Nuša Glavič from University of Ljubljana/ Slovenia

I am a Graphic Design student, I spent autumn semester 2020 with Erasmus exchange studies at VTDK.
My Erasmus experience in Vilnius was interesting and despite the situation with the Covid-19 pandemic, I had a very good time here. There were 5 more people in the exchange from different countries: Eldin from Bosnia, Aritz from Spain, Burak and Deniz from Turkey and Mohanad from Yemen. I also had the best mentor Alisa, who helped me and others with everything, and she was even teaching me how to speak Russian. During our stay we all became very good friends.

We were exploring Vilnius and trying traditional food. Eldin’s mentor Donatas organized a trip to Trakai town, where we ate traditional kibinai and cepelinai. I enjoy Lithuanian food very much. VTDK Erasmus mentors’ group organized two events for us before the school closed for online lectures due to pandemic. I believe that our experience would have been a lot different if we could hang out more with Lithuanian students from Erasmus group and be more surrounded with Lithuanian culture.
Regarding the lectures, I have learned a lot during my Erasmus exchange at VTDK. The lectures were mostly individual and in English. The study system at VTDK is very different from the one we have in Slovenia. After the lecture every week the professors gave me homework, which I had to complete until next week. Tasks were practical and interesting. With this system I always had some tasks to do and every week I learned something new. At the end of the semester I got a grade based on the work I did, and not on the final exam. It was interesting to see my study field from a different perspective.

Before the borders between the cities were closed due to quarantine, we travelled around Lithuania every weekend. We visited the cities of Klaipeda, Nida, Palanga, Kaunas and Druskininkai. After Lithuania went into lockdown, we mostly stayed at the dormitory, did our school work and hung out in our kitchen. Me and my roommate had a misfortune of getting sick with Covid during our stay and had to be quarantined for 14 days, however everything turned out fine and we didn't infect other people.

I learned a lot from this experience and would recommend it to anyone. The best thing I got from it was to have met this group of amazing people.