Small Struggles during exchange
this is not meant to scare anyone but this are just some things that can be stressful/exhausting at the beginning of your exchange and I find it helps to know that ahead of time. Knowing that everyone struggles will decrease the frustration.
you will be SOOO fucking tired the first few days because it is just so much to process for your brain. everything is knew: the environment, the language, all the people. it is like you are newborn again. the tiredness alone could be enough to make you cry at some point. Don’t worry tho. I know it sounds horrible now but once you are over it you can be damn proud of yourself for starting to adapt to a new place.
public transportation can be so fucking complicated. You arrive there assuming it will work like at home because that seems like the only logical way things could be but all of a sudden. There’s all this different ticket options and none of them make sense and you are not sure which one you need. You can’t seem to figure out how or where to stop the bus or wait for it or in which direction which train goes. You have no fucking idea how long it will take you to get anywhere. Ask someone for advice a friend, family member, advisor at uni or school. Someone can definitely help you. Just plan an extra 10 minutes to figure everything out.
getting lost at school and not even knowing how to ask someone where to go because you don’t fucking know where to go. Just ask around with whatever info you know eventually you will find someone who knows where you have to go.
paying something in cash and fidgeting around with the foreign, new to you money for what feels like eons because you can’t find the right coins. just an anxiety thing…feels way worse in your head than it actually really is.
