No journey without preparations and a little excitement before. Even more if you stay far for more than a week. I will never forget the stress around paperwork and packaging but in retrospect all efforts are worth it.
Paperwork
Applying for Erasmus+ exchange is quite a challenge for all the students who decided to study one semester abroad. Do I have to mention the famous Erasmus movie of all times 'L'auberge espagnole'? For anyone who is planning to go on Erasmus exchange to Spain it is a real must-watch movie. It perfectly describes all the process of official paperwork representing the maze of unexpected documents, recommendations and certificates we have to acquire before leaving the country. This process lasts until about the 3rd week of staying abroad, as students have to organize or re-organize courses and certificates with the partner university also. Anyways I learned a lot about managing deadlines and paperwork so next time it would be more easy to handle the application.
“Anyways I learned a lot about managing deadlines and paperwork”
Packaging
It is always a question what to bring with us on a journey. I remember the day when I brought the huge 30kg luggage into my room to put all my clothes and necessary objects I planned to bring to Barcelona. In the end I brought a 27kg package and I learned that half of my stuff was completely uneuseful. I packed 3 warm coats, plenty of warm stuff for winter etc. I had to realize my mistake around the end of the second week of October still sitting on the beach in swimming suits. This was one of those schocking moments of realization of huuuuge differences, which defined my first 2 months in Spain. I loved this difference in climate but I did not prepare myself. I found myself trying to get rid of all the unuseful clothes and stuff I had when I moved to an other apartment. I learned that as much objects I have as less free I am. My advice from the past to my present self would be not bringing anything, only those elements I really love to wear and only those gadgets I really use. :)
"I learned that as much objects I have as less free I am."
