The Erasmus Bubble

Here’s the best explanation I can give, on the life as an Erasmus Student.

Travelling is a pleasure quite desirable. It’s like a bubble of soap which you blow up. Bigger and bigger, as you fill it with experiences. All who see the bubble fly through the wind see it as a beautiful little thing, but for you- it’s so much more.

 My experience started an early morning in January two years ago. I was lucky enough to get to spend a whole semester in a foreign country in Europe, and Czech Republic was my first choice. I wasn’t sure of what that would come, but I went to the airport, reorganised my too heavy bags and said good bye to my mom who drove me there. As I walked away from her towards the gate, I could feel some tears in my eyes, but I swallowed and kept on going. I’ve been travelling lots of times before, many of them alone, but this time was different. All the expectation, tension in my body.

When I arrived in Prague I found my hotel for the night and went out for a walk. I’ve been there before so I went for dinner and booked my train ticket to the city I was going to live in, FOR FIVE MONTHS!!!

 In Hradec Kralove I took a taxi to my hotel, as the university’s residence wasn’t ready for me for another week, which gave me time to explore the city. One of the days I met my international buddy from the ESN buddy system. He showed me around some places, including a great place to drink coffee.

The day it was time to move in to the university’s residence he took me there in his car, and helped me get settled in the apartment. We were four people sharing two bedrooms, something that was very different from what I’m used to, having to share a room with my sister only at a young age. Now I was sharing a room with a girl I didn’t know, sleeping one meter away from her. For me, this was uncomfortable.

 Unpacking my luggage, “moving in”, buying food and prepare for my new life.

My buddy took two other girls and me to see the school, showing us around. BAM! Two new friends. I didn’t know it then, but these two girls were going to be two of my closest friends.  

From this point, the rest can be summed up as: new places, new people… the bubble were growing. It got filled up by all these new experiences.

Then it was welcome parties with the buddies and other internationals, it was introductions at school, it was coordinators to meet and papers to sign. Then it was new people, more people, new friends, many friends! It was French, Spanish, Latinos, Greek, Africans, Europeans, Asians… it was friends.

It was keeping up with old friends from home, making new friends here. Forgetting more and more, that the thought of this thing used to scare me. It was so easy to fall in to the new pattern. Going to school, hanging out, going for a drink, sleep a couple of hours and then go again! It was bowling, lazer tag, parties, kebabs, shopping, the gym (well, not for long), dancing, pole dancing class, dabbing, pictures, festivals, travels.

Yes, it was so many great travels.

There was shopping trips to Prague, hikes with the buddy system, trips far and close. It was winter in Brno, Easter in Vienna and Dresden, spring in Amsterdam and Luxembourg… it was Kutna Hora, Adrspach, Budapest, Bratislava, Poland and Germany. It was trains, busses and road trips.

And it was all kind of food and drinks! 

It was a nice blend of all the great things life had to offer.

As the stressful person I am, this was the most relaxed I’ve been for years. I went to school, did what I was supposed to and got good grades. But I was free at the same time.

A friend of mine also listed the “online love” as a problem, which was not an issue for me, as I didn’t have a person like that in my life when I arrived. But in his case, he had it when he arrived to Czech Republic, and then again after he left. Because when you spend so much time, so close and intimate with the same people, feelings will occur. Feelings of strong friendships, and for some also romantic feelings. For me that was the case. I found that one person. Perhaps not THE ONE THE ONE. But a person I had a lot of fun with. It was late talks, one drink who turned in to 4, long walks, new experiences, new experiences, new experiences… grow bubble, grow. Which today I combine with so many of the other experiences I also had. So, maybe he’s not the one I’ve meant to be with for the rest of my life, and I’ve fine with that, but he meant a lot to me because he’s the symbol of all the good things that happen. Sometimes I still remember back to the morning I left, when he stood (yes, he stood in it) in my suitcase begging me to not leave. He wanted to say goodbye at the train station, but I asked him not to. I met a friend and then I went to the train station. I wanted him to be there, at the station, as all the romantic movies ever showed, but he wasn’t. I got on my train, and I left.

But, one day the bubble will pop. You’re back to the reality of the past, and in some ways… it was all like a dream….

After my stay, as you can see, there’s not so many mentionings about school, that’s because as I see it- school wasn’t the most important thing of the full experience. Yes, I got more aware of politics of Middle Europe, learned more about ethics, was thinking outside the box in effective teaching methods, and got though a whole new language. I learned so many valuable lessons, but most of them was about me.

(But just so you know, as you see abow, I SHOWED UP AT SCHOOL).

I learned that it’s okay to relax, doing your best is all that’s expected from you. I learned about new cultures, new people. They showed me their perspective and opened up for discussion about things I didn’t know that much about. As a Norwegian with the world at my feet at home, and with no issues like “will there be food tomorrow?” or “is it even a possibility for me to get a job?”, it was a reality check. I know it happens in the world, I always knew, but it’s different when a guy tells you he saw someone being shot in the street, or a girl being sent back to her country due to lack of papers. The issue of having no electricity, maybe for days- or even weeks.

Kristin Petra Holte Hoksrød

Lucky by birth.

Grown as person.

With friendships for life.

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