All The Feels once Erasmus is over

On Tuesday, 5th July, I flew into London Stansted at 8 in the morning, from Bologna airport, where I'd arrived the night before, ready for a 4am check-in, armed with a fully charged laptop, tablet, and phone, to keep me up (along with latté macchiato after latté macchiato after latté macchiato). Once I arrived back, in the grey and raining UK (I mean, it's London, no surprise there), it suddenly dawned on me that my ERASMUS was over. Whilst I still have a month of studying in Madrid to go, I'll no longer have the experience of settling into university life in a different country, finding a flat of my own and having to manage bills and foreign landlords, preparing for oral exams and hours upon hours of exam revision (at least until final year), or preparing myself for months of travelling to new destinations, in and out of the country! My year abroad is truly coming to an end.

No more living half an hour from Venice. I've now swapped Venice and Verona for London Victoria!

When I first left for my third year abroad, I had no idea what to expect, and I now realise this was the best way it could be. You're all in the same boat when you first head out - you're lucky to know anyone you go away with, you really don't know what the people or culture will be like (no matter how many times you've been there on holiday) until you become a local, you've got to learn to navigate the transport system, get to grips with directions, and then find all the rooms for your lectures (will which likely be subject to change, depending on whether you like or don't like the lessons, and whether or not they're for you). On top of this, you're both afraid and excited at the same time, and having done your first goodbyes, you can feel a little mentally and emotionally exhausted, before your first week's even begun.

Goodyes to friends and family are always a killer.

Once you're there, however, you'll find that everything falls into place. There will be slip-ups, and there will be ups and downs the entire way, whether your WiFi stops working and you have to resort to an ethernet cable, your laptop plug explodes and you have to navigate French gadget stores, and head to WordReference for a French translation of a Toshiba laptop plug, you miss your coach to Rome and end up having to change your travel plans - these all happened to me, but I was fine in the end. Just don't expect everything to fall into your lap in the beginning; there will be problems that arise, but they work out in the end. Utilise all your contacts: your year abroad coordinator, your year abroad department, your personal tutor both at home and at your host university, any friends and family you have within the country you're in, and your entire home support network. That way, everything will become a bit easier. Don't allow yourself to become stressed or overwhelmed, and if all gets a bit much, you can speak to a counsellor or university welfare service. Or, if you're a bit like me? Eat your way through your problems! 

Problem solver right here.

So, what should you do on your year abroad? Live it up, as much as you can. Go to the welcome talks, make friends, and agree to plans - that way you'll build up a good social circle, and begin to get into the swing of things. Once lectures begin, attend ALL of them. Chances are you'll end up picking about 50% of them - some will be too difficult, clash, or be entirely uninteresting. Once you've got lectures sorted, attempt to get ahead of the course - read the books or look up what you can on SparkNotes, watch films you've yet to study, analyse art you're supposed to criticise, and look through presentations, essays and abstracts (most universities will have a Moodle or another online study network on which you'll find all the information you need - exam times, what you need to read, your teacher, and all other information). At the weekends, and during your free time, try and do stuff you'd do at home whether it's going to the gym, a sports or dance class, or any other leisure activity you usually do. Once a routine is set, you'll feel a lot more at home. The rest of the time you have spare? Go out and share experiences with people! Travel wherever you can, and for as much as you can afford. It's the year when you can literally go anywhere and everywhere you want. Head to the cinema, theatre and another sights, with friends both from home and from the uni you're at. Try not to stick with people from your uni/country all the time, and become a member of your ESN group - that way you can interact a lot more with others. Go out for meals, sample the local cuisine, and just generally have fun, because before you know it, you'll be back at home wondering where did the last ten months go?

Toulouse, France: September 2015 - January 2016 ✓

Padova, Italy: February 2016 - July 2016 ✓

Madrid, Spain: August 2016 (the last stop)

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