Pre-erasmus thoughts.

So this post is my pre-erasmus thoughts. 

I'm moving country. I'm moving to Italy. I'm moving to Milan. Shit.

Even after knowing this for about 5 months I'm still slightly daunted and don't feel fully prepared. Luckily two other peers of my Fashion course at Coventry are also doing the same Erasmus programme as myself and so I'm not completely alone but all the same know that it's going to be a wonderful yet challenging experience. 

Having never been to Milan I was hoping to visit before actually moving in October however due to working all summer in order to afford this adventure it hasn't really been financially viable. I have however googled it ALOT. I'm not sure how much this will help me but if your moving abroad I know your going to be doing the same! 

So far my Italian isn't very good, even after attending the night classes provided at Coventry I'm still stuck to the basics. This is one of the main reasons for doing the Erasmus scheme, I want to learn the language. I'd love to come back speaking a good level of Italian so I'm able to get by although our course is taught at an English speaking academy and don't believe we have the option to attend Italian lessons so I think I'm mostly going to have to try hard to pick it up and teach myself.

The course I'm attending is fashion design and is run at an arts academy called NABA that looks fantastic online. I've found it very difficult to find much out about the area around NABA through online research but have managed to get in contact with two of the girls form my university who attending the school from January to June last year. So far I have a slight bit of knowledge about how the transport system works and how different the culture is but not a lot else. 

In terms of finding accommodation in Milan this has been a huge challenge as to date most the people I've contacted haven't replied to me or won't make an appointment to view until I'm actually in Milan. The website are also incredible confusing and most apartments seem to have shared rooms. We've decided to stay in a hostel for the first week once we arrive in Milan whilst we find an apartment and move in to be sure that we're actually finding a suitable place to stay rather than going by the pictures online, hopefully it shouldn't be too difficult? In the hostel we have opted to go for a more expensive shared room between the three of us as we have expensive belongings such as laptops etc with us and also a hefty amount of money to get us through until our Erasmus funding is provided by Coventry University.

I've booked my flights to go from Birmingham to Milan Malpensa flying with british airways and have a mammoth 40kg of baggage plus 10kg of hand luggage and so can already see myself walking through the airport like a pack mule. 

All in all I feel like I'm as prepared as I'm going to be, which isn't very. I already know that this is going to be a fantastic and enriching experience and I'm going to take a wealth of life skills and knowledge away with me it's not just a case of getting started.

Wish me luck, I'll be updating regular.