Everything Erasmus stands for can be found in Halle (Saale)

My Erasmus experience started later than usually for other students. I was given notice that I got accepted in the second week of July and afterwards everything had to go really fast with finding a suitable accommodation, obtaining all necessary papers and finding the cheapest ticket to get to Halle (Saale).

I left Sarajevo on the 3^rd of October with a Eurowings flight via Stuttgart to Leipzig/Halle airport and I really didn’t know what to expect from my experience. I was happy about a new adventure I would stick to for the next five months, but I was also a little bit terrified. I think most Erasmi ask themselves the same questions – will I find new friends? what will be my flatmates like? how is University like here with all the new professors? Etc. – but as soon as I arrived at Halle (Saale) Central Station, all those questions disappeared. My flatmates, Antonia, Max and Sven picked me up and we clicked immediately. I found the apartment with wg-gesucht.de without meeting any of them, but by their previous flatmate Vincent telling me that he is also on Erasmus in Zaragoza, and that he thinks that I would perfectly fit with them (during my Erasmus stay, I had also the chance to visit him and crash at his couch in Zaragoza for two nights).

You have friends everywhere around the globe with Erasmus.

Soon after I arrived, the first lectures started and the first events were organized by the Erasmus Student Network of Halle (Saale), where I met dozens of friends. We’ve been going together to different pub crawls in the beginning of the semester, to speed friending nights, and we travelled (a lot). I re-visited Prague with them (picture on the right) where we met with other Erasmus people from ESN Usti. Two weeks later we went to Berlin for the biggest Erasmus gathering of Germany with more than 600 Erasmi from all over Germany coming together to celebrate the 50^th birthday of Erasmus for the weekend with sight-seeing’s, contests, parties and other.

Apart for Berlin and Prague, I also took the chance you are given by Ryan Air with the Erasmus discount and travelled to Spain for the first time, visiting Valencia, Barcelona and Zaragoza. Luckily, I had amazing host in Barcelona, Lejla and Kanita who hosted me in Barcelona for three nights and Vincent in Zaragoza who hosted me for two nights. When you’re lucky enough to know as amazing people as them, you truly experience the cities and the country you’re visiting in a completely different way. That been said, it was also amazing to escape the winter in Germany to comfy 15 – 20 degrees Celsius in the beginning of December in Spain, where you can have breakfast –or brunch if you wake up at noon – at the sea side in Barcelona with just a light jacket on (don’t push your luck in a T-Shirt as I did or you will return with the flu to Halle). It’s really easy to get connections anywhere from Halle since it is only a two hour trip to Berlin and half an hour to Leipzig in order to get yourself anywhere in Europe. Unfortunately, I can’t mention everywhere I been or everyone I met. I couldn’t even pay tribute to the people who are enriching my experience here every day. You meet people from Italy, Poland, Serbia, Mexico, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Vietnam, the Netherlands, Spain, the USA, UK, France, Portugal, Macedonia and so many more (apologies to everyone not being mentioned, nothing personal).

With all this said – what about the studies?

I’ve chosen five courses during my stay – Text linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Literature of the 19^th century, Old High German/Middle High German, and the Black Romanticism – the dark side of the age of reason. I chose them after discussing with my professors back home if they’re in line with the topics we cover in Sarajevo in order for them to accept my grades here.

The University has a unique appearance divided in many small campuses. The main campus square is where everyone is meeting in the beginning of the semester with the biggest lecture halls. Mostly lectures from economy and law students are being held there because of the amount of students applying for these fields. The campus for language studies is 5-7 minutes away for the university square where most of my lectures are held.

I have only had amazing experiences with the lecturers here – and I’m not saying these because they’re reading this. As a matter of fact they are very forthcoming and all of them provided me with an alternative exam date (unlike some professors at my home University), giving me the chance to take some exams in Sarajevo and the come back here to finish my exams in Halle.

What benefits do you get from studying in Halle?

Halle is the definition of a student-city. About 200.000 people are living in Halle, and 20.000 of them are students. You have student-discounts at every corner with your student id and beautiful green spaces to chill with your friends during your off-days. Also, the city is much cheaper compared to other German cities – so your budget is not being pushed to its limits.

The University is very well organized and structured with beautiful libraries making it easy to motivate yourself to get up in the morning and study for the day. Most professor also upload all of their lectures in terms of power point presentations and books you need for studies to the platform you’re using, making it easier for you to prepare yourself for the exams.

The tuition for a semester at the University is around 190 Euros, but one of the best features you get from it is the free public transportation in an outside of Halle (Saale). You just need to have your student ID and you’re ready to go. Having huge discounts in the Mensa with it is also a huge plus and very convenient if you have breaks between lectures and don’t want to go home.