Experience report
Name: Astrid Dohmen
E-mail: a.dohmen@tilburguniversity.edu
Exchange semester: Fall semester 2015
Academic year: Master
Host University: NWU Potchefstroom
Country: South Africa
TOPIC: Admission, arrival, housing
Make sure you start arranging your Visa in time. South Africa isn’t the easiest country
when it comes to this; you have to hand in a lot of forms. Make sure you read the list
with requirements carefully. Eventually, I went to The Hague four times. The first time
to pick up the form with requirements. Just before I took the train back to Tilburg, I
realized that the lady from the consulate gave me the wrong form (internship instead
of study..), so I went back just in time before they closed. The second time my papers
were refused because I didn’t have the right approval form from my South African
health insurance. The third time they did accept my forms and two days later I went
back to finally pick up my Visa.
I arrived at the airport of Johannesburg on Saturday July 11. I was picked up by
someone from an organization called MAG Tours & Safari's. This was arranged and
paid by NWU’s law faculty. Make sure to ask your faculty whether or not you have to
arrange this transport yourself. If so, don’t just grab a taxi at the airport: this is not
safe! Rather contact MAG Tours for this. After a 1,5 hour drive I arrived at my
accommodation where three other Dutch girls from Leiden and Amsterdam, who had
arrived a few days earlier, were waiting for me. Rolien Roos from the law faculty
picked us up and drove us to the mall where we bought a South African simcard,
blankets and cooking utensils.
My room was about 15m2 and was provided with a bed (1,20 m), a tv, a wardrobe
and a desk and chair. I had my own bathroom and I shared the kitchen with one
other Dutch girl. The only downside was that we had to buy all the cooking utensils
ourselves. The accommodation was very safe; the doors could only open with your
fingerprints. The other exchange students lived in a house on campus together.
TOPIC: Location of university/city
Potchefstroom (or Potch) is a relatively small city about 1,5 hours from
Johannesburg. There is not really a city centre like we know it, but near the university
there is a street called De Bult which has nice restaurants and bars. For going out,
we often went to Die Mystic Boer. It's too far to walk (and more important: not safe at
night), but you will always meet South African students who have a car and can take
you there! We also went to River Café often, but unfortunately this place burnt down
after I left. Our accommodation had a small gym, but we preferred going to the gym
at the university. For R10 (about €0,60) we joined bikini bootcamp classes. The
university also has a big sports ground with an outdoor swimming pool, tennis courts,
an athletics track and so on.
TOPIC: Academics
During my exchange, I was enrolled in the master Comparative Child Law. This
master consisted of only two courses: International Juvenile Criminal Justice and
International Children's Human Rights. There were only seven students who were
enrolled in this master (including two other Dutch girls and me!), so the classes were
very personal. We didn't have a lot of classes, but when we did, they started at about
9 a.m. and ended at about 2 p.m. Since the classes took so long, the law faculty
provided us with a nice lunch. For every class, we had to make a presentation of
about 40 minutes. We also had quite some assignments to make (at least 20 pages).
For our final exams we had 24 or 30 hours to write a paper of 40 pages. You can
imagine that we didn’t catch a lot of sleep then. But at least now I know I can write a
thesis in one day ;-) Most of the exchange students were enrolled in bachelor
courses and they had ‘normal’ exams (like the ones we’re used to, but way easier).
Since most students are going on exchange during their bachelor’s, you probably
won’t have to worry about this heavy workload.
TOPIC: Social life
I arrived in the second semester, so there was no introduction week. The IESN
organized a few braais for exchange students, but this was after a few months, so I
already knew most of them. There were about 15 exchange students in total.
South Africans are very relaxed… and they’re always late. I remember our first trip:
we were supposed to leave at 12 a.m. but our South African friends, who would pick
us up, arrived at 2 p.m. I first thought this was just rude, but South Africans call it TIA
(This is Africa). This is something I really had to get used to in the beginning.
During my exchange, I travelled to Free State, Johannesburg, De Drakensbergen,
Lesotho, Kruger National Park and Cape Town. I love every place I've been to! I
would really recommend horse riding in De Drakensbergen (it's beautiful during
sunset!). Also, during our stay in De Drakensbergen, we took a daytrip to Lesotho. I
found this country very fascinating: they didn't have cars, they either walked or used
horses! When my boyfriend came to visit me, we went to Kruger together. This was
my favourite trip! Cape Town was the most modern and beautiful city I've been to. It
almost felt like a European city. My least favourite, though, was Johannesburg, since
this isn't the prettiest and safest city. But this was a great experience anyway! During
this trip we did a biking tour through Soweto, South Africa’s biggest township. This
was a great and safe way to experience the culture. We met local people and
children and tried their local food!
TOPIC: Living costs
The year before my exchange, I worked a lot to save money. South Africa is a cheap
country compared to the Netherlands, but you will probably spend a lot on travelling
(and this is what I recommend spending your money on, it’s worth it!). For my
accommodation I paid about €230 per month. We went out for dinner a lot: I paid
about €5 for a meal including a drink. Alcohol is very cheap as well, so you won't
need a lot of money for a good night out! I didn't have to buy textbooks, but you can
buy cheap second hand textbooks at the university. After my exchange I travelled
through New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and Thailand with my boyfriend. Those
two months were more expensive than the 4,5 months I had spent in South Africa.
Actually, during the four weeks I spent in New Zealand, I think I spent as much as I
did in 4,5 months in South Africa…
TOPIC: Culture
There still is quite some racism in South Africa. On campus, I barely saw black and
white students walk together. A local girl told me it was the language barrier (the
Afrikaners speak Afrikaans and the black people speak one of the ‘black’ languages),
but I don’t think this is true since everyone can speak English as well.. Also, most
courses (except for the master courses) are given in Afrikaans. Most black people
don’t understand this and have to wear headphones and listen to a translator. During
my stay in South Africa, there were many protests against this. Unfortunately, the
government doesn’t do much against racism. Actually, there is now something called
reverse discrimination: discrimination against white people in favour of black people,
especially when it comes to jobs. Despite this, South Africans are very warm and
friendly people. Potch really is a ‘white farmer town’, so there is more racism than, for
example, in Cape Town. But overall, many cultures live together and that’s what
makes this country so beautiful.
TOPIC: Personal development
I would really recommend going on exchange to South Africa! Besides the beautiful
South African culture, you will experience many other cultures, since you will meet
people from all over the world. I wouldn’t say my exchange really changed me, but it
did make me realize even more how lucky we are to live in the Netherlands. On the
other hand, it was beautiful to see how happy the people in townships were, even
though they didn’t have much and their government didn’t seem to care about them
much.
TOPIC: Tips for future students
I would definitely recommend an exchange period! It’s great to have the opportunity
to live in a different culture for a few months and to be able to travel to such beautiful
places! Here are a few tips:
-
Start arranging your Visa at least two months in advance
I didn’t have to show my international driver’s licence, but I would really
recommend getting one anyway, just in case
Make sure you bring warm clothes with you, since it gets really cold in winter!
(so our summer)