Erasmus 2013 in Plzen By Konstantinos Douzenis

Why? I had no idea what would happen in Erasmus when I applied for it in my department. The only reason I wanted to go there was to pass some classes… I thought I would just pass the classes and have some fun in parties. I've never been so wrong in all my life.

Where? I chose Plzen in West Bohemia,in Czech republic, the choice was completely random but it seems I had the best choice of all I could… Easier classes, everything was cheap, the mood was amazing…

When? My flight landed on Prague in 3 rd of February I left 5 months after at 4 th of July 2013… What happened in those 5 months? A lot…

So lets start My first contact was with my buddy Petra, a Czech girl that was really pleased to meet me and she helped me a lot with everything. Applications an beaurocratic paperwork was a bit time consuming the first days but it ended well.

And so After paperwork I had to contact by myself all the professors of the ZCU (university) in the department of electrical engineering Some were really easy to contact,while with others took many days to finally communicate properly. At least I did not have any serious problems except maybe that some of them had some trouble communicating in English

How was life there? Different, much different than in Greece. People were different, buildings were different, food was different, public transportation was different and of course… weather was way different… I left Athens at +15c and landed there in -11c… Snow everywhere, I wasnt really prepared for that… I was sick for a month in a row… Also for me the food was horrible, Czech cuisine was really bad in my opinion, but also many people agreed with me… Also fast food was bad… So bad that I considered Mc Donalds as the best fast food in the whole city of Plzen…

Where did I stay? I stayed in a dormitory in Plzen in Lochotin area called Bolevecka. It was one of the best available I paid about 100 eur per month that included also electricity, water, 100mbit internet, heating. Very good price! Also I had a roomate, Trevor from USA. The dormitory was generally good for me, it had laundry room, 2 bars/clubs, small restaurant and a gym! The only negative about it was the bed, too small for me and I suffered for those 5 months

What about fun? The most interesting part was that, by far. The first week I met about 100 people! Everyone was so different but we had so many common interests… The first week also included a lot of orientation parties so we met each other very easily.

And so the parties began… Every Monday… party… Each country had to present itself by making a power point presentation that would be projected infront of all erasmus people Also we had to prepare some food and some drinks and say some stuff about our country It was much more interesting than it looks Also after the presentation the best parties happened with a lot of fun and interesting things happening…

What about classes Personally I got 9 classes for 1 semester. That is a lot, but that was my primary consern. The hardest class by far was analogue electronics, and the easiest and also most interesting and fun was the Czech language course.

What about trips? I did not have enough time to travel around because of the classes, but I got part on every ESN organized trip I went to Germany, in Weiden In a waterpark In Karlštejn, a Czech city with a very nice castle And in Tabor also a very interesting Czech city.

What about friends? I met so many people from many countries But I would say that my best friends were from Lithuania, Belgium, Turkey, Poland, Usa, Latvia, Finland I hope I did not forget anyone I couldnt imagine that I would make so many good friends so fast… The end of erasmus was painful for everyone of us. But… after plzen we managed to meet again in Greece and in Poland so far…

Conclusion Amazing time, with amazing people You will never understand if you dont go…