Tag: International

Eva, a sweet girl half Spanish and half German

Hello EVA! Could you introduce yourself to Pequod’s readers?

Buenos días! My name is Eva I am a 24 years old girl who does not know how ended up in Tilburg. Sometimes when I’m walking along the streets it seems surreal living here. I am totally into sports, I used to practice karate and now that I have moved to Tilburg I go to the University gym very often. I am always looking for justice and a new way to broaden my horizons which is the main reason why I am keen to become a good journalist.

Why did you choose the Netherlands?

I did not choose them but the MA program chose me.

Tell us about your life in the Netherlands…

My life in the Netherlands is mostly influenced by the international students around me. In the everyday life I try to adapt to the Dutch lifestyle, I interact with international students and I talk to my Spanish dad, my German family and friends. My social life is related mainly to my housemates, who are 7 girls from Italy, Spain, Albania, Czech Republic and Germany, we are sharing feelings and gossiping about relationships and our life experiences here. It surprises me the fact that I get on so well with girls because generally I do prefer to stay with boys.

How is living in the Netherlands different than living in your country?

LUNCH ! Here in the Netherlands it’s very common to have a toast or yoghurt for lunch but I am used to have more varieties when it comes to food! I need a proper meal, for example some proper vegetables or a delicious main course. Another difference here is that some people like to dress clothes with strange colours like light blue, green, yellow and orange – I have to say I like it and I respect their brave choices even though sometimes they’re not perfectly in shape!

Which is the biggest challenge of moving to a new country? Have you had any regrets so far? What do you miss the most?

Adapting to the lifestyle is itself a big challenge – having supermarkets closed at 7 pm, finding out how to register for a doctor, getting registered in the Town Hall, even having a mobile phone contract requires some effort, but everyone here speaks English, and this makes it easier. In addition, once I had to ask police for help and it was not easy because I had to set an appointment with the National Police and then get an appointment with the local police, they were very kind but I had to pass through far too many steps to get some assistance.

Yes, I have one regret, I could have gone to Cadiz on Erasmus for one year and I did not , especially during winter time when it was rainy and cold I blamed myself for not having chosen the sun and beach. I miss calling my friends in Germany at any time I would like to, I mean, there are several ways to stay in contact, like skype, but it requires to set a specific appointment with your friend.

Eva with international students during the beer cantus in the Top week

What does Europe mean for you? Do you perceive the existence of Europe as a community? Do you feel part of it? Do you feel European?

For me Europe means to have the freedom to travel and work with all these wonderful neighbours. I totally perceive Europe as community, I know that there are some obstacles at the moment, such as the current crisis which seems to damage the community, but I still believe in its existence. Yes, I totally feel part of the European Union and I consider myself as a European citizen because of my heritage and the other experiences I gathered in this community called Europe.

APErasmus – PEQUOD meets AEGEE Bergamo

Do you know AEGEE? Probably, those of you who have been Erasmus students know it pretty well, as in the 1980s AEGEE promoted the placement of the Erasmus project – so THANK YOU GUYS! Since then, AEGEE, whose name is related to the Aegean Sea, the birthplace of democracy – how cool is that?! – has been promoting European events creating a huge network of young people all over Europe and beyond.

As you can imagine, AEGEE Bergamo is one of the local branches of AEGEE. Born in the nineties, for all these years it has helped young people cheap-travelling all over Europe, learning foreign languages, making international friends, taking part to international events and parties and becoming real European citizens.

Last night Pequod met the incredibile staff of AEGEE Bergamo at the first APErasmus of the year. What is that? Well, take two of the smartest inventions ever (aperitivo and Erasmus), and put them together: what you get is APErasmus, an event where you can have some appetizers, have a drink and meet new people. The coolest thing is that every week the party is dedicated to a different country – last night was German night – this means that the food, the cocktails and the decorations are related to that country, so that you get to know it better by having loads of fun!

We collected some comments of the people there, both Erasmus students and Italians.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — **Claire** and **Juliette** from **France** seem to be having fun. They are in Italy **to learn Italian** and for them Erasmus is “party” and “fun”.

**Alice** and **Anna** are **Chinese** and study in Italy. Alice told us that she wanted to go to America in the first place, but it was too expensive. However, she says Italy is beautiful, so she doesn’t seem too disappointed. Anna is more enthusiastic – for her **“Italy is the most beautiful country”** – she laughs – and she’s **passionate about Italian culture and films**.

As everyone looks happy and has a glass in his hands, we go to the bar, also known as the place where the magic happens, and steal a minute from the busy bartender. He says Erasmus events are fun, and according to his esperience, **Erasmus students all share bad taste in drinking!**

While inside the atmosphere is burning, thanks to the deejays and the barmen, outside it’s snowing a lot, but people don’t mind it at all and stand in the street. Everybody’s busy chatting – English, Italian, German, Spanish and French languages are the soundtrack of this cold white night.

While Pequod is freezing, Conrad seems comfortable even without a coat. He’s from Sheffield (UK) and speaks some Italian because he was studying it in England. He’s been in Italy for a couple of weeks, though he already thinks a lot of good things about Erasmus – good trips (he’s been in Venice and somewhere in the mountains), helpful and very nice people.

The streets are completely white and Pequod needs to get home. But don’t worry: every week we’ll be at APErasmus to meet new people from all over Europe. Read our International interview each Tuesday!

For further information about AEGEE Europe, AEGEE Bergamo and APErasmus, visit the following pages:

http://www.aegee.org/

http://www.aegeebergamo.eu/

https://www.facebook.com/aperasmus.bg

Like Pequod magazine on Facebook and get the updates about the next International interview:

https://www.facebook.com/PequodRivista

A Hungarian in Southern France

Name and Surname: Veronika Viranyi

Age: 25

Country: Hungary

Nationality: Hungarian

City: Berettyoujfalu

SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR COUNTRY

Which is the form of government ruling in your country?

Republic (they say…)

Do you believe corruption exists in your country? How much do you think it influences political life and your private life?

Absolutely. That’s the only thing that actually exists under the name of politics. My private life is not bothered by it, but my family feels the disadvantages of this incorrect attitude.

Veronika

Which is your national language? Do dialects exist in your country? If they do, are they used/known by young people?

Hungarian. Dialects do exist, but there are not many variations. Usually their use depend on where people come from, especially from the country or the villages. But when someone moves to the capital or to other big cities gives it up most of the time. I notice it myself, when I go home to my family, after a couple of days I switch back to my dialect, but there are not too many noticeable differences.

Traditional Hungarian clothes in the countryside

Who do you believe to be the cultural icon of your country?

If I can name only one is Liszt Ferenc, but I have to name more like Kodaly Zoltan Bartok Bela, Jozsef Attila, Ady Endre, Radnoti Miklos, Marai Sandor (but there are more internationally unknown composers, and poets who would be worth to mention).

WHAT ABOUT EUROPE?

Do you consider yourself European?

I’m from Europe, so I am European. I didn’t have the possibility to compare myself to other cultures yet.

Are you able to name a person that you consider symbolic for European culture?

I think that all the most important artists, all those personalities that we consider to be icons of the world of art, are representative of Europe, as you can perceive the influence of Europe in their work. That’s why I’m not able to name only one person.

A German in Southern France

Name and Surname: Sabine Schuster

Age: 22

Country: Germany

Nationality: German

City: Passau

SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR COUNTRY

Which is the form of government ruling in your country?

(Parliamentary) democracy

Beach on the shore of Danube

Do you believe corruption exists in your country? How much do you think it influences political life and your private life?

Yes I think it exists in political life but for me it is not visible and it doesn’t influence my private life.

Old Fortress, Passau

Which is your national language? Do dialects exist in your country? If they do, are they used/known by young people?

My mother language is German.

Yes, dialects exist in my country. They are also used by young people but often they’re considered old-fashioned. Today dialects are not used by young people as much as they were used many years ago.

Sabine

Who do you believe to be the cultural icon of your country?

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

WHAT ABOUT EUROPE?

Do you consider yourself European?

Yes, I do.

Are you able to name a person that you consider symbolic for European culture?

Leonardo da Vinci.

Da Vinci’s statue in Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi

Romania

Name and Surname: Alexandra Iancu

Age: 22

Country: Romania

Nationality: Romanian

City: Bucharest

CURRENT EVENTS:

Which is the form of government ruling in your country?

Semi-presidential republic.

Do you believe corruption exists in your country? How much do you think it influences political life and your private life?

Corruption exists in all the areas of Romania. It starts from the most important authority governing this country and it gets everywhere. Almost everything is based on corruption here. As a matter of fact, last week, Mr. Victor Ponta, a young(!) candidate running for the presidential elections (of this year) paid thousands of people to come to Bucharest from all over the country, they filled a stadium and were asked to give him a round of applause. Of course, this big sham was recorded by the media, in order to create the impression that a lot of Romanians would go for him and elect him as a future president. I was told by my parents that this used to happen during the Ceausescu regime, the communism. Obviously, corruption has a tremendous power upon our lives. No matter how fair we try to be, we always get stuck somewhere because of all the others who made an ideology out of BRIBE… Or just because we cannot live differently. I used to judge people around me before living abroad. I thought we were the only ones living like this. But I realized Romania is not the most corrupted country in the world. People get to be corrupted because we, as a nation, are poor. We need money in order to survive these huge costs, doctors cannot afford NOT receiving little “gifts” from their patients. How could a person receiving 200 euros par month (minimum salary) live decently when a kilo of lemons is 17 RON (4 euros)? The salaries of a resident start from 200 euros!

Do you consider yourself European? [For non-European people: could you explain why you chose Europe?]

I definitely consider myself European even if I have the feeling that I’m not living in an European country.

CULTURE:

Which is your national language? Do dialects exist in your country? If they do, are they used/known by young people?

My language is Romanian. There are variations of language here, in Moldova, in Transilvania, in the west. Young people know about them but they don’t really use them unless they live in those specific areas.

Who do you consider to be the cultural icon of your country?

Unfortunately, all the role models promoted here now are not so “cultural”. Romania is “feeding” its public with the Barbie dolls who can easily get famous by marrying rich guys. In my opinion, the most representative cultural icon for us is Nadia Comaneci, one of the most famous gymnasts in the world. And Simona Halep at the moment, a young tennis player who has just been ranked the 3rd in the WTA ranking, after winning a lot of games in the last months.

Are you able to name a person that you consider symbolic for European culture? [For non- European people: do you perceive the existence of a “European culture”?]

Chopin. It’s quite strange that not even one actual name comes to mind…

Eva, a sweet girl half Spanish and half German

APErasmus – PEQUOD meets AEGEE Bergamo

A Hungarian in Southern France

SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR COUNTRY

WHAT ABOUT EUROPE?

A German in Southern France

SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR COUNTRY

WHAT ABOUT EUROPE?

Romania

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