What is life like for an exchange student in UCD? Travel Editor Ella Ruddle chats to her friend Emy about their experiences throughout their time here
In January this year, I arrived at UCD, as a fresh-faced exchange student from New Zealand, hopeful I would make even a single friend. Little did I know I was about to start the best year of my life. Being the most international university in Ireland, with over 400 exchange partners, UCD is a global hub. During the last 10 months, I have had countless insightful conversations with international and exchange students at UCD. Conversations that have changed my worldview, inspired travels and opened my eyes to dozens of cultures. As the current travel editor, I wondered what it would be like to put these conversations on paper. Alongside Otwo Editors Josh and Orla, we wanted to start a series interviewing international students, a cohort that as of 2023 makes up 30% of UCD. This way, anyone can be privy to some of the conversations I have been lucky enough to be in this year.
I met my next-door neighbour Emy, a student at Quebec University in Canada, about five weeks ago over some wine in her Merville apartment. We discussed the differences between Quebec, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland and shared tips on settling into exchange life. I knew from this conversation there was more to unpack and Emy kindly agreed to chat with me over lunch.
It is hard enough moving to a new country where you know nobody, but what is even harder is doing this with English as your second language. Emy is from a French-speaking part of Canada, and recounted how “It was kind of weird at the beginning” speaking in a language she is fluent in, but doesn’t use as often. She said “In the first few weeks I kind of had to translate everything I was saying which was okay at first but by week three it became super tiring,” this is something her home school warned her about. Now, it comes more naturally, “I feel like I don’t have to think over what I say anymore, my humour is kind of transferring to English so that is kind of fun.”
I have started calling it the ‘exchange mentality’ because when you move to a new country for such a short amount of time you become predisposed to squeezing out as much as possible from your experience.
With this hindsight, I asked her to recount her experience moving to Ireland. Emy said she “felt daunted when I first arrived because everyone in my circle was either Australian or Kiwi so it felt like they all kind of had this common point between each other that I didn’t always have. But I did just try to go with the flow and everyone ended up being so chill.”
It’s not only adjusting to Ireland but to so many other cultures too. She said she was really lucky with who her roommates were, and the gamble of living with strangers paid off. Plus she noted, “There were so many events to go to, so there were so many ways to meet people... and I am grateful to whoever started our ‘exchange’ WhatsApp group chat, that made the whole thing so much easier.”
Exchange students will say yes to anything too, so that helps a lot at the beginning. I have started calling it the ‘exchange mentality’ because when you move to a new country for such a short amount of time you become predisposed to squeezing out as much as possible from your experience. Emy agreed and said “It's okay to be homesick, but you have to be in a state where you can really enjoy it and throw yourself in, see it as an opportunity to grow and challenge yourself. If you are coming here on the wrong foot, like not getting your first preference, you are just not going to open yourself up to the same experiences.”
She said the biggest ‘culture shock’ has been going to pubs on the weekdays rather than just the weekends and how the biggest social night could be a Tuesday.
“Even coming here, I got a good feeling in the first two weeks. I was like okay I know how I want to experience this. I felt it was really easy to come in. I thought it was going to be harder to make friends.”
Cultural shocks can be a huge thing when moving abroad but Emy said “Ireland is quite similar culturally to Quebec.” She said the biggest ‘culture shock’ has been going to pubs on the weekdays rather than just the weekends and how the biggest social night could be a Tuesday. She explained that “there is always stuff going on here and I have been learning how to navigate living on campus because I live at home in Quebec.”
For myself, I lost the battle for on-campus accommodation last semester, but now living on campus I can see it definitely shapes your exchange experience. Emy said for her it makes such a big difference “not having to commute and being neighbours with all of your friends.”
I definitely found it more challenging making friends last semester as an off-campus student and like Emy said, on campus “you run into people all the time.” After talking to some Irish students she feels “more involved in the UCD culture than some of them, they ask how have I been to so many events and places and I feel like just by living here it's so easy.”
Integrating into the international students at UCD is definitely easier, as we all have a bit of that outsider feeling. I asked Emy if she also found it harder to make friends with Irish people. She said, “Yes. Just because we are not put in many contexts with Irish people. We have group projects, and I have been getting along well with people but I do feel they don't participate in as many campus-run events. It just makes it harder to make plans outside of school. Especially since we are gone every other weekend.”
But she said this didn’t make her feel outside of UCD culture because “it is very international so a big part of the culture is Erasmus and international life. So I feel a part of UCD but maybe Irish culture a bit less. I don’t notice such an international presence in my home uni so that has been a really big part of my experience. It's so cool, but I have been coming to terms with the idea that I may not have the full Irish experience I was looking for. At the end of the day, though, it is easier for us to make friends with international students because all of us are here for the same thing, Irish people meet us and think ‘That person is going to be gone in 2 months anyways’ even if that is friendly they don't have the same stakes.”
It felt weird for me too at the beginning, having my entire group of friends be from everywhere but Ireland, but I came to realise that is a part of the exchange experience. Emy agreed “It is almost like we are all here on summer camp and having a blast and this isn’t really life. We are just here for fun and Irish people are just living their normal lives. So we cohabit but we are on very different wavelengths which tends to block us from having deeper friendships.”
It's amazing, even culturally, meeting so many people from all around the world, opens you up to new ways of living. It's super super worth it.
Preparing for an exchange is quite a daunting task, especially coming to somewhere you have never been before. Being in UCD for a few weeks now I asked Emy if there was anything she wished she knew before arriving. I thought she would say something about the cost of living but she said “I was expecting the worst coming here, like I set a pretty big budget aside, I heard the prices are crazy. I was pleasantly surprised at the price of groceries, it’s cheaper than in Quebec almost, and there are fewer choices but the products are high quality. Rooming is so so pricey for what we get. Like a mini fridge for 4 people was the most shocking thing I have ever heard...that should be illegal. Even doing laundry is so expensive, I feel like those amenities should be included if we are paying upwards of €1000 every month. So I am 50/50 about the cost of living here.”
Despite the cost of living in Dublin, we both agreed this experience is worth every penny. Emy said “It's like one of the coolest things you can spend your money on while you are at uni. It's amazing, even culturally, meeting so many people from all around the world, opens you up to new ways of living. It's super super worth it. 100%, it's way cooler than just travelling – you get to experience a place.” Being able to stay in Ireland for an extended period, you start creating a little life for yourself, which can be hard to say goodbye to. Coming back to the question, Emy said “I wish I had thought more about the option of coming here for a year, I knew I was gonna like but I just wish I had thought about doing a whole year.”
I am just going to miss everyone and being friends with people from all around the world is amazing because you get even more excuses to travel but then it's kind of heartbreaking not knowing when you will see each other again.
That is how transformative an exchange can be, but the reality is it is so short-lived. Emy said she was already dreading going home and she knew since week two it was going to be hard to leave. She said, “I am just going to miss everyone and being friends with people from all around the world is amazing because you get even more excuses to travel but then it's kind of heartbreaking not knowing when you will see each other again.”
Being on exchange you end up creating such deep connections with people because international students are so open to making friends. Plus, because our time is so limited your life is filled to the brim with fun activities and new experiences. Emy said “I am very extroverted. I love seeing people every day, but at home, I do most of my school online just because it works well with my programme... it is just going to feel very different from doing activities every day...the post-exchange depression is going to be real.”
I feel like I am just going to come back home more empowered.
The only good thing about the exchange ending is we get to take with us all the things we learned along the way. Emy said after this experience she would want to move out and live in the city with roommates. She said being on exchange has allowed “me to do stuff alone. When I was in France recently, I went to this fancy restaurant and had a meal by myself. And I have been to restaurants alone before, but not a fancy one and I feel like I'm learning to be a bit more independent. I mean we always do stuff together here just because people are around but I am more open to doing stuff on my own and experiencing new things on my own so I feel like I am going to take this back home.”
We agreed being on exchange is a whirlwind, and we don’t think it will really sink in until we are home. And while it will be a few very sad goodbyes, Emy says “I feel like I am just going to come back home more empowered.”