You don’t have to stick to your roots all the time. I know sometimes it’s hard to leave the nest as we feel very comfortable with our mates and not making that effort of making new friends – and much less in a new language or a new country. The point of these Erasmus experiences is to get rid of those feelings and take a leap forward (and without forgetting your ID or passport, of course). What encourages us more is the fact that we are going to talk with all European colleagues in some time during our residence abroad, no matter how shy you think you are or even if you think you don’t have a topic to discuss. There’s always some minimum and maybe pointless or ridiculous theme that someone will bring up into the conversation and you all may laugh or share your thoughts about it and, little by little, getting to know your new international friend. We don’t really need to dig into our past nor know every little detail about the others – it’s just about enjoying the moment and feeling that you belong to a very mixed community, even though this is going to last a couple of weeks or so. It’s obvious that sometimes you can feel down or not in the mood, maybe because you miss your home, your traditions and what you are used to, but then someone approaches you and you feel that is a good conversation and no one is being judgmental at all between themselves. A lot of people would gladly welcome you to their table, you would say “bora bora” (so they stop talking in their native language and start speaking in English) and just laugh and enjoy (even when there’s silence). I can assure you that some of the friendships you make here are going to last a lifetime and this Erasmus is just the beginning.
