Students of Ala-Too abroad

February 12, 2018

To continue our conversations with students who spent a semester abroad, today we have two charming girls from the "Finance and Credit" department of the Faculty of Economics and Administartion - Aygerim Usenova and Jamilya Murzaeva, who studied for a whole semester at the Kazimieras Simonavičius University in Vilnius, Lithuania.

-Hello, girls, firstly, let me immediately ask this question: why did you decide to choose Lithuania as a country for exchange?

 Aigerim: We consulted with the Office of International Relations, asked where it would be best to match the department and the subjects.

Zhamilya: We are four friends, we all applied for exchange program and everyone wanted us to study abroad together (*). So it happened.

   

-What factors convinced you when choosing a university and a country?

Zhamilya: First, the number of quotas (*) played its part. Secondly, Kazimieras Simonavičius University has similar subjects, and thirdly, we wanted to travel around Europe and the Schengen visa helped us in this.

-What are your impressions about Europe?

Aigerim: I really liked Europe, I want to go back there! There, life is completely different, people are different,they have other views on values ​​and life.

 - More democratic?

Aigerim: Yes. And there is a very beautiful architecture. In terms of education, there is also very interesting. You know, there works such a principle - "You need to study? Do it! No? We will not force it."  The teachers were giving the assignment and we were doing it ourselves because we wanted it, because we wanted to study.

Jamilya: I also really liked it! There, the people are beautiful, the boys are tall, blue-eyed blondes (laughs),they generally look very classy, ​​dress -stylishly, just like from the cover of magazines.

-Why did you like the university? Are there differences in the form of education?

Jamilya: In general, the learning process is directed specifically at the profession, not as in our system, where we have to study a general curriculum. Only core subjects are given in their system.

- How do you like European culture, what are the differences from our Kyrgyz culture?

Aigerim: The mentality is quite different for us. For example, we have enourmous celebrations, huge restaurants and a lot of money spent on these things. While we were in Vilnius, I did not see a single such a big restaurants there. In Lithuania there are only large clubs and restaurants with tables for 2-3 people. We have noted such moments in terms of culture and mentality for ourselves.

  

-What role did our university play in your journey?

Aigerim: The availability of the exchange program, of course. Our whole trip is all thanks to our university. We would not probably go anywhere, if this program and the Office of International Relations of course, would not exist.

-What did you find for yourself, what did you learn?

Aigerim: I became more self-developed, I became independent, I began to solve many problems quietly, to make decisions. Now I do not look at the world in "pink glasses".

-What difficulties did you face while you were in Lithuania?

Aigerim: We did not book a hostel, we wanted to rent an apartment by ourselves. Here with this were problems, because in Vilnius, nobody would give an apartment for a short period of time, you need to book at least a year. We rented an apartment for five months, we stayed there for four months and for the fifth we gave away money just like that.

Zhamilya: We did not take the hostel first because we already had big expenses, we bought tickets, plus food, etc., so we could not book a hostel and pay immediately for five months.

-In this case, if there is a choice between a hostel and an apartment, what would you advise?

Aigerim and Jamilya: Probably, after all, it would be an apartment.

Aigerim: In general, there are different programs that allow you to book apartments with good conditions and at an optimal price. But we thought that we would come there and it would be much easier to immediately find an apartment on the spot. In fact, it's easier to find an apartment in advance. In the student house there were living other people, mostly, noisy companies. The alcohol is very cheap in Lithuania, and you yourself understand, alcohol and youth ...

-Yes, it's understandable. Please tell us, from which countries you met new friends?

Aigerim: There were a lot of Kazakhs in the university and at the airport, when we were already departing, we also met some of them. They are simple in attitude, they can just smile, say hello, they are very friendly. And so we mostly communicated with classmates, our entire group of about twenty people was from foreign students: there were French, Italians, Germans.

- Well, in the end, please share some valuable advice?

Aigerim: I want to wish our students not to be afraid, to apply for exchange programs, even if the expenses are rather big. This all comes back with a great deal of experience, knowledge, impressions, etc. This also applies to values. Here we have the main value-get married, quickly give birth to children. For the Europeans-to see the world, find and reveal themselves, in my opinion it's cool!

Jamilya: I completely agree with Aigerim, it's not strange that we are close friends with her (smiles).

 -Thank you very much for the fascinating conversation, girls and successes to you!

-Aigerim and Jamilya: Thanks a lot!

An interview by Elena Romanenko