Experience report
ANR: 445405
Name: Camiel Kuijpers
E-mail: c.f.m.kuijpers@tilburguniversity.edu
Exchange semester: Spring Semester 2015
Academic year: 2014/2015
Host University: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences
Country: Slovenia
Admission, arrival, housing
On the 4th of February I flew from the airport of Brussels Charleroi to the airport of Ljubljana. I
booked a flight from Wizzair which is very cheap to Ljubljana if you book at the right time. For the
first few days in Ljubljana I booked a hostel in the city centre. Since I was so stupid to select private
accommodation instead of accommodation provided by the university for 100 euros a month I had to
start looking for a room when I arrived in Ljubljana. At the airport I met a Belgian girl that also was
going to study in Ljubljana for half a year on Erasmus and with her together I looked for
accommodation. Through Facebook and some help from ESN Ljubljana it was fairly easy to find an
apartment within a few days. An apartment has one big advantage and that is that you have your
own single room. What is very important when looking for private accommodation is that you try to
live with other Erasmus students. My personal experience is that if you live alone with some Slovene
students or working people it is sometimes fun but also sometimes a little bit lonely since they study
and work a lot and already have their own lives. I lived with three Erasmus people from Belgium in
one apartment and in my building there were also seven other Erasmus students. For me it was
therefore always very easy to find people to do activities with such as going for dinner, party,
sometimes study and travel. The accommodation the university provides is also very cool. You live in
a big building and you share a kitchen and bathroom with 3 other people. So the apartments consist
out of 2 double rooms with kitchen and bathroom. All the Erasmus students are put together in two
buildings in the city depending on your nationality and faculty. You can imagine that it is always one
big party in those buildings and that is really awesome, you are never alone and make a lot of friends.
Another advantage is that it costs 100 euros a month to live there and it gets cleaned. I would
recommend you to live in the accommodation provided by the university but you have to be fast to
get a spot. If you don’t get in it is also not a big issue because I also had a great time in my apartment
and some people also of course prefer to have their own room while I would recommend the double
room experience.
Location of university/city
I lived in Ljubljana which is the main capital of Slovenia. Slovenia has around 2 million inhabitants and
in Ljubljana around 300.000 people live and there are more than 40.000 students. It therefore is
quite young city and I really noticed the difference because you see a lot more old people in the
Netherlands. Ljubljana is packed with bars, restaurants some cool alternative places and also has a
few gyms. The university is spread all over the city because each faculty kind of has its own building.
The faculties of social sciences and economics are located north of the train station. Ljubljana is not
that big and from the city centre you can almost get everywhere within half hour walk. Of course if
you take a bike, bus or taxi you are even faster. Taxi’s cost around 2.5-5 euro’s for a ride so it is really
easy and cheap to get somewhere especially if you are with a few people. The city is really beautiful,
it has nice buildings, a nice river, nice castle and beautiful nature surrounding and sometimes within
the city. Tilburg is not really known as the most beautiful city on the planet earth and especially if
you compare it with Ljubljana there is a real big difference. In the city there is also a special
alternative area called Metelkova. It is a nice meeting spot for drinking beers and has a few clubs and
a very unique atmosphere. Ljubljana is a very open minded city, very artistic and free. Almost
everybody speaks good English and in a lot of cases even better than people in the Netherlands. Next
to that it is maybe the safest city I have ever been. In half a year I maybe one time saw a fight even
though I was going out very often. I also never heard of stealing or other bad things. I only had a bad
experience with the police. In Slovenia the police is very strict. Everybody stops for example before
every red traffic light because you get a big fine if you ignore a red light. One time I went out with
some friends and because we didn’t al fit in one taxi me and another friend decided to go by bike
because it was only a short ride. Doing this is completely normal in the Netherlands but I soon found
out that in Slovenia it is not. I had to do an alcohol test and got a fine of 450 euros which I had to pay
within 8 days because otherwise it would be 900 euros. I looked it up on the internet and called the
Dutch embassy before paying and indeed this is the normal fine. So don’t drink and drive/ride your
bike and just take a taxi for 3.50euros.
Academics
I took the following courses: Crisis management, Genealogies of citizenship, Third world politics,
Communication management and International Organizations. Most courses I took provided me
some new points of view on certain subjects. You had to do some work but your effort is rewarded in
a way that it is easy to get a good grade. Only for the course International Organizations my
experience was not so good. It was a course that really was a lot of work. There were next to the
lectures a lot of additional sessions and there were four sessions in which the United Nations were
simulated. You had to wear a suit and even one time go to the Parliament of Slovenia. Which is really
a new and cool experience but it was quite of a hard course to step in. All the students doing this
course were studying political sciences and had done this kind of simulations many times before and
it was one of the most difficult courses of their program. Together with my Dutch colleague from
Tilburg and some other International students we failed the course despite handing in all the
required documents and attending all the sessions. The level of English of the Slovene students and
teachers was in a lot of courses higher than the level I experience in my own study in Tilburg. The
total workload is a lot lower than in Tilburg but maybe this is also because some courses where really
designed for Erasmus students. My academic experience improved my English and provided me from
some new insights and also important, confirmed some points of view that are also dominant in the
Netherlands. The faculty of social sciences looked really clean and modern. The internet was
sometimes a little bit inconsistent but in general worked. If a course started at 12.00 o’clock this
meant it for real started at 12.15. Lectures always last 4 hours but in general the 15 minutes late
start and 30 to 45 minutes break are included. The break is really nice because the weather in
Slovenia is in the winter cold but becomes good very soon. The social sciences faculty has a café and
very big terrace. From I think April you can sit outside on the terrace and get a sandwich/Panini,
yogurt, soup and fruit for 50 euro cents if you use your student coupon. A beer on this terrace is 2
euros for half a liter so it was a really nice way to spend your breaks or have meetings about the
lectures.
Social life
My social life in Ljubljana was really great. Ljubljana is not a really big city so it is easy to hang out
with your friends and you meet people and on the long-term the same people all the time. On
Thursday there was always a big Erasmus party orgnanized by ESN Ljubljana in the companeros.
These parties were always the craziest and all of my friends went there every week. I lived together
with three Belgian students and together with some other friends we went out almost 4 times or
more a week. If you go out, you meet really a lot of people and with these people I made more trips
to other cities and countries in the area. Because Ljubljana is located next to Italy, Austria, Hungary
and Croatia it is really in the middle and in close range to a lot of beautiful countries. With the friends
I made during my exchange I made trips to a lot of countries and cities like: Venice (Italy), Belgrade
(Serbia), Prizren (Kosovo), Skopje (Macedonia), Albania, Montenegro and a lot of places in Croatia
like Zagreb multiple times, Dubrovnik (Kings landing of Game of Thrones), Krka Waterfalls, Split,
Zadar, Novalja (Spring break Island Pag). Next to this I also enjoyed the beautiful nature in Slovenia
where you can Ski in winter, Raft in Spring and go to the sea and lakes in summer. All year long you
can go hiking and biking. In general most of my best friends were from Germany, France, Belgium,
England and of course Netherlands. But I also made some trips with friends from Italy, Greece,
Portugal, Poland, Sweden and Finland. I only had a few friends from Slovenia because they eat at
different places, go party at different places and very often go home in the weekends and study a lot.
If you want you can of course also make Slovenian friends, they are very open and sociable but in
general you live in a real Erasmus oriented environment that already provides a lot of contacts.
Living costs
I financed my exchange period with the Erasmus grant, Studiefinanciering + OV vergoeding, some
money from my parents and my savings from working in summer. I spent really a lot of money even
tough Slovenia is not so expensive to live in. Students get 22 student coupons each month. With
these coupons you can go eat in more than 100 restaurants in Ljubljana and Slovenia. In these
restaurants you get soup, main dish and salad/fruit for 3.50 euro. This means going for dinner is
cheaper than cooking your selves. The supermarkets are not really cheaper than in the Netherlands
but bars are cheaper. In general for the same price of one beer in the Netherlands you get 0.5L in
Ljubljana and a wine is 1.50euro in most restaurants and clubs. That’s the point you start drinking
cocktails and mixed drinks and you therefore still spend a lot of money. Because of going out very
often and traveling a lot I think together with my rent of 278 euros a month I spent around 1300
euros a month where my budget was 900. If you spent less money on traveling and going out and live
in the student dormitories for 100 euros a month you can live cheaper than you do in the
Netherlands and still go out for dinner every night. I think 600-700 euros a month can easily cut it if
you take it easy. It is also smart to avoid getting a fine of 450 euros because this is also a big boom
for your budget. I grabbed every opportunity to travel and mainly transport costs some money.
Hostels, drinks and food are quite cheap all over the Balkan. I didn’t spend any money on books and
only bought a bike and a ventilator. That ventilator is something I would definitely recommend you
starting from the end of May.
Culture
I did not really experience culture shock while on exchange. I think this is because Slovenia is not that
different from for example Italy and Austria and is more like a mix of these countries. The host
culture is very friendly to tourists or foreigners and speak good English. They are happy that people
are visiting Ljubljana and are not fed up with tourists like it is the case in a lot of other real touristic
places in Italy and Spain. If you say a few words in Slovene you can even count on a big smile. I liked
the host culture very much because in general Slovene people are very friendly. If you walk past
them, they can make the impression of being very distant but if you say something, this creates a
totally different situation. I learned that my own culture is very direct in comparison to other
cultures. I must admit that there is already a huge difference within the Netherlands. I come from the
south close to Maastricht and I noticed my way of dealing with things is more similar to how the
Belgium culture works. More indirect and soft. What I also noticed is that if you go up to Scandinavia,
people are even more direct than people from the Netherlands, but this can also be just a
coincidence in my observation. I also learned that if you say you are from the Netherlands people
always tend to like this. They see the culture of the Netherlands as very open-minded and free and
love Amsterdam. What I didn’t like about the host culture is that they sometimes were a little bit
distant or shy and I think that people are more beautiful in the Netherlands haha.
Personal development
I learned to be very open to people. If you meet a group of new people it is always best to
immediately introduce yourself because in future this helps when you meet this people again. Also
my English speaking skills improved and an exchange experience gives you the opportunity to
develop nice stereotypes about other cultures. Of course stereotypes in a good way, you can adjust
your already existing prejudices. For example the Germans are really polite, all of them. I wouldn’t
have done a lot of things different. Of course avoid getting my fine but if I had to choose again I
would go live in the student accommodation of the university. Now I also made really a lot of friends
and developed strong relationships with my flat mates but I think that is more similar to what you
also experience when living in a student room in the Netherlands. Living in a big building full with
exchange students is a more unique experience so that’s what I would change. My best experience is
just the everyday life in Ljubljana. A lot of snow in the winter, going to restaurant and eat a cheap
meal every day. Going out a lot and hanging out with my international friends and roommates. Also
the travels I made I will never forget. I went to places I probably will never go again and my exchange
in Ljubljana provided me the opportunity to for example visit Kosovo, Serbia and Macedonia. Not
really places where you would think of going when picking your next holiday destination. The most
important lesson I learned about myself during my exchange is that I sometimes have to pay a little
bit more attention to where I am and be more aware of the moment that I am living in at that point. I
tend to just follow others being too busy talking that I don’t have a clue where I am. If you are alone
in a new city you have to take care of yourself and make sure you walk the right direction.
Tips for future students
I would definitely recommend an exchange period. Even though if you don’t like it, which is really
unlikely. It is always better to regret the things you have done than the things you have not done. It is
a way to get to know yourself better and I can assure you, it does not matter that much where you
go. As long if there are enough other exchange students, it is always a lot of fun. The best
preparation for going is just to fulfill all the official requirements grab your passport, clothes and just
go. Don’t worry too much about forgetting things, you can buy almost everything in your host
country. Don’t worry being alone and just take initiative to meet people. When you meet people they
make you meet other people and so on. My tip if you go to Ljubljana is to take the accommodation
provided by the university. In general that would be my recommendation. In the accommodation
provided by the university you always meet your fellow exchange students and you can always
change accommodation if you don’t like it.
A picture is worth a thousand words
I made a blog about my first week in Ljubljana, my first experiences. This blog was well received by a
lot of people so I recommend you reading it if you are thinking about Ljubljana as a potential
destination. http://ljubljana.waarbenjij.nu/
Nature of Fusine Lake, just across the border of Slovenia in Italy
Everyday life, cleaning with the Belgians in the apartment
Red Star VS Partizan Belgrade football derby
United Nations simulations in Parliament of Slovenia
Balkan Trip with group of Germans at Dubrovnik Croatia A.K.A. Kings Landing
Green - Ljubljana
Party
Outside pre-drinks