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author
Mafalda Gonzalez
Mafalda
Gonzalez
faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences
academic year of the stay
2022/2023
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author
Mafalda
faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences
academic year of the stay
2022/2023
University of Bologna
traineeship
study stay
short-term mobility
other
How does Mafalda rate their stay?
university
city
accommodation
financial demands
about university
What made your university special? What were the facilities where you studied and the university equipment like?
Uni Bolo is a beautiful university most of the time. The classes you will take are most surely not from one institute only so you will walk through the city in between classes to then study in incredible buildings and beautiful halls.
I had 2 really really good professors and one was whatever. The examinations are quite easy if you are okay with oral exams. Mostly it's reading some books and then talking about it in relation to the course.
The administration is messy and sometimes unhelpful, so you have to come with patience.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about your "adoptive" university? What made it special? What were the premises where you studied and the university facilities like?
In Cuni we have pro course one or two classes per week that are max. 1.5h long, and the rest is selfstudy and homeworks (at least in my degree). Here it is VERY different. Per class you have 6h of classes a week, but sometimes not for the whole semester. I had a class only for two months. And then examination dates are posted and you can do it whenever suits you best.
Oral exams are very common, but they are not hard even though the italians like to pretend it's the end of the world. For them it's also way more worth than for you, so it's different.
What is student life like at university?
I didn't go to student associations but there is many. There is subjects you can take about the language and culture, but i did not take them as i prefered just making italian friends. They are good courses to get credits however, apparently they are easy to pass.
The italian courses of the uni fill up the first day the convocatory opens. They send you an email where you do a quick test and if you are not too late, you get a place. They have however not even close to enough places for evrybody, so after 24h of that email the places have filled up.
There is an esn bologna team that organizes activitiies for erasmus.
Did you study in English or in the language of the host country? What language requirements does the university have?
In the university english is fine. some courses say they will be in english but the professors speak a mix.
in the city english is fine but you should learn italian as fast as you can, you will make way more friends and the bolognese will be so much more friendly. they dont like when the international students dont even make a basic effort.
about the city
What was your impression of the city? How would you describe it? What is interesting to see here?
The city is alive and there is lots of things to do depending on your interest. The only thing missing is green inside of the city, but around it you can find lots of green activities.
There is many bars, and some clubs which are alright. There is music of all genres and places so you should be fine.
Many cafes, many restaurants, many take-outs.
The only thing is that foreign food is kinda bad here, so you will eat a lot of italian food and you will get tired at some point. But it will make you better your cooking skills.
about finances
In your experience, how far does the scholarship go? What percentage of your expenses did it cover? What is your opinion on prices in the country in general?
The scholarship covers barely the rent. Bologna is after Rome and Milan the city with the highest rent. Finding a place is a matter of lots of luck, you can be looking for months. Finding a nice place is like finding gold in the river. The rent in the city (inside the city walls) starts at like 500 if you are super lucky to 800 per month for one room. If you share a room you can half that price. Outside of the walls its cheaper normally. But the student accomodations have crazy prices, like 1000€.
So yeah, the schoarlship doesn't cover anything of your free time.
Going out to party is relatively cheap, and going out to eat doesnt have to be expensive. Groceries are more expensive than expected. Try to go to fresh vegetable stores, they are usually more cheap than the supermarket.
Please advise your classmates on how to save money—Where to shop? What services can be used to save money?
TooGoodToGo is a good app to save money on food if you want take out.
The city is very walkable, so dont order online food, just go get it.
Learn to cook.
Make pre-drinks at home with friends, saves lots of money.
Share a room.
Buy vegetables in vegetable shops.
For me, i tried to save money by being clever and not buying just random stuff because i felt like it. But it's important to enjoy your stay, so once a week you can splurge on yourself so that you feel you are enjoying the culture through restaurants or things like that. But over the week i cooked a lot at home. And for example when going out its very common to get aperitivo at like 6 or 7pm, which is normally a aperol or campari spritz (google it) and they give you a bit of food with that at the bars. Well, instead of buying spritz after spritz do youself a favour and get a long drink like a gin tonic directly and drink it slowly, so that instead of paying 20€ in one evening because you drank 4 spritz, you pay 12€ with two long drinks. And you get as tipsy as your friends.
If you can afford to spend 20€ in one evening in just random drinks, then good for you. But you will do this a lot, it's one of the main activities in italy that is done over the week and weekends. So careful.
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about accommodation
What type of accommodation did you choose? Would you recommend it to others? If not, what type of accommodation do you think is best based on your experience (dormitory, private apartment, private dormitory, shared room, etc.)?
I had my own room in a shared flat with 5 other people. It was really fun. But i was really lucky, sometimes it's not so fun. I personally recommend it.
about experiences
Did you use Erasmus stay to travel around your country/Europe? What are your best travel experiences? What would you not recommend?
For within the city get an ugly bike with an amazing lock, if not it will get stolen 100%.
Travel with esn, its fun. Travel with your friends around italy, it's really beautiful. Do not go on crazy european trips but make use of the opportunity of really seeing italy now that you live in a great point of connection within italy. Bologna is super well connected, take the train. Get a carta frecchia young to get some discounts as a student.
Language and culture: what cultural differences did you notice? How did you cope with the national language? Was it also the language of your studies? Do you feel that your language skills improved during your stay?
I learned italian quite fast because i am a spanish speaker, so that gave me a lot of advantage. But anybody should learn italian as fast as possible, it really changes your experience, Do not spend all of your time with people from your country, try to make international friends. And if you manage to make italian friends, jackpot. Because we only stay for 1 or 2 semesters, italians are resistant to become long term friends with you. But if you put in the effort they will. In any case they are very friendly and if you speak only a bit of italian, even bad one, they will be happy. Be open and enjoy.
final rating
Why here? What makes this location special? Why would you send your friends to your country/city?
Bologna is a student city. It's alive very different than other cities and it is very young, you see students everywhere. You almost only see students. It is a city where after first hardships (finding a place to live) you will have fun day after day. Everybody has a good time in Bologna because there is so many different things to do.
live-saving tips
If I went again, I would definitely remember to pack...
Go to more esn trips.
Make more italian friends.
Travel to small cities.
Travel more in the off season.
Reserve your last month to do your normal everyday things and enjoy the time with your friends.
Before leaving, I would like to know that...
You can extend your stay. And you can come back. You can move to other cities. But also, it is so good the erasmus because it is limited. People are so open and the experience is so intense because you know you have only limited time with each other. So cherish it, but also realise that it is an encapsulated experience and that is what makes it good. Also, post erasmus depression is real.
What surprised me most was that...
My experience in my house. My flatmates became my best friends.
But also just the friendships. I became friends with people across the globe, which now i dearly miss.
The hardest thing for me was...
Making so good friendships and saying goodbye.
Getting used to living this life, and leaving it behind.
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