The semester has totally hit me by now. Studying in Ireland differs a bit from studying in Germany. Back at home, you basically have nearly no obligations during the semester with exams being placed at the very end of the semester. In Ireland, there are lots of projects, assignments and presentations during the semester, which is time- consuming. Whoever said, Erasmus student had it easy, was partially right and partly wrong. As an Erasmus student, you get to live in another country, have an everyday-life, although it only seems as such as it remains limited, meet new people from around the world and learn about cultural differences. Coming from Germany, where we have rules for everything, as a student abroad, you learn one lesson quite quick: we are used to German rules and, in all secrecy, we have embraced them. Having rules makes things much more complicated but also much more easier. Shoutout to anyone who has ever lived with roommates or flatmates. Having less rules confronts an Erasmus student particularly in Uni. As in my case, there is no system that Erasmus students can use to apply for their courses and as I have heard from other Erasmus students in Dublin who study elsewhere in the city, they face the same issues.
So, how have we joined a lecture? Let me tell you one thing first: it was chaotic. I had to figure out my schedule on my own, whereas one single friend of mine had a coordinator at her home university who would keep suggest classes to her- and they kept coming in, because all of our schedule had to redone multiple times.
Before you go abroad, you have to fill out a Learning Agreement and pre-select classes. Once you arrive, and as for Dublin, not a day before, you have access to the schedules. Then you need to find your pre-selected classes that often overlap or have been canceled whatsoever. I am one of the lucky ones, as my university is quite open and not strict about the course selection which gave me a lot of freedom. One teacher kicked Erasmus students out of her class because there was too little space. We only had 2 weeks time to check out classes and to let the Learning Contract sign by the teacher, whose due date was today. It was not as easy as it sounds. Persistence is what’s needed. We took a risk and in the end, we could join the course we had been kicked out the week before. It was a risk, because we would have needed an alternative, which we obviously did not have. Veni, vidi, vici- but with luck.
Anyway, there is a Learning Contract that has no relation to your home institution but is required by the uni in Dublin. It is a handwritten piece of paper that needs to be filled out partly by the teacher and partly by yourself. You need to find courses and discuss with the lecturer, if there is an exam, a continuous assignment, or, in most cases, both. Do not get me wrong: most teachers are extremely open and pleased that Erasmus students want to join their classes. In most classes, there are at least 2 Erasmus students. I am not alone in any of my classes, which I personally find good. The Irish very much stick to themselves as they have known each other for years. At TU Dublin, they are classes, that meet in first year and stay til the end of their forth year to achieve a Bachelor’s degree. They are a unit as you would know from school and the plenty of Erasmus students come, stay for one, or sometimes two semesters, and leave afterwards. A great way to get in touch with the locals is not by attending classes, but to join the societies. There will be another blog post regarding this soon!
