The Erasmus experience begins

Once I decided, then I applied, and now, after months of planning and bureaucracy, I'm finally here. I am on the Erasmus programme in Liège, Wallonia. So I think it is necessary to report on this experience.

First of all, the arrival was really pleasant, and even the weather was nice the first day, when I touched down on Belgian soil for the first time in my life. Liège seemed a bit bigger than I had imagined, but a few days and a few hikes later I realised that if you compare it to Budapest, my home town, it is still quite small. On the other hand, it has everything a foreign student might need: good quality universities and colleges, bookshops, parks for having rest in nature, and of course a splendid night life!

The university treated us very well from day one - and there's a slight difference in mentality compared to Hungarian universities, where managing things is not always so easy. They showed us the city, its culture and student traditions, as well as Liège beers of course. There is a large community of foreign students here, with people not only from Europe but really from all over the world. It is always very easy to meet people because the ESN (Erasmus Student Network - the NGO that deals with foreign students) and the university's international office always organise programmes for us, and also because the Carré is quite small - you can always find friends there.

What could be improved a little bit, however, is the cleanliness of the city. Liège has so much potential as a tourist city, but it just lacks the cleanliness of other similar cities like Bruges, Ghent or even Antwerp, to give some examples from Belgium. Other than that, everything is there - it has tourist attractions, and proximity to other major cities in Western Europe.

I hope that my adventure will continue exactly as it began, because everything is fine so far, and I still have many plans to achieve, including a summer job in the "Burning City". So I have good memories, and I'm setting off to create more !