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PRE-DEPARTURE MEETING

The Pre-Departure Meeting is a biannual event that aims to farewell exchange students and provide practical information to prepare outgoing students for an abroad experience. In addition to the main presentations, we provide the opportunity for outgoing and incoming exchange students to connect with each other via small group sessions per country.

The next Pre-Departure Meeting will be held in December 2024. If you have any questions about the event, please email events-soir@utwente.nl.

Event programme

Date: Wednesday 12 June 2024
Time: 19:00 - 21:00
Location: Waaier 1 (outgoing students), Waaier 2 (incoming students)

Please note: all exchange students are expected to attend the presentation at 19:00, even if there is no group meeting for your country.

View the programme for outgoing students

TIME	ACTIVITY	PRESENTER	LOCATION
19:00	Opening presentation for outgoing students	Host: Sarah Kotter, Exchange Coordinator, Faculty of S&T	Waaier 1
19:05	UT Ambassadors	Joe Laufer, Senior Advisor, Alumni Relations	Waaier 1
19:10	Pre-Departure Practicalities	Sarah Kotter	Waaier 1
19:25	Student presentation: culture shock	Ellen Kok, former outgoing student & Secretary, ESN Twente	Waaier 1
19:35	Health & Safety Abroad	Anna Nardini, UT Emergency Officer International	Waaier 1
19:45	Erasmus Student Network	Subhraneil Das, ESN Twente	Waaier 1
19:50	Closing of presentation	Sarah Kotter	Waaier 1
20:00	Drinks		Waaier Ring Downstairs
20:00	Country group sessions	See information below	See information below
21:00	Country groups conclude
From 21:00	ESN Drinks	ESN Twente	Sports Centre Canteen

View the programme for incoming students

TIME	ACTIVITY	PRESENTER	LOCATION
19:00	Opening presentation for incoming students	Host: Jitske Rijken, Exchange Coordinator, Faculty of EEMCS	Waaier 2
19:05	Pre-Departure Practicalities	Jitske Rijken	Waaier 2
19:20	Student presentation: reverse culture shock	Kai Kojima, former exchange student	Waaier 2
19:30	Erasmus Student Network	Julia Knot, President, ESN	Waaier 2
19:35	Quiz: Who is the best UT ambassador?	Julia Knot, President, ESN	Waaier 2
19:50	UT Ambassadors	Joe Laufer, Senior Advisor, Alumni Relations	Waaier 2
19:55	Closing of presentation	Jitske Rijken	Waaier 2
20:00	Drinks		Waaier Ring Downstairs
20:00	Country group sessions	See information below	See information below
21:00	Country groups conclude
From 21:00	ESN Drinks		Sports Centre Canteen

Country group sessions

Date: Wednesday 12 June 2024
Time: 20:00 - 21:00
Location: Waaier ring upstairs & downstairs; Carre level 2 classrooms

Country group sessions provide an opportunity for outgoing and incoming exchange students to meet and share information about the country. Degree-seeking international students and returned outgoing students may join the group as well.

There is no structured information provided by UT during these sessions. Rather, the informal meetings are a chance for outgoing students to ask questions about their destination country and/or partner university. Topics of conversation could include housing, cultural differences, food, cost of living, language, transport, tourist highlights etc.

View the country groups

Country	Facilitator
Australia	Liz Louden
Austria
Canada	Margriet Dekkers
China - Hong Kong	Yitong Xue
Czech Republic
Estonia
Finland	Dr. Saana Jukola/ Julia Knot (ESN)
France	Dr. Lisa Broussois
Germany
Indonesia	Prof. Dr. ir. David Marpaung
Italy	Anna Nardini
Japan	Kai Kojima
Mexico	Camila Medina Polanco
Norway	Hanna Lücking
Poland
Portugal	Sarah Kotter
Singapore
Slovenia
South Korea	Lotte Sander
Spain	Tahnee Smits
Sweden	Ellen Kok (ESN)
Taiwan
UK	Brigitte Leurink
USA
No group? Join us at the Waaier bar downstairs to share your experience, ask questions, chat, play games etc	Gyöngyi Karácsony

Roaming facilitator: Jitske Rijken

Please note: country groups are only organised for the countries with registered outgoing students. The location of each group will be indicated on screens at the event. The smaller groups don't have a facilitator.

ESN drinks

ESN Twente will host post-event drinks from 21:00 at the Sports Centre Canteen. Entry to the party is free and the first 100 students get a free drink. The party provides you with an opportunity to continue your conversations from the country groups and to meet other students.