Experience report
Name: Hanneke Vermeulen
E-mail: h.vermeulen@tilburguniversity.edu
Exchange semester: Spring/Summer
Academic year: 2014-2015
Host University: Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Destination: Lisbon, Portugal
Admission, arrival & housing
I was planning to go on exchange since I started my Bachelor program at
Tilburg University. When I passed my first year, I started thinking of possible
destinations to spend my exchange. I was in doubt between 2 places (Lisbon
& Madrid) and in the end Lisbon seemed to be the perfect choice for me. I went
to Lisbon by plain on my own. I travelled alone by plain before, so this was no
big deal for me. I took a taxi from the airport of Lisbon to my residence. I booked
a really nice room in advance on uniplaces.com in a big residence with 20
rooms. My room was about 18m2 with a small balcony and the most stunning
view over the city of Lisbon and the Tagus River. The rent was 390 euro’s each
month, including all the bills. Once a week, a cleaning man cleaned my room
(this was also included in the monthly price). The residence had a big area
where you could enjoy your meals, a living room and a study room. Personally
I experienced several public areas as pleasant, because you can feel isolated
when you only have your own room. The only disadvantage became after 3
months when our landlord decided to rent several rooms to Airbnb guests. In
the beginning it was a very close student house, but after the change it became
more like a hotel.
Location of university & city
First of all: Lisbon is an amazing city. In the beginning, when I knew I was going
to Lisbon I had no high expectations at all. When I arrived at the airport I was a
bit overwhelmed by the relaxed atmosphere. The people in Lisbon have such
a relaxed attitude, which had a really positive effect on me. Lisbon consists
mainly of hills (the city has 7 hills); so don’t expect the streets to be as flat as in
the Netherlands. I lived on one of the 7 hills in Lisbon between Rossio square
and Restauradores, which is located very central. My university was 45 minutes
away from door to door. Normally I went to university by metro, what is the
fastest way. The metro connections are really good (every 10 minutes), if there
is no strike. I faced several strikes during my stay in Lisbon, which means that
the entire (or parts of the) metro is not functioning for the whole day. So it might
be a good idea to find other ways to go to university (for example by bus). There
is an app for your mobile phone, which provides you information about the
strikes. The name of this app is: Hoje Há Greve? The metro station close to the
university is called Laranjeiras. From the metro, it will take you 10 minutes
walking to university. Universidade Católica Portuguesa consists of 3 buildings.
The first building is for business; the second building is the library and the third
building is for law.
Lisbon has several districts/neighborhoods:
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Baixa: This area of the town has been rebuilt first after the earthquake
of 1755. The architectural style differs from the rest of the city. Most
shops and restaurants are located here. It’s very touristic.
Chaido: Here you will find more sophisticated shops and small
restaurants. In this neighborhood you will find the Carmo Ruins, which
is definitely worth to visit.
Bairro Alto: One of my favorites! Especially when you are looking for
cheap drinks and a good atmosphere. This neighborhood consists
mainly of small bars and restaurants. From Wednesday evening until
Sunday evening you will find many people here drinking beers and
cocktails on the streets. The bars close at 3 in the night in the weekends.
Alfama, Castelo & Graca: Alfama is the oldest section of Lisbon. In
Castelo you will find the big Castle. On the 12th and 13th of June, the
Santo Antonio Festival takes place in Lisbon. Especially in Alfama and
Castelo there is a big party (but also at other places in the city).
Bélém: Recognized for its national monuments and historical buildings.
You can taste the famous pastéis the Bélém here. In the summer period
they organize the OutJazz festival close to the Bélém tower, which is a
really nice and free festival.
Academics
Universidade Católica Portuguesa is located close to Laranjeiras metro station
and the zoo of Lisbon. Universidade Católica Portuguesa consists of 3
buildings. The first building is for business; the second building is the library
and the third building is for law. The buildings are old but very nice. The interior
of the library is made of wood and gives you an ancient feeling. Our exchange
mentor was extremely helpful and friendly. If there were any problems or
questions, she was always willing to help you. She also organized some
activities for the exchange students, for example dinners, wine-tastings and
guest lectures. I did not feel very connected with the Portuguese students at
Católica, because they are more reserved and highly focused on achieving the
highest results. The other exchange students were very friendly. Most of the
other exchange students came from Germany, Austria and Italy. There is one
main thing in the teaching method that differs from Tilburg. At the university in
Lisbon, class participation will be graded. With other words: you really have to
participate active in class. Voluntarily raise your hand and answer questions all
the time. I think this method is really effective. This means that you are
supposed to study all the materials before the class starts, otherwise it can have
negative influences on your final grade. I took several courses: Introduction to
Global Law, Global Governance, Transnational Environmental Law,
Introduction to Intellectual Property and European Union Law. I passed all the
courses with success. For almost all of the courses it was not necessary to buy
books. Our study materials consisted of several articles and papers. Only for
European Union Law we used a book. The exams were not very different from
the exams that I am used to in Tilburg. Some courses gave take-home exams;
others were open-book exams or closed-book exams. There is one major
disadvantage about the relaxed atmosphere in Lisbon, namely that some of the
professors are used to this and behave towards it. For instance, I took one
professor more than 8 weeks to grade an exam, where 15 people had
participated in. Also being late in class is rather normal than an exception for
some of the professors.
Besides my courses on university, I took a Portuguese beginners course at
LanguageCraft, which is located in the center of the city. The costs were 99
euros (10 % discount because I am a member of the student associations) for
a 30 hours course and an exam. I passed this exam with 82%.
Social life
I went on exchange with a friend, who also studies at Tilburg University and
studied at Católica. We stayed at the same residence, together with many other
people with different nationalities. All these people are very friendly and in a
short period of time we became one ‘family’. One of the things we used to do
was organizing an international dinner. Everybody had to cook a dish from their
own country, which was really nice. I joined 2 student associations: ESN & ELL.
I highly recommend this, because you will meet a lot of new people during their
events. I made some really nice friends there. The association ELL was the one
I preferred the most, because the people who work there are more relaxed and
friendly. We (me and a couple of roommates) joined ELL to the trip to Porto.
We stayed in Porto for one weekend with 80 exchange students divided into
two hotels. They showed us Porto and took us to a Port wine tasting. These
student associations organize many events during your period abroad and you
are always free to join them. Furthermore, my friend and I rented a car for one
week to explore Portugal more on our own. We went to Peniche, Nazaré, the
Berlengas islands, Obidos, Lagos, Sagres, Portimão & Benagil. After our
exams were finished, we went to the Azores. This is a beautiful Portuguese
island group in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The flight to São Miguel was
very cheap, so we couldn’t miss out on this great opportunity. The nature there
is stunning and the wildlife is incredible. We went mountain biking, whale and
dolphin watching, hiking and diving. In the weekends when I had spare time, I
mostly went to the beach (Costa da Caparica) and took surf lessons.
Living costs
The room that I booked on forehand was around 18m2 and the costs were 390
euro’s on a monthly basis, all bills included. The price is a bit higher for the
standards in Lisbon. It’s possible to rent a room for less than I did, but I preferred
to have a bigger room, a balcony and a nice view. My friend and me made
always our dinners together, so we shared the costs on our groceries. On a
monthly basis I would say that the costs of the groceries for me where between
100 and 150 euros. This does not include all the dinners we had in the city.
Before I went on exchange I saved some money for all the additional trips that
I made and all the other extras. Besides this, I got an Erasmus grant and Study
Finance.
Culture
When I arrived in Lisbon, I did not experienced a culture shock. There certainly
are differences between the Portuguese and Dutch culture, but they are so little
that you cannot speak of a culture shock. Being a Portuguese means that you
have a very relaxed mindset and that you love food. Portuguese specialties are:
sardinhas, pastéis de Bélém, bacalhau com natas, vinho verde etc. The elderly
in Lisbon do not speak English, so it is pleasant to learn the basics of the
Portuguese language.
Personal development
I have lived on my own for 3 years before I went abroad. Even though living on
my own was not a new experience, living in a foreign country was certainly new
for me. I experienced this period as very pleasant and made some great
memories that I will never forget. Especially meeting so many new people from
different countries all over the world was a great experience. Other cool
experiences were: a road trip by car in Portugal, travelling to the Azores,
surfing, diving, whale and dolphin watching and not to forget about all the nice
house parties I have been to.
Tips for future students
I have many tips for the future students. Below you will find a small enumeration
of tips:
To do:
- Clubs: Urban beach, Lux frágil, club Lust
- Bars: neighborhood Bairro Alto, Pinkstreet and rooftop-bar PARK.
- Restaurants: Sea me, Champanheria do Largo
- Best view: Miradouro do Adamastor – Miradouro de santa catarina
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Beach: Praia Carcavelos, Praia Costa da Caparica (at the other side of
the bridge, where the surf conditions are constantly good)