Difference between revisions of "Coming to Gent"

Revision as of 19:48, 2 June 2015

Getting In

If you are coming from outside of Europe it is likely that you will be landing in Brussels. There is a train station in the lowest level of the airport, the Train machines do not take non-European debit/credit cards so you will have to go to the desk and ask for a ticket to Gent. Look on the terminals for a train to Gent-SP. If you are arriving very late at night, it might be possible that you will have to take a train to Brussels Central and transfer onto a train headed to Gent-SP there. Gent has two train stations, Gent-Dampoort and Gent-Sint-Pieters. You always want to get off at Gent-Sint-Pieters. From there you can take a bus or a tram to wherever you are trying to get to. If you have no destination in mind, you can take tram 1 (red) until 'Korenmarkt', which puts you near the city center.

Hostels

Arguably, the two best hostels in the city are Backstay and Uppelink. Backstay is located across the street from the UFO building and is a short walk from the city center. Upplink is in the heart of the city center and a short walk from the university. Expect 18-28 euros a night (this is standard for Gent). Neither are close to the train station. Take a cab.

Housing Office

The Housing Office will probably be one of the first places you go after getting off the train. It is located at Stalhof 6. It is quite a walk from the station so a cab is recommended.

Phone: +32 (0)9 264 71 00

Email: huisvesting@UGent.be

General hours are Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. till 12 noon & 1 p.m till 4.30 p.m.

Reception-desk hours are Monday to Friday: 8 a.m till 12 noon & 1 p.m. till 8 p.m.

You are only allowed to move in on the day you registered for housing. So make sure your move-in date says September 1st or earlier. If not, contact the housing office asap. If you show up to the housing office before your move-in date, they will not allow you to move in earlier. In 2014 several of us were homeless until the 15th.

Registration

You will have to register as a student at UGent at the University Forum (UFO) Building. A large glass building located at 25 Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat. You'll need to bring EVERYTHING you have with you, and they will likely also request things you don't have. A simple statement of "this is everything I have" is usually enough, and they will take a picture of you and hand you a student ID card. Keep this card safe as it is needed to be able to get cheap food at the student restaurants and also sometimes is asked for during examinations.

Finding The Department

Here is a little video on how to get to the department from 25 Sint Pietersnieuwstraat.

Finding Your Classes

Your classes will take place in one of a few areas.

• The Plasma Physics / Fusion Department (see above)
• The Plateau/Rozier Building
• Technologieoark-Zwijnaarde (which is very far away from everything)
• De Sterre
• Zuiderpoort

Getting Around

Gent is a biking city, and obtaining a bike is very important. The main long-term bike rental agency is StudentENmobiliteit, and they will run out of bikes to rent a few days before the first semester starts. If you cannot rent a bike from them, you can always buy a bike from other Erasmus students selling them on Facebook or a website such as Kapaza.

If you cannot ride a bike, or do not want to ride a bike, the city is small enough to walk most places given half an hour to an hour for certain walks.

An extensive tram and bus system can take you almost anywhere in the extended city. A single ticket costs € 2.00 if bought in the bus/tram or € 1.20 if bought from ticket machines near stops, such ticket is valid for an hour's travel on all trams and buses. You can also buy a pass for € 10.00, it is valid for 10 trips within the city and can also be used in other Flemish cities where De Lijn is the public transportation operator (such as Antwerp or Bruges). This pass can be bought at the fancier kiosks at the train station near the buses, or at various special man-operated kiosks in central terminals in the city. There are also cheaper week and month long "Buzzy" passes if you plan to regularly use the Tram and Bus, which is €23.6 for the Month pass, €67 for three months, and €183 for a year if you are under the age of 24. For people older, you can get an Omnipass for about slightly more. For those considering riding without paying for a ticket, tickets are checked by fare enforcers on rare occasions; travelers without tickets may be fined €75 for a first time offense and up to €400 for a third or more time offense within 12 months. You can check out prices at Buzzy Pass and Omnipas

For getting around Belgium in general, those under the age of 26 should purchase a Go-Pass for €51 at the train station. You can have 10 trips for a single Go-Pass from anywhere to anywhere in Belgium as long as you fill out that days trip before you step onto the train (there is a small margin, but do not forget to fill it before leaving the station). This makes any one-way ticket just €5.00 unless you are headed to or from the airport in which case you must pay an additional "Diabolo" fee. You can figure out times for the trains by checking Belgian Rail. If you are over the age of 26, a similar system exists called a Rail-Pass that will run you around €75.

Student Restaurants

The university of Ghent offers several student restaurants where decent food can be bought at fair prices. There are three main restaurants, two of which are located near the city center: "De brug", which is right next to the UFO building in which you did your registration and thus very close to the "Plateau" & "Technicum" buildings where most of your classes will be held. The second one is the "Kantienberg" which is housed in the basement of the normal erasmus students housing building and the third one is "Home Astrid" which is located near the "De Sterre" campus. Meals are about € 3.2 - 4.5 for a plate with meat (fish or vegetarian) + vegetables + puree/fries/croquettes. Dishes vary from day to day (3 different choices a day) with possibility to get spaghetti or meatballs in tomato saus every day. Rush hour is around 13h00 so try to get there either before this time of at 13h30 to avoid having to wait in line.

In all restaurants there is also the ability to get a simple sandwich which is around € 2 depending on your choice of spread. In the "Zwijnaarde" campus there is no real student restaurant but only a cafeteria selling sandwiches.

Overview of the menu from week to week can be found on this link RestoMenu or by downloading the "Resto Menu" app from the app store (google play store).