There are many factors that go into making an exchange a once in lifetime experience, but the friends that you make and the time you spend with them is definitely one of this biggest factors. When this is the case, there are just some things only they understand:
How many cards you have in your wallet
Between the bank cards for your account abroad and the one you have at home, plus all the loyalty cards, your wallet is pretty much on the brink of exploding. You often get stuck at the checkout holding your other 50 million cards while you try to dig out your Tesco club card because goodness knows you aren’t going without getting those points.
How you’re constantly debating over what things are called
Is it a sweater or a jumper? A car park or a parking lot? At this point no one really knows but you’re still going to be debating it until the end of time.
How if either of you does anything stereotypical you’ll never hear the end of it
You probably will not even realize that you’ve done something that is stereotypical until it’s too late. Once it happens you know the other is going to call you out on it, probably with a fair bit of laughter!
How you’re always trying to teach the other your country’s lingo
At the beginning of the year, trying to understand each other could be quite the task with all the different slang words and terminology and you’ve probably got a confused look on more than one occasion! By now you’ve both probably picked up more than a few words and get a glimmer of pride every time they use one of your phrases.
How you end up celebrating almost twice the amount holidays
Thanksgiving, Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, Bonfire Night- there are a lot of holidays out there and being friends with someone from abroad definitely means you will be celebrating some extra ones.
How you don’t want to think about the year ending
The idea of exchange being over is a sad story of its own, but the idea of not seeing your friends every day is completely mind boggling. Plans need to be made, promptly, about when and where you’re going to see each other again.
Edited by: Amy Hawthorne
Sources:
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