In the beginning of this year I did not even have a clue that I would be studying abroad in Scotland. I was pretty sure I would apply for university in Berlin, Potsdam and Hannover. In Germany there are no tution fees. In Scotland as an EU citizen you also don't have to pay a penny for the undergraduate degree. Whereas in England you have to pay up to 9000 pounds a year, in Scotland the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS), an agency of the Scottish Government, pays the whole tution fees for Scottish students and EU nationals (international students and students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland are not eligible for the support though. Quite unfair, I know...).
The first time I heard of this advantage was during the On-arrival-training of my European Voluntary Service. (I have done an EVS in Dudley, England, from August 2015 to January 2016. I will write another blog post about it.) Back then I googled for maybe half an hour about studying in Scotland. But then I didn't think about it anymore because I was convinced that it would be too challenging to study in a foreign language and that the living costs in the UK might be too high.
In January I suddenly changed my mind. After the end of my EVS I decided to travel two weeks and to try Couchsurfing for the first time. I went to Dublin, Edinburgh and London. I took a cheap Ryanair flight to Dublin and stayed at a girl's flat on the campus of the Dublin City University. At this point I really want to recommend Couchsurfing because you'll meet amazing people and see the city through the eyes of locals. Afterwards I went to Edinburgh and I don't exaggerate when I say that these four days changed my life. First I stayed at a flat with three couchsurfers.
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