Vytautas Magnus University / Lithuania, Fatih Koray Baysa

Compared with IZU's Erasmus Office, I observed that VMU's Incoming Student unit did not meet my expectations in terms of communication, both internal (among institutional officers) and external (between officers and students), or in terms of the support offered to students. For example, an IZU student may be told on arrival that person X, who was supposed to be their official contact here, is in fact no longer in that role. Such internal problems can not only confuse the student but also clearly have the potential to harm the institution's official standing. The support that this branch of the institution offers students is limited to a "Welcome!" meeting lasting no more than five minutes. However, these issues will not create problems worse than falling short of incoming students' expectations. The branch in question performs excellently when it comes to preparing official documents, helping with their preparation and providing the financial support a student may expect.

VMU students are quite fortunate in terms of facilities, because VMU has the potential to offer the best student life a student could experience. VMU currently has more than 7 libraries, organised by discipline (physics library, education library, law library, etc.). Textbooks are lent to students for 6 months, but students are strictly forbidden from writing in the books and there is a penalty for doing so. Students experience no problems with the internet; Lithuania claims to have one of the 10 best internet networks in Europe in terms of speed and coverage. Students experience this throughout the city: they have continuous internet access from one campus building to another 10 blocks away with no loss of speed or coverage. Students can use the printers in the architecturally impressive campus buildings by loading money onto their accounts. Every operation a student performs is scanned by the printer systems, and the scan is automatically emailed to the student's address within a minute. Social events never end at VMU; students can take part in thousands of activities, from Chinese meals to club football matches, from city tours to dinner gatherings. These opportunities are largely made possible by the ESN (Erasmus Student Network) VMU and ESN VU (Vilnius University) organisations.

Kaunas has a very tidy and well-organised city layout. The city is divided into the Old Town and the New Town. Vytautas Magnus University, the Baltija dormitory and Akropolis, the famous shopping centre housing the Maxima supermarket, are all located in the New Town. You do not need a map to get around the New Town, because if you can see the huge Soboras Catholic church, a sort of landmark of the New Town, you are not lost. Students who wish to see Kaunas's historic buildings can visit the emblematic Kaunas Castle and the enchanting Apostalo Petro ir Povelo cathedral in the Old Town.