Sarah A

For those of you that don't know, Erasmus is an opportunity given by Universities for students to go study abroad for a semester or two. This year, I have been accepted on Erasmus to study at Coventry University for the first semester. I have now been here for a bit over two weeks, and so far I have been loving it.

I have been lucky enough to get chosen in the same University as my best friend, so that is definitely makes the experience so much better for me. We are living in a house with two other guys whom we didn't know before, but thankfully we've all been getting along really well! The house is pretty nice, especially in terms of student accommodation. We have a big kitchen, a great living room, and lots of storage space in our rooms.

Until now, we have been slowly getting used to the city. It's quite a small city; everything is close together and basically in walking distance, which is good. It has actually been quite sunny here in the UK since we've been here. And I must admit, I've been loving taking in the last few bits of sun until it disappears completely!

We have had one week of lectures which all seem quite interesting and very different to our Maltese lectures. I haven't figured out whether it's because of the lecturer, the students, or the content of the study units; although it's probably a mixture of everything.

Since we aren't living in student accommodation, it's a bit harder for us to meet new people and make new friends. We have one Maltese friend here so we have been meeting her and her roommates whenever we go out. But it's pretty hard for us to go out and actually meet new people who are willing to stick around (most of the time all we get is a few drunk guys trying to flirt with us), but we'll just give it time!

So far, living independently has been great. We have somehow succeeded at cooking meals every day (we have obviously messed up many times, but practice makes perfect!) Cleaning isn't too bad either, especially when you don't let things accumulate for a long time. Overall, I'd say the whole experience is pretty damn great. The only downside is being away from my boyfriend. In four years, we have never been away from each other for such a long time. It's definitely hard, but we're making it work. Video chats are basically our best friend now.

I'll hopefully be posting many more updates on my Erasmus experience, but I'm sure it's going to be a great one. If you have any tips for living abroad, please enlighten me! I always love hearing other people's experiences :) Also, if anyone is studying at Coventry University too, let me know!