Over.

I am back in France for one week now. I thought that would be interesting to write a little bit about how it was for me to get back until now, so I'm gonna write this article in english because I like the idea that my Erasmus friends can understand, if they're interested of course.

I left Torun on the 8th of June, and then I spent 10 days in the Netherlands with my boyfriend. That was like a transition between Erasmus and my coming back because he is sharing his flat with 4 others foreigners. And that was a good idea to organize it.

I am curious to know if you felt the same things as I did, even if I am pretty sure that we all live it our way. Anyway, this is interesting for me to compare. We've all heard about the "post-erasmus trauma", does it really happen to a lot of people ? I hope not :)

In my case, I was just a big amount of mixed feelings before hitting the road for the last time. I was happy for several reasons; for having lived this Adventure, for the 10 days of Love and for returning home. In addition, I was curious to see if some things changed during my absence. But, I have to admit; I was a little bit afraid too. I know that leaving home for 8 months is not that long, but this is anyway the 1st time I did it so that was quite scary to return. You know that it was a time long enough for some changes to happen. So yes, I was fearful that certain relationships would have changed, of some reactions and surely also to not be understood.

Of course, I wanted to talk about what I was just coming from, about what my days were made of, about the most important people for me there, about the habits I took, about my day to day life and about every single details. But, this is not that easy. I still think that it's easier to talk about it with people who experienced kind of the same thing.

I'm glad that i get back all the persons and all the things I missed while I was in Poland. Even simple things. I'm happy to enjoy family dinner, french food and especially mum food, I love sleeping with my sister and having those night talk, I like hanging around with my friends and also driving my car with loud music inside. That makes me think of a quote I read today; " I left to come back. To come back to essential things."

Besides, I already miss some stuffs from Erasmus such as living in this incredible international community, being a part of it, talking english (or spanish :p ) everyday, considering Life as a challenge, going to Manekin for a zurek or to Capone for a pizza, but I will not mention Kotlownia :p.

I miss the proximity with my friends; I would like to be able to do 3 steps to disturb Luisito, to hear Diana and Ezgi's laughs, to go to polish course with those great people trying to speak this impossible language, to smoke shisha with Delphine, to call Anthony from the window, to hear Sergio playing guitar, to listen to turkish language, to play pool and tennis table when there is nothing better to do, to have drinks anywhere... The list is long so I'd better cut it now :)

My last evening in Torun was great, I really appreciated the party in Latino and also the after. The french toast made by my lovely Andreea, Sergio coming along with his guitar, just like when I turned 20 ;) , my bag-carriers Ekin and Anthony and Luis' smile. And i don't forget my dear flatmates who put an alarm to say me goodbye. You don't know how important it was for me that you stayed by my side until they pushed me in that bus :)

Those 8 months helped me to grow up, I am surely more mature, more independent and even more eager to travel. Also, I am proud that I was brave enough to do it, that I faced my fear and that I lived all this. I discovered a lots a things; about me, about others, about Poland and also about France.

For instance, even though I like Poland, I can now say that this is not a country for me. There are too much things I could not live with every day. I discovered that it was a too conservative country for me, that racism is too present and some others social facts.

I also noticed that being abroad shows you what part of your own country you really enjoy. For exemple, I missed french food so bad (you can laugh, but when you have to eat 3 times a day, this is actually something important!), I missed french trains and french way of life.

I understood things about abstract notions like Friendship or Love. Indeed, I accepted the fact that a friendship cannot survive to every hardships if both persons don't believe in it, so that I accepted to lose some friends on my way. I suppose this is how Life works.

So i'd encourage anybody to take part in Erasmus, or in any kind of exchange you can take part in. There are so much things that influence your experience that you really cannot guess what it will be like. I enjoyed doing my Erasmus in Torun because we were more or less 100 foreign students, so everyone knew everyone, and we had strong links between us. I suppose this is completly different if you're in a city with more than 1000 of Erasmus and each of them living separately. Every experience is unique, so just try it !

To conclude, I'd like to say thank you to everyone that took part in my Adventure. That was really something that changed me and that I will remember my whole Life, and this is not just nice words.

And I wanna particularly thank Luisito, 'cause you made everything better. You were present when I needed, you listened to me when I was sad, you helped me when I asked for it but you also shared my happy moments and I am so so so soooo glad to have a friend like You. I'm looking forward to seeing you again, my Dear.

So maybe see you soon and good luck for your Future !!!