Parties, Parties and more Parties!

“Erasmus it’s just party!”, I am sure that most of you have heard this sentence and now that I am in Erasmus I have to admit that here, I have had some of the best parties of my life. However, I also have to study and work on my modules. It’s just a matter of balance.

But let’s focus on the important topic today: PARTIES! Here there is not enough with just an ordinary party so what we do is: Pre-party, party and finally, after-party. So that, more or less, we start the party at 10 pm and we can finish it at 5am. The pre-parties and after-parties usually are in the flats of the residence or private flats in Paisley. And to party we usually go to the Union or to Glasgow. Personally, Glasgow it’s much better, nevertheless, when we are lazy to move to Glasgow, we stay in the Union that it’s just three minutes from the residence. The important thing is to stay with friends; with them anywhere you will have fun!

Party in Glasgow it’s amazing! It’s full of night clubs and interesting pubs to go. I would recommend going to Sub club, theGarage, O2 ABC or Bamboo. Moreover, there are clubs which the entrance it’s free, so if you want a cheap night just check the different offers. In Facebook, there is a group called “Erasmus Glasgow”, there you can find a lot of information.

 

Sub Club Glasgow

Bamboo Glasgow

 

I love Erasmus parties because you can meet a lot of interesting people of different countries. And let me tell you something, even in parties you can learn! In fact, now I know some useful sentences in French, or other languages, thanks to parties. Moreover, we celebrate the national parties of some countries such Saint Patrick's Day of Ireland, the King’s day of Netherlands or the Crepes day of France.

On the other hand, if you prefer something more relaxed, you can just go to a bar, in Paisley you have several options. In my opinion, the best is “De Beers”, it’s close to the residence, cosy and the music is good. It’s always full of students and Scottish people; the problem is that it’s a little small so sometimes you can not enter.

You only live once, so my advice is: work hard but have as much fun as you can.

My daily life

Well, first of all that here every day it’s different, always new plans or activities to do. In fact, my life doesn’t have a fix schedule here, but I like to improvise a little, therefore, it’s great. Obviously, there is people how follows strictly a timetable but I am going to talk about my own experience.

I just have class on Tuesday and Thursday. I had a lot of free time so I joined an English module to improve my English, I recommend to you to take advantage of this opportunity that UWS give to all the students. Moreover, I haven’t taken this module for credits, so I haven’t to do the exams or the assessments.

Apart from that, I do 3 modules for credits. The first one is WRL (Work Related Learning), the first two weeks I had 3 hours of class but after I just did 1 hour of tutorial per week. Sincerely, it is not really interesting this module, it just requires working on a platform called Mahara from your laptop.

The second module is called Get into Enterprise. Here you will mix lectures and tutorials, it’s more interesting than the other module, and the advantage is that you don’t have exams.

And the last one, it’s called Digital Marketing, this for me it’s the best because I have learnt new things. In fact, thanks to it I am writing this blog. And I am doing 3 hours per week, from those, 2 are lectures and 1 tutorial.

Usually I don’t wake up at the same hour, it depends on if I have to work or go to class, I eat more or less at the same time than in Spain, and in the afternoons, we go to the gym or somewhere with my friends. On the sunny days, most of the students just stay outside the residence laying on the floor with some beers and hope to become a little suntanned. However, I have to say that here the weather is more than crazy; in one day it can rain, be sunny, be cloudy and do wind.

On Tuesday evening we usually go to “Table talk”. It’s a meeting with other international students and there you discuss about some topic and do some activities. Moreover, there are some snacks, teas and refreshments.

We always have some plans and during the weekends we try to visit a little the most iconic places of Scotland. I recommend to you to participate in as much things as you can because this is an experience you only life one.

Surviving

 

All those who are for the first time far away from home and experience the first touch with the independent life, you will have to deal with some situations. When you will arrive everything is going to be new: new flat, new people, new food, new timetables, new language… but take it easy.

Probably you will have some troubles in understanding the Scottish accent but don’t worry, even for the native English speakers it’s difficult to understand it.

Moreover, have you thought about food? You will have to eat! Most of the people forget about this before arriving, but when you are new and your fridge is empty, you would like that someone would have told you where to go. I recommend going the Morrisons is 10 minutes walking from the residence, it’s the cheapest supermarket and it’s open until 10 pm. If you want to buy frozen food also a good option is Iceland, located inside the Piazza mall. The Co-operative and Mark&Spencer are the most expensive supermarkets. The Family shopper is also a good shop to do last minute shopping; there is not a huge variety of items and food but it’s excellent if you want to buy cheap drinks for a party because it’s close and open until 10 pm.

Another thing to deal with, if you live in the residence or in a shared flat, is the people. They probably will have different cultures, habits and language but this is not an obstacle to make new friends. I encourage you to open your mind and try to talk with them and plan some things, even going to the supermarket it’s a good opportunity to know your flatmates in the beginning. Of course, it will take some time until you see with who you get on well better or to trust them, but take advantage of the opportunity to learn from other people. I recommend you to join to the activities that the university prepares for the first week of each trimester; it will help you to know new people.

When you will arrive maybe you will feel alone the first days but it’s completely normal, don’t worry. To feel more like home, you can decorate your room with photos or flowers.

In addition, the timetables here maybe are different from where you live, so my tip is to try to adapt, it’s better to have a routine.

Don’t be discouraged! You can handle it! I am sure that you will gain more experience of life, you will not regret it!

 

Here I post a video where you can see what Erasmus is!

 

Moreover, if you click in the following link you can get in touch with other students who have been through this experience or are going to do in a close future.