Being an exchange student: a 101 lesson.  A few years ago, I had the chance to go for a student exchange in King's College London (U.K.). And I had the best time of my life!  Here are the tips and tricks I learnt from this experience, and that I wished I had gotten at the time!

Before leaving:

• Plan your stay. Check out the city's areas and neighborhood, and find out which are not safe or recommended. You'll probably go out, party and see friends a lot, so take into account that you might often come home late at night. Study the transport system, how it is organised and works, and find out where it is located around your accomodation.

• Check out the countries' laws and tradition: how are women expected to behave? What is deemed appropriate and not ? How are they treated? Do they have restrictions? Find some feedback around you or on the internet, and prepare yourself.
• List what you want to do, see, eat and try in the city. It's important to prepare your trip, and not arrive in this foreign city you'll be living in for months without having a single idea of what to do. You might miss out. Also, it will give you ideas for those days where you just don’t know what to do with yourself. So get a map, figure out what the city has to offer, (and PLEASE book tickets in advance, apparently you can't just show up at a theatre or representation just because you suddendly discovered it!). BUT leave yourself some free time. The best way to visit a city or a country is also to wander around and get lost!
• Prepare yourself in case of homesickeness. I'm not saying you have to brace for it, because you will probably have the time of your life,  but some people can miss home and their family hard when separated. If you know/fear you will, here is what I did : take stuff that remind you of home, and find out what makes you feel better, like a routine.  Also know that some countries are really advanced on subjects such as mental health. We were litteraly given a guidebook on how to overcome homesickness, especially during winter (where it gets dark at 3pm and has a real impact on people's mood)!

During your stay:

• Start on the right foot and go to the exchange students welcome events. Especially when you arrive, before classes start: they usually have an exchange students welcome - in London, we had an entire Welcome Week, full of activities, conferences, games and presentations, where I met some of my current bestfriends!

• Go to classes ! You might discover subjects or way to approach them you wouldn't even have think of. BUT don't stress too much about them, you're also there to enjoy this new country and environment. A good tip that I learnt too late: most of the students I met there had applied for classes that didn't require a final exam, but rather homework. One even had a class about the museums of the city, and only had to write a "discovery journal" for her final grade!

• Take advantage of everything your university has to offer. Sign up in its societies and clubs : enroll in the local sports team (finnish hobby horsing, cricket, hockey etc), finally start this sport class you always wanted to try, or get into that Harry Potter society! Learn a new language! It's the best way to meet people. Especially if your country is drastically different on feminist/minorities subjects : your university might have a feminist society or an all-woman sport team for example. On the contrary, if your host country is drastic regarding women, find out what other local female students do.

• Avoid staying with people from the same country as you or with the friends you came with. You are there to meet new people that you wouldn't meet otherwise. So DON'T BE A FRENCH: avoid staying in groups and not mingling with the population. I've seen that way too much in London, where I met huge amount of French students who would do everything together and not meet anyone else. You'll look arrogant and that won't bring you any intercultural food, which you need. That's how you keep an open mind and discover other cultures and mindsets.

• Immerge yourself in this new culture : watch the news on locals tv channels, shop in local supermarkets, discover news tvshows on the local Netflix, go to museum and bookshops, walk around to see the architecture and the city's plan ...and always always remember that there, YOU are the foreigner! So adapt yourself, watch out for behaviors that are considered polite/normal/rude and adopt them -and, why not, keep them even once you're back home!

• Engage with locals! Ask your roomates, your classemates, professors or this nice waiter about the country, the culture, a specific fact or their tips! People are generally proud of their country, and thus always happy to help a foreigner discover it. You get to meet people, get tips and tricks AND probably befriend them! So PLEASE: never ever shy away from going to people and from talking to them! You'll regret it later and feel like you've missed out.

Remind yourself : this is a unique opportunity. You're a student, going living abroad without any responsabilities (apart from texting and reassuring your parents back home that no, you haven't been partying to hard). Embrace it : try everything! Either Marmite in England, barbecue in Australia, tacos Friday in Norway or tango in Argentina!