15:25 – It’s ERASMUS time in Romania!

This year, celebrations of the ERASMUS programme took place all around Europe! In Romania, not only we celebrated 25 years since the launch of the programme, but also 15 years since Romanian students are able to go abroad with ERASMUS.

ERASMUS 15:25 anniversary event, 18th of May 2012

On the 18th of May 2012, Erasmus Student Network (ESN) Romania and the Romanian National Agency organised the main event of the 15-25 years anniversary in Bucharest, where students, professors and ERASMUS staff members from all around the country were invited to attend. The day was full of inspiring activities, all related to the ERASMUS programme.

The day started with the opening speeches from the Romanian National Agency’s director, the NA’s ERASMUS department coordinator, the Representative of the European Commission in Romania, the ERASMUS Ambassador at the European Commission and the Representative of PAU Education in Romania.

One of the most awaited moments of the day was the launch of the movie Generation ERASMUS: the identity of NOW, the first Romanian video to promote the ERASMUS programme. The movie was produced by the Romanian National Agency and ESN Romania, with the help of several partners and supporters. The stories of 5 foreign students from Turkey, Spain, France, Finland, and Germany, who came to study in Romania as part of the ERASMUS programme, are presented together with glimpses of their intercultural exchanges. Romanian students are represented by the President of ESN Romania, who is shown getting on the train towards ERASMUS, carrying a vast Romanian cultural baggage. The main goal of this video is to encourage students from all around Europe to come to Romania on ERASMUS, encouraging at the same time the Romanian students to study abroad.

After watching the movie, the event continued with the panel discussion What do we do once we are back from ERASMUS? How does ERASMUS help you find a better job? Volunteering – a post-ERASMUS perspective! A number of speakers made their voices heard: the EC Representative in Romania, members of NGOs such as ESN Romania, MyGRASP, Reviro, and employers Siveco, Oracle, Petrom , the leading companies in Romania which hired former ERASMUS students. Besides presentations held by each speaker, the audience was engaged into the conversation, so that everybody could ask questions or share experiences on these topics. For the second panel discussion, the topic was What study destination should you choose? Pros and cons of the ERASMUS mobility. Personal experiences from mobilities.  Presentations for this session were held by incoming and outgoing students, as well as professors and staff trainees who benefited from ERASMUS, followed by questions and opinions shared by the audience.

For the first time at an event of its kind, a Labyrinth Theatre experiment for ERASMUS took place and it was addressed to Romanian students interested to apply for a study mobility. All participants got the chance to feel like an ERASMUS student for 20 minutes! Watch this short video to see how it was like.

During the lunch break, there was a photo session named Dear Romania ERASMUS 15:25 as part of the Dear World: Write Our Future international campaign. Check out the photos to see which were the messages shared by the participants.

Right at 15:25, there was the ERASMUS time moment, when a group of students from the National University of Music Bucharest offered a concert of classical music and another group from the Ecological University in Bucharest performed a professional dance show. The day ended with an informal cocktail, where all participants had the chance to interact one with each other.

Many volunteers from ESN UniBuc local section represented our network at the event, promoted our activities, got involved in the panel discussions, and most importantly, shared their personal ERASMUS experiences with students that were interested to take part in the programme. They also prepared ice-breaking games and promoted the key moments of the event, live on the ESN Romania Facebook page. To see more photos from the event, please visit the photo album.

Fairy tale ERASMUS celebration

25 years of ERASMUS in Europe, 15 years of Erasmus in Romania and the first ERASMUS celebration event organised by the newest local section in Romania, ESN Timisoara! Enough reasons to celebrate just like in the Romanian fairy tales: for seven days and seven nights! Between the 14th and the 21st of May, ESN Timisoara gathered the ERASMUS students from the West University of Timisoara and the Politehnica University in Timisoara through various cultural, entertainment and sport activities organised with the full support of the two universities.

ERASMUS Week organised by ESN Timisoara, 14th-20th May 2012

The week of celebration started on Monday, the 14^th of May, with the official opening ceremony, held at the Central University Library Eugen Tudoran. A short history of the ERASMUS programme, speeches from the International Relations Vice-Rector of the West University of Timisoara and the President of ESN Timisoara, T-shirts designed for this occasion and an informal cocktail – this is what the ERASMUS students in Timisoara received on the first day of the week dedicated to them!

On Tuesday, ERASMUS students from the West University of Timisoara got closer to the Romanian students during the Presentation of Countries, which took place in the main hall of the university. For a couple of hours, the students promoted their countries as study destinations for the future Romanian ERASMUS students, answered their questions and offered useful information to those who were already preparing to study in their home countries.

The 16th of May was dedicated to sports, as the ERASMUS students got to prove their aquatic qualities in the swimming contest. 10 students from Italy, Spain and Portugal entered the competition for the title of the best ERASMUS swimmer.

Since fairy tales take place on special sceneries, on Saturday, the 19th of May, the ERASMUS students in Timisoara visited the Corvinilor Castle, situated in Hunedoara County - one of the oldest and most beautiful castles in Romania, being also the old fortress of the city of Deva. The whole activity was financed by the West University of Timisoara.

To wrap up the week, Sunday, the 20th of May, was full of activities. Early in the morning the ERASMUS students of the two universities met on the football ground for the ERASMUS Football Championship. Seven teams of five players showed their skills during the seven hours of soccer. Due to unfriendly weather, the outdoor party which had been planned for Thursday had to be rescheduled for this day. This meant that for the rest of the day, relaxation was the key word, and students had plenty of it during the ERASMUS Pool Party. All participants and ESN volunteers got together in the afternoon at one of the outdoor pools in Timisoara to enjoy the sun, swim, and party until the sunset. During the closing ceremony of the ERASMUS Week fairy tale, there was an Awards Ceremony for the winners of the sports competitions.

The ERASMUS Week of ESN Timisoara ended late on Sunday night, listening to music near the pool and under the starry sky. A modern fairy tale to dream of, wouldn’t you agree?