Program Strengths/Weaknesses

So we thought we would start a list of things that the program has done well and things that could improve for the next group of students, this is obviously not going to be too extensive at first...but we will add to it as the time passes.

In terms of pre-departure:

• We received the first portion of our stipend after we arrived in Luxembourg. We all seem to agree that it would have been more convenient to receive this money prior to our departure. This way, we would have sufficient funds for booking our flights, paying for additional travel (and baggage) expenses, and getting ourselves situated with living supplies that Peter discussed in the previous post. We will try and provide a detailed list of expenses to date sometime soon.

• Another pre-departure suggestion involves how you pay for living here. The University requires a wire transfer of 325 euro (about 430 dollars) by the 20th of each month. This can be done through online banking quite easily, but we would suggest you arrive at least a week before the 20th (monthly deadline) or pay the first months rent before you leave the US. This way you will not be at risk of missing the monthly deadline. We opened a European bank account to do these transfers in order to avoid the 40 euro fee PER transfer that is charged to US based accounts. This has seemed to work fine so far as long as you deposit cash, checks have been a little different...we will post more about banking as we learn more about the best possible options to take. 

• Although the rent payments were initially a bit of a hassle...it has been completely worth it. Our residence is in the best location we could ask for. It is literally 5 minutes (walking) to our campus and right next to the bus stop that can take you almost anywhere you want around the area (more on the buses/trains soon). We have seen a few of the other residences and seem to all agree that ours should continue to be a home to any future incoming CanSys students.

That's all I have for now. Much more to come.
Have a nice day
~Team CanSys