Going away, coming back

Hello Crossies!

Today I’m ending my Erasmus in Portugal Coimbra. I must say that this was the best experience in my life. I came to Portugal without knowing anything about Portugal and now I love this place very much. Well you may be wondering that what is Erasmus and why I was in Portugal.

The Erasmus Programme (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students), a.k.a. Erasmus Project is a European Union (EU) student exchange programme established in 1987. It forms a major part of the EU Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013, and is the operational framework for the European Commission's initiatives in higher education.

So, while doing Erasmus you will get the experience of the other culture, you meet new people and you grow as a person. I choose Portugal because from my department there was no other country that spoke English. In other countries I would need to know there language in order to be able to live there.

Coming to Portugal was easy and I have to say, Portuguese people are very nice. Haven’t had any problems. At the school there was one big problem. All the courses were in Portuguese and that I did not expect.

You see. Usually when Erasmus people come to study in another country, school makes an Erasmus group where they study all together in English language. But in my situation I was the only one in that department. Never the less I manage to do the courses thanks to very good and friendly professors.

Other thing that I did in Portugal was practicing and playing Water Polo in local team AAC. The experience playing in another team was amazing. The team mates became my best friends and showed me and told me all about Portugal culture, food and life. Have to say. Even when practices were hard and I had them 4 times a week. It was the best thing in here just because of the team mates and the feeling.

The part that you all are thinking and want to know is the “PARTYING”. Well I can tell you something about it too, because the partying and night life is the main thing in Erasmus. (If someone asks you usually say it is school). In Portugal Coimbra I found very nice places to spend few nights and drinking “Coca-Cola”. First I did not think that in Spain/Portugal people drink so much, but I found out that I was wrong. Portuguese don’t drink so fast or so much as Finnish people, but they get drunk. In Coimbra my favourite place was “Shots Bar”. There you can get 1 shot for 1€ and 8 shots for 5 euros. Needless to say that was very popular place.

To keep it short. Portugal: Food, girls, night life and people <3

Thank you Portugal! I will come back for the great Queima das Fitas!

Hello Finland! Kebab, work, school and Computer (ET) <3

PS: No time making the journal so no pictures :(