I’ve been meaning to write this for a while now. I’ve had such a busy first couple months of exchange, I’m not even sure where to start! The tardiness of this blog post shows that I've experienced so much more than I could possibly write down on paper.
I think it’s always important to discuss the preamble to exchange.There are so many mixed emotions that you’ll experience during those couple of months leading up to the excitement that is your outbound plane taking off towards your awaiting adventure!
On one hand, you’ll be incredibly excited for the adventure, culture, and experiences that you’ll encounter, but on the other hand, you’ll be sad to leave your friends and family behind. Let me reassure you right now; you won’t be missing much back home once you arrive! Those people you hold so dearly will stay in your life if those feelings are reciprocated.
When you’re heading through customs, don’t look back. Looking back only makes the goodbyes harder. The last thing you want to see is your loved ones teary eyes. It just may cause some dust to fly into your own eye as well... Look forward, because you’re entering one of the greatest chapters of your young life!
Pro Tip: Pack light and roll your clothes! You’re most likely planning on buying some things during your exchange. The journey back home will be so much easier if you leave with extra room in your suitcase, so think twice when packing. “Hmm... Do I really need this item?”
I’m going to talk about my own exchange more specifically for a bit. I had the pleasure of visiting one of my best friends in Iceland (who else can say their best friend is Icelandic?), whom I had met during my last year long exchange to Spain three years ago. He showed me around his beautiful country.
We did a road trip around the golden circle, visited his grandparents’ home in the mountains, explored Reykjavik, visited the local zoo and had a day at the famous Blue Lagoon Spa! I would highly recommend taking a long layover in Iceland to do a bit of sight seeing on your way to your host country, if you’re planning on studying in Europe.
Pro Tip: Icelandair allows for long layovers in Iceland at no extra cost to your flights!
I arrived in Lyon, France towards the end of August. I was lucky enough to have a close friend of mine from Lyon give me a ride from the airport with my luggage to a hostel near my apartment. To my surprise, it was her first time ever driving alone. Talk about a mini heart attack!
I spent a night in a hostel where I was able to meet a ton of other exchange students in the same situation as me! We couldn’t move into our apartments until the next day, so we spent that night exploring the city and ate at a very fancy Bouchon (typical lyonnaise restaurant) in the city centre. I was able to taste exactly why Lyon is world renown for their cuisine! This was a blessing in disguise because I had already made friends before the first orientation day at school.
Pro Tip: Avoid paying for a taxi. Figure out the metro, or if you're lucky, call up a friend!
Moving into my apartment made the journey feel complete. The following week I would be attending orientation activities at my university, Jean Moulin Lyon 3, as well as finishing a ton of paperwork, opening a french bank account, getting a phone plan, and balancing my social life.
Pro Tip: Try to find an apartment or residence that is already furnished.
I would highly recommend trying to avoid opening a French bank account. The amount of headache this caused was very stressful. The only reason I did it was to get an RIB bank code, which allowed me to set up a monthly phone plan. During my first exchange, I used pay as you go, and simply used my cell phone sparingly. I found this to be beneficial because it forced me out of my comfort zone in public for things like asking for directions. I also was not glued to my phone in social situations or with friends. After experiencing both methods, my recommendation would be to avoid opening a foreign bank account if you can!
Pro Tip: Scotiabank is partners with Barclays bank, which is located in many European countries, and allows you to withdraw money from Barclays at no additional costs when using your Scotiabank card.
Something important to mention for all exchange students is the language barrier. One of your main goals abroad is to become fluent in your learned language, however, this can be very difficult for a number of reasons:
There’s nothing wrong with making friends who are fluent in English, but here’s my suggestion to overcome these common barriers to learning a foreign language; try to find a balance between friends that are exchange students and locals. Friends that are fluent in both the foreign language and English can help you understand the foreign language on another level. Local friends will help you develop your language skills very quickly when you’re forced to speak it. Your primarily English speaking friends will also be a nice break from the practice of speaking your learned language all day.
Pro Tip: Don't worry about your poor accent or language skills! Who could possibly look down on someone brave enough to learn a foreign language? If anything, they’re laughing because they think your accent is cute!
Lastly, I couldn’t of asked for a better beginning to my exchange and I’ll have only more stories in the upcoming months!