Fancy going on Holiday for a year?

Ok so i’m definitely being facetious when I say that studying for a year abroad is the equivalent to having a year long holiday. But this is only because I am incredibly jealous of those who have the chance to live in a foreign country whilst still being able to do your course. I have quite a few friends who are currently spending their third year in fantastic places like sultry Buenos Aires, picturesque Calgary and highly cultural Amsterdam. My friend who’s currently in Argentina constantly feels the need to tell me how hot it is as well as uploading outrageously fantastic photos of some of the city’s best tourist attractions; this is incredibly infuriating especially when i’m freezing to death in my cramped room on a gloomy winter’s evening in Leicester. Judging by the updates I see from friends on various social networking sites that are taking erasmus years, it seems that most work is substituted for sight-seeing and looking as cultured as possible.

I’ve attached a photo of my friend looking horrendously smug in sunny Argentina, just incase you weren’t able to detect my jealousy.

But of course I’m sure there are downsides to travelling several miles to live somewhere completely unfamiliar for an entire year- if you’re lucky, some people might be able to speak the same language as you. Or if you’re intelligent like my aforementioned friend is, then you will be able to speak the native language because you’re probably a language student if you’re doing a year abroad anyway.

So if you ever have the opportunity to do a year abroad then my advice is go for it! You will not regret having the chance to immerse yourself in another culture, experiencing things that very few people our age will have, as well as gaining all-important life skills, personal connections  and adaptability that will certainly come in handy in the future.