One hundred fifty-eight thousand four hundred minutes

One hundred fifty-eight thousand moments so dear...
That is, what my Erasmus semester gave me  in a very brief and condensed list.

I have come home exactly a month ago (note: that is, when I started writing this post but life got in the way and here I am finishing it a good week later). So what are the things that I have experienced, learned, seen and heard that I am going to take with me in my future? What would a short list of the most important things look like if I was forced to sum up how my Erasmus contributed to my life? Something like this...

1. People

 

The most important influence on me is probably all those awesome people I have met during those 110 days in Ireland. Their stories, personalities, kindness and uniqueness all made me think about stuff that I normally wouldn't have. Their friendship made me a -hopefully- better person. This goes for internationals and those handful of Hungarians as well.
Now I have friends in Brazil, Poland, Hong-Kong, France, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Germany, Austria, the USA, Canada, Denmark, China, and of course Ireland. And maybe other countries that I forgot to list now. And I already miss these people a lot! International relations just can't be emphasised enough - of course you expect to make friends while abroad, but until you actually experience it, you can't even grasp how powerful an influence this has on you as a person.

2. Places

 

I know this is quite obvious again, but when you visit breathtakingly beautiful places every week, that kind of changes you. You learn history and culture and values through them, you explore exciting and memorable things through them. This is how I ended up swimming in the icy cold ocean or singing and playing the guitar with a bus driver or visiting cows on the farm of a friend or met Darren freaking Shan. And your soul just fills up with all the views and you feel like flying.

3. Irish vaues

 There are probably two things that I want to highlight when it comes to Irish everydays and how they differ from my experiences about Hungary. One of them is the fact that Irish people seemed really open and helpful not only towards other Irishmen but also towards foreign people - like us Erasmus students. From the cashier in Lidl to the landlord and the professors at university, everyone proved to be kind and eager to help. This is not something you would experience in Hungary, at least not in most of the cases.
The other one is the NEED to exercise in Irish people. They go for walks all the time, at all ages (really, kindergarden kids and their parents and even ladies the age of my grandparents), wearing high-visibility clothing (it gets dark soon and is raining all the time, after all), usually in pairs. They seem to take it seriously. Also, they just LOVE rugby and gaelic football and hurling. They watch it, they play it, they live it. Most boys are even wearing tracksuits in public instead of jeans which was, in the beginning, really disturbing but I guess it is just a side-effect of their sporty lifestyle. Moreover, it's not just them who do the sports but they encourage others to join in too, at UL they offered dozens of sport clubs, all of them having low membership fees, many members, and great equipment. This is how I got to swim 2-3 times a week, try archery and bike to campus and back home every day (and sometimes several times a day). Ireland really changes your lifestyle.

4. Household skills

This might have been different if I had tried to live away from my family before going to Ireland - but as it is, my first experiences of living 'alone' and managing my life happened to take place in Limerick. I had to learn how to cook (okay, it wasn't that hard but still, here at home it's almost always mom who cooks), how to wash my clothes and how to do effective and cheap grocery shopping. I had to clean the bathroom a few times (and ofc I cleaned my room every week but that's the same here at home too), I paid rent, booked accommodation, bus and flight tickets and decided on many things on my own.

5. Responsibility

I am not saying I was irresponsible before going on my Erasmus but it is inevitable that you gain even more responsibility while abroad. Your decisions might weigh more than they usually do. Living together with people who are not family can be challenging sometimes, as you cannot do or say something totally wrong and then simply apologise - it could work with your parents or siblings but not with total strangers. And you can't evven just move out if things are not working, as there are no free places around campus. Also, you will make financial decisions more often, as international students are showered with opportunities; dozens of clubs and societies and hundreds of events. You simply have to choose which one to join or attend and which ones to skip, unless your parents are billionaires. Another issue might be your relationship: if you go on your Erasmus but you have a significant other back at home, you just need to consider so many things and act responsibly - your words and attitude can make all the difference or ruin everything. Similarly, getting into a relationship while on Erasmus requires responsibility and understanding from both parties.

+1. How to be a college student

 Although I had attended university for four semesters before going to Ireland (and six years of high school before that), I never actually went to parties or clubs or even pubs. My friends are usually not those partying-type people and we rather just go to a tea house or sit down and play board games, maybe go to the swimming pool. In Ireland, however, my friends liked to party and I joined them and as it turns out I myself am not that much against partying either. Of course I don't want to get wasted and listen to shitty techno crap or squeeze myself into a crowd of drunken teenagers. But I do like to grab a few beers, play beerpong, and sing along and move rather awkwardly to songs that I like in the circle of a few friends in the semi-darkness. And I like to go to house parties and just hang out with random nice people and play music and travel and drink and cook and eat and engage in chitchat or a deep conversation about Harry Potter. And have, maybe a bit ironically after my previous point, less responsibility and more freedom. But here's the recepie: take some alcohol, stir in a pot without adding much stress about school stuff, grab some nice people, take out old friends or family who would require your time and attention, pour all your newly acquired freetime into the pot, boil, add some more alcohol and freedom, maybe a teaspoon full of music, serve, and enjoy the carefree life of college students!