hollyberries

I'm the type of person who always has high expectations for things, which often leads to disappointment. I don't mean to, I just prefer to think only about the best possibilities, but they're not always 100% realistic. Before I set off on my year abroad I was so excited to start, what everyone had told me would be, the best year of my life so far. But of course, people only ever tell you the good parts. So I had really got my hopes up that as soon as my feet hit Spanish soil I'd be having the time of my life. The truth is, so far, it hasn't been exactly what I was expecting. In fact it's been quite a bit worse. Moving country is hard, man. I found leaving home to go to university scary enough, and this is the same, but like 100 times different.  I know Spain isn't massively far away from England but it suddenly feels like everything is different. The people, the food, the shops, the language (duh), the lifestyle. Obviously it's amazin...

Hola amigos! So I haven't blogged for a while and I've got a bit of an update.  I've moved to Spain! Basically, I am now in the third year of my undergraduate degree at the University of Exeter (aka I'm supposedly almost a grown-up) and because I study languages I have the amazing opportunity to spend it abroad. So that's what I'm doing. A couple of weeks ago I attempted to pack my life into a couple of suitcases and flew to Madrid to start my 9-month adventure.  With accommodation, a Spanish bank account, and even a gym membership (who am I) all finally sorted, I'm beginning to feel a lot more settled.  And if you're wondering what I'm actually doing out here (other than eating tapas , paella , churros con chocolate ...(now you understand the gym membership)), I am working in a school as an English language assistant , helping teachers prepare lessons and helping the students with their English. I know I've only just started but...

Whenever I ask someone which year of university was their favourite, I've found the majority answer "2nd year" . So obviously I was pretty psyched to begin mine. Freshers' week (as an actual fresher) is built up to be the most amazing week of your life, and I know not everyone feels this way, but mine really wasn't. Don't get me wrong I had loads of fun , met loads of new people , and got loads of freebies (#win), but for me, moving away from home was pretty scary and all the new people, new places and new experiences were rather overwhelming . So it took me the week to find my newly independent feet and properly settle in. So for any freshers out there reading this, if you feel the same way, do not worry, it is completely normal and that feeling goes away. This brings me to the freshers' week of 2nd year, 'Freshers' 2.0' if you will. Exeter start ridiculously early for some reason so I'm actually coming to the end of mine but hopefull...