#exchangestudentproblems

[anoukkkk]

WHAT THE LAST 100 DAYS AS AN EXCHANGE STUDENT ARE LIKE

Coming home from exchange comes in 4 stages. The first stage is the “I don’t care anymore, I want to go home, screw it all!”, when you stop caring and start getting angry. You’re sick of all the problems and things not working out. You’re sick of not being understood or able to fully express yourself. And you get sick of caring. So you start not to care and start to do as you please and live life by your own rules. You can’t wait to be home, to the easy and to the familiar.

The next phase is a sort of denial, the “life’s perfect, I don’t want to go home, I want to stay in my bubble forever”, where you practical run around singing and dancing in the streets because life is so perfect and every moment can never be ruined or forgotten. You go about your life with a spring in you step, just taking every experience in and sucking in as much as you can. But you’re so in love with life and blinded by that love to see that your bubble will soon pop.

And when that bubble burst and your happiness crumbles it marks the beginning of the next stage “the emotional breakdowns of realisation”, you start to think about when will the next time I do this or see these people again, when will the next time be when I’m in this city again? And the questions begin to clear and crowd your head with realisation. You realise that time is almost gone and there’s nothing you can do about it. You start to notice yourself doing things for the last time but yet you can still remember doing them for the first, but all becomes so normal to you now. It becomes your daily life, it feels like home, it feels so natural now. But doing those exact same things for the last time makes you stop and think about how far you’ve come. Not knowing when you’ll be back or if you’ll ever meet you host country friends again or exchange student friends and all the heart breaking goodbyes but you never really know when it will be the last time you see them and the uncertainty will eat you away. With every goodbye your heart will break a little and every person will take a little bit back home with them so your heart is spread across the globe and is bigger than ever before.

The last stage is the “dead neutral stage” and not everybody will go through this, some might be torn and others egger for the last day. But to be dead neutral is by fair the worst because you’re so blank and emotionless, that you feel dead. But you’re alive and feeling everything at the same time. Going home is like going insane. Thinking about your home life the previous year leave you feeling hollow and empty because you can’t fill those shoes anymore, they don’t fit you anymore. However, there will be a new pair of shoes for you to fill, ones that you get to mould and create to fit you perfectly. The final goodbye will make you sick to your stomach and you’ll find yourself waking up panicking because the hallways are too small in this country or you’ve forgotten a word in your host language. It’s the small things that will scare you the most. It’s the goodbyes you didn’t get that to say will eat you away and the hellos of the other side that will cure your heart. Although you’ll never be quite whole again, you find new ways to slowly lose the rest of yourself. But that is what it is to be an exchange student…

- Kat Puchert

(I didn’t write that text, but the person who wrote it totally nailed it!)

[lostinthelandofjapan]

Todays Fail #1

September 2, 2015 Today was a good day, then I fell of my bike on the way home. I was holding my umbrella while riding and somehow my umbrella tripped my bike and I ended up going over the curb into the street. It was so scary!! I ended up in a lane of the street and a car luckily saw me before I went over the curb. Then I hit my brakes really hard and crashed (fell over). It was all in slow motion! My host sister came running to my rescue. We fell to the floor laughing. It was so funny. I'm not hurt. Just a cut on the finger. I was more embarrassed than in pain. That was my fail of the day. 😂

[silverspaceship]

Exchange student problems

When you have a better relationship with your host parents than your real ones.

[letthewindtakemeabroad-blog]

I still can't tell if Germans are really good drivers with a bit undefined road system or really bad drivers with an amazing road system.

[lozzareno]

when did I get this fat: a novel by exchange students

[aflipphoneonhiship]

Right now I would murder for some scones. Straight out of the oven. The oven in my kitchen. My kitchen with the gross, green colored counter tops. The kitchen that has big fat black ants crawling all around it in the scolding hot summer. I want scones cooked in the old oven we have had since the begining of time. The oven that ocationally leaks gas and we have to hit with a wooden spoon to get the fire to start. Scones with raisins. When the come out of the oven in the morning and you can see the steam, and heat leak out of them and float up to the sky into the sunshine. I would seriously kill for some scones right now.

[wonderingchild365]

Then, everything changed on Facebook when I wrote down my English name to a classmate...

Literally have had at least 10 friend requests in the past 15 minutes. Also, everyone is liking everything. SAVE ME!!!!

[amostcolorfulflux]

so today i realized i'm going to be living in germany next year BUT I DON'T SPEAK ANY GERMAN. like, zip. zilch. zero. nil. thinking things through is not something i do...evidently. but then i see the kids who are so grounded and safe in these teensy little incubator bubbles and i remember why i'm so impetuous but still this is scary as fuck and i really don't know what i'm doing.

[pineapplepprincess]

i wanna skype with my mom but i don't want anyone hearing me 

[rotaryyouthexchangevenezuel-blog]

"If you mock or make a joke out of someone’s genuine attempt to communicate with you in your language when it’s not their native tongue, then you are a fucking asshole and aren’t worthy of a moment of their time." YES.

[maditraveler]

3 Months Left

[silverspaceship]

All my friends are getting accepted into universities and I'm just over here in Australia like; lol let me just go farm kangaroos.

[culturediving]

Top 5 Exchange Student Problems

It ain't all rainbows and unicorns. Allow me to guide you through a countdown of 5 problems we exchange students have come to embrace:

#5. Dilemmas, dilemmas... All day e'ryday.

Should I skip a week of class for a chance to visit Greece, even though: a) I will miss a quiz and a birthday party,  b) it'll make my teacher displeased, c) I am already behind on homework and midterms are coming up, d) it'll cost more $$ than trips to nearer destinations, and e) the friends I was going with dropped out? *Proceeds to create a cost-benefit matrix*

This postcard or that postcard?

Hostel A or Hostel B? Hostel B's booking.com reviews look much more promising AND it provides free wifi, but Hostel A is 3€ cheaper per night, which means 12€ cheaper over the span of our stay. BUT: Hostel A is in a less convenient location...but oh wait, it offers free towels and breakfast! *Proceeds to calculate opportunity costs in Excel*

Should I go with my friends to watch a bullfight?

#4. Trying to save money while trying to see the world

(Source: Study Abroad Memes Facebook page)

Get up at 4 AM so I can take the cheapest morning train to go to the cheapest airport to take the cheapest flight? No problema...My 13 alarms have got my back.

"How do I take the leap and go to GREECE, my dream destination, when it costs an arm and 3/4 a leg?!" My dear, start by taking the 6-hour night bus to the cheapest transferring city and spending the night in the airport despite the cold. This way, you can take the cheapest early-morning flight while saving money on hostels.

Reminder: leave that suitcase at home, 'cause that's going to cost you another 30€. Carry-on backpacks will become your wisest friends.

(Source: Study Abroad Memes Facebook page)

#3. Realizing that you should have chosen Hostel A...

When you took a shower at a hostel and emerged dirtier than before:

Lord only knows who has showered in that nasty hostel shower before you. Enjoy finding bugs and other people’s hair on the walls and in the drain.

(Source: "#StudyAbroadProblems" from Elite Daily)

Oops. Is this really a safe neighborhood to be walking through?

(Source: The Time I Studied Abroad Tumblr blog)

#2. Getting tongue-tied in 3 different languages.

English, Chinese, Spanish, and what's that?...Spanglish, Chinglish, Spa-nese?! Your tongue is bound to get confused at some point. 

(Source: Pin from lookhuman.com)

(Source: Exchange Students Memes Facebook page)

I guess it doesn't help that you're learning Korean phrases from your Korean roommate, having lunch with your Polish friends, and learning Spanish songs while speaking Mandarin with your Cantonese pals. Don't be too hard on yourself when you subconsciously start speaking Spanish to a confused waiter in Greece.

But above all...

#1. Missing your loved ones back home

When everyone posts pictures of their Thanksgiving feasts:

(Source: The Time I Studied Abroad Tumblr blog)

Every darn Thanksgiving, Moon Festival, birthday, and Christmas.

A candid shot from a cozy Thanksgiving with my friends last year.

On a random day, you'll walk through a gorgeous path on campus and think, "Z would LOVE walking here."

You'll spot a yogurt brand of the same name as your friend, and recall the cozy Chinese New Year's Eve that you guys had homemade hotpot together.

You'll see the red candles at La Sagrada Familia and wish you could hug your mom.

You'll stare into the gorgeous sunset in Santorini and reminisce the time in Vancouver when you and your friends ran down to English Bay to splash around until sunset. 

But sometimes, the sentimental feelings will creep up for no particular reason even when you're just washing your broccoli or strolling through an alley.

Indeed, it's not all rainbows and unicorns.

I've gotta say though...You will find some breathtaking rainbows while abroad.

Best,

Emily Chen

[porcelainsymphony]

Missing England like hell

[underthesouthafricanskye]

Never before have i been so excited about poptarts, fruitloops, and root beer!

[wonderingchild365]

My Oldest Host Sister Just Found Out She's Leaving For Canada Next Wednesday!

I’m so excited for her!!! But, I’m going to really miss her :( I feel like she’s already my sister.