Exchange // two weeks left

I have an exam tomorrow, two more next week, and then another spare week of not doing much.

Why aren’t I flying back on the day my exams end? Well, honestly, I wanted some spare days in my pocket just in case I had stuff to take care of, but also just to say goodbye to the newly made friends and the city I've spent half a year in. Is that weird? All the looks and questions I've gotten from people really make me wonder what everyone else thinks about exchange as an experience. Is it just a hello, exams, bye see ya sometime later thing? I seriously thought friends would be sad, and that it would be more than just studying here for a semester (because the study and uni work was way low on my enjoyment and priority list, no lie.)

Like I didn't come here for the educational content, I came here for life experience that I can put on my 'CV of life'.

So what is exchange?

Exchange is going to a mariinsky performance when you haven't started a presentation due at 11:59pm.

"Человек в джинсах это нормально одетый" at a mariinsky performance I sprinted to after my class finished in Peterhof I was in jeans which is not entirely appropriate clothing to wear to the theatre as some grannies would say. But a group of young adults there appreciated that I was wearing something casual which was hilarious.

Exchange is going on a trip to France to see your parents, and typing up an evaluation (without doing the actual task) 10 mins before it is due.

Exchange is walking to your airbnb in the middle of the city at 3am in the morning after a night of new friendships and chatter about Australia, and coming home with red legs with frostbite.

Exchange is coming back from holidaying in Moscow with family and seeing fellow classmates get off the same metro station for some reason. I swear St P is a small city. It reminds you that it’s a small world we're living in.

Obviously I don’t think there's any need to sugar-coat my experience and what I think of this exchange, because hey, everyone's experience is different [and ha who reads this blog but me], but here it is.

It has been the craziest, most fun, stressful, most independent, laziest but packed 6 months of my life and I am eternally grateful for all the memories that I now have. It's been a huge amount of crazy experiences balanced with lots of cosy times in apartments and dorm rooms just doing absolutely whatever, sometimes for days on end. The Europeans and Russians I've been surrounded by have changed my world view and my sense of self (and also my Aussie-ness) immensely, in a good way.

Europeans, at least all the ones I've met on this exchange, will go to great lengths to help you out if you ask them to. When you ask a question or for some help, even if they don’t know the answer they will start looking and will try to help you, whether they do a google search for you to try and explain or whether they wait until you get it to let the topic go, they are so very helpful.

BUT

There were two disappointments in my exchange experience if we take this as the time to reflect on my few months abroad.

First was the university system, classes and content.

Coming from a huge western, English-speaking and an online-based university that thoroughly structures content, classes, assessment requirements and has super annoying but very formal, strict exam and everything requirements, the terrifying bureaucracy that STILL EXISTS FROM SOVIET TIMES was absolutely jarring and stressfully confusing.

Even the visa system for anyone without a Russian passport is a pain, having to give up your physical passport and walk around with a piece of paper as your documents for six weeks? How is that even still a thing?

Anyways, how do I say it nicely? It wasn’t the most educational experience that it was cracked up to be?

Half the content taught was content I knew from before, and the other half was annoying (and taught in broken English/russian-accents). I'm so sorry I'm being harsh, but at least I'm not sugar-coating it with cherries on top?

Second, and probably most sad, was how towards the pointy end of the semester, the exchangers split into distinctive groups. The guys vs the girls.

And it's so typical and I know it's probably in human nature or whatever but it annoys me immensely. And I also know that its partly my fault, as I'm the kind of person that doesn’t reach out first, but out of fear and shyness waits until someone else makes the first move and to invite me somewhere. So. Yeah.

There you go.

Don't get me wrong, I've loved every step of my crazy eventful exchange journey.

But honestly, I can't help but count down the days until I get back to sunny, warm and green Brisbane where grannies don’t shout at you and the avocados are delicious.