Studying abroad! ...and this blog

The blog

I've started this blog so I can keep a record of my Erasmus experience in Valencia, Spain. I'll try to update it every few days so friends/family can see how things are going. Hopefully the site will become useful for future exchange students going to Spain...

Why a semester abroad?

I've always been interested by foreign countries, languages and different ways of life, so when the opportunity to study abroad came up, I knew it would be a stupid decision not to do it! At my current Uni (University for the Creative Arts) I'm living at home, so I don't feel like I'm experiencing proper Uni life, and I knew studying a semester abroad would give me this opportunity, and much more.

Deciding on a host institution and which country to study in was difficult. I was sure I wanted to study in Europe, giving me the opportunity of learning a new language - something I've always wanted to do (properly...not in school!) So after looking through my possible host institutions, I decided Valencia would be a great city for my exchange, with the Erasmus programme.

Valencia

I wasn't too familiar with the city until I looked into it, and I didn't realise it was the third biggest city in Spain. Here are a few sites on Valencia:

Valencia Travel Guide - Information about the city

Erasmus

Erasmus is a student exchange programme that encourages academic mobility in higher education, so letting students to study part of their degree in another country. It sounds like an amazing programme that brings people from all over Europe together. Check out the Erasmus British Council. It seems similar to other exchange schemes; however Erasmus provides non-repayable grants to every student applying, to help with the cost of living, etc. (From my understanding, €800 is given at the start of every exchange, and another €800 at the end of the semester), so I'm sure this €1600 will be very useful!