Dzena in Halle WS 17/18

Erasmus: An unexpected journey!

Just like Bilbo lived his whole life in a small hobbit-hole in the Shire, so have I lived my life in Bosnia: peaceful, secluded and kinda boring. But I think that every grand journey starts that way. Bilbo needed a Gandalf, and I needed Erasmus.

My adventure started on a really stressful note: I found out that I got a place in the middle of July (anyone that knows anything about the Erasmus experience, knows that this is WAY too little time to prepare everything). And being from a small little country in the Balkans didn’t really help with that. I was afraid. I was afraid of not getting my Visa on time, of not finding an accomodation, of not finishing all the paperwork before I have to leave and most of all, like everyone coming to a new place, I was afraid of not fitting in, not finding the right friend group and not having a good relationship with my professors. But this was just my moment of doubt same as our friend Bilbo had before coming with the wizzard and the dwarfs to the adventure that changed his life.

My erasmus buddy contacted me kind of late, so I had no idea what to expect when I arrived at Halle(Saale) Hauptbahnhof on the first of October. But I soon found out that she would become my Gandalf. She took me to my Flat and on the way there casually mentioned a small little shop that sells waffels, something that would later become me little refuge. And she also introduced me to my first Erasmus friend, the quirky, loud and awesome italian girl Fabiola. Little did I know she and the other people that I met here would change my life forever. But more on that later.

Steintorcampus – my Erabor

Erabor is the dwarf mountain invaded by the dragon Smaug. Steintorcampus is the complex of buildings that holds my huge fear: academics….

Halle is the perfect student city. It feels like the whole city is build for us students. You feel welcomed at every corner, especialy with the student discounts. It is small, cozy and most importantly relativly cheap for being a city that is so near Leipzig and Berlin. The buildings have character, the people are nice and friendly. It is the perfect enviroment for your Erasmus journey in my opinion. The great mensas, especially Harz mensa which became my primary source of nourishment, the beautiful libraries filled to the brim with all the books you can dream of for you academic endevours and cozy places to spend the evening with a book and some coffee are a breeding ground for great students. But still I was scared.

I was never the best student in the world, but I am studying what I love and have never been afraid of tackling it at home, I was comfortable and content. But coming into a whole new system and learning stuff in a whole different way than I was used to, that was terrifying but also exciting.

I quickly learned that I had nothing to fear. The professors were more than accomodating to Erasmus students and very friendly. The courses themselves were not that demanding because they were structured well and handeled in an interesting way.  If academics were my Smaug, than the Professors were my army in the fight for survival.

Fellowship of the Moritzburgring!

Bilbo had his gang of dwarfs, I have my gang of ciccini ( a word I learned from the Italians that means cuties – and cute they are). I have always been a very social person but coming to a new country and meeting people from all over Europe and trying to fit in there is a whole different story. I was lucky to speak good enough english and german to be understood and understand everyone enough to begin forming connections that will hopefully last a lifetime. Italy, Russia, Poland, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Netherlands…. most of these countries I had only seen in the media and now I have friends there that showed me what those cultures are all about, in a real and human way. I learned so much from them and since our families are so many miles away, we were eachothers families. They are what made this experience what it was.

Our first trip with the Erasmus Student Network was to Prague. We visited the city and saw a lot of beutiful sights, but that was not what made the trip so memorable. What made the trip memorable was the time spent in the attic of our Hostel, playing games and getting to know eachother, it was the complaining about the long walks for the Treasurehunt game that was organized and the little secrets shared while having a drink.

The second trip to Berlin was more of the same, but now we knew eachother and were a really close friendgroup spending quality time in the most interesting capital city on the whole continent. It was the 30th birthday of Erasmus so there were Erasmi from all over Germany there.

All in all, every single little planned event, like the pub crawl in the beginning or the international evenings, but also the unplanned ones were some of the most memorable moments of my life.

The battle is over – who survived

Bilbos story finished where it started, in his little hut in the Shire. My Erasmus story will finish the same. But just like Bilbo, I am not the same person anymore. I have transformed and become so much wiser for all of experiences I gained. I encourage everyone that wants grow as a person and widen their horizons to take this journey, to make the jump, to trust themselves. You will not regret it!