Erin on Exchange

WEEK THREE ! It’s a shorter one this week, I think I’m hitting my neurodivergent limit of social interaction and attempting to initiate/maintain connections/friendships I don’t feel 100% in, so.

Monday began a slow week, one which has probably been one of the hardest mentally since I’ve been here. I was up at 9 for a lecture at 10, although I then got to the bus stop and realised along with the other 60 uni students waiting that there’d been a water pipe burst and all of our buses were being diverted up to three stops up from the one we were at. Deciding against walking the 25 minutes to uni for a 50 minute lecture I’d miss the first ten minutes of, I turned around and headed back to bed and slept in until 3pm. I think Monday kind of sent the tone for the whole week – isolation, no initiation of talking to people, being left out of planning and catching up with people.

Tuesday saw a little bit of sun (!!!!) After my 12-1:30 tutorial, I headed to the Manchester Museum Café again, where I had another AUD$9 coffee and worked on last weeks blog post. Had a tuna and mayo from Co op (because I refuse to spend £9 on a stale museum sandwich) before heading to the sociology lecture. This week is about changing intimacy and what people prioritise/classify as important in relationships across history which has been interesting. Stopped in Lidl to buy some mince and some basics and promised myself to never go back there after 6pm.

On Wednesday I had another 12-1:30 tutorial, and then I headed into the city centre to try to buy a few things I needed – a small backpack so I can take underneath seating on RyanAir instead of paying £29 extra each time I fly, soap dispenser thingy, a pot to hold my toothbrush in, an extra towel and face cloths, and a photo frame. I also printed out AUD$24 worth of photos for my room. I then came home to decorate. (More posters to come).

Thursday is one of my annoying class days – a 1-3pm History of Medicine tutorial, and then a 2 hour break before my sociology tutorial. History of Med this week was on the taxonomy classifications and how humans were classified as ‘mammals’ (surprise, it was rooted in misogyny). It would be even more interesting if the Professor wasn’t so aggressive with his questions but it is what it is I guess. Two hours of sociology prep later, and I was in the tutorial, describing how friendships do/don’t fit into some sociologist’s version of a ‘pure relationship’ and how the digital space has changed these. I was then convinced (pretty easily to be honest) into a pub crawl, which ended at around 1am with me wanting to save myself for the next night (I should’ve just gone all out tbh). Called mum, dad & Kai, to which Kai stayed on the phone with me until 4 in the morning before finally letting me sleep.

FRIDAY WAS MY BIRTHDAY AHHHH 21, which I turned mid-pub crawl and thankfully only had one person sing happy birthday to me (thank you Mary for not singing loudly). The day itself started at 12pm, when I woke up to get to my 3pm lecture. My 4-6 was a little rough, but we got through and then it was home to get ready ! Everyone turned up at mine at 9:30ish, and after asking people explicitly to not bring people I didn’t already know/hadn’t already met to pres, I met another three people anyway. I finished a bottle of wine before they all got there, enough to allow me to shut the fuck up when they all 1, turned up without glasses/mugs and wanted to use all of my flatmates without me asking (no ???) and 2, used my fireball I bought myself without asking me (regardless of Mary buying them all vodka + cranberry juice specifically for that night). We had a cake and I almost burnt my hair off with the candles. I was drunk when we left, and so was Julie (the main culprit of thieving my fireball) because not even 200m away from my flat she began her “JE VAIS FAIRE PIPI !!” (i need to pee!), and didn’t stop until we got off of the bus in the city and began the chain of public urination (not me though guys, I promise).

We finally got to Blues Kitchen, and it felt like we only spent an hour or so there before people were good to go, I wasn’t drunk enough, feeling like shit mentally, people kept disappearing (including five of them to go take a photobooth photo without me), and no one wanted to keep going to Brewer’s, the gay club in the Village which I still haven’t been to yet. By the time people complained enough I gave up and went back with them to get a Burger Box instead of joining my flatmates or another exchange group at Brewers. I then called Mia while eating & then went to bed.

I was up at midday or so on Saturday, unfortunately (?) not hungover (if I was going to be hungover anytime ever, I would’ve preferred it to be after my 21st), and didn’t do much all day. I woke up to drama, when I was told my main four friends (idk atp) had been invited to Julie’s house in Lyon without me in April, and two other girls who I’d barely met were invited, but I hadn’t been (guys we’re not in high school, why are we leaving people out of plans). Anyways. It’s sorted now but it’s pissed me the fuck off. I went to another planning meeting, resulting in another three hours of a very opinionated girl controlling everything and telling us what to book for when, on a whim, without thinking everything through and I’m starting to get frustrated trying to travel with them.

Sunday began bright and early, however, as Mary and I were on the bus to York for a day trip! I had about 3 and a half hours of sleep, and left for the bus at 8. It was a two hour drive to York, which we got to at 10. I’d arranged with Tabi (exchange student from York who came to UWA in Jul ’24 – Jun ’25) to meet for coffee, but being half an hour early we went to Clifford’s Tower first, then walked up the Shambles. Tabi met us in the city and took us to Heppni Bakeri, a cute little pastry shop, and I got a coffee and a lemon pastry. After talking for a little, she gave us some recommendations and left to study while we worked our way up through the Shambles properly. We walked up past the Minster, around to the Abbey and up to the very pretty city walls. After grabbing a bagel and a Yorkshire tea in the Shambles for a later lunch, we walked down to Clifford’s Tower again and sat near the river again. After a walk up and around the river we had a pit stop in the Wetherspoons before hopping back on the bus again for 5:45pm, arriving back into Manchester for 7:20.

Right.

Things I’ve done since last week:

• Decorate my room so it feels less like a prison cell.
• Find the best post-night out food (BURGER BOX !!)
• Take Facebook mum photos for shits n gigs.
• Stop being terrified to walk into my own flat’s kitchen. (mostly)

Things I’ve added to my growing list of goals:

• stop saying yes to travelling with that group
• grow a pair and tell the ones bossing people around / making everyone do what they want to do to actually calm the fuck down and that i can do whatever i want in the city i want to go to
• explain to them how to find a good, cheap hostel instead of giving in to letting them buy airbnb’s.
• force myself into other people’s plans more often/invite myself to things because apparently that’s the only way to make friends over here
• have more coffee mornings with the other australian erin
• plan a solo trip & feel like i’m not actually being a failure for travelling with no one else

Time for some Exchange Superlatives !!

Most Likely to Develop a Situationship by Accident – Sophia x

Most Likely to End Up in a Different City by Sunday – all of us xx

Most Committed to the Bit – Carina

Most Likely to Say “It Builds Character” – Georgia

Most Likely to Befriend Someone’s Entire Flat – Carina

Most Likely to Romanticise a Tesco Meal Deal – Me

Most Likely to Say Yes Before Thinking – Yoojin

Most Likely to Be Recognised by a Bartender – Melbourne Erin or Sophia

Most Likely to Start a Deep Life Conversation in a Loud Club – Me (kms)

Most Likely to Say “No Honestly I’m Fine” (They Are Not Fine) – Me (again)

Most Likely to Accidentally Lead the Group – not accidentally but Georgia & Julie together are bossy

Most Likely to Miss Their Train But Make It Cinematic – Julie

Most Likely to Say “Wait Guys” Every 3 Minutes – Yoojin

Most Likely to Adopt a British Phrase Permanently – Me & Georgia

Most Likely to Forget Their Bank Balance Exists – Georgia

Most Likely to Suggest a Trip at 1am – Georgia

Most Likely to Actually Wake Up for the 8am – all of us bc we’re tracked for attendance xx (but

Most Likely to Overpack for a Night Out – Georgia

Most Likely to Underpack for a Weekend Trip – Yoojin (but effectively tbh)

Most Likely to Spiral Over Nothing and Then Be Fine – Me

Most Likely to Be the Reason Plans Happen – Melbourne Erin

Most Likely to Develop an Accent for 48 Hours – Me (unintentionally)

Who is most likely to ignore a phone call? – Me

Who is most likely to wear socks with sandals? – Georgia & I

Who is most likely to eat cereal for dinner? – Mary

Who is most likely to survive an alien abduction? – Yoojin

…

Anyways, that’s it, sorry for the shorter & very late post xxx

See you all next week