ERASMUS: 20 years of integration

In the past 20 years, more than 1.5 million young people have participated in the ERASMUS program, an EU-sponsored program that enables higher education mobility within Europe, offering students a framework for studying in different countries for a portion of their enrollment.

To celebrate the 20th Anniversary, the Erasmus Student Network is cruising Europe in the Erasmus Van, with the agenda of raising awareness and spreading the Erasmus spirit. It goes something like this: (1) Arrival at a main university, setting up a stand with music and flyers; (2) Organizing talks and workshops about the Erasmus program; (3) Unavoidable international student party at night.

I had the chance to take part in this experience first-hand, as a volunteer, traveling in the Erasmus Van through the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia. What I lived there was what I consider the Erasmus Spirit in essence: a combination of international community, mobility and good times. People come together from all across Europe, crossing borders from one nation or another, and in the process, they talk together, study together, and party together. It is during this process, of living with people from other countries for an extended period of time, that differences dilute and similarities start to emerge.

Erasmus is famous for its parties—and the reputation is justified. Every single stop of the van was greeted with a genuine Erasmus party. For instance, in Prague the basement of a trendy pub was reserved for the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the program: groovy house music, lots of drinks and even more smiles flooded the dance floor. Birthday cakes were served. You could witness strangers coming together, united by some invisible bond of being there, sharing the same space at this moment in time.

In the van I traveled with three girls (from Poland, Ireland and Spain) and two guys (from Slovakia and Hungary). As you can see, the ambience was as internationally European as it gets. I keep holding a sense of bewilderment when I realize our flawless conversations couldn’t have been possible just a few years ago. The degree to which the ubiquitous expansion of the English language has broken down barriers among different cultures is something we often take for granted. The current generation of university students can travel virtually anywhere in Europe and get by just because they speak English.

Before joining the van I was afraid the road trips would be long and heavy. It turned out those few hours of transportation every 2-3 days were a great opportunity to think, plan the next stop and enjoy the landscapes. Sometimes you had to ask yourself: what country am I in?

Erasmus students tend to feel a strong connection towards others who shared this unique experience. What is not so evident is whether they felt they belonged to their hosting country during their stay. The ESN 2006 Survey Report found that only 56% of respondents agreed that exchange students had the same rights as those of the local students. During a recent workshop in Malta, I asked the audience what they thought could be the source of this lack of integration. Some reasons that came up included: offering housing for international students in separate buildings from local students; relating only to students that spoke their same mother tongue; failing to engage the local population, or expecting them to make the first step

But I wonder what would happen if a poll was conducted measuring the level of belief in the “European Dream”—feeling that you are a citizen of Europe as well as your native country. I know from personal experience, and from discussing the subject with many Erasmus friends, that your attitude can be deeply touched when you form a personal connection with a different culture. The European Dream begins to seem no longer like political idealism but instead a social feasibility.

During the days I spent in the Erasmus Van, I saw a myriad of nationalities intertwined, joined together in their shared experience and in their shared European citizenship. While one could clearly feel differences of character among the local students between some of the countries we visited, these traits were somehow homogenized among the Erasmus student groups. When we are together, we understand that we have a lot more in common than we might have ever realized.