Mobility specification

Country:Ireland

Institution:Dublin City University

City:Dublin

Program:Erasmus+ for study

Activity type:Study

Academic year:2023/2024

MU faculty/department:Faculty of Education / # Department of Technical Education and Information Science

Study level abroad:Bachelor

🎓Hit the books! How do you rate the university experience?

Can you enroll in a course where you can learn the local language?yes

Are your credits converted?no

Was there anything in the teaching methods that surprised you?I was surprised that I wasn't actually almost surprised. I expected the teaching at DCU to be significantly different from the teaching at MUNI, but it was not.

Does the university offer international students' programs and activities outside of lectures and seminars to help them integrate more quickly?Yes, DCU has a rich program not only for international students during orientation week and later in the semester.

In which areas does the university offer support for students with special needs and strive to be inclusive?Psychological counseling
Barrier-free access to classrooms and dormitories
Crisis intervention
Support for LGBTQ+ students (e.g., safe spaces, counseling services)

💸Did you have to rob the bank?

Try to take a guess at what your monthly expenditures were:35000 CZK/month

Did you stay in dorms?no

Do you have any tips on how to find private accommodation?It's a good idea to start looking for accommodation in Dublin as soon as possible. There is a lot of interest in the dorms (supposedly about 4 people per bed, if I remember correctly), so don't rely on them. There are also various student accommodations in Dublin, but they are quite expensive. Your best bet is to get a place to stay at someone's house. DCU should send you a link to a database (if not, it's here dcustudentpad.ie) where people list spare rooms in their houses/apartments. You'll probably search here first. Be sure to email as many people as you can and hopefully you'll hear from someone. Definitely don't limit yourself to Dublin city centre and look further afield. It's quite common to commute longer distances to Dublin. I commuted from a city about 23 kilometres away. If you don't find the dorms, or you don't hear from anyone on Studentpad, I recommend checking out the Facebook group Češi a Slováci v Irsku (CZ&SK v IRL). I found out that there is quite a large Czechoslovak community in Ireland, whose members are happy to help their compatriots. Three people offered me accommodation here quite quickly and I ended up staying with a lady from Přerov.

What about unexpected expenses? Did anything surprise you?I was surprised by the higher fees at the doctors, which if you are insured will be reimbursed by the insurance company.

Do you have any tips on how to save money?If you can cook, you've won. By possibly cooking your own food, I think you could save some money. Also, definitely get yourself a student Leapcard (a card for transport in Ireland) before you go. You can have it sent to the DCU office, where you can then pick it up as soon as you arrive. With this card, I think you'll get 50 per cent off transport. Also, at DCU they offer free packets of anything a student might need (pasta, some sauces, things to wash dishes, etc.). I haven't taken advantage of this so I don't know the details, but if you want to, definitely take advantage of it.

🗺 Learn the ropes in a new city

How well did you manage to communicate in English?almost without problems

How does public transport work in the city?neutral

And what about transport outside the city?terrible

Where to find connections? How to buy a ticket?I mainly searched for connections in the TFI Live app (Transport for Ireland) or Google maps. The public transport in Dublin itself is kind of average, but if you take some intercity transport, it's quite an experience. :D Buses come and go more or less randomly (sometimes they don't come at all) especially if you're going to or from small towns/villages for example. It's a bit annoying at first, but once you get used to it, you'll just laugh at it.

Did you deal with any health issues during your stay?yes

How do you rate the availability of healthcare?mostly fine

🤠Help create the perfect bucket list

What is a must-see in the city?There's a lot going on in Dublin. Most of the time I was just hanging around the city and always came across something interesting. I definitely recommend checking out: 1) the General Post Office (the scene of the 1916 Easter Rising), 2) Kilmainham Gaol (the prison where many of the Easter Rising's alters were imprisoned and executed), 3) Glasnevin Cemetery (the cemetery where many Irish freedom fighters are buried)+the nearby pub The Gravdiggers (recommended to me by a DCU teacher as a really traditional Irish pub, if you like food, he recommended me to have Irish coddle soup, 4) Guinness storehouse, 5) EPIC (Irish emigration museum), 6) Jeanie Johnston (replica of the ship on which the Irish fled to America during the great famine, 7) Christchurch cathedral and St. Patrick's cathedral (don't make the same mistake as me and go there!:D), 8) attending any sports match (e.g. rugby or some typically Irish sports) in a big stadium, 9) Temple Bar (not a pub, but the neighbourhood where the pub of the same name is located), 10) J. R. Mahon's (a lovely pub in the centre of Dublin that I fell in love with at first sight), 11) If you like music, make sure you go to one of the many trad sessions where the Irish get together over a pint and play and sing.

What are the must-visit trip destinations?1) Perhaps my favourite place in the whole of Ireland - the town of Howth. It's a fishing town just outside of Dublin. There are beautiful reefs, beaches, tons of seafood restaurants, you can see seals or sea lions in the harbour (I don't know what the difference is:D) in their natural habitat, also if you go to the cliffs, if you follow the edge of the cliff just before the lighthouse you can carefully walk down to the beach which not many people know about and if you go here sometime towards the evening it is very likely, you'll be alone amongst the cliffs and seagulls, this beach is such a hidden gem and well worth a visit (if you can't find it, it's on google maps under the name A tiny hidden beach) 2) Malahide, Bray, Dalkey, Dún Laoghaire... (other seaside towns) near Dublin, 3) Newgrange (a tomb older than the Egyptian pyramids), 4) Belfast, 5) Galway (besides the obvious tourist attractions I have to recommend the food at McDonagh's, I had absolutely unequivocally the best fish and chips there in my time in Ireland), 6) Cliffs of Moher (if you can plan your own trip and don't drive here from Dublin with a tour company, so you have plenty of time to explore the cliffs at your own pace), 7) Aran Islands (three small islands in the western part of Ireland where Irish is still spoken and people still farm for a living mostly), 8) Wicklow mountains + Glendalough (beautiful hikes and ruins of an old monastery), 9) Don't make the same mistake I did and go to Cork and other towns too. There's a lot to see in Ireland.

Share your best experience:An overnight stay on Inisheer (the smallest of the Aran Islands), otherwise I'm probably quite a minimalist, so I still mostly remember going to Howth a few times, sitting on the beach, listening to music and looking out to sea. Experiences may be non-transferable, but I'm 100% sure you'll create a bunch of your own memorable experiences.

💅A nugget of wisdom to make the life easier

Did you need to handle a visa?no

How did you get to the place?Plane

Is there anything to watch out for before the trip?Not really. There are regular buses from the airport to Dublin and it's actually quite close to the city centre from here.

Can you pay by card?everywhere

What not to forget when packing?If you're going for the spring semester, even if Ireland doesn't seem like it, you might as well use a couple of days of shorts and if it's really nice, maybe a swimsuit.

🥳Summary

Whew, what a ride! 😮‍💨 Thanks so much for taking the time to complete our survey and for sharing your unique experience. Just one last thing. 🙏 How would you summarize your trip in one or two sentences?An unforgettable experience that I still think about every day a year after my return, and I believe you will too. Pack your bags, grab your passport, and set off on an adventure to the Emerald Isle.