Erasmus Student Experiences

Students from France, Portugal and Switzerland talking about their experience

Martin, Simon, Simao and Linda kindly shared their experience and thoughts about an exchange semester and life in Estonia. Take some minutes and have a look, what they are thinking.

How did you like Tartu, Estonia and what was surprising, for instance comparing the city with your home country/city? 

Martin and Simon: We loved Estonia. It's a very nice country where we've met a lot of lovely people. In particular we enjoyed the beautiful colors of the nature in fall and the old towns of Tallinn and Tartu. But over all, there is a feeling of accessibility in Estonia as it is a small country. Everything is scaled at a hulan size and it makes a huge difference with France.

Simao: When you are searching the city your Erasmus takes place, it is a first impression that gives you an understanding that you've taken a right decision. By choosing Estonia I got an opportunity to return to my routines considering the pandemic situation and restrictions here (Porugal). Estonia, I could say is a country with natural rich environment and due to the cold weather has a nice sauna culture. Also I recommend experiencing sports options. For instance I found Tartu Judo Club and as I'm judo practitioner this was a great way to keep practicing and enriching my experience in sports side.

Tartu is a cozy city with museums, public gardens and nightlife. Students arriving from European and Non-European countries make the experience even more interesting.

Linda: I liked studying in Tartu very much. It is a charming city with its town hall square and the beautiful Toome Park. There are many things to do, such as visiting the different museums or going ice skating at the Christmas market. Tartu has a lot of restaurants and bars, so nightlife was definitely not lacking. I was very impressed by the nature of Estonia with the birch forests and the swamps. A trip to the island of Saaremaa was the absolute highlight. For a Swiss, it is of course noticeable that Estonia is very flat.

How did you like your semester at EAVA and how did you manage with the situation the virus brought with? 

Martin and Simon: We had a really good time at EAVA, we had a lot of interesting and open-minding lectures. Furthermore, the school offers a nice gym and a sauna where we've spent a lot of time. For the first two months the coronavirus had a very small impact on our semester. When the situation got worse, we turned online but it was definitely well managed by the teachers.

Simao: I had an opportunity to complete my semester in a school environment (going to the university every day and learn in classroom environment). It was a breath of fresh air in my academic life after 4 months distance learning in Portugal. The first contact was established with the Erasmus Coordinator Karine Mandel and we felt like at home. Also, all the safety measures were fulfilled within the first day, when we had a very warm welcome and contact with our buddies and university staff.

In the beginning it was hard to deal with the Covid-19 situation because I never knew for sure if I could really go to Estonia and do my exchange semester. When I finally arrived, I had to do a self-isolation of 2 weeks. Luckily, my friend from Switzerland and I managed everything and we were there on time for the welcome ceremony at EAVA. So, I think good planning and organization in advance was crucial in this situation. Otherwise, the time in Tartu was quite relaxed in terms of the Covid-19 situation. There were not so many cases in Estonia, so I was able to enjoy my stay with only a few restrictions compared to Switzerland.

Which subjects were the most interesting and which were the most difficult?

Simao: Regarding curricular structure, then Organisation of CNS. Considering the new field, then Performance Management, although it’s an area where we could enforce our knowledge throughout the time. The opportunity to understand the important policies in aeronautical market motivated me and also advised about other possible areas to continue my studies. Student wants to know all players in the aviation market, so it's important to explore their roles, tasks.

On the other hand, through MRO Management we had a great opportunity to go into detail with a role of maintenance company. Considering my management background it was a challenging that some topics handled the industry in very technical way. But don’t forget that gaining contacts from new areas and getting out of your comfort zone is a part of Erasmus spirit! So, in this case resilience and work spirit will get you through your obstacles.

Linda: The most interesting subject was Speciality Project, because we were able to redesign Tartu Airport due to a higher capacity. So, we had to use real data and do benchmarking and calculations. The most difficult one was Performance Measurement and Management. This subject was new for me, but on the other hand also very interesting.

2020 spring in the eyes of Dagmar and Miguel

Our Erasmus students Dagmar from Thomas More, Belgium and Miguel from Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya agreed to share their thoughts about spring semester at EAVA. 

How did you like Tartu, Estonia and what was surprising, for instance comparing the city with your home country/city?

Dagmar: Tartu was really amazing! There were a lot of things that I could have visited while staying there. The public transport and taxis were super easy to take. I can only say good things from my stay in Estonia, because everything was either very close or easy to reach. The thing that surprised me the most was the National museum, since normally you'd think that would be placed in the capital, but here it was in Tartu and it was really worth visiting, I'd even go there again if I go back to Estonia.

Miguel: I really enjoyed the city of Tartu as well. It’s not for a single reason it’s for a combination of factors: the nature, the landscapes, the architecture, the nightlife, the people, the tranquillity, the sports options… for sure a different place compared with my home city. It was my first time living in a northern country so, for me the most surprising things were that people from Tartu were very quiet, very respectful and a bit “Cold” and it was a bit difficult getting to know them at beginning.

How did you like your semester at EAVA and how did you manage with the situation the virus brought with?

Dagmar: Since I arranged everything very last minute, I was very stressed the first few days with how everything would be or go. Sadly that there weren't a lot of busses that passed the school, and that I didn't try out the gym instead of just waiting. And with the virus, I think a lot of teachers were able to adapt really quickly to everything and that helped a lot with keeping this semester fun.

Miguel: EAVA was the best option for me because it was a little family. Everyone knows everyone, so the relation between student-teacher was so close and good. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why I think that this semester was easier than the previous ones I did in Barcelona, because all the problems we had were easy to solve. When this undesirable situation started, I decided to stay in Estonia because the situation there was better than in my home country. During the ‘quarantine period’ I planned a routine that helped following all lectures and that kept me active. In my opinion the situation was less hard than expected.

Which subjects were the most interesting and which were the most difficult?

Dagmar: My personal two favourite classes were Estonian for beginners and the RPA module. While on the other hand I struggled a lot with the economic classes, but I did learn a lot from them. I did like the fact that some teachers added some information or compared things with how they are in our home countries.

2019 fall semester at EAVA

Our Erasmus students have answered to few questions. Let’s meet them and see their answers:

• Jet and Herbert from Netherlands
• Dominika Wasil and Oliwia Lenczner from Poland
• Erikas Babarskas and Gabriele Tylenyte from Lithuania
• Jonathan Hirt ja Rafael Ortiz from Switzerland
• Borislav Krustev and Blagovesta Bancheva from Bulgaria 

How do you like Tartu, Estonia and what has been surprising, for instance comparing with your home country?

Jet and Herbert: Not in a wrong kind of way but is way more fun than we expected it to be. Of course, we knew that Tartu is the student capital of Estonia (and it shows), but it really helps to make yourself more at home even when you’re away from it.

Dominika Wasil: Tartu is a nice city. You have many museums that are really good, but bus communication to/from school is terrible. 

Oliwia Lenczner: Tartu is actually smaller than I expected but there is everything what students need like cinema, clubs, bars, restaurants. Estonia surprised me with it’s diverse architecture and culture. Great convenience is transport between Tallinn-Tartu which enable us to travel to adjoin countries. 

Erikas Babarskas: I really enjoy staying in Tartu. For me, city looks very cosy. As it has lot of students, you can always find large variety of events and entertainment here. Because I am Lithuanian, we have a lot of activities and traditions in common with Estonians, so living here I don’t feel as foreigner. I changed only my greeting, from “Labas!” to “Tere!” 

Gabriele Tylenyte: Tartu at first glance can be a small city but when you start living here and getting to know the city you can find here lots of activities. In my point of view, Tartu is the capital of students. Organisations like ESN and also academy students' council offers Erasmus+ students a variety of events from which you can choose to take part in. Even the pickiest could choose. For me Estonia is not very different from Lithuania but I still enjoy my time in here.

Jonathan Hirt ja Rafael Ortiz: Tartu is a small town where you never get bored. Also for us, Estonia is really interesting, because it is our first visit to the Baltic region. The thing we noticed when we arrived was, that the country is really flat and there are no mountains!

Borislav Krustev: Firstly, Tartu has been great so far, I have had an opportunity to try some really delicious dishes and people is so open and easy going, they don’t get bothered by anything and they are happy to talk to you even though you don’t know each other. Of course comparing with my hometown Pleven the weather is really bad. What surprised me the most is Toomemägi park. People are basically free to drink anywhere at the park, at least that’s what people do there and at the same time it is prohibited to drink anywhere else. 

Blagovesta Bancheva: I really like the city of Tartu. There are lots of interesting things to see or do, also I love photography, so I have already made many good pics. Compared to my hometown (Varna), Tartu is very different in every aspect, but still I like them both. The thing that I don’t like is the weather and the bus schedule to the Academy.

How do you like your semester at Estonian Aviation Academy so far, is it difficult or rather not?

Jet and Herbert: For us, to be honest, it is easy to follow up with all courses. Mainly because a lot of the management related subjects include material that we had at our home university. Of course, not all material is something we hear for a second time and keeps it interesting. Still we don’t find it difficult, maybe more challenging to say so.

Dominika Wasil: I like my semester in Estonian Aviation Academy, because I have learnt many things. It is not difficult, but we will see when I passed all my exams. 

Oliwia Lenczner: My semester in Estonian Aviation Academy is high in travelling and new experiences with people and different subjects. So far it’s not that difficult for me. I love cooperation with ESN Tartu. They gave us an opportunity to take part in different events. 

Erikas Babarskas: I really enjoy every minute studying at EAVA. Facilities are modern and really student-oriented with a gym, sauna, xbox, table games - what most students are interested in. Sometimes with group mates we stay here even after classes to have fun! Lectures aren’t more difficult for me, compared to my home university. I am pretty sure, that people working here and learning environment helps to fade away any student fears and keeps you focused on aviation first second you enter EAVA building. 

Gabriele Tylenyte: From my point of view, the semester in EAVA is not difficult at all and is going smoother and easier than I thought. The teachers are helpful and always wanting to help. I like that the academy includes foreign students in after-lecture activities. For example, going to a restaurant with Erasmus buddies, Movie Night at the academy, Halloween party and etc.. It was also very surprising that the EAVA offers gym, sauna and variety of table games. And lastly, I would like to mention the Academy's communication with the city. The timetable of the arriving and leaving buses is not the best so if there is an opportunity to go here by a car- I highly suggest it. 

Jonathan Hirt ja Rafael Ortiz: Overall, we are really satisfied with our exchange semester here and we do not regret choosing Estonian Aviation Academy. Since the material in the courses we attended is similar to that in our home university, the semester here was rather easier for us. Nevertheless, we were able to gain very interesting insights into the field of aviation. 

Borislav Krustev: I have mixed feelings for this semester. It’s not hard, but on the other hand time consuming. It doesn’t really put much stress on me, but I have to make some homework as well. Overall it has been really an extraordinary experience – I have met so much people and had the time of my life here with them. 

Blagovesta Bancheva: The semester in Academy has been full of fun, the students are very nice and friendly, lectures are very interesting and I personally love the practical ones, because in Bulgaria we don’t have many that kind. About the difficulty, I can’t say that it isn’t but when the subject is interesting, then you have motivation to study!

Which subjects are the most interesting and which are the most difficult for you?

Jet and Herbert: We find the Specialty Project together with Organization of CNS the most interesting and challenging at the same time. This is mainly because of the fact that we have to apply the material from our lectures and knowledge in both courses. To add something, we maybe wanted more applying of the material in more courses instead of only the theoretical part. Like we said before, this is a method which keeps the courses challenging for us and makes us really use the material and knowledges we have.

Dominika Wasil: The most interesting subject was Aircraft Construction, Testing Equipment and Business English, because each teacher has a big knowledge. The most difficult was GNSS, because it is e-learning and it is hard to learn this kind of material by myself. 

Oliwia Lenczner: The most interesting subject for me is Aeronautical Radio Communication and Organization of work in Air Traffic Services as well as it’s also the most difficult one. To the group of difficult subjects I can add also GNSS.

Erikas Babarskas: Well, probably “Estonian for beginners” is my favourite subject. And I must admit that it is helpful as well, especially when shopping at grocery stores. It’s nice to know what you are buying, haha! Most time I spend analysing MATLAB subject. I had very little experience with this program before, so it was learning more or less from scratch. What I like about every teacher I was learning from, that teachers are working in aviation field parallel to classes, so every teacher have some interesting stories and examples to tell from aviation practice.

Gabriele Tylenyte: The most interesting subject for me is Aeronautical Radio Communications because it is basically my area of study. Also I really enjoy Estonian for Beginners. The teacher uses good methods of teaching a foreign language and makes it fun for everyone sitting in the class. On the other hand, the most difficult subject is Introduction to MATLAB and SIMULINK. In my opinion, it is not an introduction but rather a subject for already qualified programmers. The teacher is not always willing to help the students so they are left uncertain if they made the tasks correctly.

Jonathan Hirt ja Rafael Ortiz: The courses we found the most exciting were Introduction to Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems and MRO Management. We can't think of a course that we found the most difficult, because each course has its own challenges. We liked the semester in Estonia very much and we would recommend it to everyone who wants to do it. Thanks to the events organized by ESN, we are never bored and you can see a lot of Estonia with different trips.

Borislav Krustev: The most difficult subject for me is Business English. It’s not really difficult, but kind of annoying and that makes it difficult to study, because it is a whole different thing than what I usually study. The most interesting subject is RPAS with Andres. Classes are really fun and we don’t have subjects like that at home.

Blagovesta Bancheva: Remotely piloted aircrafts with Andres and Testing equipment in radio electronics with Veiko for sure!

From Zurich to Tartu: 2017 fall semester at EAVA

Moritz Schlatter, a Student from Zurich Universities of Applied Sciences and Arts - School of Engineering says that he liked his exchange semester very much because of the beauty of our country and a great nature. About Tartu he appreciated its coziness and friendly people. Moritz added that comparing to his home country, the biggest difference was the language, "I love to listen to the Estonian language, although I had almost no chance to understand anything". This is the fact that former exchange students have brought out as well.
Moritz Schlatter and Patric Fol making a presentation about Swiss aviation education. 

Moritz said that Estonian Aviation Academy is a great school and especially he loved its familiar atmosphere and the modernity of equipment. During the exchange studies several interesting classes with great guest lecturers were visited by him and Patric, a fellow Student from Zurich. However he had to admit that compared to Switzerland, the school level was rather low, so it was not very difficult to pass all the courses.

Moritz's favorite subject was MRO Management, where he learned new things about Aircraft Maintenance and furthermore had a chance to visit an operating company (Magnetic MRO AS). To sum up "The most difficult subject was GNSS for Civil Aviation" he thinks. 

Moritz Schlatter
ZHAW School of Engineering
Switzerland

Three questions to Simona and Ján

Simona Bolčeková and Ján Čerňan are exchange students from Technical University of Košice. We have asked three questions from them and of course it is always nice to get positive feedback :)

How did you like Tartu, Estonia and what has been surprising?
Simona: Before coming to Estonia, I only knew that it is one of three Baltic states, that the capital is Tallin and winters are pretty cold. Yes, I was a little bit scared, but my desire for adventure won and so far it was one of the best decisions I have ever made! Tartu became my new home for almost five months and living here was amazing. Even though Tartu is a well-known student city, the amount of events really surprised me. Tartu gave me a lot of unforgettable days, evenings and nights. It gave me friendships that will last longer than these few months, an opportunity to deal with a new country, new cultures and a chance to meet people from all over the world. 

Ján: Estonia and especially Tartu is full of beautiful places you can discover. In my opinion the most surprising thing was the weather. In May it looked like summer but in reality the ground was still frozen. 

How did you like your semester at Estonian Aviation Academy?
Simona: I loved the new, modern building next to Tartu Airport with own sauna, gym, canteen, table tennis, table footbal, etc. No wonder that everyone envied the EAVA students. But it was not just about the facilities. The lectures were given at the highest level, focused not only on knowledge, but also development of logical thinking and professional performance. Professors were very friendly and helpful as well. All in all, I really enjoyed the time spent at EAVA. 

Ján: Semester at EAVA was amazing. Teachers were super nice, especially John Kunka! I also like the building of the Academy. It makes students feel relaxed so they could focus on studying. 

Which subjects were the most interesting and the most difficult for you?
Simona: I can say that most of the subjects were interesting and well-prepared. But as I am student of Air Transport Managements, the most interesting subject for me was Air Transport Economics because of my interests. At the same time it was the most difficult one. Wait..No...The most difficult one was for sure Estonian for beginers. That pronunciation of ö, õ, ä and ü cost me a lot of effort! 

Ján: Most interesting subject was Air transport economy, because I learnt a lot of useful things and I also enjoyed when we had guests from Nordica, old Estonian Air or a specialist from Turkey. They explained us how all those things work in real life. Most difficult courses were e-courses. We had to be aware of deadlines, and it wasn’t always possible (haha). But in general I really enjoyed this semester. Tartu was a good choice!

Simona Bolčeková & Ján Čerňan,
Technical University of Košice
Slovakia

Some thoughts from Petr Helia, an exchange student from Brno University of Technology

Estonia is a perfect starting point to explore Nordic. You can easy travel to Finland, St. Petersburg or Latvia. Of course there are a lot of interesting places in Estonia as well. For example I can recommend yellow window hunting, Lahemaa national park and many more…

During the exchange studies I have discovered that Tartu ESN is really active. They organize many events every week and it’s almost impossible to attend everything. Estonians are able to biking in winter, during rain at 3am. Btw, bring your bike here because here are nice biking conditions, but it’s almost impossible to buy used bike (even really old) for less than 70 Euros here.

EAVA is really far from city center and bus connection is very bad. It’s possible to walk to Ülenurme bus station. It takes ca 20 minutes by fast walk and buses go there more often than from Lennujaam bus station. For 2 Euros you can also get “Tartu Bussikaart” where you can deposit money and don’t care about small coins. You have also 5% discount with the cart :))

While comparing Tartu with Czech Republic the main difference is weather. Here in Tartu the weather is absolutely unpredictable. Although the sun is shining at the moment, it doesn’t mean there won’t come snow blizzard in next ten minutes... and it works also in opposite way. On the other hand nobody expected we will see warm weather here, but since begin of May we have enjoyed real Estonian summer.

I think that EAVA has been best choice I have ever done. Everyone on EAVA is really helpful and with positive attitude. Especially when you meet Karine, it makes your day – I have never seen her with bad mood. My favorite course is definitely Aviation English. Ere Saar is amazing teacher, and it’s really visible she was delivering education. She is that kind of teacher who wants to teach you something. Her lessons were always interesting and with adequate intensity. EAVA has also a gym and sauna…just use all opportunities that EAVA offers.

Petr Helia
Brno University of Technology
Czech Republic

First impressions about Estonia, Tartu and Academy

Tere! Minu nimi on Alex! 

When I decided to go to Erasmus, the first thing that everybody asked me was: why did you choose Estonia? And I never knew what to answer. However, now that I am here, I am discovering many new things that I did not expect. Living in the student city is awesome, you meet people from all over the world and from other fields and in Tartu there are a lot of activities and parties, which are very useful for meeting new people. 

About EAVA, it is a very new building and is full of equipment for giving different points of view of the theoretical stuff. Teachers are so friendly and try to help you anytime. They are always proposing to do some visits, like hangar, etc. The leisure installations of the academy are perfect, since you have gym, sauna, table tennis...

The syllabuses in the academy are very interesting, and I believe that I would learn a lot. The RPAS subject is the one that I found more interesting.

The student life in Tartu is awesome; there is always some event you can join. I did not expect that, as in Barcelona we do not have all this amount of events every day. The main difference between BCN and Tartu is the time of eating and partying as in Barcelona we eat at 2pm and 9pm and we go party about midnight. Another big difference is the weather, it is so cooooooold! The other things are more or less the same, so it is easy to get used to Tartu. I am completely happy about my decision.

Alex March Vidal
Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya-Castelldefels School of Telecommunications and Aerospace Engineering
Spain

Three questions to Silvestras Jarmalavicius, an Erasmus
student from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University

How did you like Tartu, Estonia, what was surprising?

It was definitely one of the most amazing places I have had opportunity to live at. Beautiful nature and architectural heritage took my heart at the very beginning. Friendly Estonian people made Tartu even better place to live. The whole composition made my days in Estonia unforgettable experience.

How did you like your semester at Estonian Aviation Academy?
Estonian Aviation Academy is a professional higher education institution. After one semester of studies there I could confirm that the first sentence of my answer is totally true. The education was given at the highest level. Lectures were interesting and well prepared. I can not remember even one boring lecture, it’s probably because teachers were specialists of their field. All in all, I could say that I made a great decision to challenge myself in Erasmus program at Estonian Aviation Academy. No regrets!

Which subjects were the most interesting and the most difficult for you?
It’s really hard to emphasis the most interesting subjects because all of them have had something engrossing. Anyway, one of the most interesting subjects was management of airline commercial activity. At the same point it was also the most difficult object but I truly believe that information which I received during that course will be useful for me in the near future.

Silvestras Jarmalavicius
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
Lithuania

Blog by Edvardas and Edgaras

Two Lithuanian Students – Edvards and Edgaras from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University were writing and filming a blog during the 2013 fall semester. The most important events, places and people have been recorded.

If you are interested in seeing all that information, please find the „Misija Erasmus“ in Facebook!

Some thoughts from Atanas Milev and Pavlin Hristov, our first Erasmus students from Bulgaria!

Tartu was just, amazing! It is surprising to see how many activities you have here! We have seen a lot and I am sure we have not seen all. There are stadiums, parks, adventure parks, swimming pools paintball courts and more! Also the river passing through the city is used for a lot of sports like canoeing, swimming and sometimes skiing when it’s frozen. I can’t even describe the beautiful views you can get around the city. You can never get tired of Tartu :)

The spring semester in the academy was awesome! We had some fun in robotics, we got to learn about Estonia and its traditions as well as air transport economics, navigation and many more. The teachers in the academy are very positive, open minded set of very well educated people and will help you with whatever they can to make sure that you are well prepared. I was amazed by the building and equipment in the academy everything is new and well maintained. The gym and sauna inside helps you stay in good shape!

Most of the classes were interesting we learned a lot from the effective speaking, specialty practice was really fun, where you can see how some parts of the plane are made and actually do some yourself. We also got to make a robot and also program it in robotics, which is really cool. Most of the other classes were interesting simply because the teachers made them interesting. I think the most difficult class was the Human factors, due to the fact that there are a lot of facts you need to learn.

Pavlin Hristov and Atanas Milev
"Vassil Levski" National Military University
Bulgaria

Thoughts from ESN Diary

Hello!

Why had I chosen Estonia – Tartu? Because I wanted to study at one of the best aviation academy in Europe! Nice and kind but mainly very experienced and professional teachers and friendly students are ready to help me with all of my problems.

There are a lot of activities to do during free time as well…to stay in Tartu with my new international friends or to discover beauty of Estonian nature and culture... I love it :-)

Jakub Zouhar
Brno University of Technology
Czech Republic

Tere-tere!

Our time in Tartu has been very pleasant! We have learned a lot at the Estonian aviation academy but had enough time besides studying for other activities. Because of this we have seen a lot of Estonia and the surrounding countries.

Together with other Erasmus exchange students, we have had many good times in Tartu. Special thanks to ESN Tartu, the Estonian aviation academy and club Atlantis for making this the best semester ever!!

Nick Soonius and Luuk van der Kolk
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
The Netherlands

Thoughts from ESN Diary

First of all, I would like to underline the invaluable, professional and very harmonious attitude of both lecturers and people working at the international office. The sufficient volume of knowledge linked to joyful atmosphere, that was the key driver bringing me back again and again to the doors of EAVA. I am grateful to a superior number of people students and teachers all together, that are connected by the passion called Aviation. The new and modern complex of the Estonian Aviation Academy provides a sky-high education level. EAVA shows up as a felicitous choice to one´s liking that industry. I had an agreeably unforgettable time spent out here in Estonia.

Miroslav Špák
Technical University of Košice
Slovakia

Presentation about Turkey and Turkish aviation education

Tere!

Minu nimi on Ömer Faruk ja minu perenimi on KESKİN.

Last year I qualified for Erasmus in Estonia but I couldn’t match lecture my home university. Firstly I didn’t have any idea about Estonia. I knew only that here is the Estonian Aviation Academy. When I saw academy and compared it with my home university, I was shocked, because it is unbelievable.

Academy has a lot of oppurtunities, for example library, simulation room for air traffic control and flight by plane, gym, sauna and table tennis. Most interesting thing for me is the shape of the building. It looks like a spacecraft. About Tartu. I have already tried to walk on the bridge and swim in the fountain. In addition Tartu is a student city, where all young people know English.

It is a first time for me to be in another country. I have already visited some places in Estonia, while the car was rented. I like that cold, small and beautiful country and if I turn back my home, I will miss everything about Estonia. Thanks to Estonia for your all opportunities. Thank you / Tänan teid!

Ömer Faruk Keskin
Erciyes University
Turkey

Some thoughts from Magdalena Grabowska, an Erasmus student from Poland

For me the Estonian Aviation Academy is a very modern and professional higher education institution. I found here a lot of useful information about the civil aviation's world. The classrooms are adequately equipped, I have access to everything.

The most important point here are people! I think that I met here the most experienced and smiling all time teachers! I can ALWAYS ask if I don't understand something or I want to know more. I'm surprised that for Estonian Aviation Academy very important is learning specialized aviation english. It is useful for students in their future. I've never been so impressed.

I am spending here the best time of my life. I'm so pround that I can be here, to meet Estonian teachers and every day to know more and more and more about aviation's world!

Magdalena Grabowska
National Defence University
Poland

Three questions to Laura Gudeleviciute

How did you like Tartu, Estonia, what was surprising?
I came from Lithuania, these countries are very similar to each other, so I didn‘t found anything extremely surprising for me. But there is one thing what I miss a lot. I am talking about sky. It is strange that only 500km between countries can make such big difference. Strange shapes of the clouds during day, beautiful colours during evening and dark just for few hours during the night in June made the biggest impression for me. Talking about Tartu I can mention, that I didn‘t expected that it is so modern city. I had great time there and I found a lot of nice people. Talking about Erasmus exchange program I can say that it is worth to choose Estonia.

How did you like your semester at Estonian Aviation Academy?
Estonian Aviation Academy is a good place for studies. Nice design building with cosy class room and beautiful environment makes you feel comfortable even you have lectures for all day. Dining room provides delicious and cheep food. I think that study quality is very good. But in EAVA I like the most lecturers. Kind and young specialists make this academy good place for studies.

Which subjects were the most interesting and the most difficult for you?
The most interesting subject for me was Introduction to Robotics. Lecturer knows how to make students interested in his subject. We constructed Lego robots. All lectures were like a game and at the last day we had a competition between each other. The most difficult was the GNSS e-course. We had to read the topics and answer to the lecturer questions. Sometimes it was really hard to found the answer. It was hard, but and an interesting, because we got a lot of knowledge.

Laura Gudeleviciute
General Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania
Lithuania

The Dutch guys in Tartu

We decided to go to the Estonian Aviation Academy with a total of five Dutch guys; Dax Biesbrouck, Marthijn over de Linden, Robbert van Niekerk, Roger Smit and Stephan Diek. We chose for the second semester because this was more suitable considering our internships in The Netherlands and of course the weather in Estonia is better during the second semester! During the planning of our study in Tartu we decided that having a car would be desirable, so together we bought a big car which could carry all our stuff to Estonia and provide transportation while we were in Tartu. In the end of January 2012 Dax Biesbrouck and Marthijn over de Linden got in the car, fully loaded with all sorts of stuff and took off towards Estonia. It was a 2300km trip, so Dax and Marthijn made two overnight stops; one in Warsaw and one in Riga. These stops were very interesting and already there they made some new friends in the local clubs and bars. Robbert, Roger and Stephan went to Estonia by airplane.

In the first two weeks we were offered to choose our program; with a minimum of 30 ECTS. Because there were a lot of interesting subjects to choose from, we eventually choose a program of 35 ECTS and we all passed! The subjects were very diverse; one day we would work in the hangar building a wing from aluminium from scratch, the next day we got the basics of navigation while sitting in the classroom with people from the military and the next day we had lessons in improving our presentation and public speaking skills and so on! A very diverse course, which makes it extremely fun and interesting!

During our time at the Academy we experienced a very good time, lessons were great and sometimes even customized to our needs; if we already learned about a certain subject in The Netherlands we could get other learning material etc. All the teachers were very friendly and guided us very well! Halfway into our study we got a new Erasmus Coordinator; Karine Mandel. She helped us with everything we asked for, even when one of us became ill she assisted him to the hospital. She kept us up to date with everything what happened, schedules, marks, test etc. Excellent!

The living conditions in Estonia are good, we lived in a dormitory called Raatuse 22 (has a very good location). This is a dormitory with a lot of (ESN) foreign students from all over the world; Turkey, Spain, Latvia, Poland, Belgium, France, Germany etc.! Here you can rent an apartment with three rooms, with in each room place for two people. It is also possible to rent one room for yourself, this is highly recommended by us.

Estonia is a very modern country, the malls, schools, nightlife and roads are great. You can find Wi-Fi everywhere (every shopping mall, restaurant, pub and club), which makes contact with home very easy. Because Tartu is known as a student city there is more than enough to do in your free time; the park is always busy, the city square is always crowded, very good restaurants and the nightlife is more than excellent!

Overall we would recommend going to the Estonian Aviation Academy a lot, we had more than a great time here. The friendliness and help we experienced is more then we could possibly ask for, also the subjects and lessons are nice to do. Also because Tartu is so centrally positioned travelling is possible. During our time here we made trips to Stockholm, A ski-trip with the students of the Estonian Aviation Academy to Latvia, Riga, Tallinn and Saint Petersburg. The Estonian Aviation Academy also gave us the time to travel; lessons could be shifted very easily.

We are heading back to the Netherlands with a lot of new experiences which will be useful in the future when searching for the right job.

Aitäh meeldejääva aja eest Eesti Lennuakadeemias!

Dax Biesbrouck, Marthijn over de Linden, Robbert van Niekerk, Roger Smit and Stephan Diek
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
The Netherlands

How to survive in Estonia :)

The road to Estonia is very simple. It is true that you need to spend 16 hours in a bus from Warsaw but the journey passes very good. The best thing is that you can take a lot more baggage than you can by an airplane. When you get to the heart of Tartu, you find the dormitory is at a distance of just 5 minutes from the bus station.

Despite the advantages of journey by bus, many challenges await a student. First and foremost, the most important and urgent issue for each student is accommodation. I recommend the dormitory for international students on street Raatuse. The cost of living in a shared room is only 100 Euros. The dormitory offers you an opportunity to live with students from different countries. The experience affords you a fun and unique opportunity to learn about other cultures. The bus station for bus directly leaving to the academy is also near this dormitory. If you do not know how to cook, a delicious lunch is available at Metro, a food outlet, next to the dormitory. Furthermore, I recommend a delicious lunch at an affordable price in the university canteen.

The university offers excellent technical and academic facilities. There is a large well-equipped library. In addition, each student has unlimited access to the Internet. All of the lab and lecture halls are equipped with multimedia projectors and computers. There is a very interesting choice of courses for Erasmus students, like Estonian courses for Beginners, and Introduction to Robotics. In the later, we studied in a small group comprising of 6 people, only Erasmus students. This allowed me to interact and learn in a group while getting explicit attention and mentorship from the teacher. During our sessions, we built robots from Lego bricks and tried to program the robots in motion using a special program. I think this helped us in developing our creativity in a fun and interesting way. I highly recommend this course. On the contrary, the course in Estonian language was quite difficult to learn. Nevertheless, it is always advisable to learn the native language of the country where you are. The phrases that I remembered the most are: Tere Tere, Kuidas Läheb? J Yet another very useful course is in Aviation English. It offers many new words to learn, especially for someone who has their future work in applied aviation. I cannot forget the lessons in Business English and Effective Speaking with Hans Künka. These were the great classes by a man who can incredibly motivate us to work. But this isn’t all. The practices which we had in the hangar proved to be very interesting. I never held a drill in my hand before. But it was not an obstacle. I think everything can be learned if you want. These are some of my favorite classes, but additionally I also recommend the courses that were based on Internet. These courses require a lot of self motivation to learn but also bring effects on us. The internet based courses do not say that we are left on our own. We can always count on help of teachers as well as all of the employees of EAVA. They are always willing to help. Whenever we had queries and concerns, we went to the coordinator and always found a solution to the problem.

I also have very positive memories from the social life in Tartu. Social and cultural life flourishes here all the time. It was an amazing opportunity to compare the psychology of people, their different views. These included the various religious views which made me understand some of the commonly misunderstood concepts and beliefs better. The life here also allowed me to explore and examine some of the issues and problems that are beyond the science books.

Studying abroad as Erasmus student gave me a living proof that travelling broadens the perspective. Despite the great differences in the lifestyles of students, I saw tolerance and understanding for each other’s beliefs. Each one of us here stared at the differences with the great fascination. I tried to understand and accept them with full compassion. Here you can also always count on help from the other students as there is no rivalry here, just mutual respect and cooperation.

I think that Tartu is a great place for the Erasmus students. Furthermore, I believe that the offered program and the university ranking are high. The quality of education definitely prepares the students very well for employment in aviation. If you get a chance, you do not have anything to fear. Just pack your stuff, and head this way. Tartu welcomes you!

Agata Pierścionek,
Student of National Defence University in Warsaw,
Poland