I chose to start my third year of culture and art studies in Lisbon, Portugal. My exchange school Escola Superior de Comunicacao Social mainly focused on social communication studies, whereas my studies in TAMK focus on film and television. I had school only around 10 hours a week and projects and essays did not take a lot of time either. The level of teaching was notably lower than in TAMK and therefore my exchange was way more about free time and travelling than studying. I do not recommend this school if you really want to study, but for more relaxed semester Lisbon is the perfect place.
Portuguese people are also quite chill, which is a nice way of living. However, when you need to get things done it can get frustrating. I had a lot of problems to get even accepted to my exchange school, just because they did not do the paper work on time and it took weeks to answer my emails. Buses never come on time and workers at cafes do not hurry with your coffee. For Finnish people it can be irritating, because we are used to get things done on time. After accepting the slow and relaxed way of Portuguese people, I started to enjoy the relaxed and laid-back way of life.
Lisbon is known for the countless amazing viewpoints around the city, where you can enjoy a wide view of the city and cheap wine. Most of the things in Portugal is cheaper than in Finland, which makes life even more relaxed. The weather is amazing all-around year and it really affects your mood and helps with autumn depression. This year beach weather lasted till the end of October and in December and January it was still mainly sunny and about 15-20 degrees. There are tens of beaches close to Lisbon and trying out surfing is a must. Portugal is a quite small country, so all the beautiful places of Portugal are easily reachable, for example Porto, Algarve and Obidos. Also, it is easier to find cheap flights to other European countries, one way starting from 10€. I recommend buying Erasmus cards to ESN and ELL, the Erasmus organizations which arrange various events, trips and parties. For example, I got to do skydiving and surfing, which were great experiences.
My experience with the school was not the best, but I would not change anything about the experience. Lisbon and Portugal is full of other opportunities, so you will not get bored during the exchange.
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