Arriving in a new city can be as daunting and exciting as it can be.  Discover more about this experience you're about to start ! 

           Not knowing where to go, how to get there, who and what to expect are just the beginning of it. From minute one, you begin to grow and create one of the best experiences of your university life that you would repeat without second thoughts. But as we arrive, as we settle in, as we get adapted, we discover big differences. The shower opens differently, the bus is not the same, the people are different, the food, the smells, the sensations. 

          Some differences encourage us, we like them, others not so much. We become aware of everything we have left behind, at home, and how much or how little we have valued it so far. In those moments, we begin to savour culture shock. For some it is easier than for others, and sometimes the weight of those differences becomes difficult. 

         However, as time goes by and we find our routine, our group of friends, our classes and our favourite activities, we create what will undoubtedly be our home. And once our period in Alcalá is over, it's time to go back home, and we experience again that difference in culture, having to adapt again to what life was like before our Erasmus. But that will no longer be the same.  You will definitely discover that there is a before and an after in your life. 

         And once Erasmus, always Erasmus. 

         Most of us, ESN Alcalá volunteers, have already lived this experience, these processes of adaptation and readjustment, and we know that sometimes it can be difficult without any help. That is why we are always available for you, international students, so that your arrival and your return is as positive and easy as possible, and that we create, together, one of the experiences that you will remember most fondly. 

          Remember, you are not alone and we are here to help you! 

         Because Erasmus is not a year of your life, it is your life in a year.