Experience report
Name: Manouk van der Heijden
E-mail: m.a.h.vdrheijden@tilburguniversity.edu
Exchange semester: January – July 2015
Academic year: 2014-2015
Host University: UPI (University of Pretoria)
Country: South Africa
TOPIC: Admission, arrival, housing
I had organized a shuttle to pick me up at the airport and drop me off at the University Residence.
During the first two weeks all the exchange students were arriving at the residence. After those weeks
we had an international day at the University, there we were told about the going abouts at the
University and in Pretoria/South Africa itself. We also went on a trip to a waterpark with all the
international students.
We as exchange students got appointed accommodation from UPI. The accommodation were several
houses/cottages placed on a lot of ground which was surrounded by a fence. Each house had two
separate-entranced floors and on each floor there were 8 rooms. The accommodation did remind me
of some sort of Center Parcs. It took about 5 minutes of walking in order to get to the University
Campus, so this was really close. While applying to UPI we had to apply for housing accommodation
in order to be placed, luckily I didn’t have to search for a place to live in after I arrived at Pretoria.
TOPIC: Location of university/city
The City of Pretoria is one of the bigger cities in South Africa, in fact it is the executive capital of South
Africa. The University has three campuses in the city of Pretoria, a campus in Groenkloof, Mamelodi
and in Hatfield. The campus in Hatfield is the biggest campus and houses most of the faculties. This
was also the campus I had to go to in order to attend my lectures.
As the University is located in the district of Hatfield, this area is packed with students. Relatively
close to the Hatfield area is the Sports Campus of UPI, this campus has literally almost all facilities
you can think of in order to accommodate sports. UPI being the lead University of South African
athletes puts a big emphasis on sporting activities. As a lot of students are living in the Hatfield area,
there are a lot of places where you can go out for dinner in the immediate area. A place we frequently
visited was Bravo’s pizza. Other good place which were located a bit further away were Tasha’s (at
Brooklynn Mall) and Boergeoisie. Also going to the movies in South Africa is quite nice, as the price of
a ticket costs about the equivalent of 3/4 euros. There were some nice places at Hatfield Square to do
some drinks in the immediate area, but since this summer the Square is closed.
The Union Buildings and the old town square were nice places to visit and see within Pretoria itself.
And also don’t forget about the Voortrekkersmonument which was quite impressive aswell.
Pretoria was different from Tilburg that in a way you always had to be careful in your going abouts. It
is just less safe to walk around all by yourself, especially at night. While in Tilburg it cannot be
regarded as being unsafe in doing this.
TOPIC: Academics
The courses I took in the duration of my exchange were Afrikaans, Advanced International Law and
Human Rights in Africa.
I decided to take Afrikaans because I just wanted to understand more about this language which has
its origins in Dutch. I chose to take Advanced International Law and Human Rights in Africa because
these two courses really complimented my Master International and European Law: Human Rights
back in Tilburg. The Advanced International Law did contribute to my program because it offers a
different point of view on some topics, sometimes they put a different emphasis on a problem or issue
than I was used to at Tilburg. The Human Rights in Africa contributed to my program because the
emphasis of this course was put at the protection of Human Rights in Africa and thus at the AU and
more sub-regional human rights systems. It also thought me that different aspects play a role in the
protection of human rights in Africa.
Furthermore I had the opportunity to take three Advanced Human Rights Courses at UPI, these were
given for the duration of a week and were quite intensive. The topics of these courses were Civil
Society Law in Africa, Judicial Enforcement of Socio-Economic Rights in Africa and Disability Rights
in African Context. These courses made me think about issues which are not that common within my
own program/education and gave me some knowledge about several different topics.
I would advise someone who wants to study at UPI to take courses related to Human Rights, as these
really are challenging and can help to obtain a lot of knowledge.
The courses which I took at UPI could be compared to courses at Tilburg University as being equal to
courses in Tilburg. In the end I can look back at a successful academic exchange during which I
gained a lot of knowledge.
The campus at Hatfield is huge, but even though it is that big it doesn’t feel like that. The campus has
a lot of space for gardens and greens which makes the university feel homely and welcoming.
TOPIC: Social life
As told before the University organized an International Introduction day and a day on which we went
to a waterpark. They also organized some kind of breakfast during the semester with everyone from
our accommodation. Because our accommodation was only for international/exchange students it
was hard to come in touch which “local” students.
One of my courses was part of a program in which students were together most of the time as one
class, I also attended more of their lectures just because the topics of the lectures were interesting.
This helped me to get in touch with all kinds of students from all across the African continent.
I did have a lot of contact with other exchange students, as I was living with 7 of them and we already
met before the exchange with a lot of the Dutch exchange students in Utrecht. We met each other
while applying for a visa at the South African Embassy in The Hague. Furthermore, because we
exchange students were all placed together we hang out frequently.
I did get along very well with my African classmates as well as all the exchange students at our
accommodation.
During my exchange I did travel a few times. I went to Cape Town, twice. I really loved the
atmosphere of the city and its surroundings. And I went on a roadtrip through the Mpumalanga region
(The Panorama Route) and on Safari in the Kruger Park.
TOPIC: Living costs
I financed my exchange period through my personal savings, some allowance which I got from my
parents and a loan from DUO.
Because I used to live at my parents before I left to South Africa, my expenses increased enormously.
I guess most of my money was spend on food and trips, which seems like a good spending habit on
exchange.
I didn’t really keep track of my finances while being abroad. We were able to pay the accommodation
fee of the residence all at once and textbooks were provided to us for free. 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.
TOPIC: Culture
Even though the culture was quite different from ours in the Netherlands, I didn’t experience any
shock. Sometimes I just had to remind myself that I was in a different country on a different continent.
The culture in South Africa is quite different though, people tend to take their time and don’t hurry that
much. What I learned about my own culture is that people in the Netherlands are always very friendly
and you can just talk to them on the streets, however this was different in South Africa as not
everyone there was always very friendly.
What I didn’t like about the culture in South Africa is that you can still feel and see that people tend to
judge each other on the colour of their skin. Even though the Apartheid era has come to an end, you
can still feel and see that some kind of separation is still present nowadays. While travelling to Cape
Town this division became less visible, probably because the Apartheids capital was located in
Pretoria. Cape Town made you feel more welcome and allowed to be present, I also perceived it as
less threatening as compared to Pretoria.
TOPIC: Personal development
During my exchange I learned a lot about the African continent and the different cultures and
approaches throughout this continent. I met a lot of people from across this continent whom really
opened my eyes to the true Africa, and not only the one we know from NGO’s and the mass media.
I cannot really recall a best experience from this entire exchange, everything I experienced during this
period has been great and has contributed to my personal development. What I will remember forever
from my exchange period will be my roommates, they became my friends and part of my family
abroad. We shared the good times and the bad times and it really felt like we could tell each other
anything.
The most important lesson I learned while being in South Africa is to be humble for what you do have
and that you have to see everything in perspective. What I learned about myself while being abroad is
that I can fend for myself, even when I’m all alone across the globe.
TOPIC: Tips for future students
I definitely would recommend students to go abroad at any part during their studies, it is an unique
experience which really broadens your world and ensures personal development. I would recommend
the University of Pretoria, however hearing from other students that bachelor courses do not live up to
the Dutch levels, I only would recommend students to take Human Rights Master Courses, as these
seem to live up to our levels.
A preparation which is definitely required for going to South Africa is getting a visa, students should
start as soon as possible with their application as it takes a lot of time and rejections to finally hand in
the required and correct documents.