Ten Things to Do As an Exchange Student

Ten Things to do as an Exchange Student

By

LAI Miu Yeung Israel

‘I am back.’ I’ve muttered this countless times, and the word'back' still sounds funny - I spent almost a full year away from Hong Kong, and I have - my subconscious has - begun to call another place 'home'. When I say 'I'm back', I feel like I'm once again arriving at the busyLund Central from a short flight, with piercing wind hitting my face, instead of this pressing humid air. For better or worse, no,I never felt truly home sick once; I’m way past that. There’s just too much to see, too much to do.

But there's the problem: any exchange year feels ridiculously short in retrospect; depending on how much you fall for your new home, a lifetime might not even suffice. A lot of us try to cram all the plans of our dreams into the calendar, and tend to miss things that we never realise we should’ve done until it's too late. Throughout my year, I was very open to shaking up my routine and lifestyle; yet still, there are so many things I wish I could’ve done earlier. So here are 10 things I suggest you consider doing if you're going on exchange:

Reaching the Arctic Ocean

1. See the world - every corner you can reach

You might think this is a no-brainer, but it isn't. We non-Europeans in Europe can't help but get excited about all the countries we can see: France, Italy, Greece, Scandinavia...We end up flying non-stop from capital to capital to fit everything imaginable into our plans.

But sometimes, just sometimes, there are hidden gems we miss, especially in our host country.

Taking Lund as a starting point: have you thought about what stood behind these buildings and gardens? Have you probed into the endless Swedish woods and harbours and picked some wild berries? Have you explored the incredible multiculturalism in Malmö and the way the communities interact? Or simply...have you danced ‘smågrodorna’?

Staying a long time in a foreign land or continent doesn't only mean leaving your footprints everywhere, but also witnessing, throughout a period, the changes and cycles that you've never seen, the happenings that tourists never pay attention to, and this nook and that cranny that you might not have the time to discover otherwise.

2. Get emotional support - oldandnew

Getting sent all of a sudden to a complete new environment can be daunting. It's like losing all you have, all you knew, all youarein one go, and rediscovering all that from scratch to complete your metamorphosis. And it's not an easy task either; it can feel lonely at times. Maybe a lot of times.

There are different sources you can find your emotional support. In the 21st century, many might fall back to their loved ones, meeting them on video on a regular basis. There's nothing wrong with that, but here's an idea: what about getting somenewemotional support? It’s like getting into a pool the first time. Sure, you can hang on to the edges if you like, but why not, just for once, grab a swim ring and get out there?

A picnic in the woods - definitely something I personally hadn’t tried before...

3. Stay out of your comfort zone - constantly

They say you have to step out of your comfort zone to truly experience something different. I say no; you have tostayout of it, as much as you can. As long as you have your 'swim ring', get as far as you can into the ocean, in your limited time period. Shake up your habits and routines!

I'm a musician. What that means is that I have a pretty fixed routine of practising instruments and doing musical stuff. And I believe many of you, while not necessarily tied to your profession or major, have a list of things that you do on a daily basis. Throw that list out of the window! Instead, do things you've never even dreamtabout.

You might be thinking: wouldn't all these new routines take a toll on my professional skills? Granted, I didn’t write a single musical note for half a year. And you know what? I have two more years after this to be fully engaged in my musical training, and two before this, but hardly one year abroad - and who knows if I'll ever get another chance in my life again! Of course, don't give up your profession entirely, but I’d say changing up things is worth it. And after experiencing so much,I feel like I will be more reinvigorated to bring my nose back to the grindstone, taking new ideas and personal traitswith me.

4.Manage and balance your time

I'm not even going to try convincing you to study, mostly because I wasn’t that convinced either. In a way, you have better - I mean, equally worthy - things to spend time on.

Yes, go travelling, as I said. But it's abalancing act to be both a traveller and a student – as in one who leads a student life. And if you have problems juggling the two, contrary to everyone else, I'd advise you to go more with student life than travelling.

Just do the math: you have an entire lifetime to explore the world and go sightseeing, but only a few years to be a student, and probably no more than one as an international student. If your aim is to travel and see sights, then by all means go. But if you want to really expand your horizons and change your worldview, ironically, stay.

But not in front of the computer:

5. Get out of your shell - before you regret it

To be honest, I’d lived in Vienna for a whiletwo years ago. It entailed both a German course and an excuse to live in every musician's dream city. The result?Lots of regrets. Whenever I try to recall my entire month there, I remember my little room, before my computer, more than any other of the gorgeous parts of town. In one month, I managed to maketwoViennese 'friends'. Yes, in quotes.

It's 2016, and it is extremely easy to spend entire days in a tiny room, connected to the virtual world, whether browsing sites, consuming media, or connecting with old friends. I did that several times this year too. Thankfully, that experience in Vienna served as a constant reminder to minimise that kind of lifestyle. Instead, go out there somewhere. Anywhere. Bathe in the sun, time-travel in a library, bike to a beach, or heck, just party all night.Anything is better than a monotonous lifethat might as well have been in your hometown.

6. Interact with both international and local students

Who should you meet though? I say all of them.

In many universities, especially in Sweden, you're be provided with countless opportunities to interact with other international students. Take those opportunities; but also seek actively to break into the local student community! I've seen countless people, especially Asian students, hanging out exclusively with others from their own country or ethnicity. If you're reading this before your departure, you'd sneer - "why would I even do that?" But when you're in the foreign, insecure environment, you'll have a natural tendency to gravitate towards your own people. Fight it. Don't be afraid to straight-up avoid people from your own university! You have much more time to hang out with them back home.

Becoming the worker of the month, selling beer and serving pastas. Anything but video games!

It gets even more exciting if you aim at...

7. Blending in - you might never become local, but you can come close

‘You never truly know yourself until you try to become another person.’(me, 2016)

In a foreign country, you're bound to meet people with even more different lives than people you already know. Observe what they do, and take their lifestyles as a reference. You might pick up some new things or habits that you never knew suited you!

Every culture does different things. They have their own mannerisms, their signature activities...Of course, we have our fikas, but also small things - gestures, behaviour, ways of reacting - that you don't notice until you start observing and imitating, perhaps even unknowingly.

I was quite happy when my friends said I acted quite Swedish, and especially when new acquaintances were genuinely surprised I'm from Hong Kong. Blending in and being accepted as a true member of the community is not only a fun challenge, not only helps you maximise your exposure to the local culture, but also, through compare and contrast, reinforces who you originally are, and your sense of identity, even cultural pride.

Of course, you never truly feel local unless you...

8. Learn the lingo - skip straight to the practical part

Even in Sweden, the best ESL-speaking country, you feel left out when hanging out with a group that has to switch languages just for you.

For the 91.5% of us who don't live in the Schengen area, there's a pretty good chance we'll never live in another country. That’s why when I picked my host university, I knew I had to try this, so I picked Sweden, where you can definitely survive without knowing anything other than hej, but where you can also opt to pick up the language in a matter of months. In the end, I pulled off a 'fluent in three months'. Soon, I was confidently hanging out in local pubs and watching popular local TV shows, and that's what counts. Which is why I emphasise:get to speaking as soon as possible! When time is scarce, make use of every single day.

Language cafés have become part of my weekly routine.

Join language cafés, focus on mastering the most commonlyspokenwords and phrases, and don't be (too) ashamed of using your new friends as your tools. Don’t be shy, because chances are you won't speak it perfectly within a year anyway, so it’s the progress that counts. Time and time again polyglots have proved that as long as you have the motivation and put in the work, you can go very far in just half a year.

9. Rethink your perspective on the world - question what you took for granted

During my year, I never really felt a culture shock, probably due to my adaptability and desire for escape and change. But digging deeper down,whatisa nation's culture? Do pictures of particular cities or folk costumes come to mind? For me, itincludeswhat people do, how people think, and what people talk about, beforefestivals and whatnot.

One does not simply learn about a culture by reading about it online; youhaveto be here, talk to the people, and look for the differences, be they as tiny as cooking lettuce or as grand as moral values.

And then you think. Why are we different? Why do we look at these things and concepts differently, even though we are fundamentally the same species? You think about whatyoursociety taught you as a kid, and what values or concepts you have learnt to take for granted as an adult. Why these things couldn't have been any other way, to you, for twenty years of your life.

Thatis culture to me.

Back when I left, a friend left me a message: "can't wait to see your transformation!"

Have I been transformed? Not necessarily; I’m probably still doing the same things, in mostly the same ways.

ButI understand more clearlywhyI do those things in those ways, and I’m doing them with more conviction.

10. Enjoy the life there, because it might be the only "second life" you'll ever get.

You never get to the other side unless you step into the unknown.

About the author

LAI Miu Yeung Israel is a 4rd-year student majoring in Music and minoring in German and Translation. In the 2015-16 academic year, he participated in a year-long U-wide exchange program at Lund University, Sweden.

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