Adrian Garcia Rodriguez-University of Murcia, Spain
Armenia is a country far from Europe and Spain, so it is not known or we have little information about it. Before coming to Armenia, I did not know anything about the country. There is one professor from my university that used to be an instructor in AUA, Paco. He told me that I have the possibility to go to an American university in Armenia through the Erasmus + program, something that surprised me a lot, but I decided to give it a try.
The most challenging part was to improve my level of English so that I could communicate with everyone and understand the lessons. The course structure in AUA is much different from Murcia. In my university, final exams have a high weight in the final grades. However, in AUA the daily participation in classes has more value, which is something that I like a lot.
I have noticed not too many differences between the two countries, only people's schedules. In Spain, we go out late at night, but in Armenia people go out earlier and pubs close early at night in comparison with Spain. I love to communicate and share my culture with other people, as well as meet other cultures and learn from other people, so it helped me a lot because I met people from many different places and cultures.
I would say one of the best things about Armenia is that it's a really safe country. I visited many places, and I really liked Garni a lot. I also liked the food. It is cheap and tasty.
The time spent with my friends was awesome and really funny.
The only challenge I faced was that I was too far from home, and my family was not able to come and visit me.
Come to Armenia, you will love it, and you will love AUA even more!
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Matthieu Van Der Vleugel-University of Mons, Belguim
I came to Armenia through the Erasmus+ Program and spent half of the semester. I had to leave Armenia early because of the COVID-19 virus pandemic situation. In Belgium, people know almost nothing about Armenia, so I decided to come and discover the country. So, I came and learned about Armenian people and culture. I noticed that people in Armenia are more conservative than in Belgium.
The most challenging part was having homework and quizzes regularly. In UMONS we do not have daily quizzes and the attendance of the classes is not mandatory. Classrooms are smaller in AUA compared with my university, and there is more proximity to the instructor.
In Armenia, I felt very safe. I mainly used a taxi as a means of transportation. I don’t remember the cost, but it was very cheap compared with Belgium.
I recommend going to the trips organized by the International Office. They are really interesting. I also spent a beautiful day in Lake Sevan. I liked it a lot.
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