Memories of the Erasmus year
(Original version in Spanish ) We are constantly making decisions. Some of them are crucial others, merely ordinary. Some determine our near future while others define our present. but then, there are some that can turn our lives around . Erasmus is one of them and those who have lived the experience know what I'm talking about.
It all starts with a destination, a one way ticket and a suitcase filled with hope and expectations, but also with fear, doubts and uncertainty. With a feeling of crossing a boundary towards a new horizon.
Years later, and leaving behind the nostalgia of the joy it brings to walk down memory lane, I can say, loud and clear, that I wasn't wrong. That each and every day I spent there was not at all as I thought it was going to be. That each and every person I met, was completely different from how I first imagined they were going to be. They were, in fact, much better.
I left home with a thousand reasons to justify my departure and came back with a million reasons for staying . I left because I wanted to find a place in the world for myself and came back with a family that was born inside the four walls I quickly began to call home.
Who would have thought that I would sleep in train stations, airports and even vaporettos. That we would have to eat dinner in the halls of our dorms because we all couldn't fit in the same place. That it was going to be the first year in my life in which I didn't want summer to arrive.
As an Erasmus student, you soon discover all stereotypes are true , beginning with bureaucracy: a new cell phone, a bank account, a university ID and the two most hated words ever: “Learning Agreement”, the difficult task of validating assignments.
You could either be living in an apartment or a dorm, go to class or skip them, cook your own meals or find someone who loved to be in the kitchen. Some learn the language while others come back home with an accent more similar to their foreign roommate than to the country they are in . Some find love every night and one night, some find the love of their life.
But if there is something in common for all Erasmus students, it's the party. Who doesn't remember those little cards with the letters ESN? The key to opening the doors of every club. Yes, it's true. And there is no denying it: Erasmus students go out almost every night . There are moments in which the thought of staying at home to enjoy a quiet night might cross their heads but then, the question always arises: what if, of all the nights, this one turns out to be the most exciting of them all?
Dear parents, we admit it: you thought we were attending classes but the real reason we were up at 7am was not because we had just woken up... There is also the myth that it's easier to get a good grade while abroad and, it usually is. Although, I saw a fair share of my fellow students dedicating themselves to the contents of their books to make it happen.
So, what is there to do as an Erasmus student when the party is over? Well, one of the best things in life. Travel. Cross Poland from North to South, discover Amsterdam on a bicycle, crash Oktoberfest in Munich, have a chocolate feast in Brussels, drive through Italy or watch the sunset in the Seine.
So many memories, so many moments ... ten months that are as intense as life itself and where everything seems bigger and everything is felt stronger than it usually does.
Ten months in which you actually learn that your friends are the family you get to choose . That your twenties only happen once and that they are too short a time to be filled with remorse or regrets but, at the same time, that they are long enough to fit hangovers, to fill with delicious and sugary breakfasts, to realize that ironing is not necessary and that a schedule is overrated.
Then, one day, you surprise yourself walking through the streets of your new city without direction, next to the people who get to be an essential part of your life and realize you don't miss home anymore, because this is exactly where you belong .
And no matter how many years go by, no matter how many cities you've visited, none will ever compare to the one you lived in as an Erasmus student.
What you are today is all because of that moment in your life. All the roads lead to that plaza, to that old school bar, to that metro station... If you are currently living the experience, it doesn't matter where you are coming from or where you are going. Just enjoy it. This is your moment to create some of the best memories of your life.
Happy Erasmus.