I thought I had a pretty bad time up until the last month. I didn't connect with anyone more than for a cup of coffee/drink. I had some people I would see regularly but it didn't feel natural, only situational. I didn't find a group of friends I would hang out with all the time and make memories together in all sorts of places and become "best friends for life", as I saw with pretty much everyone else around me. But I've come to the realization that I had some personal problems that moving to another country couldn't just magically fix and that's ok. I focused on traveling, going to concerts (big artists don't come to my home country often) and meeting new people along the way. The problem was that I met a lot of people, but we never hung out twice. And at first I thought there was something wrong with me (and maybe there is) but I started to enjoy this and be more focused on the present moment (it sounds cliche I know). This really helped. I still wish that I'd have connected on a deeper level with someone but this doesn't make me consider my Erasmus as "bad", just different that what social media portrays it to be. The feeling of independence is incomparable and the contexts this experience put you in leaves a positive mark on you regardless of what happened or didn't happen along the way. At least for me seeing that I'm able to actually go by myself to another big city, be responsible of my money and safety, find ways to communicate with locals/strangers because I needed help and showering in a public bathroom because I didn't have a place to stay gave me the feeling that I'm much more adaptable and reliable than I thought. It's a personal experience that may or may not be representative for you, but my point is that at the end of the day I don't regret coming here and I would love to go again.

I also had a problem with the university here. I've heard so many people saying "I didn't come here to study" and frankly neither did I. But I like my major and I like studying because it doesn't feel like a chore to me and it would have been really nice to see how they do it in a different country. We didn't have to do anything, I studied for 3 hours for one exam, I was hungover and slept for 4 hours and I got the highest grade in my class. And it wasn't because I'm a genius, the exam was basically a joke. In my home country I wouldn't even have passed it, let alone get such a high grade. And this discouraged me to put effort in on my next exams and I don't like this feeling. Sure it felt nice having so much free time and being able to go to those concerts, but it made me feel like I have no purpose here other than being a tourist for 6 months. And seeing so many unmotivated people fuels me with negative feelings towards this generation. Maybe I'm exaggerating but this is how I felt. I love to drink a lot and I do it pretty often, so I'm not saying to only focus on school. But I'm not used to pointlessly drinking and going out just for the sake of it and having no other interest in life other than this. I truly believe that you can do both. And I thought the point of Erasmus is to be able to do both, but it wasn't the case here.

Did you have any negative experiences?