Conversation with a shoe-shiner, sounds from the Empire State Building and much more from my second time in a jazzy New York City. Audio-video report.

On Wednesday I was a guest speaker in two separate talk-shows.

One in English (Face Off), the other in French (Face à face). On the same TV, France 24. Who is running Europe in time of crisis?

Here we are with a lot of info on another Erasmus city: Bratislava, capital of Slovakia.

Francisco Chica García will show you all the tips you must know to spend a wonderful Erasmus year!

65% of young people voted NO to Lisbon Treaty.
Is it a generational or a social divide?

Please send me your question for José Durao Barroso in the aftermath of Irish "No" to Lisbon Treaty and European continuous crisis to deal with its rules definition.

In 5 years time, the President of the European Commission will have dealt with strong refusals from national public opinions to European Constitution and Lisbon Treaty, getting No in three different languages from French, Dutch and Irish.

How do you judge his action? Chairing European Commission, what should he do in a different way?

Write your short question among comments below and speak your mind!

Let's continue our tour of European cities with all the tips provided by people who spent their Erasmus year there. After Budapest, here you have a unique report of Portsmouth, the little seaside village in the UK. Our host this week is Antoine aka Antuan, co-author of Babelyon blog.



Finding a place to stay: the uni helps you but life is expensive
I arrived in Portsmouth one week before the term start, with my backpack as only friend. I was helped from the very beginning by the university: free minibus transfer from the train station to the temporary accommodation in a seaside campus, private room at a fair price (about
£15 a night), house-hunting day with free phone and buses to the city centre, advice on housing contracts, etc. Everything was organised and planned by the foreign students department. The only thing I had to take care of was making friends, which was easy since most EU students opted for the Uni temporary accommodation offer.
Nevertheless, even helped by the Uni, finding a nice place to stay in Portsmouth isn't hassle-free. It depends where you want to live.
Portsmouth being an island city, it is densely populated. The City Centre where the main campus is located isn't very attractive.
Portsmouth is the home of the Royal Navy (see original marines in the above picture) and, hence, suffered heavy bombings during WWII. Although some historic buildings remain, much of the centre is "a product of myopic and uninspired postwar development" as the Lonely Planet puts it.
Therefore many students choose to live in the nearby chill-out seaside resort of Southsea. I myself ended up in a gorgeous three-storey Victorian house a short walk from the seafront. Nonetheless I was probably the luckiest of my friends. Virtually all of them lived in terraced houses in and around Albert Road, Southsea.
Continental Europeans must know that living in the UK is costly. As a means of comparison, I paid more or less the same for my shared room in Portsmouth (a middle-sized city) as for my flat in Lyon (France second-biggest city).

Portsmouth University: beware of the Chinese box
I studied two years at Portsmouth University (BSc and MSc). I'm overall happy with the education provided. A great variety of subjects was available. In France I struggled (and failed) to find a Internet degree which wasn't IT only whereas in Portsmouth I could choose between e-learning, creative technologies, e-commerce, etc. But beware of the all-powerful finance department! They seem to have forgotten that their "clients" are students and not senior executive managers.
Make sure that the degree you're interested in is attended by British students. This may sound awkward but some degrees are marketed for the foreign market (tuition fees for non-EU students are three times higher) and directly sold abroad by Portsmouth Uni overseas offices.
Unfortunately for many of these degrees, derogatively nicknamed 'Chinese box', the teaching is not up to the standard it should be.

Places: jogging, beers & the Isle of Wight
1. As Portsmouth is so compact, one often wants to escape. My fave destination is the Isle of Wight, a 10min hovercraft ride from Southsea.
Once on the island, head to the village of Seaview, follow a seaside footpath southwards into the woods and you'll find yourself in one of the most beautiful beaches I know.
2. If you like jogging, the seafront is the perfect spot. Unlike Brighton's, Portsmouth beaches are separated from the city by a vast green space, Southsea Common. So while running you'll enjoy the view on the Isle of Wight without being annoyed by the traffic.
3. On a sunny day, get yourself a beer and watch the ships going in and out the harbour from Old Portsmouth walls.

Partying: don't tell people too early!
There are many places where to go out in Portsmouth. Forget Gunwharfs quays, a former Navy site turned commercial precinct, it is way too chainy. Give Guildhall walk in the City Centre a try. You'll find out that the best pub around is the Registry.
In Southsea, the seafront is lined with clubs. My favourite is the raucous Chaos on South Parade pier. About 10min from there, Albert Road is good fun: great pubs (Festings), bars (One-eyed dog, Wine vaults), curries and music for gig-goers (Wedgewood rooms).
However EU students prefer the cheaper and more international house parties. When organising one, remember this: don't tell people too early. Word of mouth is very efficient amongst foreign students. For the first party we threw, we told about 20 people a week in advance. Hundred came!

My feeling: a brilliant Erasmus village
Portsmouth might not be pretty but it is a brilliant Erasmus city.
You'll learn to love Southsea: the seafront, the pubs and above all the student life. In Portsmouth no need to take the tube to meet your new friends. A student village within the town!

Pictures by Antoine

Today, as announced, Eurogeneration is proud to launch 'Erasmus guide': a unique cityguide compilation taking you in the best European cities to let you discover them with the eyes of someone who lived it at 100% – say an Erasmus student. Very personal, these portrays do not pretend to be exhaustive. Take them as a chat with someone who is here to share with you his thoughts. So do not hesitate to comment this information!

This week, our guest is Roberto Yanguas who spent his Erasmus period in the Hungarian capital two years ago.

Finding a place to stay: real estate agency
Well, this is probably the most difficult matter for a foreigner because of the language. In Budapest there are few residences for students. So the best solution is to use a real estate agency.
Budapest is divided in two big parts (Buda and Pest) and in many districts. I've been living in the Distict VI which is, with Districts V and VII, the best to live in. It's recommended to avoid District VIII, wich can be dangerous. And don't forget: Pest is better than Buda if you are an Erasmus student.

University: the right place if you don't like to study
I was in Peter Pazmany University, Faculty of Law. All the classes were in English even if  Shakespeare's language is not always well spoken. Anyway if you are interested in spending your Erasmus year without studying, then this is your university: most of the teachers would ask you to give them a short and easy essay. Usually few exams (I had only one and really easy). 
As for equipment, neither the library or the computer room are well equipped, but you have a sort of computer centre (called HIK) just 5 minutes from there. More, the sporthall is uniquely a closed field where you can play sports (but I would strongly recommend you playing sports in "Margherite Island" if it's sunny). Last but not least: in my case, the Erasmus office worked really well...

Paprika, decadence and baths: 3  places you cannot miss

• Beers with friends: "Szimpla" (my favourite place). You cannot imagine it... it's decadent, old and dirty... but it really really worths it.
• Relaxing times: "Szechenyi termal baths". 8 € for a whole day of sauna, jacuzzi and natural-earthed medicinal water. After that you'll be a different person!
• Paprika Restaurant (near to Szechenyi) or Stex Haza Restaurant. My suggestion: Goulash soup and chicken breast with three cheeses and home-made croquets in the first. Pork cutlet Carpatian style in the second one (I am salivating just remembering it...).

Partying: football table and police
Erasmus students used to go to Morrison's pub near to Opera (karaoke party on wedesdays – don't ask me why but Hungarians love karaoke...), Old Man's pub (near to Erszebet körut street and Szimpla bar), and we used to go to Sulss Fel Nap, Szoda, Sark... Be carefull with your clothes: they can "misteriously" disappear (look out even with the bouncer).
Most of the Erasmus parties are in flats, and here is a good tip (we dindn't know it until the end): you can previously phone the police to tell them that you're organizing a party and if some neighbor phone them in the middle of the party, they will be informed that is sort of an "official party".
The quantity of the spirits rarely is as in Spain or Italy (it's less). Even during the nights, if you like football table, they play a lot: you'd have to put a coin in the table and wait your turn, the winner remains. Don't use drugs: if the police catch you, then you have big troubles. For them coke and cannabis is the same. More things: drinking in the streets is allowed unless in Spain!

Verdict
No words, I'd recommend it to everyone!

What do you think of this testimony? Have you been in Budapest? Do you have some questions for Roberto? Otherwise, have a look to Budapest babelblog! And don't miss "A foreigner's diary".

See you next week in... Portsmouth, a small city in the UK near the Isle of Wight!

Massimo has been pizza maker in Paris since 1970. At that time passport was still compulsory to travel between Italy and France. Travel or rather, immigrate! As all moving was, back then, far more definitive compared to the one we are used to nowadays. For Massimo, the conditions of the past do not seem to have changed a big deal: « Naples? I go back every two or three years. But every time I cannot stay there for more than one week. Last time I was not able to find anyone, the streets of the Spanish Borough (Quartieri Spagnoli) in Naples were deserted. Later I was told that everybody had been arrested!».

Massimo’s case might look too extreme, but for most of the immigrants, words such as «free circulation of people», «Schengen area», «Euro», «low-cost flights», «modern mass media» or «skype» - in short, twenty years of Euro-revolution and globalisation – do not mean much. Nothing like all those people who, by choice or by need, pack up their stuff and leave, to travel or to immigrate. E-migrants , with an «e» very fashion that rhymes with email, but that proceeds from afar...the Latin «ex».

Now back to our pizza maker. Massimo tunes up Naples songs from the fifties, songs that he knows by heart or a sparkling Laura Pausini in her best performance ("Marco se n'è andato..."), and even an Eros Ramazzotti with his distinctive flu-like voice ("Ed ho imparaaaaatooo che nella vitàààà...), while kneading the pizza paste with a Neapolitan know-how (unfortunately the mozzarella is from France!). But this does not prevent him from mixing up Italian and French, as much as he does with this tasteless over salted tomato that he mixes with artichokes dipping in vinegar, tasteless stuff that he pulls out an anonymous pot made in - God knows where !

This past Christmas my father offered me a Garzanti dictionary, just to take the piss, because he claims that, having spent a few years in France, I forgot my Italian. But next time, I will take you, dad, to Massimo’s and you will have to admit that his mistakes are far more blatant than those of the E-migrants, as big as a wooden oven !

So, dear readers, next time you come across an immigrant, a real one, do this : tempt him, tell him what the world is like nowadays: beautiful because of its melting pot. Babelize-him !!

Translated by Alessandro Mancosu

Foto di Veronica ArtMusic

Here I am, back in Paris: still paying the consequnces of the jet-lag, with loads of ideas running through my mind, happy about being able to hug my wife and go back to cafebabel.com. But still...

Still I have to admit that this stars-and-stripes experience was so omni-comprehensive as to leave a mark. For the people around me it must be so wearying. Yesterday my collegue from EUrotik (now available in English as well) told me (in French): "Enough with these USA, Adrià".

Well, I have to say that, dear babelians that followed me faithfully during my "On the road 2.0", I feel like many of you after Erasmus. I guess I should be psychoanalysed by doctor Allanic, whom Prune talked about, o maybe by Fiorella. Joking...meanwhile, here is the latest version of my journey map with the New York stop that I didn't tell you much about...

You can read here about the illuminating meeting with Jay Rosen, "crowd-sourcing journalism" guru, in the Big Apple.