”A journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step.” (Lao Tzu)

And here our expats’ diary begins, with a meaningful quote that holds the true essence of such an intense experience such as living abroad.  

Our first storyteller is Thais, a 21 years-old French student that lived in Madrid, sharing one of the helpHousing flats with other young internationals.

They lived in a beautiful flat in the heart of Madrid, few steps away from the popular Puerta del Sol, and she woke up every morning with this lovely view overlooking the typical narrow streets of the centre of the city (and with the smell of the delicious hot chocolate of the famous Chocolatería San Gines, right in front of the building!).

We asked Thais to share her unforgettable experience studying abroad in Madrid, Check out her interview!

¡Hola! Thank you for joining us in this project!

1. Let’s talk about the feeling before the arrival, the expectation and the very first impressions once you arrived.

I was so stressed before coming to Madrid. I had to go through a lot of personal stuffs (including fear of living abroad, medical issues or fear of going by plane). 

I cried a lot while I was leaving France, but I knew that I would have enjoyed the experience. I didn’t realize how much it would impact my life actually.

I expected to have a good experience, meet some new people and also discover a new city and culture.

The arrival in Madrid was tough: it was really hot, I was alone handling all the suitcases and I was really tired. 

2. Was it your first time to live in a shared flat with other young internationals? Tell us your experience in your new home abroad.

It was the first time for me to live abroad and to live with young internationals, so everything was completely new. This experience has been amazing, I shared a lot with my roommates and we were really a family. Everyone supported each other. When one had a down everybody cheered her up. We hang out a lot, we had such a good time. I really had a home away from home, and when I went back home (France) I didn’t feel home in my own country. 

3. Tell us a funny anecdote.

Every Thursday we were having international diner at home. We were all from different nationalities in my flat (Italian, Portuguese, Belgium, Brazilian and French). Each one of us had to cook at least twice some traditional dishes. When one of us was travelling or coming back home just for a week end, everytime, he/she brought back some food to taste it all together.

4. Do you feel different? If you do, what helped you the most to change?

I felt completely different. This experience completely changed my life. I grew a lot and I feel like I’m capable of many things, such as living abroad. I had some difficulties to find my way now because this experience has been so revealing for me. My housemates were the people that helped me through this transformation and even far from each other now I still feel them close to me and they always support me.

5. Which is your favourite memory about Madrid?

I can’t choose I have so many but probably all the time that my roommates and I were hanging out in clubs, dancing and having fun. And then we all used to gather all together in the kitchen on the next morning for a debriefing of the night.

I also loved when we met in the living room to watch movies and eat all the kinds of food (no diet in here!). All the time that I cried and felt emotional I wasn’t alone, they were always there to support me and also the bad moment turned into really good one.

I remember all the time that we were at first just having dinner but then, we ended  up talking for hours about our cultural differences, tv shows, love life, family affairs, while drinking some specialty from our countries and finishing the night doing some yoga at 3 in the morning. The next morning, after this chill nights we were all in the kitchen, drinking coffee together, ready to go to work or to the university - and tired as hell but all glad for the chapter we were living in our life. 

And doing all of that again and again, enjoying each day. 

6. Would you leave your country again for a new adventure abroad? 

Of course!