 |
| Venlo City Centre |
 |
| Cube House Rotterdam |
For those of you who just started
following this blog but don’t know me I am Tom.
This semester I am doing my exchange semester
as the second part of my international year from Waterford Institute of
Technology. So therefore, I am attending Fontys International Business School
Venlo. The course I am studying for the semester is International Fresh Business
Management (IFBM). Venlo is a small town located in Limburg, a region in the south
of the Netherlands. After living in the Rockies for the last couple of months I
didn’t know what to expect moving to the Netherlands. One certainty was that there
would be no physical mountains to climb. This makes getting around very easy.
 |
Cheese and Wine Night
in my Apartment |
The organization in getting to Venlo was
perfect. We received our application form in mid-November. This was a very
straight forward process where you complete information, and Fontys adds and verifies
your information. We were giving two choices for our study. The first was IFBM
semester 2 and the second was IFBM semester 4. I decided to do the IFBM semester 2. The reason
for this choice was I am not a business student and felt if I went into the
fourth semester, I would be far behind the rest of the class. So far, this was
the right decision. Shortly after the application was finished and submitted, I
got the letter about the accommodation. Again, it was a really easy process. There
were four different prices I selected the cheapest one which was €365.05 per month. This includes all utility bills. The accommodation was
very clean and equipped when we arrived.
 |
| Let the Adventure Begin!! |
The best asset that we had when we arrived in Venlo
was the Buddy System provided by Fontys. They assigned two students a group of
5 students. Darya and Fabian are my buddies. They introduced us to all aspects
of Venlo from the town and where to eat, to the university and other students. They
also gave us an introduction to the social scene in Venlo. Bars and clubs stay
open until around 4am. Drink is quite affordable and so is food. As there is so
many other students on exchange in Venlo, we already have a huge group of friends
from all parts of the world.
Classes started on the fourth of February. So far,
the way the classes are though is quite different to W.I.T.s methods. Classes are
a lot more interactive. For some of the classes you are giving a topic at the
start of the class, you have to research as part of a team and do a full presentation
at the end of the class. This not only teaches you the topic but it also
greatly improves team work and public speaking abilities. Most classes are very
interactive and even though I’m left handed I have now learnt how to write on a
whiteboard without wiping the words off as I go….
I have a really good feeling about this
semester in Venlo and looking forward to updating you….
 |
| 13 people, 9 Nationalities, 4 Continents, |
No comments:
Post a Comment