A Blog about Education Abroad

Category: BCom International Business

  • Alexandra at the University of Bologna, Italy

    Alexandra at the University of Bologna, Italy

    Pre-departure:

    The university I had chosen was called the University of Bologna. This is situated in Bologna, Italy. I needed a student visa to study there but that process was relatively quick and easy as long as you make sure you have all the correct documents with you when you go to your visa appointment. Just follow the steps on the Schengen Visa website. My visa took a week, but it can take longer than that usually so plan in advance. Finding accommodation is really difficult for most people going to Bologna so I suggest you do it in advance. Make use of Facebook to find an apartment – the closer to the centre, the better. I rented a flat in a residence called RTM Living Bologna Mover. The staff are really friendly and helpful, and the facilities are great. It is also conveniently located right next to a small mall which has a massive Coop which is where I did most of my food shopping. However, the rental price is quite high, and it is not directly in the centre. It takes about 20 minutes by bus to get to the centre. The bus system is very easy to use, and you can buy a Tper card for 10 euros which then gives you unlimited bus rides for your stay there. Living in the centre, or as close to the centre as possible, would be your best option as most busses stop running at night and it’s much easier to hang out with friends, go for dinners, or go out at night if you can just walk home afterwards. A handy app to download is Taxi Click for calling taxis and Mobike. Mobike is great as you will see a lot of orange bikes around bologna which you can rent with your app and then leave wherever when you’re done using it. Read up about it and use it because it is super easy and convenient.

    Before you leave, I suggest packing in some of your favourite South African snacks as sooner or later you will feel homesick and crave something from home.

    Experience at Host University:

    I couldn’t have chosen a better university/city to attend during my exchange. I had the time of my life. I attended English classes which included: Principles of Management, Introduction to Italian Culture, Innovative Retailing, and Macroeconomics. My two favourite classes were Innovative Retailing and Introduction to Italian Culture. Introduction to Italian Culture can be attended by anyone of any faculty and is a really fun and interesting class to attend. At the end you don’t write an exam, but rather a ten-page paper on an Italian culture topic of your choice. Innovative Retailing was a very interactive and interesting class. I also really wanted to do the Italian language course, but I could not as they only start from level A2 and expect you to already have level A1. I went to Italy having not learnt any Italian beforehand. I recommend studying some Italian and building up that skill so that you have some knowledge to build from and can be accepted into the course. Also, remember to sign up early for the course as the spots can fill up quickly.

    Making friends was quite easy as there are memberships for Erasmus students called Erasmus Student Network (ESN) or Erasmus Land which is basically something you join for about 10 Euros and then you receive a membership card and can then get into clubs and can pay to join the activities and excursions that they host. The membership also gets you awesome discounts such as cheaper RyanAir flights and 20kg luggage if you book 28 days in advance – which you will come to find is a pretty great deal! The Erasmus community is a fantastic way to make friends as you join a WhatsApp group and can meet up with people and get to know some of them. A few days after I arrived, I joined the Whatsapp Group and people were planning to meet by a fountain and I went as well and that’s how I met some of my closest friends. The key is to just involve yourself as much as possible – and that is coming from a girl who is relatively shy.

    Summer/Autumn was really vibey in the centre. There were a lot of live concerts and the town was buzzing. On weekends throughout the year, the main part of the centre is closed off to motorists and the streets become pedestrianised. It is so cute and super fun to walk around. Winter got pretty cold and it sometimes snowed.

    The food is absolutely incredible as one would imagine so I don’t need to add much on that topic – except to try places such as Spacca Napoli and Mercato di Mezzo. Make sure to have a pizza at Spacca Napoli because it is massive, amazing, and cheaper. And make sure to have fresh pasta (I reccommend the spinach and ricotta tortelloni and the Gnocci at Mercato di Mezzo. The gelato was also incredible so make sure to have lots of it!

    The Bologna nightlife is really great. I recommend a bar called Cucchiaio d’Oro which translates to ‘The Golden Spoon’. This is where we would generally meet for drinks as it is fun, fairly cheap, and the bartender was really cool. It was just a fun space to be in. Two of our favourite clubs are Soda Pops and Hobby One. Our favourite study places were ITIT café and Scuderia on Piazza Verdi.
    There are obviously a few iconic things you should definitely see and do in Bologna including: Climbing the Due Torri (Two Towers); Walking up to San Luca; Seven Secrets of Bologna and Walking Tours (Make sure to find out the tale of the 3 arrows), etc.

    I travelled so much around Europe while I was there. Like I mentioned before, you can receive RyanAir discounts and benefits which made travelling so easy. Travelling with friends is great and easy when you can rent an AirBnb and split the price. I suggest making some friends and travelling as much as you can.

    Return to Stellenbosch:

    Returning home after spending 5 months in Italy was exciting but also very hard. I missed my family and friends a lot. But it was really difficult to leave the life and family I had made in Bologna. Once I was home, I felt like everything I had experienced was a dream. I experienced a little bit of PSAD which is Post Semester Abroad Depression, and yes, it is a thing. As much as I was excited to be home, I felt a little bit like my other life was taken away from me, and that was quite hard to deal with. But out of all the things to be sad about, I am grateful that it was about missing the country and the people that had made such an impact on my life. I’m so grateful for the experience that I had. I definitely recommend going on exchange to the University of Bologna!

  • Francois at KU Leuven, Belguim

    Francois at KU Leuven, Belguim

    Pre-departure:

    Francois and friends holding the South African flag
    Francois and friends holding the South African flag

    Before I start, there is one thing that should be understood by anyone thinking about going on exchange…you’re going to have to do A LOT of admin during pre-departure. It is thus important that you prepare yourself for it and listen to Sarah to stay within deadlines. I thought Stellenbosch University organises everything for you and you just have to go show your face for your visa application, but boy was I wrong.

    After doing all the motivation letters and videos required by Stellenbosch University and being accepted to one of your chosen partner universities (which was KU Leuven in Belgium in my case), you have to get a few things in order before you can make an appointment for you visa application. These include police clearance and the booking of your flight ticket, amongst others. I just name these two since I deem them to be the most time consuming and important.

    With regards to the plane tickets, I recommend that you start looking as soon as possible. There are a lot of different platforms where you can enter the dates you wish to fly out and return on, indicating that you would like to receive notifications when the prices are low. Or when there are one-night specials. Examples of such platforms are Cheapflights.com and Facebook. I got lucky with a weekly student special at Qatar Airways when I started looking, leading to me paying half the amount than some of my peers. I don’t know how it works with other consulates, but at the Belgian consulate you can’t apply for your visa without having a plane ticket. And since you should already be applying for your visa 2 months before departure, I recommend that you get on that computer ASAP and start looking for cheap flights. Once you start paying in Euros, you will be glad that you saved some money on your flight tickets. Europe is NOT cheap!

    With regards to the police clearance, you should note that it is a very time-consuming process since they first have to send it to Pretoria for approval and then courier it back again. I nearly didn’t get mine in time, leading to a lot of unnecessary stress. So, get on that ASAP as well!
    The visa application is fairly straight forward. Just make sure you have all the necessary documentation (which is clearly indicated on their website) and that you make your appointment within 2 months before your departure. After all of this is done, it’s time to start packing! Europe really is very cold in the winter, so make sure you pack a very thick jacket. I bought a snow jacket before departure, and I have never been fonder of anything in my life, especially when I went to Russia. Besides for all the warm clothes you should pack, I would also recommend taking some summer clothes as it was still quite hot in the first few weeks after I landed in Belgium. So, pack those shorts and plakkies, but don’t be alarmed when you receive a few curious looks. Plakkies certainly isn’t as popular in Belgium as in Stellenbosch!

    Experience at the Host University:

    Upon arrival in Leuven, you will obviously experience various emotions, and everything will be very exciting. KU Leuven has an extremely comprehensive welcoming program, and I will recommend that you try to attend as many events as possible. One event that you certainly can’t miss, is the pub crawl on the first night of orientation week. It is here where I met almost all the people who stuck with me throughout my exchange experience.

    Francois and Alexandra
    Francois and Alexandra

    Alexandra (also studying Bcom International Business at Stellenbosch University) and I went a few days before orientation week to get our affairs in order, and during this time, we met up with a South African called Pieter. He showed us around and answered some of the many questions we had, proving to be a big help and helping us to settle in nicely in a more informal manner. He is busy with his third year of medical school at KU Leuven, but still goes home to South Africa over holidays. If you’re thinking about going to KU Leuven, I definitely recommend that you meet up with him (I can give you his number). He is always keen to go drink a beer with some South Africans and help out where he can.

    The student clubs in Leuven also hosts cantus, which was one of my highlights. For €15, Stella Artois provides unlimited beer and you can enjoy the night with fellow students singing folksongs, including many South African songs. Me and Pieter had to go stand in the front of the cantus of about 200 people and sing along to the song Sarie Marais, which was quite a humbling experience. Before I get to the academics, another big tip is ESN membership. This is an absolute no brainer, since you get amazing deals for only €15 once off. These include great traveling specials, which is vital, since traveling quickly becomes very expensive. You will find their stall at Pangea during welcoming.

    Then, academics (since that is the main reason for going on exchange). Since only 2/3’s of your subject choices has to be related to our course, I decided to take subjects I find interesting and which wouldn’t be too time consuming, since I had big traveling plans. I thus chose two history subjects, one subject which only required an open book test and debates (Organisational Behaviour), another which we only had to do 3 projects and debates (no exam) and then one master subject (International Business Strategy) to challenge me a bit. This allowed me to brush up on my debating skills, as well as learning a bit about European history and human behaviour, all whilst leaving enough time for travel.

    Upon comparing the standard of Stellenbosch University courses to the exchange courses at KU Leuven, one thing became very clear. Stellenbosch University really does have impeccable, world class academic standards. KU Leuven is rated much higher that Stellenbosch University on World Rankings, but in many situations the work was much less challenging. The group projects are also much smaller and less time consuming. One thing that was more difficult was their metric system, since the exams only counted out of 20 marks, and they indicated the required depth of your answer by lines, not marks. The subjects I took also placed a big importance on debates and debating skills, which is something I haven’t learned that intensely at Stellenbosch University.

    With regards to traveling all I can say is do as much as you possibly can. It is so cool to see all the different places and see how the different cultures goes about their daily lives. I am going to need a lot more than 500 words to tell you about all my traveling. So, if you want some traveling tips or just hear how it was, you can contact me.

    Francois and freind riding horses in a desert
    Francois and friend riding horses in a desert

    Return to Stellenbosch:

    I believe that my return to South Africa was less emotional than some of my peers. The reason for this is because by parents and some of my best friends came to visit over the December holidays, meaning that the amount of time we didn’t see each other was halved. This definitely helped with the missing of loved ones and contributed to my exceptional exchange experience.

    It was, however, so strange to return to South Africa and see everyone again. After I recovered from the jetlag and first few nights out (and caught up on all the gossip obviously), things started to return to normal for me, or at least as close to normal as it is going to get. This is understandable as I had this great, eye opening experience whilst all my friends went about their normal lives as always. It was very comforting to learn that things don’t change whilst you’re overseas. It is, however, important to note that I stayed in touch with (almost) everyone through WhatsApp messages and video calls. I believe it is extremely important to stay in touch with friends and family whilst abroad, even though you’re going to have SO MUCH things going on. Take the time to reply that message or make that call.

    One thing that has become abundantly clear after my exchange experience, is my love for South Africa. It really is such a beautiful country with the best, friendliest and most accommodating people I have ever met. Since we grew up here, we take everything South Africa has to offer for granted and we focus on the problems. My exchange experience taught me that every country has its problems and South Africa is no different. We have such a wonderful country and it is sad to see people immigrating overseas in search of greener fields. When taken into account that I visited 9 countries and 19 cities in my time abroad, I feel that it’s safe to say that this is an educated opinion based on a lot of different experiences.

    Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed my time abroad and all the life experiences I gained, and I regret nothing. But my exchange did influence my future plans in some ways. I now know that I DEFINITELY don’t want to immigrate or even go work overseas for an extended period of time. I guess it’s safe to say that my experience made me even more patriotic towards my country than I was before. This doesn’t mean that I will never go abroad again. Europe is still a beautiful place and there is so many places I still want to see. I would, however, never again go to Europe in the winter for holiday. The only way I will go back to Europe in the winter is if my job requires me to do so one day or if I go do my post-grad there next year. But the jury is still out on that one. For now, I am just enjoying everything South Africa has to offer to the fullest.

  • Jeanne at Maastricht University, the Netherlands

    Jeanne at Maastricht University, the Netherlands

    Pre-departure:

    Going abroad can be very exciting but also overwhelming. However, preparation and planning can help reduce any uncertainties that you might face. Try to prepare everything that you can from this side, but do not worry if you don’t have everything figured out before you leave for your exchange semester – you will learn a lot while you are there and that is part of the experience. Some important things to have sorted out are your visa, your accommodation, flight tickets, insurance and the subjects you want to take. Maastricht University does the visa application on your behalf. They will communicate to you which documents you must send to them and they will then apply for your visa. They will inform you once your visa has been approved and you then need to make an appointment at the Dutch Embassy to collect your visa. Applying for your visa is therefore not difficult and the university makes sure to start with the process early enough to ensure that your visa arrives in time before you leave. Finding accommodation is also an easy process. One can go to Maastricht Housing’s website to see what options they have available. There you can see pictures, prices and locations of the different accommodation options, and you can book a room through the site. Flight tickets are also not complicated to sort out. I chose a direct flight with KLM from Cape Town to Amsterdam. Book your tickets in advance since they are much cheaper than booking it two months before you leave. I would recommend having medical insurance for the duration of your stay. This is just to give you peace of mind should something happen – hospitals and doctors are very expensive in Europe. I arranged my medical insurance through a travel agent that gave us advice on what the best cover option is. Once I arrived in Maastricht the Dutch Bank that I used while there, ING, recommended that I get insurance for any accidents and property damage. This insurance was cheap and since you will be cycling a lot, it is good to be covered against any accidents that might happen while you are cycling around.

    Maastricht University has a lot of information available to exchange students on the SBE page. You go to the exchange page and there you can find information about the university calendar, accommodation, insurance, where to hire a bike, subjects, etc. This is the link: https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/education/exchange/sbe. Most important is that you find course information through their course data base. Here you have the list of courses you can choose from, their descriptions and their prerequisites. This was very helpful in selecting courses. Make sure to register for your subjects before the deadline. Maastricht will inform you about the deadline.

    If you have these things sorted before you leave, you will be more than prepared when you arrive there. The rest of the things such as creating a bank account, getting a bike and university related stuff will be sorted out as you arrive. The university is very helpful and organised.

    Experience at the Host University:

    Jeanne with classmates sightseeing
    Jeanne with classmates sightseeing

    Maastricht University’s business school, SBE, is a triple accredited school. The way of teaching is very different from Stellenbosch since they make use of something called PBL – problem based learning. This means that learning takes place through problem solving and discussion of problems. Classes take the form of tutorial sessions where there are a maximum of 15 students in one tutorial group. Some subjects, for example subjects that involve mathematics, may combine normal lectures as we know it with these tut classes, but most subjects only make use of the tut classes. In these classes there is a tutor that facilitates the session and ensures that everything is covered, but the students lead the discussion. This means that you have to prepare for every class and actively participate in each class by asking questions and contributing to the discussions. Sometimes you are divided in groups and each group then gets a chance to present a section of the work. Giving presentations is the norm at SBE. The PBL system definitely challenged me in a lot of ways, but I learned so much. Getting out of my comfort zone and having to contribute and participate in classes helped me to understand the content of the work better and also delve deeper than just the textbook theory.

    At Maastricht University the semester is divided into three periods – period 1, 2 and 3. In the first period you have two subjects and at the end of the period there is a week of exams and you complete the two subjects. In the next period, period two, you have another two subjects and also write exams at the end of the period. Period three is a skills period where you have one subject for two weeks. This subject is a skills subject, for example presentations skills, interview skills, excel for finance, etc. Although the courses are intensive, it is nice to only have two subjects at a time and not six as we are used to.

    Maastricht is a beautiful city. There are a lot of cafes, restaurants and shops. Getting around is very easy, since you can use your bike or the bus. Maastricht’s location is also ideal for traveling since it is very close to both the Belgium and Germany borders. I spent a lot of time exploring the city itself, as well as nearby cities. Doing day trips to other cities is easy with the trains that are available. Understanding the Dutch language was not a problem for me since my home language is Afrikaans, which is very close to Dutch. Most of the people can speak English. Furthermore, in Maastricht you will not only encounter Dutch people, since the university is a very international university and people from all nationalities fill the streets of Maastricht. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the city and would choose Maastricht again if I could.

    Jeanne sightseeing in the city
    Jeanne sightseeing in the city

    Returning to Stellenbosch:

    I was excited to return to Stellenbosch. The exchange was a wonderful experience, but after five months it was time to come home to my family and friends. Coming back and getting into routine in Stellenbosch was not a challenge for me. It was nice to come back and share my experiences and stories with my friends. It was also nice to hear the stories of my fellow International Business students’ exchange experience. I am excited to apply the things I learned in Maastricht to my studies at Stellenbosch. I love the student life of Stellenbosch and am looking forward to this year.

    Something that I realised is that South Africa is not as behind with certain things as most people think. For example, our awareness of waste and sustainable living is higher in certain areas, and Stellenbosch’s facilities are just as good as Maastricht’s facilities. However, we still have a long way to go with transport infrastructure and we can learn a lot from the Dutch system. Another thing is that the cost of living is much lower in South Africa than in Europe – it is very expensive over there. So another plus point on returning to South Africa is that everything is much more affordable.

    I have definitely grown a lot while being abroad and it is an experience I will never forget. I will also encourage students to go abroad if they have the opportunity to do so. Although I loved the experience, for now I am planning to stay in Stellenbosch and complete my studies here. In the future, I might go abroad to work for a year.