Student life

Getting to Timisoara

To come to Timişoara, several solutions are available to you. The simplest of these solutions is the plane, with three main flights:

• Paris Beauvais → Timisoara (direct): Flights offered by the company WizzAir (does not accept animals). The flights are frequent ranging from 1 to 2 per week and the prices are accessible with often some reductions. In addition, there is a shuttle leaving from Porte Maillot in Paris to reach the airport.

• Baden-Baden → Timisoara (direct): Flights also offered by Wizzair. Here too they are quite frequent and the prices affordable, but you have to go to Germany to board. It is a very interesting solution for students coming from the East of France.

• Paris CDG → Timisoara (indirect): Flights with a stopover in Bucharest (sometimes quite long) offered by the company Tarom. Generally, these flights are more expensive than those passing through Beauvais. This is the least interesting aerial solution of the three, but some animals are accepted on board.

The other solutions to go to Timişoara are the train, the bus and the car. The car requires to check beforehand the opening of the borders of each country crossed, in particular in this epidemic period (and, of course, if you are motivated or motivated and you are passionate about hiking, you can come on foot).

Bringing our animals to Romania

Yes ! However, be aware that not all companies accept them... Also, there are many accommodations where animals are not tolerated, but it is still possible to find some! Several students came with their cats, others with their dogs.

On site you can also become a foster family for abandoned animals (dogs and cats) until they are placed in a permanent family.

Regarding horses, you should know that there is no equestrian structure in Timişoara itself. The nearest is a few tens of minutes by car. And, on site, you will find pet stores where it is possible to adopt fish, rodents...

Obviously, it is better to have seen your accommodation in advance to decide whether or not it is well suited to accommodate an animal and that it is fulfilled in it. Also think about the round trips you will make between Romania and France and ask yourself if the animal supports them well (#BienÊtreAnimalAvantTout).

Getting around Timisoara

Timişoara has its own public transport network and, hold on tight, it is completely free for students. Buses are frequent and run throughout the city. There are also trams and bicycles.

If you decide to expand your Romanian horizons, know that Romania has a rail network reaching the main cities of the country and, if not, you can rent cars at reasonable prices when paid for several.

Housing

Accommodation around the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is very easy, there are a lot of residences and mostly new buildings. With the Covid, there were several organizations: some came from August to visit apartments, others waited until the end of September to visit and sign their lease, others have everything done in video or by email (contact with an agency, visit, signing of contract).

You can go through   agencies or via sites where ads are posted by individuals and communicate in English (Romanians generally have a good level in the language of Shakespeare). -3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_

Examples of sites offering rental offers: Publi24.ro, olx.ro, imobiliare.ro, hitchmosher.ro...

And as usual, if you need help, we can help you with pleasure! Also, don't be afraid to try to negotiate the amount of rent with the landlord, it's quite common.

→ Roommate:

Many of us are roommates! The main arguments for choosing this alternative are as follows. You will arrive in a foreign country, being in a roommate allows you to avoid any loneliness, it allows you to help yourself in the beginning and for the lessons as well. This also represents a financial interest, we have noticed that the beautiful comfortable apartments are much cheaper for two. On average, for a shared apartment of 2 people, in an apartment between 50 and 75 m², furnished and equipped, often with a balcony, it is necessary to count between 200 and 300 € each with, in addition, the charges (between 20 and 50 € per person per month depending on your consumption).

→ Individual accommodation:

    However, there are also people who live alone in apartments. To find accommodation with relatively affordable prices, you have to look a little more than in the case of a roommate. And, once again, do not hesitate to try to negotiate a reduction in rent (on average between 350 and 450 € per month). But individual housing also has its own advantages, including complete independence.

Before embarking on the choice of your accommodation, try to get in touch with the other people in your promotion (or even other promotions) in order to see if the first affinities are created and to potentially put up a roommate, ask pros and cons, don't rush... You're bound to find something! (note that there are also accommodations in the form of dormitories within the University).

The banks

Before starting this point, you should know that, even if you are in the European Union, the currency used in Romania is not the Euro!! And no, the currency here is the Lei, also called “Ron” (yes, like the BFF from Harry Potter) and besides, you will be happy because 1 € = 4.90 Lei (in other words, life here is less expensive than in France!). 

Regarding the banks (and the moula), some French banks can be used worldwide without exchange fees between Euro and Lei, however, for those who have fees and who would like to limit them (or no longer have any at all) , there are a few solutions.

The first of these is to sign up for an account with an online bank. Here are several examples:  

• Boursorama: Ultim visa card - international payment card - Fee of 0€/month!! subject to use at least once a month !! otherwise 9€/month!! - Payments abroad in free and unlimited currencies and 3 free withdrawals/month then 1.69% fee on the amount of the withdrawal beyond 3 withdrawals - Card protection option (in the event of theft or loss) at €0.99/month

• Revolut: Metal card withdrawal and transfer free of charge in any currency anywhere in the world, withdrawal up to 3000 lei/month, protection of purchases up to 10,000€/year, refunds of plane tickets up to at 1000€/year, insurance of your personal telephone, insurance of the card in case of loss sending of a new card in 24 hours in 150 countries, free and unlimited currency exchange with excellent exchange rate (bitcoin access and raw material) , global medical insurance and winter sports coverage  up to €10,000,000, car rental excess for 31 days, access to 1,000 private lounges in airports around the world. Subscription 500 lei/year (other standard and premium subscriptions possible)

• N26 (For the moment, this solution is not yet used by students)

The second solution is to open a new account directly in a bank in Romania (this implies you will have to go to Romania several days before the start of the lessons  in order to be able to put all this in place with the bank in question if it is not possible to do it directly online) 

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Phone plans

For phone packages, some French packages include internet, messages and calls throughout Europe (you need to find out about your packages). Otherwise it is also possible to take a phone plan directly in Romania from the following companies:  

• DIGI: all unlimited at 5€/month in Romania, unlimited 4G mobile data in Europe with additional costs but you will not exceed 10€ per month in total.

• Vodafone: all unlimited for 6€/month on the same condition as DIGI.

→ Free in France:

The 2€/month flat rate to keep a French number because if you are called on the Romanian phone it costs more depending on the caller's flat rate.

Businesses

Various shops are located near the University;

• Auchan→ included in a small shopping center with a pharmacy, a sewing shop, clothing stores. 

• Hornback(DIY, gardening...)

• Selgros(supermarket mainly food but offers everything)

• Altex(electronic)

• Decathlon(no need to specify I think)

• Momax(furnishings) 

The Iulius Mall, a large shopping center, is located between the University and the city center of Timisoara (10 minutes by bus from the University).

The sport

Sports lessons are compulsory in the first year. 

Outside of class you can practice freely and free of charge on the grounds of the University;

• Soccer

• Basketball

• Beach volleyball

• Tennis 

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Outside the University you can practice other sports in Timisoara but the sessions are chargeable;

• Rugby

• Swimming 

• Escalation

• Rowing

• Badminton

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Volunteering

Of course you can participate in the operation of our student association. You can also join the animal protection clubs "Les Car'Pattes" or the GTV Junior club for an even richer associative life!

Apart from what we propose to you, the city of Timisoara and Romania in general is not very rich in association.

The atmosphere in Romania

Imagine 45 French men and women arriving in Romania, each with their own apartment, everyone living in the same neighborhoods, a good atmosphere guaranteed! The Covid has limited all that but we adapt, restaurants in small groups, evenings in small numbers in the apartments, going on weekends and on vacation, etc... We also meet often for other activities, we have access to the university sports complex (football pitches, basketball, volleyball, tennis). There are also sports fields and public parks in the city.

The locals are, for the most part, very welcoming! Almost all of them speak English in town (more rarely in the countryside, which doesn't prevent them from being too cute), so it's quite easy to make yourself understood in Timişoara. It's up to us to be the ambassadors of French savoir-vivre, to be polite, to try to wedge in a few words of Romanian when we talk to them, that always makes them happy.

(ex: Hello = Bună ziua; Goodbye = La revedere, Thank you = Mulţumesc)!

Meet other students

Facebook, our best friend! There is a Facebook group with all the students of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine which you will be added to and added after your admission by the former students.

Ideally, we recommend that you subsequently create a Facebook group as well as a Messenger group with the people in your promotion in order to communicate easily and help each other, organize yourself, pass on the links for videoconference courses ( hoping that by then we will have the opportunity to attend classes at the FAC)...