In breve
- Erasmus is one of the most formative experiences for 18-25 year olds — but it doesn't happen by itself.
- The first 2 weeks are decisive: they set your social circle for the rest of the semester.
- The classic trap: staying in a comfort bubble with your compatriots instead of mixing.
Erasmus is a parenthesis. Four or five months in a city you don't know, with people you've never met, in a language you rarely use day-to-day. Some people come back saying it's the best experience of their life. Others come home with the feeling they missed something — that they didn't really dive in. The difference between the two isn't luck. It's the choices made in the first two weeks.
The first two weeks — they define everything else
When you arrive in an Erasmus city, everyone is in the same state: new, no network, a little lost, and deep down wanting to meet people. This window doesn't last long. After two or three weeks, groups form, habits settle, circles close. What this means in practice: in the first two weeks, say yes to everything. The welcome evening that seems forced. The dinner organized by the Erasmus association. The guided city tour. That's where you meet people.
The comfort-bubble trap — and how to avoid it
Ending up in a group of only your compatriots because it's comfortable: that's the classic Erasmus trap. Speaking your home language all day and coming back without having really practiced the local language or met any locals. The practical rule: allow yourself 1 evening in 3 with your compatriots. The rest of the time, mix. Join a sports club or university society. Go to events organized by your host university, not just Erasmus parties.
How to meet locals — really
Erasmus parties are a good start, but locals don't come. To actually mix: university clubs and societies (sport, music, theatre, volunteering — frequency creates familiarity). Local language classes — even basic level: it signals to locals you're making the effort. A mixed flatshare with locals: less comfortable at first, infinitely richer over time. HollyFriends also works in Erasmus residences — you see who is staying there right now, filtered by age, in an international building full of students from around the world.
The Erasmus social life week by week
Weeks 1-2: say yes to everything, go out even when tired, eat with strangers in the canteen, talk to your neighbors. Weeks 3-6: groups are forming — find 3-5 people you genuinely click with and invest in those friendships, but stay open. Weeks 7-12: protect time to explore the city and region. Final month: don't start "checking out mentally" before you physically leave — the last Erasmus weeks are often the most intense.
Money on Erasmus — what nobody tells you before you go
The Erasmus grant rarely covers actual living costs in expensive cities. What helps: cooking most of the time (the essential Erasmus skill), local markets instead of standard supermarkets, student sharing apps for books and equipment, free or subsidized university events, traveling weekends by FlixBus rather than train or plane.
What Erasmus gives you that you can't anticipate
You expect to improve your language, discover a city, travel a bit. What you don't anticipate: how this experience changes your relationship with uncertainty. You learn to manage in situations where you don't know the codes, where you have to ask for help from strangers. That adaptability is worth more than any course. And the friends you make on Erasmus — not all of them, a few — those ones, often, stay.