Experience report
ANR: 884530
Name: Maarten Verbakel
E-mail: m.m.h.verbakel@tilburguniversity.edu
Exchange semester: fall 2013/2014
Academic year: 4th
Host University: Trinity College Dublin
Country: Ireland
TOPIC: Admission, arrival, housing
How was your arrival organized? Did someone pick you up from the airport/station? Was an
orientation or introduction activity organized? How was accommodation organized? Does the
university provide you with accommodation? What kind of accommodation does the university provide?
Did you have to book your accommodation in advance or did you have to search for a place to live
after you arrived?
When I arrived in Dublin I took the bus to the city centre. The bus dropped me close to my host
University and I went to the campus. I immediately saw a big arrow with accommodation services on it.
I went to the building and I was given the key for my accommodation on campus in the first 12 days of
my exchange. In these 12 days I searched for accommodation for the rest of my exchange. I have
been told by former exchange students to Trinity that this is the best way and they were right. It took
me a week to find an apartment which suited my demands. To find the accommodation I went to the
service desk for advice and with this advice I searched for accommodation on the internet. A week
after I found my accommodation the introduction week started. This one cannot be compared to the
TIK week or TOP week in Tilburg. You have to go to class I think three times this week for about an
hour. You will get some welcome talkings and all that official kind of stuff. What is fun and important in
this week is that you get the opportunity to join as many societies as you want. They are promoting for
this on campus, you cannot miss it.
TOPIC: Location of university/city
Please describe the city you lived in. Where is the university located in the city? What is the best
place to go to eat/drink/dance/do sports/etc.? What are interesting things to see and do in your host
city? What was different than in Tilburg?
Trinity is located in the middle of the city centre. I have not seen a university with a better location. In
addition, Trinity is tourist attraction number one in Ireland, the university itself is really beautiful.
Around Trinity you have some shopping streets and malls, the temple bar (tourist district to go out),
and much more. Through the middle of the city flows a river called ‘the liffey’. You can also visit some
tourist attractions in Dublin, like the Guinness brewery, the Jameson’s Distellery, the Kilmainham gaol,
and Croke park (good one!). But these are all buildings, that is not the way you should see Dublin. I
have travelled to many countries but I never experienced an atmosphere like the one in Ireland. The
people in this country are very kind, helpful, have a positive attitude and they give you a feeling like
you are home. To go out in Dublin you can visit a pub everywhere, they are all over Dublin, almost
every street, every corner. If you want to go to a club you have to go to Harcourt street, Dublin 2.
There are lots of clubs in this single street. Temple bar is fun to see once, but too expensive to go out
there every week. To eat something is also possible in the whole city centre, but I liked Murrays the
most. They have Irish dancing and singing during/after your dinner. The best way to do sports is
difficult, depends on what you want to do. I joined the Rugby sports club, the Gaelic football (Irish
sport) club and the regular football club. During my exchange I only played regular football, the other
societies did not do a good job in case of communication, so I never heard of them anymore.
Everything you have to do while on exchange will be told by Irish students to you. A few things which I
really recommend: Mystery tour (for me organized by Dubes), Halloween, Christmas parties, watch
Irish sports (in stadium if possible, otherwise in a pub), visit other places in Ireland with the
international student society or arrange the trips yourself with friends you made there.
TOPIC: Academics
Which courses did you take and why? Which courses would you recommend? What did the courses
add to your program at Tilburg University? How does the university compare to Tilburg University
concerning the level of the courses, use of extra material, level of English, workload, etc.? Overall,
were you happy with your academic achievements during your exchange? Please describe the
campus of your host university.
I participated in four courses, each 7.5 ECTS: 1) International Business and the Global Economy, 2)
Financial Reporting & Analysis, 3) Managing New Product Development, 4) Exploring Organisational
Experiences.
I think I made the right choice to pick these courses. They all went well and I liked the classes, but I
think every class is kind of fun because it is much more interactive than the classes in Tilburg. In
Trinity College you feel like you are treated as a person, while I have the feeling that for Tilburg
University you are a number. This also shows a difference in culture between Ireland and the
Netherlands. If you compare Dutch people to Irish people I would say Dutch people are rude and
selfish. To give a better view of this situation, it is not that Dutch people are so rude or selfish, it has
more to do with the Irish people, they are lovely. If I have to choose one course to highly recommend I
would choose ‘Managing New Product Development’. I am a Business Economics student so I had
the opportunity to choose this one (IB students do not). I learned the most of this course. Besides the
theory work, papers, essays et cetera this course also contains a project with different phases. For
the project you are linked to 3 or 4 Irish students and you have to pick an Irish company. For this
company you will do a New Product Development research. It includes a visit to the company (mine
was Janet’s Country Fayre, situated in county Wicklow), a tour guide through the company, a
conversation with the general manager about product development and much more.
To compare Trinity College to Tilburg University I would like to start with the level of the courses and
the workload. I think these are the only two factors which are almost the same. In other things such as
extra materials, the level of English, interactivity between students and professor in lectures and
tutorials Trinity flourishes. Trinity also flourishes with her beautiful campus, the best one I have ever
seen. It is build in old roman/greek style and has lots of facilities. I am very happy with my academic
achievements because you could reach them while you can still enjoy your exchange and do the
things you want do to.
TOPIC: Social life
Which social activities organized by the university or students? Did you have contact with local
students? Did you have contact with other exchange students? How did you get along with the local
students and other exchange students? Did you travel to other places/countries during your exchange?
I can write a whole book about this topic, but I will keep it short. I shall describe a week for me, that
might give you a good impression:
Monday: lectures, tutorials and group meeting during the whole day. In the evening ‘bav at the pav,
buddy Mondays’; this was a weekly meeting set up by an organization where international students
where linked to local students.
Tuesday: around the afternoon one tutorial and afterwards I was having fun with other international
students or in the end of the exchange essay writing. In the evening I had two or three ativities. Most
of the time I was playing football (a training) with Trinity’s first team. If we had no training I went to the
weekly movie night organized by the international student society. After football or the movie I went to
the pub ‘Mac Turcaill’s’ where all the international students went to.
Wednesday: one lecture from 1 to 3 PM. I sometimes did a bit of studying on Wednesday. In the
evening we went with a couple of international students to Murrays. Upstairs in this pub/restaurant
you have lots of screens where they showed all the football matches in the groupstages of the
Champions League or world cup qualifiers. In the night there was a party organized by ‘I love Dublin
festival’. Each party had a special theme, like a pillow fight party, a graffiti party, etc.
Thursday: one lecture and one tutorial in the morning till the early afternoon. Afterwards I played
indoor soccer with other international students in the afternoon on campus. In the evening I had
another football training with the Trinity football team (existing of Irish students, one Spanish
international student and me). Afterwards sometimes to the pub.
Friday: one lecture in the morning and after that lecture my weekend started. Friday afternoon I did a
bit of studying to prepare the lectures next Monday, so that I was off for the rest of the weekend.
Saturday and Sunday: most of the weekends I went on trips. These trips varies from Glendalough,
Cork, Glasgow, Edinbrough, Belfast, Howth, Bray and Greystones. If I did not go on a trip I had some
fun with international students and played football matches for Dublin University A.F.C. (my Trinity
football team). During some weekends I had visitors from the Netherlands. Some friends and family
came to Dublin to see me in my new environment.
TOPIC: Living costs
How did you finance your exchange period, apart from the grant you received from Tilburg University?
What were your living expenses abroad like compared to Tilburg? What did you spend most of your
money on? What would you advice future students to spend their money on? Please outline your
approximate monthly budget whilst on exchange: housing, food, textbooks, etc.
I financed my exchange in three ways: Money from the Dutch government, money from my parents
and money which I have saved for years. The rent was the most expensive part in Dublin. I paid 600
euro’s each four weeks. In Tilburg I only pay around 220 euro’s a month. For food and drinks
(exclusive pub expenses) I paid approximately 40 to 50 euro’s a week. Herefore I went to Aldi and Lidl
to get my food, because the other supermarkets as Spar and Tesco are way more expensive. I did
not spend much money on textbooks because you could read them in the library for free. I cannot
give an advice to spend your money on, it depends on where you want to spend it on. I can only tell
that going on an exchange to Dublin was more expensive than I thought in the first time.
TOPIC: Culture
Did you experience culture shock while on exchange? How would you compare your host culture to
your own culture? What did you learn about your own culture while on exchange? What was different
about your host culture than you expected? What did you like and not like about your host culture? Do
you feel you learned a lot about your host culture, and if not, what would you like to learn more? How
would you describe your host countries culture? If you travelled to other cities/countries during your
exchange, were they different than your host city/country, and how?
I did not experience a culture shock while I was on exchange. The Irish culture differs not that much
from the Dutch culture, however, I discovered some differences. Irish people are more kind, more
respectful, more willing to help and more friendly than Dutch people. For example, during a lecture or
tutorial almost everybody pays attention. I rarely see somebody using their phone in class, in contrast
to classes in Tilburg. Once I had too low credit on my printing account to print my documents and an
Irish girl said to me: ‘ooh here, you can use mine’. I did not even ask her to help me, but this is in my
opinion a good example of the Irish culture. What I learned of my own culture is that Dutch people are
not the most friendly people in the world, that are the Irish people for sure. I think our culture is almost
the same as the German culture. My new German friends have the same view of the world and how
life works as I do. It was also very funny when I did not know a translation for a Dutch word. I said it to
them in Dutch and they understood me. The same the opposite way, if they did not know an English
word they said it in German language and I understood them. An other aspect of the Irish culture is
that the Irish people like to spend their spare time in the pub. From students to a full time employee,
they all like to go for a drink. The Irish accent actually was easy to understand. I was a bit afraid of
this before I went to Dublin but they speak very clear. I have been to Scotland for a week and their
accent is really hard to understand.
TOPIC: Personal development
What did you learn from the people you met during your exchange? Would you do things differently if
you had the chance, and what would you do differently? What was your best experience, and what
was your worst experience? What will you remember for ever about your exchange period? What was
the most important lesson you learned about yourself during your exchange period?
I learned a lot from other people, a funny example is that I made ‘schnitzels’ together with my German
friends. They teached me how to do this, and the taste was perfect! Another funny thing is that people
outside of Europe do not know anything about the Netherlands. Some American people thought that
Holland and the Netherlands were two different countries. Or people from Brazil where I spoke to did
not even know that there is a country in the world called ‘The Netherlands’. My best experience, poeh,
I really do not know. I liked the Cork trip very much, but my best experience actually is the complete
exchange, I enjoyed every single day. French people are my worst experience. Almost 50% of the
people who went abroad to Trinity College were French. For example: we had a party with the
international student society. Everybody was talking to each other, except for the French people, they
claimed an own table and French was the language spoken at this table. I had a prejudgment about
French people but I experienced that this prejudgement was true. What I will always remember about
my exchange period will be the activities we did with the international student society. All of them
were a big success and it also was the most easy way to meet new people and make new friends. I
learned about myself that I am very direct in my communication. I always say what I think and that is
not always the best way to act in some circumstances.
TOPIC: Tips for future students
Would you recommend an exchange period? Would you recommend your host university? What
should prospective students bring with them/leave behind? What preparation is required for going on
exchange to this destination? Was there anything you should have done in preparation that you didn’t
do?
I would highly recommend an exchange period! I think it does not really matter to where, but if you
have the opportunity to go on exchange please take it. It was the best period of my life by far. If you
are thinking about an exchange to Dublin, I would recommend Trinity College. The university is
situated in the city centre and the facilities are very good. Also the social life in Trinity is ‘grand’ (Irish
word for super). You can also go on exchange to the UCD in Dublin, I think this is also a good
university but I believe that Trinity is the better option. Do not worry about things you should bring with
you, if you have forgotten something you can buy it in the shops/supermarkets. You do not need to do
more preparation than the information which is given to you by Tilburg university. I believe it is easier
to start a life as a foreigner in Dublin than to start a life as a foreigner in the Netherlands. If I had more
information about events in Dublin before I went there, I would have bought a ticket for the rugby
match Ireland versus New Sealand. This match was already sold out before I arrived in Dublin (3
months before the match). I should search the internet for big happenings in Dublin a few months
before you go on exchange if you are interested in that. And by the way, if there is a Darts match
organized in Dublin, go there!
TOPIC: A picture is worth a thousand words
If you took any pictures or made any videos that you would like to share with future exchange
students, please include them (or e-mail them separately). Pictures that show your daily life or
symbolize your exchange period are especially interesting for future exchange students.
Christmas celebration in Trinity (lighting the Christmas tree)
Buddy system ’12 pub tour’ Christmas party (dress code: Christmas jumpers)
Dublin University A.F.C .
Halloween in Ireland as superheroes