Monday 13 August 2012

A whole new world.

Moving overseas seems to be harder than I first thought. When I first chose the degree, I was in year 12 and the prospect of spending the year overseas without parents and siblings seemed like a dream fantasy. The more time ran down before moving day seemed so non-real and off in the distance that it was difficult to do anything to actually prepare for it. I didn't save properly, I didn't study french in every spare minute I had and I didn't start looking at how much living on your own in a foreign country can cost because I couldn't fully comprehend the situation. But now it's hit. Now, I wish I was fluent in french, I'm kicking myself for not saving every dollar I've ever been given since I was 5 years old, and I'm slowly coming to the realisation that I won't see friends, family and boyfriend for an entire year. Sometimes I think a year is a long time. Other times, I think, well, it's already mid-August, it seems like yesterday it was NYE 2012. Either way, it's going to be tough.

At the moment, I'm in the process of enrolling in uni, choosing subjects and finding somewhere to live. Choosing subjects is probably the most fun of the three. I can study whatever I want - which does pose some difficulties as 'whatever I want' is a lot. Medieval archeology, art history, ancient greek, humanistic and scientific culture, and the list goes on. It's a shame that I can't study other languages though, I would love to come back trilingual!
Finding somewhere to live is probably the most difficult of the three. Finding somewhere to live is always difficult. But finding somewhere to live for a year in a foreign country is even harder. Not being able to inspect the place before you rent, not knowing whether it's near public transport, not knowing if you're going to like the people you end up living with... and so on and on. I think I've decided not to live in campus. The upsides is it's slightly cheaper. But it's major downfalls are its 30 minutes out of the main town and trams stop at 9pm to the campus.

But, if there is one thing I'm excited about, it's travelling. Oh, and spending weekends in Barcelona. And cooking for myself. And eating french bread all the time. It's a strange mix of both excitement and nervousness all at the same time, but I think excitement wins out every time.