Unpack Your Study Abroad

Unpack Your Study Abroad - Phases and Events

• Before exchange

  The assignments of the ‘before exchange’ phase will help prepare you to adapt to a new culture. Because what is culture actually? And how does culture influence your own perspective of the world? The first four assignments of this trajectory will help you reflect on your own intercultural competences, as well as prepare yourself for the culture of your host country with help of the cultural iceberg. Furthermore, you will contemplate on three goals that you want to achieve during your exchange to make the most out of your time there.   

• Exchange event (live)

  VU International Office will organize the Exchange Event on campus around April/May to help prepare you further for your exchange semester. There will be an interactive presentation by an expert who will give you more insight into the intercultural competences you will develop abroad and what kind of culture shock and rollercoaster of emotions you can expect and how to prepare for this. This is followed by a Meet & Greet: you can meet outgoing exchange students who have just returned from your exchange region, fellow outgoing exchange students going to the same country/university as you and incoming exchange students from our partner universities.  

• During exchange

  The wait is finally over, it is time to go on exchange! You will meet a lot of new people from various cultures, live in a new environment and study at another university. It will probably be a lot of fun but can also be quite challenging at times. During the three assignments that you will make during your exchange you will reflect on the differences in the academic styles between VU Amsterdam and your host university. As an optional assignment, you can send in a video of your time during your exchange for our video contest. As a first prize you can win a 250-euro interrail ticket, which will help you visit some of the friends you made during your exchange after you have returned! 

• After exchange

  Welcome back to the Netherlands! Returning home from an exchange semester can be a challenging and difficult time. For some, readjusting to life at home can be as difficult as adjusting to life in your host country and you might experience a reverse culture shock. These assignments will help you readjust and reflect on the intercultural skills you have learned during your exchange and on the goals, you set out for yourself before your exchange. You will also write your student experience report to help make future VU outgoing exchange students an informed choice about where they want to go on an exchange.