My Erasmus - The Year I Made My Dreams Come True

From the moment I decided to move abroad, from the moment I decided to move to Brno, my life changed, my life took an unexpected turn dealing with the new, travelling learning, improvising, improving. My life changed in the very best way I could ever have imagined. New places, new habits, new challenges, new people. You learn to live with the word new and it becomes a part of your life and after some time you just cannot imagine yourself living without it.

with my Erasmus family in Brno

Writing or talking about my exchange year in Brno will always be my favorite topic. One year in this lovely city had been such an amazing experience. I arrived in September and I have to admit that in the beginning I was a little scared. New situations have always intrigued me, but at the same time I have been very sceptic about them. First days seemed so weird to me. Brno looked like a nice and very peaceful city, but still I had that strange feeling of dealing with new culture and with a new range of emotions. Starting from Czech people. They are usually very nice and polite and willing to help you anytime, apart from the fact that u may find it difficult sometimes to communicate in English and maybe sometimes they may look cold. But once you get to know them, you have to love them!

one of my favorite trips

Continuing with my Erasmus family. Yes, I really mean it when I say family. My friend, an ex-Erasmus in Brno suggested (actually it was a kind of an order) that I choose Vinarska as my dormitory. Well, she was right. I had never lived in a dormitory before that, but if I will again, I definitely want it to be like Vinarska. Of course it is not the most comfortable/best place to live in, but with amazing people you learn to love that place and it becomes your home. Regardless of the time you know these people, they become special to you so easily, and I am glad to say that I feel lucky to have met them. I met people from all over the world and I learned to live with them. Together we changed, travelled, learned, and evolved. Together we became a big family. I have heard many times the quotation: “Home is where the heart is”, but can understand what it means only now. I missed that place every time I was travelling and I miss it more now that I am far away. And you feel like you would give anything to go back to that place, even if it is just for a second, but then you think that it would not be the same as always. The magical conjunction of the right place, right moment and the right people would be missing. 

And as I mentioned before travelling, of course it is one of the best parts of being an Erasmus student. You know your life has changed when all of a sudden you are one weekend in Prague and after few days you find yourself in Vienna or Paris. “To travel, to live” becomes easily your moto and you just cannot imagine your life without this dynamic. Living in Brno helped me a lot with travelling. Its position in the centre of Europe, the facilities in transport made it possible to travel quite a lot and to visit countries and places I really wanted to and never imagined so early.

Moreover, telling about my new university life. Oh, I never would have thought that I could miss classes or a university. At Masaryk University I had the best classes ever with very professional professors and surrounded by very devoted students. I can say that I found there what I was looking for in my studies and what unfortunately I had been missing. Maybe you may think that as an exchange Erasmus student it was not so difficult, but I can say with conviction that the knowledge I got there will serve me for the rest of my life. Studying for a year at Masaryk University will definitely have a positive impact on my future professional life.

And coming to our favourite part, our Erasmus parties. Well, no need to explain or tell too much. Every Erasmus can fully understand what I mean. All the laughs, joy and crazy moments we shared together will be part of the big luggage of memories we will always carry with us.

one of our Erasmus parties in Vinařská basement

And then all of a sudden, without realizing that ten months have already passed, ten incredible amazing months, comes the moment to say goodbye. It is definitely the hardest part of being an Erasmus. That look on the faces of people you love and you may not see again makes you feel weak because you cannot do anything to change that. And you know that you will never be at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere, it will always be with every single place or every single person you keep in your heart. But in the end you just have to let it go and cherish it forever. 

I consider all this experience a challenge and an opportunity to explore and identify ways of improving myself, know parts of me that I did not know existed and in the same time be able to expand knowledge, broaden my horizons and share different cultures and opinions. 

Everytime someone asks me about my life in Brno I always feel that I lack the right words to really express what I have experienced. I could write endlessly and never finish but still I feel that I have not told even the quarter of what I have been through. I think that only those who have experienced this can fully understand me.

our last days in front of Vinařská

I will always remember it as the year I was living in an amazing city with amazing people so special to me, the year that I travelled and made my dreams come true, the year when I was so happy!

Iva Caridha, a student of Faculty of Law, Albania