Experience report
Name: Marlou Arnouts
E-mail: marlouarnouts@hotmail.com
Exchange semester: 2014/2015 Spring
Academic year: 2014/2015
Host University: Universidade Catolica Lisboa
Country: Portugal
TOPIC: Admission, arrival, housing
When I arrived in Lisbon my ESN-buddy (which I signed up for) picked me up from the airport and
brought me to my apartment. The same day he gave me a city tour through Lisbon. A few days later
we had an introduction day at Catolica to get to know our fellow students and a few Portuguese
students. It was some kind of an introduction lunch. My accommodation in Lisbon was very good and
I found it on the internet. There is a lot of student housing there so it was very easy for me. The
University itself didn’t help me with this. But it is really ease to organize yourself. I had to book my
accommodation in advance, but I did this myself. I didn’t wanted to take any risks by waiting. There
are a lot of organizations which offer accommodation you can still book there. Many students who are
going on exchange to Lisbon are going to a hostel first and then look around for places to live. This
wasn’t really my thing, so I booked in advance, but it is possible.
TOPIC: Location of university/city
The city Lisbon is a pretty small city with a small center. For this reason I really liked Lisbon, because
you could go everywhere in the center by foot and you recognized everything pretty fast. The city is
beautiful and well organized. The prices are a little lower than in the Netherlands, so you can join
other students to go out for dinner and drinks. There are many universities in the city and some are
located near to the center, but mine was about 40 minutes traveling by metro and walking. The best
places to eat is in Baixa, this is a neighborhood with very much nice restaurants which aren’t as
touristic as many others. For drinks you go to Bairro Alto, this is the neighborhood for socializing in
the evening with fellow students. For dancing in bars/clubs you should go to Pinkstreet or specific
clubs such as Urban Beach/ Luxx/ Lust. Everyone knows the typical touristic things to see in Lisbon,
but I would recommend Sintra. This is a big village about 45 minutes from Lisbon which is full with
castles and beautiful gardens. The big difference with Tilburg is that there is so much more to do.
There are nice bars everywhere to hang out, many rooftopbars, parcs and so on. The city is much
more alive.
TOPIC: Academics
I followed the next courses : Global Governance, Global Law, European Law, Intellectual Property,
Property Law. Those courses where most interesting for me and best for my master. I would specially
recommend Property Law, the professor was amazing and you learn a lot about other approaches.
International Criminal Law also seemed to be really good, I didn’t take the course myself, but
everyone is very positive about it. The level of English in my host university was way more than in
Tilburg, because in Tilburg you barely use English. In the beginning it is really hard to switch, but after
a while you get used to it and you are noticing you are getting better. The workload was also more
than in Tilburg, speaking about class preparing. They have a system with participation grades, so you
have to prepare everything and if you give much answers in class you get a higher participation. This
grade also counts in your final grade. I am very happy with my academic achievements. I really do
think exchange is an amazing opportunity everyone should take. Especially because law sticks to
Dutch law so much in our university. What I really liked in my university is that people knew me.
Professors knew me so they treated me nicer. In Tilburg I feel more like a number which I really don’t
like, but in this university students and professors are more on the same level. My university campus
was pretty small, because it was a private university. The business faculty was pretty big, but ours
was really small. But for me that was okay, because it was easy to find you way. They also have a
library where you can study good.
TOPIC: Social life
There were a few social activities in the university, but it where only a few and small ones. It was nice,
but it could be better. All of the Erasmus students had many contact with each other, but not that
much with local students. Only the students who wanted to go abroad themselves, or already have
been were interested. We had a nice group of students and almost everyone helped each other. I
travelled around Portugal, the Acores (island of Portugal in the atlantic ocean) and Marocco.
TOPIC: Living costs
Besides the grant from Tilburg University my parents financed me. My living expenses where almost
the same as in Tilburg, but still this is the thing where most of my money went to. I was expecting to
have lower housings costs in Lisbon. I also spend money on dinners and drinks, but this was money I
worked for myself. I would advise students to search for a nice apartment which is not that expensive.
If you have a cheaper apartment you can do a lot of nice activities for that money.
My apartment was aprox. 380 euro each month. The metro/train/bus was covered by the Erasmus
grant. Food was about 150 euro each month. Textbooks depends on the courses you take. Same
goes for drinks. Depends on how much you go out.
TOPIC: Culture
In my opinion I didn’t experience a culture shock on exchange, but maybe the reason for this is
because I was in Europe. But for me it was perfect this way. I don’t think I would have liked it to go out
of Europe, because a big culture difference would be too heavy for me. I had more of a culture shock
on my holiday to Morocco. There I discovered I was very happy with my choice to stay in Europe for
my exchange. Morocco was also the first time I travelled outside Europe. In the Portuguese culture
people take more time for themselves but also for others. People are very kind towards each other
and they really want to help you. If you go to a supermarket you see people talking to each other
about their lives, while in Holland everyone seems always in a rush. It is more about feeling and being
happy instead of getting the best job and much money. I learned Dutch people are more distant then
the people over there and think a little more about themselves instead of others. But Dutch people are
direct and honest and are capable of speaking multiple languages, while they can’t. My host country
learned me that it is not all about money and achieving the best of the best. There is always a human
inside of you that has to live and be loved by loved ones. I still want to achieve a lot, but family and
friends always have to be in the picture. Work will not be #1 if it downgrades all the other things.
Portuguese people are also very kind and helpful, and I think I will be more helpful as well. The only
bad thing was that they never saw me as a Lisbon citizen. Probably this is because of my blonde hair,
but they always saw me as a tourist. Even the little restaurants next to my house. They wanted to help
you, but they were annoyed by speaking English. I also travelled to Acores, which is a Portuguese
island in the middle of the ocean. People there really don’t know what is going on in the world I think.
Everything there is so peaceful. They have their own little world back there, full of nature. They are
even more kind then the Portuguese people and speak English very well because of the tourists. The
biggest shock I had in Morocco. I travelled throught the whole country and what I saw there was a
completely different world then I was used to. People were so poor and wanted to get out of that
country so bad. Many people were trying to cross the borders or asked for your suitcase. People do
the most easy things to get money because there is no opportunity for them to get a proper job. There
are much little shops where they sell all useless stuff, but this is the only way of getting money. The
man is the boss of the house there and can do most things. In every café we walked by only man
were sitting on the terrace. Women were only shopping groceries or in their houses. They also have a
different religion and especially inside the medieval you see a lot of this Arabic culture. Religious
buildings are so expensive on the inside while the outside looks crappy and people living around
those buildings are so poor. If you look to the government or palaces, they are full of gold, while
people in general are the poorest I have ever seen. In Portugal itself it is not this shocking. You see a
lot of homeless people of course, but the distance between poor and rich is not that big. Although in
my university only pretty rich people attended and they were different then the people I have met in
Lisbon itself. From ESN for example, those people were just normal students and they behaved
different, more down to earth. More willing to do something.
TOPIC: Personal development
There are so many different people in this world, and exchange is a perfect way to show you this. You
always know this, but you never experience this in real life. Also the way of living is so different. In
Holland it is so common to live on your own, while in countries as Portugal itself and Italy it is so
normal to live with your parents while you are studying. People have different values and approaches
and think different about friendship and family life. It is funny to see how people from some countries
stick together and as a foreigner it is hard to get into such a group. Most of those people are Spanish
or Italian and I really think it is because they can speak their own language then. At this moment I
wouldn’t do anything different. I have met a lot of new and nice people from all over the world and I
don’t know how I could have done it better. My best experience were the people in my house which
were all from different countries, but so close with each other. We cooked different meals for
eachother every Monday and every Monday we went to euronight to see different countries and
histories/ food/ drinks. Everyone in our house was so open to see and try new things, that was
amazing. My worst experience were a few Dutch girls who didn’t want to make any contact with me
because I was also dutch. They only wanted to meet people from different countries. For me this is a
bad thing, because it is about the person you are and not the country you are from. I was open to
everyone and noticed that I really liked it to get to know so many new people. They don’t have to
become your best friends, but just sharing your thoughts and having little friendships can also be nice.
In my house especially the girls ( all Latin culture) were really big fan of doing everything together. I
noticed I needed my own space. I wanted to do nice stuff with them, but sometimes I wanted to hang
out with others or stay a night at home. They were always together and made a close friendship with
each other, while I liked it to get to know more people than just them. I also was really alone this time,
really far away from everyone, so I needed to fix my things myself. This was hard sometimes, but you
learn from it.
TOPIC: Tips for future students
I would recommend an exchange period for everyone who has the eager to do so! It is a great
experience which learns you so much about other people, countries, cultures, studies and yourself. It
is a great opportunity to develop yourself and I liked it so much that I am thinking of an Erasmus
internship somewhere. This is a once in a life time experience which you can give yourself. And if you
don’t, in my opinion you are limiting yourself. Even though they have a different system I would
recommend my host university. You have to work pretty hard, but the people treat you very well.
Going on exchange to this destination doesn’t require anything, but I would really advise prospective
students to take Portuguese lessons. In the end I didn’t and I really regret it. It is nice to learn a new
language, especially in a country you will live for a long time.