Hi! My name is Giovanna, but by now, call me Gio! I’m an Erasmus student from Italy, currently studying in Hamburg, Germany. If you are interested in knowing about my life abroad, come on board! This is part two of my series about living abroad: the first steps of your new life.
The first time I left my home country was when I was 17 and moved to England for a semester. On that occasion, I was welcomed by a couple who, lucky, felt immediately like a second family to me. A couple of years after returning home, I moved to Rome for university, and there I had the amazing opportunity of moving in with my best friend. We spent some of the best months of my life as roommates. The following year, my brother and I rented a flat and started living together. Living with a sibling can seem quite challenging, however, it made us understand and develop our relationship in incredible ways. Now it’s been almost a month since I moved to Hamburg, and it has been the first experience in which I was completely on my own, or so I thought. However, I have to say that every time I have moved someplace it has always been a different experience. I find every single time to be unique, not only because the places we move to are different in themselves, but sometimes because the reasons why we move vary. We as people change and grow in different areas of our lives, and we can perceive the fact of living abroad in different ways.
After all these experiences, I can pin down three penny-drop moments when you’ll think, “ok, I’m definitely not home anymore:” The unpacking, the cleaning, and the grocery shopping (especially if the person working at the cashier desk does not talk in your native language). By the time you have done these things, which are most often the first ones you do when you move abroad, you will have probably realized that your everyday life will not be the same as it was before. It might seem scary, and it is. I’d suggest a call home by the time you can crash on your new bed. Hope it’s comfortable.
Leaving the whole emotional rollercoaster aside, here are a few advice on how to become practically ready for your new on-your-own life. I would always suggest arriving at your destination about a week in advance from when you have to be there, whether it is for your first day of uni or your first day at work. During these days you will be able to get comfortable in your own four walls, understand where to go grocery shopping, and you will have probably found a nice place that sells decent coffee. (Also, having time to run to Ikea for a few items can be extremely useful).
After having settled in, a crucial point will come in: socialization. For this matter, the only true advice I can give you is to get out of your comfort zone. Text those people you know who live in the same city as you do, go to the parties organized by the university or your dorm (even if you’d rather stay home), talk to the person in the cafeteria or to the one sitting next to you in class. Not everyone is going to stick around. Sometimes, it is going to be just one conversation, just one coffee. Becoming an adult means that creating new friendships is not as easy as it was when we were teenagers, and sometimes, however, it takes just a little to create very meaningful connections. And who knows, even if they will probably not be your best friends for life, you might meet some nice people you can rely on, especially if they are experiencing the same situation as you are. Don’t be afraid. Ask those people you talked to once to hang out; the worst that could happen is that, after all, you do not have that much in common.
At the end of the day, we all do our best to be independent and to stand on our two feet, even in uncomfortable situations. No matter how far you are, your loved ones are just one call away, even if it’s just for calling your mom to ask how to set the washing machine.