Student Report
Serena Proto
Name of the University: Università di Bologna sede di Rimini.
Exchange semester: Fall 2012
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before I left Norway, after being accepted at the University of Bologna, did I do some
reaserch about courses, the school, the city and all kinds of practical information. Since I was
going to Italya and I already speak the language, it wasn’t very difficult for me to find
information. The only thing I struggled with at the beginning was finding courses. The only
courses available was the courses from the year before. Since BI wanted the Learning
Agreement within a certain date, I had to contact the International Office at the university in
Bologna and e-mail all the courses I was interested in, and the wait for her reply to see if they
were available. Because of a lot of misunderstanding regarding the courses, was it necessary
to change the learning agreement several times.
I am an Italian citizen so I did not have to apply for Visa. For prospective students from
Norway, they will not need to apply for visa for exchange in Italy.
My faculty was in Rimini, one hour from Bologna by train. I flew down from London,
because there was a direct flight from London to Rimini, and then I took a taxi from the
airport, which I paid around 20€. When I went down to the university again after the
Christmas break to do my final exams I took the SAS from Oslo Gardermoen to Bologna
International Airport. From the airport in Bologna was there a bus that goes to the trainstation.
The bus from the airport costs 6€. Then I took the train to Rimini from the trainstation in
Bologna. The train from Bologna to Rimini costs from 9€.
I found an apartment by myself. I did not understand if the school would be able to provide
me with housing. But, as we have ANSA, the University has ESN, Erasmus Student Network,
which where run by mostly students. They where very helpful, and they helped several of my
Erasmus friends with finding a place to stay.
Money was never an issue, because the prices in Italy are not like the prices in Norway. I paid
300€ in rent and electricity, about 2400NOK. I didn’t buy any books, because we never used
an entire book, only some chapters of different books. So we borrowed them at the school
library and copied the pages that we needed. I used maybe around 200€ on food, about
1600NOK a month. I could have used less, but I’m not as good to grocery shop as I’m when I
shop personally. In Rimini everything is very close, and everybody uses bikes. I was lucky
enough to get a bike from my house owner, and therefore I moved around in my yellow bike
with a black basket in the front. When it was raining to much, or I just didn’t want to use the
bicycle, I walked. If not, it was possible to take the bus. One bus ticket in around Rimini costs
1,20€, around 10NOK. Other than this it wasn’t expensive to party and to have fun.
Restaurants doesn’t have the same prices as they have here in Norway, they are cheaper. In
Italy there is also something called Aperitivo. You pay a certain amount for dinner and one
drink. Dinner is all you can eat buffe, and the drink you want. This is not more than 15€,
around 100NOK. This is one of the very social things to do in Italy. A coffee, or an Espresso
as it’s also called, costs no more then 1€, 8NOK, and it is normal for Italians to just go in to a
café and just take this espresso standing while you are on your way to the next destination.
Italian culture is for me one of the best. The people are friendly, you can go in to a bar and
everyone will talk and be nice to you. They do not make a big problem out of things, and they
make everything very simple. I personally did not have any language problems since I am half
Italian. My exchange friends didn’t have any problems either, only on few occasions. But in
the bigger cities the English language isn’t a very big problem, especially north of Italy or in
the cities which have a university.
As the experience of the country goes, me and my friends rented a car and drove to Florence.
It was very easy to move around by train. You could easily go to Bologna, Milan, Rome,
Florence or any other city. I also took my friend to Sorrento, in Naples without any problems
with the train. You can find trips in any price range, depending on the train you choose, if it’s
a fast train or a local train, and the time you purchase your ticket.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The school was located in the center of Rimini. Very easy to find. It was several faculties, my
faculty was the faculty of economics and it had two buildings. One where the lecture halls
were and the other one with other lecture halls, professors offices, international office etc. I
received all information I needed from the International Office. The international office
coordinator was very helpful, and it was never a problem to drop by her office, call her, or email her with questions.
I registered for the courses when I got down to Rimini. We had a welcome day the 18th
September, where the international relations coordinator went through some practical
information with us, also course registration. We could ad or drop courses all year around.
The academic calander started the 24th of September and then you had a break in early
November. The courses that gave you 6 credits or less, would end with this break. And then
you could start another course. The courses with 10-12 credits would have a small exam
within this break and then continue after the break, having a final exam in January. The
courses that started after the break would also have a final exam in January.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
Other:
17th September
24th September
15th December
January/February
The introduction week started as a party week. We started the day of the Welcoming day with
ESN, and continued out Saturday 21th September with a bigger party with every one of the
international students. It was a different week from the one they have here at BI. It wasn’t
events like here, but it was still very soscial. The only activity we had that involved our home
countrys was the international dinner where every country cooked a specialty from their
home. I baked muffins with a Swedish girl.
The relationship between the nativ students and the exchange students were good. They were
all very friendly. It seemed like the exchange stundets where very interesting for the native
students. It was no gathering for the exchange students. All of the students went out to this
place in the city center on Thursdays, and most of the exchange students came there on
Thursdays. We were a nice group and we were together most of the time. Since Rimini isn’t a
big city, it wasn’t many exchange students like you find in the bigger cities, Milan, Rome or
Bologna. So it was easy for all of us to be together.
III. ACADEMICS
The teaching style was like in Norway. They used power points, black board, overheads etc. It
was theoretical class lectures, with some students papers that had to be handed in during the
periode of the semester. We used books and online articles as reading material. We could also
look into the professors Power Points for the notes. It is harder in Italy, they expect more from
you. At BI you can always e-mail your professor and ask any questions you have conserning
papers, exams etc, there it’s not that easy.
The exams where based on the course material and on the lectures. It was therefore important
to go to class. The course were evaluated by written exams at the end of the semester. In Italy
you don’t have a student number as you have at BI, you have to write your name on the exam.
It is therefore important to participate in class and let the professor see that you can. It is also
the professor that grades your exam, so having a good relationship to your professor will
definetly make it easier for you.
The library was a couple of blocks from the faculty of economics. It wasn’t as big as the one
at BI, but you could find what you needed and it was very quiet, so you would not be bothered
by noise.
Description of courses
Course code & name
Master/
Bachelor
Exam form
Strategic Management
Master
1-hour written
exam
European Union
Consumer Law
Bachelor
Presentation of
written paper
Tourism Marketing
Bachelor
1-hour written
exam
V. Final note – sum up the exchange period
Prerequisites
Approved
as
Comments
Theoretical,
hard on the
academic
level.
Theoretical,
fun course
with a good
profesor
Theoretical,
not so
difficult,
but very
fun.
My exchange period was the best period of my life. It was great to experience another
country, another University and meeting people all over the world. It was nice to see how
universities in another country functioned. I liked how the exams only lasted one hour. They
were still difficult, but you had less questions and more to write. Italians are very soscial and
very nice people, not to mention welcoming, as a difference from Norwegian people. Even if I
am from Italy, I’m not from Rimini, but the natives still made Rimini feel like home. After
my exchange period I’ve become more certain that I do not want to do my master in Norway,
and I do not want to work in Norway.
I recommend every student at BI, and every student worldwide to go on exchange. It will only
do a person good, and it makes you grow as a person. You have the chance to practice your
English, get best friends from other nationalities, and learn the language from the country you
are in. You will learn about other cultures, and learn about other people. I have deffinetly
become more open to other countries after my exchange.
Exchange is good, for everyone. It was the best time of my life, and if I could, I would do it
again.