They assembled in Building D, where they got their Visit.Brussels welcome packs, VUB hats (always useful during the winter months!) and were given information on Belgium, Brussels and the VUB. The afternoon was organised by the VUB International Relations office and included presentations from different student bodies as well, such as, ACTO, the Student Council, the International Student Platform (ISP) and ESN VUB EhB Brussels.
After the more formal presentations, there was a campus tour for all the students organised by ESN VUB EhB Brussels. The tour will take in stops along the way at the study guidance centre, the VUB restaurant, the library, Infopunt, the sports building, U-residence & dormitories, security, CrazyCopy and Pilar to give more information to the new arrivals. To close the afternoon, the new arrivals were all treated to drinks at the VUB Sports Complex building, where they could meet and mingle with fellow students, returning VUB students back from their exchanges abroad, as well as colleagues from the VUB International Relations office.  
This year’s exchange students and interns arriving at VUB for the 2nd semester come from 31 different countries, inside and outside Europe: Japan, Bolivia, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, Russia, China, Palestine, the Gambia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Turkey. In addition, there will be those coming for internships from Austria, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, Turkey, Denmark and the UK.
About 50% of them are studying at the Faculty of Social Sciences & Solvay Business School. The next biggest draw is the Faculty of Engineering, followed closely by the Faculty of Sciences and Bio-engineering Sciences.
More than half of the interns are predominantly from the Faculty of Physical Education & Physiotherapy and the Faculty of Medicine & Pharmacy at the UZ Brussel.
We welcome them all and wish them all the best for their studies and internships at the VUB! Enjoy your time in Brussels!