STUDENT: Deniz Daniel Chag, Ukraine;
HOST UNIVERSITY: Altınbaş University (Istanbul, Turkey)
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
― St. Augustine
When I first heard about the Erasmus+ program, I was quite intrigued by possibilities it can provide students with. The Idea of travelling to foreign countries, meeting with new people of different cultures and gaining the inestimable experience was something I would easily be attracted to. Thus I did not hesitate with my decision and applied right off the bat.
After a relatively short time of dealing with documents and all the preparations, there was nothing else to stop me from travelling to the country which I choose for my Erasmus+ exchange. It was Turkey, eastern multicultural country with astonishing architecture and breathtaking history.
From the very beginning, Istanbul made an impression of a huge and ancient city. Thousands of streets and buildings. millions of people and everything with its own unique story. When we met up with our buddies and other students even though we all were from different countries every one of us found something in common in others. The day we met, the process of setting up a big multicultural family started. With each day together we felt more comfortable, shared our stories, travelled helped others. Museums, Cafes, Palaces, gardens, Malls we tried to visit each place we could, to get as many memories as we can during that short period we had. You can never even imagine, how people from all around the world, who seemed to live apart, met in one city and became close to each other under the Erasmus+ program.
So the months passed with insane speed, and in a blink of an eye, it was our last day together. It was time to say farewell to each other and move back to our countries. Parting was as hard as parting with your native family, tears and smiles at the same time. Nevertheless, each one of us knew, that now he has his own family all around the world. Spain, Turkey, Portugal, Poland, Germany, Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine… There always will be people that will be happy to meet with you and treat to you as if you were a member of their own family. And to my opinion, this was the most valuable part of Erasmus experience as a whole. Connecting people all around the world in hope that one day maybe all the people around the world will be connected and attracted to know more about other cultures and people, find new friend all around the world and will to help others self-denyingly despite any differences.
