This cute little decoration was the first one that I bought when I went to Belgium. I am a quote lover, but I never imagined how true of a prediction this would be, and how my life just “happened” these past 5 months, showing me that plans change, but…for the better!
I have heard loads of stories about Erasmus semesters, from different people, and most of the people told me that it was a great experience, and that they would not have changed it for anything.
And, surprise – surprise, it’s true!
I have been home for a couple of days already, and giving the fact that my last week was hectic and that everyone was leaving, Erasmus was already not the same. So, I’ll admit, I was really excited to get home. I was looking forward to relaxing days with my family, to catch-up session with my best friend, to walks around the city and so on. Bottom-line: I was ready to go home.
A couple of days later and some well-deserved sleep (still not enough, but, hey I cannot sleep my life away), I am still happy to be home, but there is something missing. I cannot go into my flatmate’s room and start chatting about how our day was, I cannot pop over to our neighbours and make dinner plans, and there is no night out planned with our whole group. So, yeah, it’s not the same.
They say you cannot have the best of both worlds, and I truly know that. I have my family in Romania and I study in England, so I am fully aware that I cannot have everything in one place. And when I left for England the first time, that is something that loads of people told me and built up doubt feelings inside of me.
But I did. I left to England, and then I left to Belgium. And I got to the conclusion that I don’t want everything to be into one place. How will I learn new things? How will I meet new cultures? How will I bond with new friends? How will I see new places if I am always in the same place?
My Erasmus was the most intense 5 months of my life. More intense than my one year and a half in England, and I was more scared when I left for England than when I left for Belgium. But Belgium was like a double dose in less time.
School was harder, because the system was different, so I had a shock regarding that, because it is nothing like England. They focus more on theory, rather than practice and that consumes more time and energy. So that took some time of my Erasmus.
Then, I did some traveling. I went to The Netherlands, to France, to Spain and around Belgium. And it was great! I love seeing new places or rediscovering places that I have seen before, because you can never see a place the same way twice. It changes, you change and the experience is different.
And then, the most important thing, I got to spend time with people that I had no idea they exist 5 months ago. Some have been great party partners, some have become close friends and some have made me see myself in a new way. So more than discovering new friends, I discovered a bit more of myself.
The Erasmus experience can only enrich you. It is impossible to not learn something new about a place, a culture, yourself or someone else. I live to learn and enrich my culture, so I loved talking to all these wonderful people who made my semester abroad a great one.
It is funny how spending 5 months with some people changes your whole life! Now I am checking flights and making travel plans to countries where my new friends live, because I miss them and I don’t want to lose my connection with them, I am planning video calls sessions or I send them pictures to laugh over!
Going on an Erasmus semester was a great decision! I have lived some great days with some amazing people in some wonderful places! And more than that, I am certain that I will see some of them again some day, and that we will be listening to our Erasmus songs and laughing over some funny memories.
I am grateful to them for making uni days easier by ending them with a good laugh, a nice dinner or a great night out! And for being my friends, and for promising that we will see eachother again!
Because when we all went apart we did not say “Goodbye”, we said “See you soon”!
So, as I always say, travel as much as you can, make good friends in more than one place and if you have the chance, go on an Erasmus semester! It may be a wrapped up experience, where you would not know what to expect, but trust me, it will be exactly how it has to be, because “Life happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.
Much love, D.