An Insider’s Guide to Choosing Courses on Exchange

Well, it actually happened. Real life is back: school started again after the winter break, classes are in full swing, and assignment deadlines are looming again. All of that fun academic stuff – classes, assignments, readings and lectures – might not be the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about exchange, but they do form a big part of your experience. So I thought the time was probably right to write a post about choosing your courses while you’re studying abroad.

The most wonderful (and stressful) time of the year

Edinburgh is in full holiday mode and so am I, even though I really, really shouldn’t be. My last exam is today, but I’ve spent the last week or so doing a little bit of studying, and a lot of hot chocolate drinking and Christmas market-going. It always seems cruel that exams happen at the same time that holiday excitement is ramping up. It’s almost like they don’t want you to study.

Culture Shocked

If you’ve ever chatted to someone about moving to a new city or country, going on exchange, or travelling abroad, you’ve probably come across the idea of culture shock. According to wikipedia, culture shock is characterized by disorientation people feel when they experience an unfamiliar way of life, after moving or travelling to a new place. Since it sounds like the kind of thing that only happens when you move to somewhere totally, wildly foreign, I wrote it off as something I didn’t need to think about. Edinburgh doesn’t exactly seem like an exotic, foreign place – the language is the same (even if the accent sometimes proves a bit tricky to understand), the systems for everyday things like shopping and banking are really similar, and there aren’t many dramatic cultural differences.

Should you go on exchange?

With the semester coming quickly to a close and my time at University of Edinburgh wrapping up, I’m feeling a little bit nostalgic. My exchange has gone by way too fast, and it’s gotten me thinking about whether I would do it over again. Was spending my last semester at U of T studying abroad the right decision? And is exchange maybe just one of those things everyone should do? The short answer to that question is a absolutely, definitely, positively, 100% yes. If you’re too busy trying to dig yourself out from under a pile of essay writing, you can just stop reading here and go start your exchange application now.
My home for the last three months: University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh, my home for the semester. One of the perks of exchange = beautiful new campus to explore.

Playing Tourist in Your Own Town

In my last post, I talked a little bit about travelling while you’re away on exchange. Travelling is a lot of fun, but I neglected to mention one important detail…it is EXPENSIVE. With the end of the semester coming, and my bank account balance looking sadder and sadder everyday, I think my travelling days are over for now. But, fortunately, I came up with a solution. Being a tourist in my own town! No airfare to worry about, no hotels to pay for, no expensive meals out – just me and my camera wandering around Edinburgh.
Pretending to be a tourist at the National Museum.
Pretending to be a tourist at the National Museum.

Travelling on Exchange

Hello from Copenhagen! You might remember that in my last post, I was feeling a little bit down. School stress was mounting, I wasn’t having much fun, and I was getting overwhelmed trying to balance my workload with my desire to just have fun on exchange. Luckily, I managed to hand in all of my assignments, dig myself out from my mountain of books and readings, and take a break for a few days. And what better place to take a break than Copenhagen? Streets of Copenhagen

Exchange Expectations vs. Reality

Before leaving on exchange, I had a clear (and very unrealistic!) vision of what my everyday life would be like: I would spend my days wandering around Edinburgh, taking photos and going to beautiful sites, going out for coffee, keeping a travel journal, meeting friends for lunch, going to lots of events, and travelling to different European cities on the weekends. Somehow, nothing school related ever really made it into that vision of everyday life. Lectures? Studying? I wasn’t convinced that those things actually existed when you went on exchange. Wouldn’t they just kind of…stop? Or take care of themselves?
A photo from a weekend trip to Venice, AKA what I thought I would be doing every weekend.
A photo from a weekend trip to Venice, AKA what I thought I would be doing every weekend.