some blabla to start off with (you can skip that part)
There is so much I could say right now. If this blog was just for me it could be 15 pages long but since I aim it at people who are considering going on an Erasmus trip (maybe in Belgium, maybe somewhere else) I´ll try to only point out the most important things of this stay.
At first I want to mention that I am a person who loves to travel. I have always wanted to go on Erasmus. Even before I knew what I was giong to study. Even before I started secondary school I think. Still, when I started applying for that, I was really scared. I think I was not sure whether I was really doing it till the last day. In my mind I felt like "yeah sure, I applied, but let´s see, I can still change my mind...". When I finally sat on the plane I was really scared of not finding anyone I really liked or could connect with, all of those thoughts going through my head... As I already mentioned, I tend to overthink things quite a lot...
Thinking about it now, all of that sounds so dumb, because I am SO EXTREMELY thankful for having done that, for even having the possibility to do something like that.
starting off with my actual experiences and what I gained for life
I started out as a really introvert, shy person. I still am, I guess, but this semester changed me so much, because you are forced to go out of your comfort zone, to challenge yourself. You come here all alone, and when you leave you feel like you´re leaving behind so much. I have to say, that today, 4 days before my departure I feel like I am leaving my home.
I have to say that I improved so much as a human being. My social skills, my personality are just way more open. Also my language skills developed, of course because you are forced to speak another language (English or French as I live in Brussels).
In terms of my courses I have to admit that on the one hand they are probably not as hard as in Austria but through the added part of having to work, speak, live in another language and in another culture (because the Belgians have a completely different approach to studying, deadlines etc. than us Austrians) evens this out I think. On the other hand the courses were really interesting because I had a lot of intercultural projects such as Virtual Exchanges or projects with students from other Cities.
The people I met here became some of my closest friends. Right now I could not imagine my daily life without them. It´ll probably be like after finishing school when you notice, you are not gonna see your folks everyday from now on. I met the four most beautiful girls from four different countries. We connected instantly and used to go out, go on trips, explore Belgium and the Netherlands together. We studied together, cooked together and just had the greatest time.
An Erasmus Trip is always a nice experience, if you are the right personality-type and maybe even if you´re not. Also it always looks nice on a resume.
If you are considering a study trip but you are not sure yet or there is something really boggeling your mind, please feel free to text me. Maybe we can have a chat so just leave a comment.
