Exchange experience report
Bloemfontein, South Africa
When UvT meets UFS
ANR:
Name:
E-mail:
Exchange semester:
Academic year:
Host University:
Country:
142240
Jasper Schilder
jschilder92@gmail.com
Fall, 2014
3rd
University of the Free State, Bloemfontein
South Africa
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The UFS is located in Bloemfontein, which lies in the Free state province. The city is
very peaceful and characterized by the many students it accomodates. Bloemfontein is
not as big or well-known as Capetown or Johannesburg, but there is definitely no
reason at all to be bored there. There are many nice places to eat, drink and go out in
the city itself and in the two shoppingmalls the city has. Mimomosa mall is located
closer to campus and is slightly smaller than Waterfront mall. Waterfront mall is very
big and is located against a beautiful large pond which borders a city park and a zoo
on the other side of the mall.
For me personally, I loved the life on campus itself. I remember how amazed I
was when I just got there the first day. It seems like a small village full of residences,
places to eat and drink, even a nice café with a cozy terrace. The variety of options to
eat are also limitless and, not unimportant, very cheap compared to Dutch standards.
There are also fitness and gym opportunities on campus both outdoor and indoor. The
UFS campus also holds a very nice community vibe. It is therefore that I would
definitely recommend to live on campus in a residence. There are also residences for
international students if you would prefer that. However, I ended up in a mixedgender residence with South-African students only and I am so incredibly grateful for
it. I have done and seen beautiful places in South Africa, such as Capetown,
Johannesburg, Durban, the Garden route and many more, but the best part about my
whole experience was the fact that I had a tight group of South African friends with
whom I have shared the most epic memories.
Living in an international residence can also be very nice, but I would highly
recommend to live amongst the South Africans self to get a real taste of South Africa.
I have met some International students who lived in the residence for International
students. They also had good times together and a lot of nice get togethers. But the
most of them left South Africa without getting to know an actual South African. The
percentage of international students isn’t that high on the UFS I believe, but that’s
absolute no obstacle or anything at all.
The difference with living in Tilburg for me was that I lived in a residence on
campus instead of a studenthouse in the city. Of course the most nice difference is that
every amount of free time you have there, you can spend by exploring the city and
later the rest of the country. During the weekends and other holidays I have had
beautiful trips to Capetown, Johannesburg, Durban, the Garden route, the cheetah
experience, townships and many more. The pro of Bloemfontein is that it is located
very central in South Africa. So from there you can go any direction to explore the
beautiful and interesting country.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
The UFS sent me the pre-arrival information approximately two months before my
eventual departure, which was proper on time. The visa procedure was pretty
frustrating and exhausting at times to be honest. You really have to make sure that all
required documents are in order for your studyvisa, otherwise they will send you back
home without any empathy. The South African ambassy is located in The Hague and
their visiting hours are between 9am and 12am. For example, If you come in at 11am,
you’ll have the risk of waiting in line for an hour and getting sent home at 12am
without being helped. So therefore make sure to come as early as possible every time
you need to go to the ambassy. The list of required documents to grant the studyvisa
is quite long, but you’ll need each and every one on the list. Another important factor
in this matter is time management. Applying for a passport, visum or other documents
takes a certain amount of weeks to be completed. I have made the mistake of handling
some parts quite late which lead to some pressure for myself. So don’t make the same
mistake and take action to get that studyvisa as soon as possible. When all your
documents are approved by the staff of the ambassy, you can pick it up within two
weeks. The deposit for the studyvisa is 750 euros and has to be payed in cash. When
you return in the Netherlands, not later than the visa allows you, the money will be
deposited back on your bank account within 4-6 weeks.
My arrival in Bloemfontein and on campus was pretty flawless. They picked
me up up at the busstation where I was dropped and they assigned me to a room the
same day. The reception was enthousiastic even though there wasn’t really a specific
person waiting for me to arrive at the residence. However, there were some students
around reception who helped me and referred me to the right person. The only thing
that I wasn’t prepared for was the fact that nobody informed me that I had a double
room instead of a single room. At first, I didn’t really like the fact that apparently I
had a roommate for the coming 5 months, especially because nobody told me. In the
end I am happy it unfolded like that, because that roommate became one of my best
friends there and he opened several social doors which made the whole process of
adapting very smooth and very fun.
I arrived approximately a week before the classes started so I had some time to
enjoy the introduction activities. The introduction activities are mostly focused on the
first-years who are entering varsity for the first time. It is pretty fun to see them
dancing and singing trough the whole week though. As a third-year exchange student
you also don’t have to worry about not having fun. During the introduction week
there is a large tent on campus where all the students go everynight to party and get to
know eachother. The atmosphere is incredible and
it is the best possible way to get to know your fellow students for the coming
semester. Once you experience the music skills of the DJ and the dancing skills of all
the south Africans, all you can do is smile and enjoy yourself.
It is also advisable to accommodate your housing before you depart to South
Africa. At the time, I was actually amazed how easily it was sorted by means of just
two sent e-mails. The UFS campus only had 2 mixed-gender residences when I came
there and they were building a 3rd and a 4th one. The rest of the campus has a lot of
residences for men or women only, but It is much more diverse and fun to have both
male and female students in your residence, in my opinion. In the end I can say that I
was very satisfied with the housing because it was on campus, which makes it
inevitable for you to be a part of the community of the UFS and even more the
community of your residence. The housing provided me with great friends and great
memories for a lifetime. There are some rules and restrictions in the housing, but
nothing to be bothered about. Especially of you are a third-year there aren’t many
restrictions. The rules regard things such as, keeping the kitchen clean, no smoking in
the room and sometimes a corridor meeting.
The housing costs were even cheaper than my room in Tilburg. Converted
from Rand’s to Euro’s my room was only 180euro per month, which is very cheap. It
also includes all the facilities you can use in your corridor such as showers and the
kitchen. I also found out that all my other daily living expenses were cheaper than in
the Netherlands. I honestly think that my purchasing power was increased by three
times once I was there. This means that the food on the campus is very cheap and also
when you’re going out the prices for a beer or anything else will be amazingly cheap.
And in this case the cheap prices still provide very delicious and diverse options of
food and very tasteful beers. The most money I spent on campus was my daily food
and groceries. Off campus my highest expenses where spent on my traveling activities
from Bloemfontein to any destination in South Africa, like Capetown or Durban for
example. This was the money on bustickets or activities during my time at my travel
destinations. Apart from the grant I received from Tilburg University, I managed to
finance my exchange period with my monthly studyfinance, care allowance, public
transport reimbursement (OV-vergoeding). However, this doesn’t mean that this will
apply for every exchange student, because a lot of other international students I met
had a maximum loan each month during their time in South Africa.
There is an office for international affairs on campus, but I personally didn’t
have that much contact with them. This is because when I needed help with certain
matters I got it from the RC’s in my own residence. Before the classes started they
even helped me through the whole process of registering for modules, getting my
studentcard, arranging health care. This was all done for me in one day because an RC
did every step of the process together with me. I was very satisfied with the fact that I
didn’t have to arrange all those activities by myself at a university on a campus that
was completely new for me.
The UFS hosted some social activities for international students, especially in
the beginning as a nice way to welcome. They start inviting you to the welcoming
function, which serves as a great opportunity to meet other international students and
to engage and interact with eachother. It is a day that is filled with fun and exciting
activities in and around Bloemfontein. Furthermore the International Affairs cordially
invited me to the International Students March starting at 10:00 till late. Due to
circumstances I didn’t went there, but it’s supposed to be a fun filled day including
sport and social activities. There was also a lecture about Nelson Mandela one day,
which was for everybody to attend. Like mentioned before in this report, I mostly
engaged with local students who came from South Africa. During some classes I also
met other international students from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and more.
I’ve also been to their residence one or two times and it also looked very nice. So, as
an international student you can both be accomodated in an international residence or,
like me, a residence with mostly local students. The social circle I developed there
consisted mostly out of South African students and it left me with friends for a
lifetime. I also believe that engaging with South African students will get you more
involved in their culture and way of life. I recommend all other students from Tilburg
University to prefer this over an international residence, but in the end the choice is all
up to you.
There were a lot of weekends that I spent with my friends in
Bloemfontein, but ocasionally I used my free weekend to travel across the country.
For example, I went to Capetown during one of my weekends twice. I used the bus
travelcompany Intercape, which was very comortable and reliable. The starting point
is at the tourism centre of Bloemfontein, where the Intercape office is located together
with other travel agencies. It is a busdrive of approximately 14 hours to Capetown,
including 3 stops on the way. It sure is a long drive but also definetely worth the
while. However, you don’t have to go that far to enjoy your weekend because
Bloemfontein itself also has a lot to offer. This one weekend I went to the ‘Cheetah
experience’. This is a shelter for cheetahs and other wildcats that are treated and taken
care of by volunteers from all over the world. You get the opportunity to find out a lot
about all the animals and you also get to pet the majority of them while the volunteers
take some nice pictures for you. Another impressive and interesting activity during
one of my weekends in Bloemfontein was visiting one of their townships. It gives you
an impression of how the local South Africans live their lives and it has a very nice
vibe characterized with hospitality.
I can’t really say that I experienced a culture shock while I arrived or anytime
during my exchange. I also think this differs per personality though. I actually had
more difficulties when I came back to the Netherlands instead of the other way
around. When I arrived literally every student I encounterd was so nice to me. They
wanted to know all about me, but they also wanted to tell you all about themselves
and South Africa. During my tour during the township I was amazed by how friendly
an happy everyone there was. They have so little posessions and yet so many
happiness. It did something to me, especially since we come from a country where
people start complaining if the train is delayed by 10 minutes. I was together with my
friends that day and my roommate actually said this: ‘South Africa has multiple
resources, but the best resource is our people’. Since the day he said that to me I
barely experienced a moment where I had to disagree on that statement. Another great
thing about the campus life and the friends I had is that ‘sharing is caring’. In the
Netherlands, if you’re broke you are not going out that night. In SA if you’re broke
they will still take you somewhere and have an epic night. We have always looked out
for each other that side, whether it was about dinner, alcohol or whatever. In the
Netherlands, I think we are more individualistic and self-centered when it comes to
matters like that. In the Netherlands we are also about agreeing up on a certain time
when you want to meet someone or do something, This refers to my only slight point
of irritation in SA sometimes. If they say 5 minutes, they actually mean 15. If they say
15 minutes, it is at least half an hour. Meeting in half an hour is meeting in and hour.
Sometimes people just take their time, but there they take their ‘South African time’
as I used to call it. In the Netherlands we are more punctual about the time.
Since South Africa is a big country with cities spread all over the nation, every
city I visited was different yet great in their own way. Capetown was pretty Western
compared to the other cities. Most of all, it was breathtakingly beautiful with it’s
gorgeous coastline and the famous table mountain. Durban was the city at the eastern
coast characterized by the partyscene they have there. It also a place where all the
taxi’s fight each other over customers, not to be compared with the Netherlands. It
was the first and only time I felt unsafe for a moment when two taxi drivers got real
aggressive and violent towards eachother. Johannesburg is a very busy city where it
looks like everyone is just in a hurry and going from A to B, it is a very fast and dirty
city. However, it is definitely worth it and very impressive to walk the streets of
Jo’burg to see how fast everything happens. It has both a lot of classy bars as the more
underground dodgy bars. Another friend of mine told me this about Joburg; ‘In
Johannesburg, you have to chow everything with the teeth of your brain’. There is just
a lot to observe and absorb in that city and the way of life it facilitates. I have also had
an unforgatable roadtrip trough Lesotho. Lesotho is a small independent country that
is fully surrounded by South Africa. It is also called ‘the kingdom of the sky’ because
of its high landschape full of the most high and beautiful mountain landscapes. If
there is one thing I learned about traveling trough Lesotho is that you shouldn’t
underestimate it. The infrastructure trough the mountains is still very much under
construction, which means there are a lot of sand roads, gravel roads and potholes in
the roads. It’s like mother nature is telling you ‘Lesotho is a breathtaking country, but
you have to put some effort in to travel and explore all its beauty’.
It is inevitable that a exchange experience like this will affect you from a
cultural and social point of view. For me to come to a country in a total different
continent and own culture and make such good friends made me realize that we all are
the same. Once you start taking the time to talk to someone you’ll find out that you
have things in common. You also start talking about your differences in background
and tell each other about it. I think that literally every person you meet in your life has
something to tell/teach you something that you didn’t know before you met that
person. All my friends there have parents who were born in times of apartheid which
is hard to imagine for me. Topics like that and the history of South Africa were also
discussed a lot when me and my friends were chilling and hanging out together.
Another thing I experienced is that the ability to study is much more considered to be
a privilege there. In the Netherlands your time as a student is seen as the time where
you have to have as much fun as possible before you seriously enter the working
society. In South Africa it is a clear minority that actually studies. This lead to the fact
that every friend/student I met there was very motivated to perforn well academically
and make the absolute best out of life. Their motivation is really something that
inspired me and I took it home as luggage that I should never lose. But in general
there are so many things that I will never forget about my exchange period. I’ve had
roadtrips in Capetown and Lesotho surrounded by breathtaking scenery, I’ve bungee
jumped from the highest bungee bridge in the world, I’ve been to Soweto in
Johannesburg (the largest township of South Africa where Nelson Mandela also has
lived), I have experienced the South African way of life to the fullest, I have had a
South African friendgroup of people calling eachother ‘Nigger’ and ‘Dawg’ (Which is
the same as ‘mate’ or ‘dude’ or ‘brother’) and I have no regrets about anything. I’ve
learned about myself that I can socially adapt very easily in complete new
environments and even enjoy it. However, the fact that I can have a nice chat with
anyone goes slightly combined with the fact that I trust people to easily or become to
careless for some risks. There have been situations where I should have been more
cautious, but I’ve learned my lesson.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
The courses at UFS are offered both in English and Afrikaans, I attended all the
English classes and courses. I have also tried to apply for a course that teaches
Afrikaans, since it is based on the Dutch language it seemed easy to pick up.
Unfortunately I was too late with my application so I didn’t really learn any
Afrikaans. The courses I followed were of course within the frame of communication
sciences, which I have been studying at the Tilburg University aswell. I had two
journalism courses, two courses focused on strategic brand managemenrt and a course
about verbal and non-verbal behavior. In this way I was educated within a broad view
on communication, both the media and the company side. The academic level is
slightly lower than in the Netrherlands, I found out. On the one side, this doesn’t
mean that you will flow through everything it effortlessly. On the other side, I told
myself that there are no excuses to fail any of those classes. Looking back I can say
that I passed every course I had, but it has been challenging some times aswell. All
the courses have both theoretical as practical lectures in one week. With the practicals
it can mean that you have to work in groups on a certain assignment that has to be
done by the end of the class. The other possibility is that you can use the practicals to
work on a bigger assignment that has a deadline in the near future. These practicals
definitely require effort and focus, but it is doable at the same time. The relationship
between teachers and students wasn’t distant at all if you would ask me. During most
classes they really try to engage the students in the subjects that are being discussed
during that lecture. For every course you have to make two tests, out of three given
tests, and two assignments before you have your final exam in may/june. There are
plenty of places on campus where you can study or work on assignments. To begin
with, there is a gigantic library on campus with 8 floors that provide more than
enough spots to sit and study. There is also a computer lab where all the computers
are settled for study reasons. I found out that it is very hard to get a PC if you go to
the computerlab late. Also, in almost every corridor in my residence we had a
studylog which was a very nice and calm place to study with your friends and fellow
students. Whenever I needed to study, I spent most of my time in the studylog at my
corridor.
Course name:
Course code Prereq.
Exam
Advanced Journalism
BKO214
None
Written
Brand Manegement
BKO254
None
Written
Introduction to Journalism BKO114
None
Written
Strategic Corporate Comm. BKO334
None
Written
Verbal and Non-verbal Comm.
KOM114
None
Written
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Tips for the future students:
For me it was just a sudden realization I had 6 months ago. I thought to myself: ‘If
Tilburg University provides the opportunity to study abroad, why wouldn’t I?’. Now
half a year later I can look back on the most epic, priceless and unforgateble time of
my life. So if you don’t have any reasons not to go, I highly recommend each and
every student to go on exchange. The UFS would be a beautiful destination for other
Dutch students than only me. It has a very chilled community vibe, there are plenty of
facilities to sport, to study and to eat and it is actually quite a beautiful campus aswell.
You can literally walk to your classes which I experienced as a big plus aswell. To tell
you the truth, I miss the peaceful, friendly and epic campus life ever since I left it.
The destionation of South Africa does require a lot of documents to be dealt
with along a long process. So make sure you begin on time and don’t create any
unnessecary time pressure for yourself. Also don’t forget that five months seem like a
long time to be gone from home and out of your own comfort zone, but It goes by
ridiculously fast. Already a month before I left I realized that I could have easily
enjoyed myself there for another semester. So if you were seriously considering to go
on exchange in Bloemfontein I can only hope this report will push you over the edge.
I can promise that you won’t regret it and I would sincerely love to hear everything
about your experience you had in the place where I also experienced the absolute time
of my life.
Lastly, I would like to thank the Tilburg University for giving me this opportunity in
the first plaxe. The exchange topped every expectation I could possibly have before
departure. Besides the academic aspect, I gained so much priceless knowledge and
experience both on personal level and the wider perspective on the world and it’s
humanity.
Contact details:
Feel free to contact me for any questions regarding your possible exchange.
jschilder92@gmail.com or. j.f.m.g.schilder@tilburguniversity.edu
For the finishing touch, with utmost willingness, I present you some pictures of my
time on South Africa to sketch a more clear picture for every student who wants to go
there aswell.
The main building of the UFS campus
UFS Campus
Left: residence Conlaures, right: residence Outeniqua (Both mixed-gender)
Conlaures residence, my residence
Kitchen in my corridor
Lounge in my corridor
Introduction week UFS
One of the lecture venues
Going to church with my friends
Fun times in our residence
The South African student life
Doing daily groceries on campus
Nelson Mandela avenue, Bloemfontein
Smallstreet, Bloemfontein
Visiting Bloemfontein townships
Lesotho
Garden route
Beautiful Capetown
Soweto, Johannesburg