Leaving Parties

First, it's worth noting that a 'farewell party' means something different to a Spaniard than it does to an Erasmus students. All Spaniards who hear these two words will immediately think of bachelor parties. For Erasmus students however, farewell parties are the most difficult days of their Erasmus exchange, especially for those who stay for a whole year as they have to experience this twice: once in January and once in June. And there's not even a wedding to look forward to afterwards - just suitcases, train stations, airports and 'see you soon' spoken and written in many different languages.

My first experience of an Erasmus leaving party was in January, when our friend Alexandre was going home to France. I'd already said goodbye to a few friends from the university, but when you're not that close to a person, saying goodbye isn't all that hard. There are smiles, good wishes and comments like 'I'll see you in [insert home town name here]', as they really are welcome to come and visit you. When a good friend of yours is leaving however, this party becomes something different. Again, there were smiles, good wishes and lots of 'I'll see you in... ', but this time there were also tears, memories and 'Don't gos'. Alexandre was the first one in our group of friends to leave, so I remember his last few days in Valencia and his leaving party very well.

Alexandre had organised a big party a few days before he was leaving for Paris. We all came to his flat, where we'd thrown lots of parties and dinners, watched films, danced and sang. We were here again, but this time, it felt different. We would throw more parties in this flat - a problematic flat, but one which we loved because of all the memories we had made in its living room - but it wouldn't be the same without Alex. Athanasia and Elena had already been to some leaving parties when they were Erasmus students, the year before they had come here to do their internships, so it wasn't as strange for them as it was for me. This leaving party was actually quite fun, as we got to know lots of Alexandre's French friends, like his beach volleyball friends who he'd been playing with all semester, even if it had been cold outside.

At his leaving party, I realised that Alexandre hadn't got a flag. For those who still don't know about the flag tradition, I'll explain it now: when an Erasmus student returns to their home country, they buy a flag of their Erasmus country (in Valencia, we bought a Spanish flag and a Valencian one), and their friends write a few sentences on it or just sign it, so that the person who is leaving still has lots of memories to take with them. Alexandre threw his leaving party almost a week before he was actually leaving (probably so that he could drink without having to worry about travelling with a hangover) so I came up with the idea of organising a little surprise for him at his flat the day before he actually left. I bought a flag, and told the others about my plan.

The new flatmate had already arrived and was sleeping in Alexandre's room that week (so his new room), so Alexandre was sleeping on the sofa and didn't have keys to the flat anymore. This was very much a plus point for us, because we could get everything ready without worrying about him just coming in, as whenever he came home, he would have to knock on the door. Our friend Migena had also been living in the flat for a few days, since she'd had to move out of her room a few days before going home to Greece, and she helped us to plan the surprise. She asked Alexandre to go with her to buy dinner, and while they were out of the flat, Athanasia, Alica and I went to the flat and met up with Alexandra, Elena and Francesco. We had brought some beers and the flag with us. When everyone had signed it, we hid it in Elena's room along with the beers. When Alexandre and Migena rang the bell, we hid in Elena's room too (Francesco had told Alexandre he was going out, too). Alexandra and Elena stayed in the living room, so we waited for around five minutes and then jumped out with half of us holding the flag and half of us holding the beers and shouted 'Surprise! ' Alexandre was honestly really surprised, because he'd not suspected anything at all. He read all that we'd written on the flag and was really touched. We stayed in the living room, as we always did, and later another friend of Alexandre's came along and so did the new flatmate. We had a great time, and all remember this night very well.

I went to more leaving parties which also made me sad (most of all my own! ), but I'll write about them later. The important thing is that you have a good time until the time comes to say goodbye, and repeat all the good times you had all over again at the leaving party, hoping that you'll get to party again with these people, either in your Erasmus city, in your own or even somewhere else.