Student life

Getting to Timisoara

To come to Timişoara, you have several options: by plane (direct or connecting flight), by train, by bus or by car. If you want to come with your car, you will have to first check the opening of the borders of each country crossed, especially in this period due to the pandemic (and, of course, if you are motivated and passionate about hiking, you can come on foot).

Taking your animals to Romania

Yes, you can bring your little furry friends with you! However, you must be aware that not all aircraft companies accept them. Also, there are many apartments whose landlords do not allow pets, but it is still possible to find some! Several students came with their dogs or cats.

When you come here you can also become a foster family for abandoned animals (dogs and cats) while waiting for them to be placed in their final adoptive families.

Regarding horse-riding, you should know that there is no equestrian facilities in Timişoara. The closest is about 20 minutes by car. In addition, you will find pet shops where you can adopt fish, rodents, etc.

Obviously, it is better to have seen your new apartment in advance to decide whether or not it is well-suited to accommodate an animal. 

Getting around Timisoara

Timişoara has its own public transport network and - brace yourself - it is completely free for students. Buses are frequent and run throughout the city. There are also trams and public bikes.

If you decide to tour Romania, know there is a rail network connecting to the main cities of the country and, if you'd rather not use a train, you'll be able to rent cars at reasonable prices.

Housing

Finding an apartment close to the faculty is very easy, there are a lot of new residences and buildings. Some people come in August to see apartments, some in late September, while others have rented apartments from their home by video/email (mostly because of covid).

You can find apartments via agencies or sites where advertisements are posted by individuals and communicate in English (Romanians generally have a good level of Shakespeare's language). 

Examples of websites offering rental offers include: Publi24.ro, olx.ro, imobiliare.ro, hitchmosher.ro, and others.

And as usual, if you need any help, we're happy to help! Also, don't be afraid to try to negotiate the rental price with your landlord, it's quite common.

→ Having a Roommate:

Many of us are sharing an apartment! The main arguments for choosing this alternative are as follows: You will arrive in a foreign country, so being in a shared apartment allows you to avoid all loneliness, it allows you to help yourself in the beginnings and for the courses as well. There's also obviously an economic benefit that comes with renting apartments, you can find beautiful apartments that you can afford when the price is split in two. On average, for a shared apartment for 2 people, in an apartment between 50 and 75 m², furnished and equipped, often with a balcony, it will cost each person between 200 and 300 €. In addition, the utilities will be between 20 and 50 € per person per month depending on your electricity, water, gas consumption.

→ Individual accommodation:

   However, there are also people who live alone in apartments. To find accommodation with relatively affordable prices, you will to spend a little more time looking for an apartment. And, once again, you should not hesitate to try to negotiate a lower rent (on average it's between 350 and 450 € per month). But individual housing also has its own advantages, like the fact that you'll have complete independence.

Before making a choice, try to get in touch with people from your class (or people in the upper years) in order to see if one of them could be a potential roommate; get to know them, do not rush, you will find a solution! (Note that there are also dormitories in the University).

The banks

Before starting this point, you should know that, even though Romania is in the European Union, the currency used here is not the Euro !! The local currency here is the Leu (Lei in plural), officially called “RON” (yes, like the BFF of Harry Potter), and besides you will be happy because 1 € = 4.90 Lei (which means that life here is less expensive than in France!).  

Regarding banks, some banks are usable worldwide without exchange fees between Euro and Lei, however, if your bank has additional fees , there are a few solutions.

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

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• Revolut: Metal card withdrawal and transfer free of charge in any currency anywhere in the world, withdrawal up to 3000 lei / month, purchase protection up to 10,000 € / year, reimbursement of plane tickets up to '' at 1000 € / year, insurance of your personal phone, insurance of the card in case of loss, send 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 franchise for 31 days, access to 1,000 private lounges in airports around the world. 500 lei / year subscription (other standard and premium subscriptions possible)

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

• N26

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 course in order to be able to put all this in place with the corresponding bank if it is not possible to do it directly online)

Mobile plans

If your telecom company allows international calls and has no additional roaming fees, it would obviously make sense to keep your current SIM card. Otherwise, you can purchase a mobile plan directly in Romania from the following companies:  

• DIGI: all unlimited at 5€ / month with additional costs for calls/sms to certain companies, but you will not exceed 10 € per month in total, (you need to ask them to activate roaming).

• Vodafone: all unlimited for 6€ / month on the same condition as DIGI, no roaming.

• Romanian Telekom: all unlimited for 7€ / month, roaming enabled.

• Orange: all unlimited for 8€ / month, roaming enabled.

Businesses

Near the university:

• Auchan (big supermarket, has pharmacy and many other stores inside)

• Decathlon (sports gear/apparel store)

• Altex (electronics store)

• Momax (furniture store) 

• Iulius Mall (large shopping center) 10 minutes by bus from the University

Sports

Sports lessons are compulsory in the first year.

Outside of class you can practice freely in the sports facilities of the University:

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• Football

• Basketball

• Beach Volley

• Tennis 

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The university gymnasium is currently closed due to the pandemic.​

Outside of the University you can practice other sports in Timisoara but you will be charged for lessons:

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• Rugby

• Swimming

• Rock climbing

• Rowing

Volunteering

Firstly, you can obviously participate in the operation of our student association. You can also join the animal protection association "Les Car'Pattes"!

The atmosphere in Romania

Imagine 75 international students arriving in Romania, each with their own apartment, everyone living in the same neighborhood; how's that for an atmosphere?! We often organize parties in our apartments and meet for other activities, we have access to the sports complex of the university (football fields, basketball, volleyball, tennis). There are also other sports fields and public parks in the city.

The locals are, for the most part, very welcoming! They almost all speak English in cities and towns (less so in the countryside), so it is quite easy to make communicate with the locals in Timişoara. It's up to us to be the "ambassadors" of our country's image, to be polite, to try to utter a few words of Romanian when we talk to them, it always makes them happy.

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

Meet the other students

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

Ideally, we recommend that you then create a Facebook group as well as a Messenger group with the people of your class in order to easily communicate and help each other, share files, notes, etc.