Life On Erasmus #2: Things I Miss

So, I've now been here for 8 weeks. Time for the novelty to wear off & panic to hit. Mainly panic about what food is most like Irish stuff, & how to adapt. Last week I read loads about what people most miss about Ireland when abroad.. & here's my version.

A decent chicken & mayo roll. I used to grab one of these from Centra beside where I worked, almost daily. I almost went through withdrawal on my days off. This is a Wexford thing - During college, I tried a few different shops around Dublin & the chicken always tasted like plastic. I'm dying to get back to work, for my lunchtime roll.




I miss work. I complained occasionally but I loved my job. I've been emailing my boss regularly, with the result that I will be working full-time over Christmas. Okay, that's obviously taking up time from my family, but the money will be appreciated & it means cabin fever won't set in.

Mashed spuds & stew. Look, I can cook, but I don't make spuds just for myself, & I definitely can't make stew. Also, decent soup. I want a nice big bowl of farmhouse vegetable soup with some nice brown bread!

Penneys & Tesco. There are loads of shops I miss, but these are the main ones. It's just so easy to run into Penneys & pick up cheap basics, or a nice warm pair of PJs, instead of the €20 that seems to be common here. And I spent a lot of time in Tesco in the morning, before work, or afterwards. There's similar shops here but.. They're not the same.

A real fire. This is something I miss when I'm in college too, but at least then I'd have a fire at the weekend. While my room is always nice & toasty from my heating, nothing beats sitting in front of the fire when it's cold & wet!

Obviously there are lots more things I miss.. Friends & family go without saying, & while everyone else talks constantly about Cadburys, tea, etc... I actually brought a stock pile of Irish chocolate & many, many Lyon's teabags over here. & I haven't finished them up yet. I knew my priorities!

What're your favourite things about home?

Chloe x

Life on Erasmus #1

Catchy title, eh? But hey, it is what it says on the tin! It doesn't feel like I've only been here just over two weeks (Not sure if that's a good or bad thing!) But, from the start.

Arriving in my new town after a flight & train journey

Strangely, I had no problem leaving home. After my crying the night before, I was okay. It felt weird to be the one comforting my parents, but I took it well. Til I got on the plane, & a few tears escaped. Since then, yep, I have cried a little. The first time I Skyped my little sisters, I sobbed afterwards! But it's all good now.

View from the train station

I really like the city. It's small enough to feel comfortable here & know the place, but big enough to be interesting & there are lots of places nearby to travel to. Some of the buildings are beautiful & the scenery pretty much is breath taking. The view out my window is lovely! (Which is good, because I have no curtains.) But my room is massive, so I can deal with it.

The River Saale in the local park

Yeah, it's not all sunshine & lollipops. When we arrived, I couldn't move into my apartment for another week, so I spent a week sleeping uncomfortably. We had no internet, & wifi just doesn't seem to be a thing here. I was waiting for my phone to be unlocked to use a German sim card, & when it was unlocked, I had to wait to get internet to actually complete the process, so I was spending massive amounts of credit! We were supposed to do a language course, which was cancelled. So basically.. We probably arrived a week too early.

View from the tower

But Monday, we start college, which I'm looking forward to. We have (finally) met other students, who seem really nice so hopefully I do actually make friends! And I think this year might really change me as a person. I'll have to wait & see :)

Me & my new home!

Chloe x