The Erasmus experience in Romania

Erasmus is the experience of a lifetime. Are you young and studying? Want to meet new people, travel and learn a language? Then don't wait any longer!

Írta: Ivánka Dóra

I had the good fortune to participate in such a project for the 7th time, but this time I visited Targoviste, a small town near Bucharest, Romania. Here we were accommodated in a hotel in the centre of the town and 3 meals a day were served in the hotel restaurant. The title of the project was Youth Guard, which included a lot of things. We started the first day with games, name learning and then shorter conversations. On the second day, we were introduced to the topic, why media literacy is important and how it can help us to recognise fake news.

The good thing about non-formal education is that we don't have to listen to long presentations but learn through play. During the week, we made our own newspaper, did a whole video reporter play, had a lot of debates about people's views on voting and civil rights and had a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, these topics are not always covered in schools, which is why I think it is very important that as young people we have the opportunity to learn about, for example, the elections that took place in Romania at this time. Of course, in addition to learning, we also had the opportunity to take a look at the history of the city, for example, that there was a time when it was the capital of the country, and we also heard stories about the Romanian heroes who fought with all their hearts for their country. The Babel fest was also held during this period, which we were incredibly happy to see, as crowds of artists and actors in beautiful costumes paraded the streets and the whole city flocked to see the show.

The Erasmus Youth Exchange is an EU-funded programme where you can increase your knowledge of a specific topic through non-formal education. The duration can be a few days or more than 1 week. The EU will reimburse travel costs and during the project you will receive full board and lodging.

This experience is just a fraction of what you can get from Erasmus programmes. I met a lot of new people, learned a lot about the subject and also about myself and how to cope in a new environment where I don't know anyone. I would encourage everyone to go to Erasmus and explore the world, especially as it is free.

Special thanks for Be You Europe to give me the opportunity to participate and made this project happen.