Hello Everyone! I am Mink, a 3rd year BTO student and currently I am studying abroad for my minor. I am studying in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland! I am studying at the Edinburgh Napier University, where I follow three different courses; Airline Strategy & Marketing, International Marketing and Scottish Culture and Society. All the courses are really interesting and an additional benefit is that the workload, compared to the Netherlands, is quite low; I have only 6 hours of class a week, which means that there is enough time to explore Edinburgh and Scotland.
I arrived in the beginning of September and then it was time for the Freshers week, which is a fun week organized by the university for all newcomers to Edinburgh. During this week I visited the city, the university, some pubs and of course some parties. It was definitely a good start of my time in Edinburgh.
Housing is quite an issue for exchange students in Edinburgh. The university offers accommodation for visiting students, but there is only very limited availability. This means that there were quite some exchange students who had to find something in the private sector, where it is really difficult to find something, especially when your new to a city. Luckily, I got accepted for a room at the university owned accommodation. I live now together with 8 other Erasmus students, from all over the world which is really a nice and eye-opening experience.
Many Erasmus students are free on one or two weekdays, which means that there is definitely time for some trips to other places in Scotland. So far, I have been to Glasgow and to the Highlands of Scotland, where the Highland games took place. Which was a day full of traditional Scottish games, bagpipes and men wearing a kilt. Soon I will be heading to the Isle Of Skye, which is another highlight of Scotland.
The Napier University has also a lot of different sport teams and societies, like field hockey, American football, volleyball and soccer. Together with another Dutch exchange student I decided to join the hockey team, which is really nice as it gives you a nice insight to the real Scottish culture and beside that, I also got to see a lot from the country in a matter of time as I play matches all around Scotland against other universities.
