St Mary's College of Education

Belfast city is full of cash dispensers, so once you're in town you'll have no trouble getting money. But it can be cheaper opening a bank account since taking money from your home bank can be very expensive. At the college they'll inform you on opening this account. The computer-lab (internet available) is open untill 9 in the evening and on Saturdays from 9am untill 1 pm. This is really a very good service. It's only closed on Sundays. In Bostock House you'll find the appliances and furniture you need, though you sometimes have to organise a bit of a search or share with other floors. There's a telephone on the ground floor of Bostock and one in St. Mary's, opposite the student restaurant. Some Erasmus-students worked during their stay. Some went to a building to arrange a job for them ("Jobs &..." something else, I forgot the name, it's close to the new swimming pool up Falls Road.) Others just went to the bars and asked for a job I think. But as I said, if your turn your penny twice before you spend it, you won't have expenses a lot higher than at home.

If you don't have any social skills: don't go. Take some courses first. If you don't know any English: don't go. Take some courses first. If you want to go on Erasmus just to have sex with as many people as possible: don't go. Grow up first. If you want to experience a different culture, if you want to improve your knowlegde about Northern-Ireland, British history, about people, about yourself, and about life: do go. Erasmus offers you a unique view on human interaction and on yourself. (You'll even learn about the people you left in your home country.) Anyway you'll come home with lots of stories, images, feelings and friends-forever. I wish you all the best.

I didn't really improve my English in Belfast, but I'm a lot better at Irish now :) I didn't really like the Belfast accent at first, but now that I've picked it up, I think it's really cool ;) Also I've become a lot quicker in responding, I'm better at understanding slang and most of all: I have learned several sentences to keep a class under control in English ("when you don't shut up, I'll hang you out of the window head first/ you'll end up in the dustbin" etc.)

The accomodation is very basic, but that's all right. That way you learn to appreciate the simple things (cliché, but true) and you learn to separate the things you really need from the luxury you have at home that you can do without. You'll feel a lot lighter once you've experienced how little you need to go by -but a couch is something everybody should have :) The housing not being too comfortable will also help to reduce your Bostock-homesickness afterwards. The only things that irritated me was people waking you up in the midst of night when they came home blind drunk. But maybe that's part of experiencing the culture.

If you can, take a trip to the coast, it's really beautiful. A trip to Belfast Catsle is also recommendable, or a pick-nick in the park on Falls Road or in the Black Mountains. As for the nightlife: plenty of bars downtown, mostly in the area around Queen's. Ask the local students, they'll love to take you out.