The homo sapiens studentus is a special species. Next to the typical activity of studying, the members of this species are known as real lovers of (night)life. But do they have other secrets to unfold? dwars finds out in their natural habitat, the student dorm.
When asked how old he is, he says: “You have to guess.” Alex is a Spanish 27-year-old and is in his fifth year of Medicine. Before getting into Medicine, he studied Biology. In Spain it’s really hard to get accepted into Medicine, so he started his Biology bachelor and kept applying for Medicine every year. He’s 'supposed to' be studying, but doesn’t always go to his classes, because most of them are in Dutch: “We still have to get the English materials from the prof.”
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Next to studying, traveling is one of the most important things in his life. “I think Antwerp is definitely in my top ten.” He found out about our city through a blog called Erasmus en Flandes. The blog is focused on Spanish students who are in, or are looking to go to Belgium. That’s why he already knew a lot about Antwerp when he got here. Still, the city defied his expectations. In his first week, he visited the Grote Markt, the Rubenshuis and the cathedral. For now, his favorite place is the MAS, because there’s always something to do, like the MASked party. He plans on discovering a lot more of the city than the main tourist attractions, though. He’s staying for two semesters, so he’s got some time. What makes it even easier, is that you can get everywhere by foot, even though it's a big city and there's lots to see. According to Alex, Antwerp is a city where you can discover something new every day: “I don’t think I’ll be able to see it all.” Discovering the city is part of his hobby now, because funnily enough, he started writing for the blog that started everything.
la gente está muy loca
A few days ago, Alex celebrated his two-month anniversary of being in Antwerp. Except for his friends and the food (“at home we eat so many dried sunflower seeds!”), he doesn’t really miss anything from Spain. He even thinks it’s less cold in Belgium during the winter. “Maybe it’s because of the rain?” He lives in a building with a lot of Spanish students. Apparently, they are the third largest nationality among Erasmus students in Antwerp. The one thing they all struggle with is the schedule. "Belgians eat ridiculously early!" Alex usualy has dinner around 8 p.m., but if he’d do that here, he’d miss everything. And that is the one thing you don’t want to do. You have to make the most of your stay in Antwerp. How? It’s really simple: “Don’t say no to any plan!”
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