Dear Erasmus Diary... - entry 1

Dear Erasmus diary,

It’s been 2 months since I came back home, and honestly, this is not my home anymore. I was scared to leave but why am I scared to come back home? I’ve been away for 12 months, lived in two different countries, met incredible people and shaped me into the person I am today, but why can’t I let it go? I feel like I am a bad person since I came back, my friends and family are incredible but we’re moving separate ways, I know it’s the wrong thing to do, I should be happy to be back with them but I am not. Being an international student taught me so much about different cultures, not just my Erasmus countries, but countries I could not even imagine I’ll get to meet some day, the pride to be Irish, Italian, Mexican and so on made me wish to spread their joy around, it made me feel like I was one of them, for a second I forgot I was Romanian, because my heart beats fully international.

Being in Erasmus taught me how to be inclusive and respect people equally, it allowed me to fall in love with people I never knew existed a few months ago, random strangers became my family and I can’t ignore the fact that I might not see them for months or years. From every day lecture laughs to spending every weekend together planning picnics and trips, I probably didn’t realise how fast time goes by, did I take it for granted? I’m scared that these memories will fade away and I’ll forget the people I met, but honestly, I’m glad we captured every moment together on camera, these will stay forever. And as far as it goes, I know I’ll be one of your friends who will want to hear and cheer your accomplishments, every year I’ll celebrate your birthday as if it would be a national holiday because I cannot express how much joy it brings to me that you were born on that day and I had the pleasure to have you in this small chapter of my story. To all of my Erasmus friends, I was enchanted to meet you and I hope our story didn’t end when our Erasmus did, some day in the future we’ll still have the same laughs and act like nothing changed, but till then, I hope all of you will be appreciated by the right people the same way you did to me.

Yours faithfully,

A girl who’s still in her post Erasmus blues era