlands, Berlin, Warsaw and the DIRCO head office in Pretoria, a charter plane was booked from Frankfurt International airport in Germany to O.R Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.

It was COVID 19, all land boarders were closed, there were no trains, no busses, no airplanes and crossing the border into Germany meant 14 days quarantine. This felt impossible and once again, Mental breakdown. I got into contact with a South African who was in the same predicament. She hired a car; I drove 16 hours from Warsaw to Frankfurt, on the wrong side of the road, with a left hand drive car. At the Polish border the two officers did not speak a word of English, standing with riffles and examining our documents before calling a second higher ranked army vehicle to drive us over the German border.

After landing at O.R Tambo International Airport, we were transported to Boxburg for mandatory government quarantine. We were provided with food and accommodation; I stayed for 9 days at the hotel before I hitchhiked with three Portuguese speaking Angolan gentlemen who were also in quarantine.

South Africa needs to change in many ways but some things should stay the same. South Africa has an excellent transformative constitution; most European countries do not enjoy the same rights we do. But we have a giant problem, an under educated population, mass femicide and a lack of infrastructure. We need to learn how to use the internet and we need to manufacture cheap computers. This will expand our overall knowledge pool and we would be able to better the lives of the people we interact with daily.

My personal goal is to focus on lifelong education, get access to basic materials and to help people that need it the most.

This has been the most unique experience of my life thus far. I studied in the Netherlands, visited Belgium, drove through Germany and lived in Poland. I know this, and at the very end during the COVID 19 crisis, would be engraved in my memory forever. I will definitely travel in Africa and abroad again. Each place is so unique and cannot be given justice on paper.

Thank you, Stellenbosch University, for giving me this opportunity to go abroad and opening my eyes to the world.

July 15, 2020
Jamie Pretorius at Utrecht University in The Netherlands

Pre-departure:

While it may – for a long time – seem as though your departure date for the Law Exchange Programme is in the distant future, you should begin preparing early as, before you know it, your Company Law and Evidence oral examinations will be over and it will be time to start packing your bags! Below are a few notes outlining my (unforgettable) experience in Utrecht which I hope may be of assistance to students thinking of pursuing an Exchange Programme there.

Step 1: visa and residence permit

Luckily, Utrecht University is really good with guiding you every step of the way and, if you do what they tell you to, your pre-departure process should be an easy one. One thing you’ll notice when interacting with the Dutch is that they are a pleasantly efficient people and your encounter with the Dutch Consulate in South Africa will be your first experience of this when applying for your visa and residence permit! Once all your documents are in order, the whole visa process should take no longer than two weeks.

If I have any advice in this regard, it’s this: firstly, don’t worry about being refused entry into the Netherlands! I remember that, for some reason, I feared that all my hopes of going on exchange would come to nought at this stage of the process, however, such fears were unfounded. Secondly, make an appointment with the Consulate before collecting your visa and residence permit (I remember that the email wasn’t too clear in this regard).

Step 2: housing

Probably the most important thing for you to do in the pre-departure process is securing housing in Utrecht as there are many people looking to get their hands on whatever accommodation they can in a city, which has little accommodation to offer. Secure housing as early as possible! I secured housing through “SSH”, a student-housing company in Utrecht, which I found to be cheap in comparison to other housing in Utrecht.

The accommodation itself was rudimentary but adequate and was about a 15-minute cycle outside the city (a lot of people live slightly outside the city and commute to work/campus). What’s nice about student housing is that you’ll be staying with other international students from all walks of life who will most likely be your first friends in a foreign place.

If you’re looking for something a little more luxurious than student housing, I recommend posting on accommodation groups on Facebook. I met friends here who lived in a lovely apartment and who met online before moving to Utrecht.

Step 3: go to the dentist

While you’re still in South Africa, it’s probably a good idea to make sure that you won’t need to experience the (very good) healthcare provided by the Dutch. So make sure you have enough prescription medicine for your entire stay and go to the dentist! I had to have an unexpected root canal while in Utrecht which was luckily covered by my health insurance, but it would have been nicer not having to use my health insurance at all.

Experience at Host University:

I can confidently say that my choice to study in Utrecht was the best choice I made all year. The city is easy to fall in love with – I will never forget my time here – and, if I’m being honest, I don’t think I would have chosen a different place at which to spend my semester abroad!

One thing you’ll notice immediately upon entering this once-Gothic city is its beautiful architecture, cobblestoned roads and charming canals (hint: make sure to go on a canal cruise while the weather is still warm). You’ll find that getting lost will become less of an accident and more of a hobby and that going to early-morning classes becomes a lot more bearable. Being a small city, Utrecht is perfectly sized. You’ll see the benefit of this as many of the more beautiful cities in the Netherlands (like Amsterdam or The Hague) are swimming with tourists which can be tiring. However, in Utrecht I never felt as though I was bumping shoulders with tourists despite the many attractions the city has to offer.

The people are (almost always) very friendly and are eager to help you in those confusing first days living in a new city. Absolutely everyone speaks fluent English, but learning a bit of Dutch is a fun way to indulge in the culture, as is riding a bicycle or eating too many ‘oliebollen’ during the festive season. Utrecht also has a number of cafés, restaurants and bars (try Lebowski, Beers & Barrels and Mick O’Connells), and however, eating at home is certainly easier on the wallet!

My experience with the University itself was also a very pleasurable one. The modules that were offered to me were all interesting, the lecturers were all highly knowledgeable, insightful and easy to talk to and studying in an international setting offered to me a completely new and invaluable academic experience.

If I can offer some advice that I wish I was given before I went to Utrecht, it would be the following: first, transferring money from a South African bank account to a Dutch one can be costly, so rather don’t open a Dutch bank account and, instead, try apps like Revolut or N26 which are far easier and cheaper. Second, don’t buy a bicycle for more than €80. Alternatively, one can rent a bike for €10-15 p.m. through Swapfiets or CheapAssBikes. Third, pack warmly. I personally found that the Netherlands was not as cold and rainy as people warned, but one can never be too prepared! Lastly, take advantage of the many travel destinations that are at your doorstep. I myself travelled to places in five different countries while I was in Europe, including Vienna and Budapest!

Return to Stellenbosch:

Surprisingly (especially in view of the fact that my bags were overweight upon my departure to Amsterdam), my bags were 3kg underweight upon my departure back to South Africa. I think one way I reduced the weight of my bags was perhaps to sell those pesky Company Law and Law of Evidence books that I had to bring along with me, including the stacks of notes that accompanied them. Also, make sure to pack all the gifts for your friends and family in your hand luggage so as not to add any unnecessary weight to your bags.

Upon returning to South Africa, the first thing I noticed was the February heat. It certainly took a day or two to adjust to the weather and the strange feeling of being back home after Utrecht being my “home” for about six months. I was pleasantly surprised to find that being back home wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, being back home made me remember all the things that I had missed while abroad, including the sunny weather, my friends and family and the fact that there is less stress on my wallet! Moreover, recounting the stories of my time abroad hasn’t (yet) grown old as it makes me appreciate my time in Europe all the more!

The colourful view of Utrecht

February 24, 2020
Talitha Steenkamp at EBS Law School in Germany

Pre-departure:

I chose to go to EBS Universität situated in Wiesbaden in Germany. The city is located close to Frankfurt, which is a major European hub, making Wiesbaden very well located. I also had family who live about two hours from Wiesbaden which was also a reason why I chose to go there.

The biggest administrative part of the exchange is before you leave. The process to get everything ready is quite tedious. There are several things that must be organised, and this can seem daunting at times. However, it will eventually prove useful that everything is completed before you leave for Europe so that you do not have to worry about these things once you arrive. I got my visa (in effect a residence permit) before I left, so all that was required of me was a quick registration at the Wiesbaden city council. The lines there can be long but the process itself is quick and free.

Acquiring the visa itself was a complicated process but fortunately the staff at EBS university were very helpful and efficient. From the first email to our orientation day as well as during my stay there the staff were very helpful. This made it considerably easier to get all the necessary documentation that I needed for my visa application. Once I had applied the process was quick and I received it within 3 weeks.

The cost for my visa was waived due to receiving a stipend, but I still had to have a considerable amount deposited in a blocked account. The required amount has recently been changed by the German government and this should just be kept in mind when doing planning for the trip as it can become quite a hefty deposit. Fortunately, if you receive a stipend then that amount can be deducted from the required blocked amount.

In order not to feel overwhelmed by all that had to be done I found it easier to keep a list at hand with an annotated calendar with important dates on it. It is easy to forget that there are still subjects and exams at Stellenbosch that require your attention in between all the planning for Europe. So, it is important to keep track of this so that you do not have too many tasks that must be completed while having to study for exams. You also want to have some time available to spend with friends and family before you leave. It is also important to have enough time available to move out of your flat and finalising any other arrangements before you leave.

Experience at Host University:

One tip that I would give to anyone is to find and finalise your apartment in Germany as soon as possible. EBS puts all the Law Term students on a housing group on their online platform where German students could post available apartments for sub-leasing. This meant that I could trust the people offering the accommodation and could communicate with them through recognised channels. This proved invaluable for me since I was able to find a wonderful 1-bedroom apartment which was a 5-minute bus drive from class. I preferred to live alone so this was perfect for me, but there were also other options available to live with other exchange students or otherwise local German students. Just ensure that your accommodation is in Wiesbaden and not at the other campus in Oëstrich Winkel if you are going to study at the law school and not the business school.

Semester exchange students at Stellenbosch form part of what is known as the EBS Law Term. Thus, we were a group of about 38 students from all over the world that spend the 3 months studying together. This proved really nice, since no one was from Germany or used to their culture or the language. We formed a close-knit community that supported one another and made travel plans together. I really enjoyed meeting people from all over and getting to learn so much about many other cultures and some which are significantly different to ours.

The academic programme of the Law Term at EBS focusses on Transnational Commercial Law. As such, the programme is very much commercially focussed but still soundly based on legal foundations. This appealed to me since I am personally very interested in commercial law. The subjects were also wide in scope in what it covered under Transnational Commercial Law.

I thoroughly enjoyed all the subjects I took as well as the way in which they were presented. The classes are very small and interactive, which makes it completely different to what I was used to at SU. The smaller setting and constant interaction helped me a lot in better understanding the subject matter as well as remembering what I was taught. This made studying for the exams so much easier since many subjects are written in a very short period of time. This is also different to what we are used to at SU.

The lecturers who presented the subjects are all experts within their respective fields, but not as lecturers but as persons working within these fields. Hence, most of them had studied law but are now working for the European Central Bank or for multinational corporations. Their experience is therefore unparalleled, and they are able to give practical examples to the work we dealt with. This really helped me to enjoy the subjects even more by knowing that there was a practical side to the work and that it was not just hypotheticals.

The university also makes an effort to organise a number of field trips to certain towns and institutions. We were able to visit one of the top law firms in Frankfurt and spend a whole day there learning more about transnational transactions. We also visited the European Central Bank in Frankfurt as well as the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg which was incredibly interesting.

I am really happy with the choice I made in the end to study at EBS Law School. The Law Term group was a special group of people who really added value to both my studies and my time in Germany. Some of the friends I made will remain with me for the rest of my life and I believe I will see some of them again! We were able to share amazing memories with one another as well as travel to interesting places with each other. The study programme is nice in that sense that it gave us the opportunity to travel in between classes as many of the classes take place in blocks. It could thus be that you have class from early morning until the late evening on the Monday to the Wednesday, but the be completely off the Thursday and Friday. This really helped to give some extra time to either travel or otherwise catch up on my South African classes.

Thalitha and the rest of the class at EBS

Return to Stellenbosch:

In the end it was tough having to still do the two South African classes as well as the classes in Germany, but it was manageable. The key is just not to get behind on the classes and to make sure you schedule enough study time before the exams. Then once the German exams come then you will have Mercantile Law and Evidence behind you and you only have to focus on the German exams.

The programme in Germany formally concluded on the 18^th of December. This was exactly 3 months on the day from when the programme also officially started. It is therefore not such a long programme to do and would enable a person to return to South Africa in time for Christmas. I however decided to stay on until the first week of January to allow myself to travel around Europe a bit. This was wonderful since I could travel stress-free without having any study commitments.

Returning to South Africa and settling in again proved very easy to me. I did not have troubles adjusting as it was always just going to be a sojourn to Europe. I never had the intention to stay on longer or return for future studies. Thus, for me it was special to come back to see people that I had missed so much while I was away. I quickly slotted back into life as it was before I left, and I am grateful for this. There are times that I miss the European lifestyle, but I do appreciate the sunshine and vibrance of South Africa again. I would have to admit that the winter weather was something that I struggled considerably to get used to. I didn’t mind the cold that much, but it is sunshine that you start to miss a lot!

Not a white background but, actual snow

February 18, 2020