After my first week here, I was
honestly so worried I might not make it to the end of this program. The
lifestyle change is a lot to handle, honestly. I really felt like my entire
world was turned upside down and I had no idea how to deal with it. By the
first of this week, things really started turning around. We actually know
people and have “our bakery” that we like going to and we understand the city
more and more every day. It’s the little things that seem to make a place feel
more like home. Gosh that alone feels weird to say.
Monday we had our first meeting and
met so many amazing people! I have had the chance to go grab drinks or coffee
with girls from all over the world! It is the most mind blowing thing to sit around
and compare countries or lifestyles. Everyone lives much different lives and
yet we are all so willing to learn about the others cultures. By the end of the
semester, none of us will even be remotely close to the same. It seems
impossible to leave without becoming extremely culturally rounded.
Language is another thing that
really blew my mind. I have always heard that when you go abroad people would
ask to help them with their English and in return they would help you. That
idea never really made sense to me until now. I am not only learning French,
but I am also learning Greek and Spanish. I have met an amazing British girl
and even we compare the differences in English. Every new person I meet, we exchange
languages. It is so much fun! There is no way that we could all learn all the
languages in just a semester but when we are all at lunch or wherever we might
be, we talk about how to say things in every language. Last night, it was an
Italian girl’s birthday so most of the students in the Erasmus program went out
for drinks and we all sang happy birthday in every language! Hearing all the
different versions of a song we all sing was really fun. The poor girl had to
sit through five versions of the song!
I’ve been saving the best for last
of course. I have been here for a week and a half and I can tell you with
certainty that I have made lifelong friends already. We have our own little
group going and I can’t imagine being here without them. My “wifey”, Isabel, is
a Venezuelan that goes to Oklahoma State. She’s one of the first girls I have
met here and we have been inseparable since. Valerie is my fellow Red Raider and luckily we
have been together since our plane took off from Dallas. Toni is from Durham
University. She’s our Brit friend that will forever be her name in our book.
Maria is from Greece. She was the first girl we met here and has been so
amazing! These girls are really such beautiful people inside and out. I am so
lucky to have met such great girls so fast!
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