Erasmus Mundus Pre-departure Orientation in Ukraine
The first joint Erasmus Mundus pre-departure orientation for students from Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova took place in Kyiv on the 7th - 8th of June 2010 in the office of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine.
This pre-departure orientation was performed following the initiative of the EMA CIS & Mongolia Regional Chapter of Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Association, in close cooperation with the EU Delegation to Ukraine. Last year three separate PDOs were held in July in Kyiv (Ukraine), Chisinau (Moldova) and Moscow (Russia).
This year more than 30 students and alumni were present at the meeting and had an opportunity to interact and communicate. These students have won scholarships grants, funded by the European Commission, to study at one of the Erasmus Mundus courses at universities the EU Member States. The event was an opportunity for them and their peers from Belarus and Moldova to meet the staff of the European Union Delegation as well as to get a first-hand advice from Erasmus Mundus alumni.
In the beginning of the event representatives of the EU Delegation to Ukraine welcomed and congratulated the newly admitted students and told them about the programme’ s important place in the EU-Ukraine relations. After that, representatives of the EU member states (France, Germany, Sweden, Poland and Czech Republic) provided general information and practical tips about living and studying in their respective countries and were available during the coffee-break to answer all sorts of questions.
In the second part of the day, after a presentation of Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Association activities, the ‘ freshmen’ got an opportunity to discuss various practical issues with the former students. The day programme was concluded with the networking reception hosted by Ambassador Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira, the Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine.
The following day of the orientation started with Intercultural Workshop. During the workshop which consisted of two major parts, students were able to work in teams acquiring valuable information about European mentality, culture peculiarities of different nations and even about the concept of culture shock.
