What is the first day like when you arrive? What’s it like settling in the first week? Our Globetrotters reflect on first impressions and the excitement of arriving in their host countries.
“You can never understand one language until you understand at least two.” – Geoffrey Willans It’s all too easy to forget the reason we’ve come on a year abroad, especially in that first month when we’re busy settling in and adjusting to a new city and culture. But whilst I’m sitting here reminding myself (with Read more
Ok, so I’m not here to tell you it’s all going to be terrible but I am going to be brutally honest about a few of the struggles I had upon my arrival in Paris and during my first couple of weeks here. Before you get reading, start worrying and over thinking, it’s not all Read more
The first week of the year abroad is possibly one of the most challenging and daunting of your life so far, but don’t let that put you off! Although it was difficult and stressful, it was also a huge learning curve, and is well worth working through as you reap the benefits later on! As Read more
I am a French and Spanish third year student at Cardiff University, currently in south-east France in the small Alpine city of Chambéry. For the first semester of my Year Abroad I am studying here at the Université de Savoie, before heading to Spain in February to focus on my Spanish at the Universidad de Read more
Bonjour from France! I’m a third year BA French & Italian student, currently on my Year Abroad which is a compulsory component of my degree (lucky me!). Although I’ve been living in France for almost three months now (!), I thought I would start by telling you all how I managed to get here in Read more
Pre-departure The best feeling was when I received an email congratulating me on my success in achieving a grant to study abroad. I had the option of choosing where to study as long as it was for at least a month and in a recognised institution. Salamanca seemed ideal for me as I had always Read more
Wendy Maden, final year student on the BSc City and Regional Planning, reflects on her experience of studying abroad through the Erasmus programme Wendy, third from the right, pictured in Leuven with friends made while on the Erasmus programme. Wendy stated: “This photo summarises Erasmus quite well: Swedish, Italian, German, British, Israeli and Italian in Read more
Well, I’ve been in Los Angeles for 11 days now, and have had the most fantastic time. Getting moved in was pretty nerve wracking (just knowing which way to cross the street can be a challenge sometimes!) and it’s taken me a good week to get settled down in a proper routine, but its been Read more
Spending my summer studying in China has been a fantastic opportunity, the China university experience is very different to that of the UK but is equally enjoyable. My course at Xiamen University, in the Fujian province of South East China, focused on learning Mandarin with classes on the Chinese economy, culture and business in the Read more
After a 30 hour journey and several flight delays, we finally arrived in Hong Kong. The first shock occurred as we stepped out of the cool air conditioned airport, and into the hot and humid weather. The sweating had begun. Something you have to get used to in China. After our failed attempt to acclimatise, Read more
NI men hao! (Hello!) it’s the end of my first school week here at the Overseas college in Xiamen and I’m well on my way to settling in. I arrived in Xiamen on 29th June from Hong Kong where the climate is almost identical to Xiamen (but there is more air-con and a lot less Read more
Want to be a Globetrotter?
We're looking for enthusiastic students who are currently abroad, or are soon going abroad, to share their experiences and write for our pages!
If you're interested, get in touch by emailing us at go@cardiff.ac.uk
