Difference between Belgian and Spanish universities
Hasselt, a city that seems like any other at first, but in fact is the destination of hundreds of students who come to realize their Erasmus to Belgium. There are many countries where exchange students come from, starting with Jordan, France, Holland, Italy, South Africa, China … but if there is one that stands out among all of them is Spain. The Spanish students are the most numerous in the city, an easy to perceive since the two main residences are full of them and it is very easy to meet someone speaking Spanish while walking in the streets of Hasselt.
Now it’s time to see the difference between the universities of both countries, first we will see the posibilities that they offer about the accommodation. The univerisity of Spain shares a list in its web with apartment that you can rent, with just the location of the apartment. About the reside the university does not give any information, so you have to find it by yourself, they usually have a share room and also a share kitchen among all of the students.
And now we have to know what Belgian university offers these students. We start with the two main residences that the city offers for them, which we can easily find on the university’s website, that are Studho and Kempische Steenweg 51. A room in these residences can vary between 225–300 €, and they are all have a washbasin in the room but bath and shared showers and also shared kitchen. In almost all cases you would coincide with quite a few Erasmus people, especially Spaniards. It also has other residences, but they are less known because they are further away from the center of the city.
Related to transport the Spanish university doesn’t give any facilities, there is an underground next to it and also two special buses that go around the university and connect with the center of the city. It has to be said that they circulate so often and you’re not going to be late to the university. It’s true that the city offers you a season ticket for young people up to 26, with that card you can take any bus or underground paying just 20 euros per month.
In Belgium usually the city offers a great amount of conveyances to move in it with all the facilities. The university will offer you the option of renting a bicycle through the company VEDO, this option is highly recommended since it consists of paying a deposit of 70 € and at the end of the stay this money will be returned. Another “surprise” that we will find when arriving at Hasselt, is that we can catch buses without having to pay for it, but beware, it will only be possible if the line of bus starts with H. Also, as you arrive it is important that you go to university soon and get the student card or at least a proof that you are students in that school since the buses between Hasselt and the campus of Diepenbeek are also free for students.
If we talk about parties the Spanish university is not the best example. The univeristy doesn’t organized any party, therefore it’s illegal to drink alcohol in the campus, there is just one party that is organized by the students called “San Cemento” but it isn’t legal either and the police watches that nobody consumes alcohol.
Here in Belgium you have to be attentive to the festivals that are organized in Diepenbeek, the month of April, that the student associations are riding tents for several weeks. During the rest of the year, parties are organized in a gym called Fitlink and in a pub, almost the only one in Diepenbeek, called Villicus.
Finally we are going to talk about the activities that the univeristy offers to their students. The spanish university doesn’t offer so many activities, there are football, rugby, handball teams… that you can join it. There are also some courses of photography, visual design… but you have to pay for it and they are not cheap.
The opossite happens in Belgium university, it has a lot of facilities such as swimming pools, gyms, libraries… that the students can take advantage of, to know better how to access to these facilities and activities we talked to the secretary of the university and this is what they told us.”In our university we offer all kinds of facilities for students. From the basic establishments such as libraries, dining rooms, study rooms, computer rooms … Even sports activities such as football, kickboxing, a pool … We try to get the most out of our students.”
And about how much the activities and facilities cost this is what they told us: “First of all, there are two types of cards that can be accessed at the beginning of the course, which can you do many activities with a discount or free of charge. First, the ESN Card, special card for exchange students, which allows them to attend events organized by the university for them in particular, is highly recommended as it also offers many discounts at many establishments just by showing the card. There second one, the sports card, which only costs 20 euros and it’s worth it for the whole year. With it you have access to all sports facilities and all activities and classes, such as zumba, total body work or spinning…”
