Moving On: A Retrospective…
Three years ago, I started a degree in Montpellier, in the South of France. I am studying English, Mandarin, literature and politics: a rather diversified degree. For the third (and last) year, I was lucky enough to be selected to be part of the Erasmus+ programme and go to the University of Kent in Canterbury, in South East England. Living and studying in the United Kingdom has been a dream of mine for years.
As this year abroad comes to an end, it is a good time for a retrospective.
The first term was what I would call the “adaptation phase”: arriving and living in a new country with a different language and culture from yours is not simple. Being “the foreigner” can sometimes be bewildering and overwhelming. It takes time to get to know new people and places in general, but even more when you are not a native. It can feel harder to fit in. But here, there is a lot of diversity nationality wise, so we are a lot to relate. I was used to live away from my parents but if I am honest, I got a bit homesick at first here; which I feel like is a normal thing to happen: you have plenty of expectations, and a whole lot of unknown new things surrounding you. It can make it seem like a scary thing to do, but I do not regret a second taking this decision. Besides, someone I knew from my home university was on Erasmus here as well: she always has been of a great support, which I am really grateful for. I am so glad this experience turned us into really good friends!
The Christmas break came, and I was thrilled to go back home: seeing my family, friends, cats (yes, even my cats) again. Just being able to walk in my house again and eating delicious food was enough to make me happy. The statement “French food is the best food in the world” had never made more sense! The good weather too, even during Winter; what they say is true: it rains a lot in England!
A month later, it was time for me to go back to Canterbury: it was a bit of a mixed-feeling: even if I got used to live at home again, I was still happy to come back to a country I love, but also seeing people I had met there. Indeed, the fact that you are a foreigner also makes people curious in a way, and thus the conversation easier, which is enjoyable especially if you’re a bit shy like I am. My experience of the second term was a whole lot different: the “adaptation phase” was behind me (even if in those circumstances, you always have to adapt). I was more used to everything here, and therefore was able to enjoy more all of it; and the positive is what I choose to remember!
Along with the deadlines, assignments and (never-ending) sessions at the library comes the end of the school year. In two months it will be over, and time is going to go very quickly: how do I feel about that? Again, mixed-feeling. Of course, I am always happy to come home, but this experience really changed my perspective on things and on the way I see my future. It was a hugely rich year which taught me a lot on people, on me, on being a foreign student in England. My English got much better. I got lucky to get along with all of my roommates, one of them becoming more special than the others. They are people I know I will stay in touch with, and definitely friends I will see again even after leaving the country. Indeed, as most of them are only in their first year, they will still be at the University of Kent for a few more years. Therefore, I plan to visit them. It will be kind of amusing to come back here and remember the previous year!
I hope I will have opportunities in the future that will allow me to come back to the UK… But for now it is time to move on and continue my projects in France. To be completely honest, I already feel a bit nostalgic and I dread the moment I will have to leave permanently, which is kind of a good sign. I guess it is a good thing that England and Britain are not too far apart and that plane tickets got cheaper?!
Here in the University of Kent, we are a lot to be exchange or international students, so I feel like a lot of people here will relate to this.
How was your experience? When I see everything it brought me, I definitely would do it all over again, and I encourage everyone who gets the chance to do so!
