ANR: 597248
Name: Remko Bokkers
E-mail: r.m.bokkers@tilburguniversity.edu
Exchange semester: Fall, 2013
Academic year: Third
Host University: Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Madrid
Country: Spain
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
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Life in Madrid and the university
Madrid is a beautiful and vibrant city. It has been a pleasure to live in this city for five
months. ‘Madrid, la ciudad que nunca duerme’ or ‘Madrid, the city that never sleeps’ is
one expression that totally describes the city in one sentence. No matter what time you
are wandering the streets there’s always people on the streets. Personally I really like this
because in my opionon this also makes Madrid a really safe city to live in.
Places every student who lives in Madrid will know after a while are: Puerta del Sol, Plaza
Mayor, Callao, Gran Vía, Parque de Retiro, Plaza de la Cibeles and many many more.
The university is located quite close to the centre of Madrid. We however weren’t able to
take classes at the Alberto Aguilera building, which is the beautiful building with the
church in the middle. We took our classes in a building that was a 10-minutes walk away
from there at the ICADE Business school. It’s just a normal building somewhere in a
random street.
There is not really a best place to go eat or drink in Madrid, simply because you got so
many good places. We had one really good burger restaurant(Home Burger Bar) where
we spent a lot of money because it was really good and located in the street where we
lived. Other restaurants I really liked were Mercado de Reina Sofia on Gran Vía and the
oldest restaurant of the world in the Guiness Book of Records; ‘El Botín’. Take the
suckling pig, it’s so good.
Concering bars, there’s also no light at the end of the tunnel. Our home bar was
Dubliners; an Irish pub where it’s always fun, where we met many people, where we
always watched soccer games and where we had ‘Euro shot night’ on Wednesdays.
Other bars and clubs you have to go to are Kapital, the biggest disco of Madrid with 7
floors. Joy, which is close to Puerta del Sol also made for many great nights and maybe a
less famous bar, Star Studio, is also really worth visiting.
Nice touristy places to visit are the main squares I mentioned above. Parque de Retiro is
really pretty and enormous parc and it doesn’t really matter in what season you go there,
it’s always beautiful. You should take the Teleferico, which is a cable lift that shows you a
great view over Madrid. There’s also an Egyptian temple in Madrid, close to Plaza de
España. It’s called the Temple of Debod and it’s worth visiting.
Actually almost everything is different than in Tilburg but I don’t think it’s fair to compare
these two cities. You’ll agree with me when you lived there for a couple of months.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
 When did you receive the pre-arrival information from the host university?
In June or July but it was on time, Spaniards tend to be late with everything though.
 Any difficulties?
At the beginning of the semester there were some classes that overlapped but those
overlapping classes were reschudeled by the university.
Visa procedure and arrival
 How long did it take you to arrange your (student) visa (if relevant)?
Not required for Spain
 How much did you pay for the visa?
 How was your arrival organized?
It was not organized. Together with two friends of my program we booked a one-way
flight to Madrid and we booked a hostel for the first days. We searched the internet for
aparments and within 4 days we found one.
 Did someone pick you up from the airport/station?
No, we just took the metro from the airport to Puerta del Sol and went to our hostel.
 How was the reception at the school?
We didn’t really need the reception at the university but if we needed them it was not
always helpful since they only speak Spanish. When we arrived we managed to
communicate with them in basic Spanish. There is an exchange office however and they
do speak English if you have questions regarding your exchange program.
 Was the administration and faculty well prepared for your arrival?
Yes, everything was perfectly arranged in my opinion.
 What problems, if any did you encounter?
Orientation/Introduction activities
 Was an orientation or introduction activity organized?
There were two introduction days. During those two days they told us about the university
and about Madrid and Spain in general. There was also a campus tour and a free bus
tour.
 Did the school’s students participate in the reception of the exchange students?
No.
 Did you have a student mentor/buddy?
No.
Housing
 How was accommodation organized?
We chose for the option to organize it ourselves.
 Did you have to book your accommodation in advance or did you have to search for a
place to live after you arrived?
We had to search for a place when we arrived. This was actually pretty easy, you have
many websites that offer housing for students. For example: idealista.com or
inmorooms.com
 What kind of housing does the university provide?
I honestly don’t know since we didn’t choose this option.
 What support did you receive from the school in locating housing?
There is an office next to the university at Calle Alberto Aguilera that also helped us
looking for apartments.
 Were you satisfied with your accommodation?
It was perfect. Close to the city centre and about a 15-minute walk to the university or we
could take the metro.
 Any special issues or good ideas/useful websites for prospective students?
See above
Living Costs
 How did you finance your exchange period, apart from the grant you received from
Tilburg University?
I financed my period with savings.
 What were your living expenses abroad like compared to Tilburg?
Life in Madrid is more expensive than in Tilburg. Prices in the supermarkets were kind of
similar to prices here but it depends where you go. El Corte Ingles is really expensive. We
usually did our groceries at Día. However, bars and especially clubs/discos are way more
expensive than in the Netherlands.
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What did you spend most of your money on?
Trips to other cities and alcohol
What would you advice future students to spend their money on?
Exactly the same
Please outline your approximate monthly budget whilst on exchange:
 Housing 400
 Food 200
 Transport 35 euros for a metro ‘abono’ zone A but some months I didn’t buy it
 Books 0
 Miscellaneous 300
Academic Calendar
 Arrival date & introductory week
August 20 & September 1 introductory week
 First day of the semester?
September 1
 Last day of classes?
December 5, then exams till December 20
 Mid-term break?
No
 Examination period?
At the end of the semester
 Any special events?
The International Office
 Is there an international office?
Yes, there is an exchange office in the Alberto Aguilera building.
 Who is responsible for incoming exchange students?
Mar Escalante
 How does the international office function?
You can just walk in if you have questions. Only thing is they have siesta from 2 till 4 pm.
 Are you satisfied with the information provided to you by the international office?
Yes it was sufficient.
Exchange promotion
 What kind of activity did you take part in to promote exchange to Tilburg University at
your exchange university?
None since we were in classes with only international people who also did their exchange
program.
Social Activities
 Which social activities are organized by the university/students for exchange students?
They organize trips to other parts of Spain but there are also a few companies who
organize trips. We went with European Vibe. You also have Be Madrid for example.
 Is there a student organization for international student?
There was a student organization but it was not particularly international.
 Did you have contact with local students?
We did but not so much. Just when you’re at the university and you meet people because
in class we were only with international students.
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Did you have contact with other exchange students?
Yes, a lot, since we were with exchange students only in our classes.
Did you travel to other places/countries during your exchange?
I traveled to Morroco, Segovia and twice to Salamanca.
Culture and Language
 Did you experience culture shock while on exchange?
I did not really experience a culture shock during my exchange.
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How would you compare your host culture to your own culture?
It’s all a little more relaxed in Spain. Everybody is in a rush in the Netherlands and I
believe in Spain people take more time to enjoy life and relax.
What did you learn about your own culture while on exchange?
Siesta is the best thing ever invented
What was different about your host culture than you expected?
I’ve been told it’s just a thing in Madrid but people are rather impolite in Madrid. If you go
to a supermarket they won’t really say anything other than the amount you have to pay for
example.
How would you describe your host country’s culture?
A culture where family is a big thing. Spaniards do everything for their families. They also
love to be on the streets and being surrounded by people. For example in summer people
just bring their own drinks out and gather at a square or a parc and just sit and enjoy the
evening there.
What did you like and not like about your host culture?
Actually I started to love the Spanish culture, there’s not really anything that I don’t like.
Do you feel you learned a lot about your host culture, and if not, what would you like to
learn more?
Yes I really learned a lot about my host culture, especially food oriented.
If you travelled to other cities/countries during your exchange, were they different than
your host city/country, and how?
The cities I traveled to in Spain were Segovia and Salamanca. Both small towns that you
considere way more Spanish than Madrid. In the small towns they actually still have
siesta in shops for instance. In Madrid all shops are just opened every day from around
9am till 8 or 9pm.
Did you have any language problems with the faculty or other students?
No since the language we spoke in class was English it was not a problem.
Did you follow language courses during your exchange?
Yes I did take Spanish lessons at the university. I already took the language course
Spanish A1/A2 before in Tilburg before I went to Madrid.
Did you follow the Erasmus Intensive Language Course?
No.
Personal Development
 How do you think the exchange experience will affect you from a cultural and social point
of view?
It provides you with a larger mindset that is more internationally focused rather than just
how things go in the Netherlands.
 How do you think the exchange experience will influence your future career possibilities?
I think an exchange experience is really a valuable asset when you apply for a job.
University students often end up in multinational companies and especially for those
companies it’s important that you have experienced how life is outside the Netherlands.
 What did you learn from the people you met during your exchange?
To enjoy life when you can but more important; to grab the opportunities you get with both
hands when they arise.
 Would you do things differently if you had the chance, and what would you do differently?
I would have visited more places in Spain because it is so easy go everywhere by bus or
by train. However, it is expensive to travel a lot around Spain and you can only stay for a
couple of days because life in Madrid continues as well.
 What was your best experience, and what was your worst experience?
I had so many good experiences so that it’s hard to choose which is the best. I will
choose for Atletico Madrid games and for Nochevieja in Salamanca, which is a pre New
Years Eve party with about 50,000 students from all over Spain.
 What will you never forget about your exchange period?
I will never forget all the great people I met during my exchange, the crazy nights and the
beautiness of Madrid.
 What was the most important lesson you learned about yourself during your exchange
period?
Do what you think is right and care less about what others think of you.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
Academic level at a host university
 In what language(s) are the courses offered at a partner university?
In English
 Did you follow any courses taught in the language of the host country?
Just the language course itself.
 Which courses did you take and why?
I took the courses: Financial Markets, International Finance, International Economics,
International Marketing, International Business and Economics of the European Union. I
chose these courses because these interested me most and matched best with my major
in Tilburg(Business Adminstration).
 Which courses would you recommend?
Financial Markets. This was a real interesting course and the level of this course
compared to all of the others was relatively high.
 How would compare the academic level at your host university to the academic level at
Tilburg University (e.g.: level of the courses, use of extra material, level of English,
workload, etc.)?
The academic level at my host university was way lower than in Tilburg in my opinion. We
had one teacher from Liverpool, one from Italy and the others were Spanish. The level of
English differed per teacher but sometimes it was hard to understand what they said,
especially the Italian teacher was sometimes ‘singing’ in English.
 Is the teaching style primarily practical or theoretical?
Theoretical but there’s also a focus on presentations. In almost every course you’ll have
to do at least one presentation.
 What teaching method is practiced by the host university: case studies, group work,
seminars or lectures (or a mix)?
Obviously it was a mix but mostly it was just lectures and case studies.
 How would you describe the relationship between the students and the teaching staff?
The teachers all knew our names since we were in classes varying from 15 to about 30
students. That’s real different than in Tilburg where we’re in a lecture hall with 300
students.
 In general, were you happy with your academic achievements during your exchange?
Yes, the level was not too high so it was not really hard to score good grades.
Exams
 What types of exams did you have to sit?
Just regular exams with multiple choice and open questions like in Tilburg and for two
courses we had to write an essay instead of a final.
Other
 Can students easily access the library and its resources?
Yes there is a library which you can easily access but I didn’t use it.
 Were there public computers available on campus/in university buildings?
Yes there are but some of them are really old-fashioned though.
Description of Courses
Course name:
Prereq.
Exam
Major at TiU
Approved as
(Common/elective/extra)
International Finance None
Written
Free Elective
International Economics None
Essay
Free Elective
International Marketing None
Written
Free Elective
International Business None
Written
Free Elective
Financial Markets
None
Written
Free Elective
Economics of the EU None
Essay
Free Elective
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Tips for the future students:
 Would you recommend an exchange period?
Without a doubt, yes, definetly. This is just one of those opportunities in life you’ll never
get again and I wouldn’t have missed for any amount of money.
 Would you recommend your host university?
It depends on what you want to get out of it because this university will not really
challenge you like in Tilburg. I think I provided enough information for drawing a
conclusion on whether or not this university is the right one for your exchange period.
 What should prospective students absolutely not forget before going on exchange?
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How can they better prepare before going on exchange to this destination?
Was there anything you should have arranged before departure that you haven’t?
A picture is worth a thousand words
Ice skating with friends from San Diego, California
‘Atléti’ or Atletico Madrid became my favorite team. In total I visited four games of
Atletico Madrid
Gran Vía – The arterial road of Madrid, at night
Puerta del Sol – New Years Eve
Parque del Retiro – Must-see!
Contact details:
Can the International Relations Office share your e-mail address with prospective exchange
students, so that other students could contact you for more information?
Of course, r.m.bokkers@tilburguniversity.edu