After you have successfully applied to the FHDW for the semester abroad (letter of motivation + CV), these steps follow:

1. Complete and submit various documents for the FHDW and the Erasmus+ program (all documents will be provided by the FHDW and forwarded to Erasmus+ by the FHDW).
2. For Erasmus+, you need health and liability insurance abroad. The DAAD, for example, provides this. However, our trip counted as a business trip, which meant that our insurance was all covered by Bertelsmann and we didn’t have to take out any extra cover.
3. Complete an online language test on your English language skills. (This is only used to assess the language level. The score achieved is irrelevant for the Erasmus+ semester).
4. Register with Turiba (here you are also supported by the FHDW).
5. Request a place in a hall of residence at Turiba (as early as possible, as the 2-bed rooms are quickly taken). It is best to mention that you are an Erasmus student.
6. Book your flight (outward flight is enough for now). In Riga you can also apply for your ESN-Card, which gives you up to 10% discount on the return flight with Ryanair + 20 kg luggage free of charge.
7. If necessary, get vaccinated against hepatitis A/B.
8. If necessary, apply for a passport if you want to make trips to Russia or Belarus.
9. A visa is not required for Latvia, but you may need to apply for one for trips to Russia and Belarus.
10. As Latvia is in the EU and roaming is available in the EU, it is not necessary to buy a new SIM card. You can continue to use your German one without any problems. However, if you want to buy a local number and use the very cheap flat rates, you can buy a SIM card locally (approx. €15 for Unlimited Data).

Pack your suitcase

• Credit card (e.g. DKB or N26) –> In Latvia and the surrounding countries, it is very common to pay for everything by credit card (Google Pay and Apple Pay are also widely accepted).
• Passport valid for more than 6 months after departure, if applicable
• Erasmus documents (Learning Agreement, Grant Agreement…)
• Possibly a current photo in digital and analog (for the ESN-Card you need an analog photo, for the e-visa for Russia you need a digital photo that is not older than 6 months → can also be obtained on site if necessary)
• Tea towel, knife, fork, spoon, plate, cooking pot for the dormitory. Unfortunately, there is no equipment in the kitchen. Otherwise everything can be bought cheaply on site. The small items can also be brought from Germany.

Before the flight, we gave Turiba our flight numbers. They then organized free transport from the airport to our accommodation.

After landing at the airport in Riga, which is not particularly large, you will be taken to your accommodation by cab. Further instructions on how to find the cab service will be sent to you in advance by email.

At Turiba, a lot of emphasis is placed on self-study. You don’t have as many contact hours as in Germany, but you have to write more tests and hand in more assignments. You have up to three tests and an exam in the courses. The tests are mostly presentations, which you are also allowed to give in groups of up to four people.

This opportunity for group work in particular has given us the chance to work together with people from other cultures. We attended the following courses:

Directly at the Turiba there is a dormitory. Here you can be accommodated inexpensively and well. Only Erasmus students live on a certain floor, which means that you quickly come into contact with them and can do a lot together.

The toilets and showers are shared with the corridor residents. There is also a communal kitchen in each corridor. Unfortunately, pots, pans etc. are not provided and must be purchased. However, you can often share utensils with the other students. Bed linen as well as a small and a large towel are provided by the hall of residence and can be changed every two weeks.

At the same time, any cleaning utensils are also used individually. For example, brooms, cleaning products etc. can be purchased at the local supermarket. It is also advisable to purchase a clothes horse, for example. Alternatively, a washing machine and dryer can be used for €1.50 to €2 each.

This is what the cost of the rooms looked like for us:

Note: Prices will increase from January 2020. A current price should therefore be checked on the Turiba Hostel homepage.

Beautiful city, lots of parks – good for running or walking, “Capital Gym” fitness studio near the Turiba (25 to 30 €/month without a long-term contract). Alternatively, some training equipment in the university gym can be used free of charge at certain times.

There is a swimming pool about 800 meters from the hall of residence. You can go swimming there both in the morning and in the evening. However, you can only buy tickets in the evening. It is best to ask at the information desk for an information leaflet in English. However, a swimming cap is compulsory in most swimming pools.

You can have lunch in the canteen from Monday to Saturday. A student menu there costs €3.60 (as of 2019). Latvian food can be found in the city center at Lido. We can also recommend the restaurants Street Fries Kitchen, Street Burgers and Ezitis Migla (good value and good atmosphere).

Public transport is comparatively inexpensive. There is a bus to the city center every 20 minutes (approx. 30-minute journey). The bus stop is approx. 300 meters from the Turiba. A trip into the city costs €2. You should therefore have an e-ticket issued (available in the city, for more information ask at the International Office of Turiba). You only pay €5.40 for 20 journeys. However, you should allow enough time to apply for the e-ticket (approx. 1-2 hours), as it can be very busy at the authorities. The train, which departs directly from Turiba, only takes 10 minutes to get to the city and costs 80 cents (or 76 cents if you buy a ticket online).

Inexpensive shopping is possible in the Maxima or Rimi supermarkets. These are within easy walking distance. There is a hairdresser in Riga Plaza – a shopping center near the university. It’s easy to get there by bus and you can get a men’s haircut there for €20. But women’s haircuts are also offered there. 20 is a lot compared to Germany, but the prices for hairdressers in Riga are a bit higher.

Participation in local clubs in Riga is also a great way to really immerse yourself in the life of the locals. Among other things, we have had good experiences with the “Urban Sensual” dance workshops and the “Toastmasters Riga” events.

There is an Erasmus Student Network for Erasmus in every city. This is a non-profit organization that supports Erasmus students with information and tips and also organizes excursions and events.

The best way to find out about ESN is via the Facebook page. There is the Facebook page ESN Riga and a Facebook group. All information about the excursions and events is also shared in these.

For €10 you can get an ESN card, which gives you discounts in local bars, for example, and allows you to take part in excursions at a lower price. You can also take part in all trips without the ESN Card, but for us it paid for itself very quickly!

Riga is ideal for excursions and travel. Very close by: The beach at Majori (a district of Jurmala) can be easily reached by bus or train. The Kemeri National Park with its extensive moors and large lakes is known for its natural beauty. You can get there by coach from the bus station in Riga or by train. Cesis, a medieval town two hours away in the north of Latvia, is also worth a visit if you are interested in nature and hiking. There are regular coaches from the bus station in Riga to surrounding towns and villages. These can be used very easily and cheaply. GoogleMaps is recommended for this.

The ESN also offers good excursions where you can get to know Riga and Latvia better. There are also excursions to the surrounding countries. However, we hardly ever took part in these, as it was cheaper to organize them ourselves and we had more freedom.

As Riga is so well located, we have traveled from here to Tallinn, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Vilnius and Lapland. We booked Airbnbs for this, which were very cheap with several people. For transportation, we chose the bus company EcoLines, which is also very cheap and had comfortable buses.

For Latvia, Erasmus+ offers funding of €10 per day. The funding is country-specific and may change. During our 96-day stay at Turiba, we received €960 from the EU funding. 80% of this is transferred before the trip, 20% afterwards. The funding only applies if the student stays abroad for at least 90 days. In our case, another funding option was offered by our employer, who continued to pay our salary.

It is also a good idea to rent out your home for the transitional period, deregister your car and prepare it for winter. If you have been able to make ends meet in Germany so far, you don’t need to worry about your stay in Latvia. Most products are equivalent in price, imported products, such as Philadelphia, are considerably more expensive.