Pre-Erasmus Blues

I thought I would take a break from all the studying for the looming exams to talk a bit about this strange time when you've finished classes at Uni, but still have exams and a summer holiday before you get to leave for your year abroad. Unless you are one of those lucky people that has enough money to spend the whole summer in the place you're going to be for a year, I think this time can be very frustrating. 

So you've heard about the 'Post-Erasmus Blues' right? This phenomenon that everyone seems to experience after coming back home from the best year of their life. Well, I've been speaking to some friends who are also doing Erasmus 2011-2012, and the general consensus seems to be... meh! Nobody can be bothered with studying for their exams as they just want it to be summer so they can start arranging things for going abroad. The fact that we have horrible exams just now, coupled with the not-so-summery weather and the apprehension about the coming year, seems to be making us all feel like there's a big cloud hanging over us. That's one of the reasons why I picked such a beautiful scene for the picture to this article. There's this dismal storm cloud filled with worries drifting over us, but we know that once it lifts, the sun will come out and everything will be fine. I feel like we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we're all in such a rush to get there, that we're not really considering the possibility that we'll fail our university exams and have no Erasmus grant to support us! 

Nobody warned us about this in the meetings! I knew I would have worries about going away but I feel like I need to get things sorted NOW! A flat in Spain, money, a whole new wardrobe, a camera etc. In this case it's actually a shame that the Spanish are so relaxed about things like flat-hunting, because it's such a big step for us. Being British, I think that I want to have things very organised and secure in advance so that I can enjoy my year. But the Spanish 'mañana' attitude seems to tell them that you'll find a flat in 2 days, BING BANG BOOM you're sorted. I wish I were so relaxed about it!

 I'm also extremely glad that we live in a time of Skype where we can easily keep in face-to-face contact with friends and family both at home and in various European countries. That fact is giving me a bit of reassurance as I know that if and when I miss people, they are just a click away. I'll no doubt post another article once my exams are done. Cannot wait =D xox