IF OPPORTUNITIES DO NOT KNOCK TO YOUR DOOR, JUST GO AND GRAB THEM

Deimantė Čiupkovaitė ir Vaida Krikštaponytė

Doesn’t matter if the life gives you lemons or apples – you may use it all to create wonderful fruit salad. All kind of experiences are the steps forward, always worth taking. After spending our summer in France, Roubaix, we would like to share 5 must and 5 mustn’t things we have learnt. What should you do and what is worth avoiding? Check it out.
5 MUST THINGS when you are going for Erasmus Internship:
Make a list. Or even better make few of them. You must write all the things down what you would like to do, what would you like to see and what to experience. All you have to do later is just to follow the lists. We must admit that our ink was invisible and the paper was only the memory but we have strongly promised each other to visit few places and accomplish some goals. And we did it! So why can’t you?
It is all about the shoes! You may suffer a lot, but your legs are the biggest treasure during the adventure taking time and you have to take care of them. We needed good shoes during our internship in the company, during the weekend journeys and even on the dancefloor.
It is not the best time to save up. Your money box should not spend during the first hour abroad and rational planning must be done but do not sit at home just because you are a greedy person that counts every dime. It is the time to catch the opportunities so go and travel, meet new people try new stuff. I promise you will never regret it. And any money will not bring the missed opportunities back.
Wrap yourself with Lithuanian spirit. Our country is amazing you just must let others know about it. Every time we meet a foreigner, we say the best that our country has. Not a surprise that they also start to see that beauty. One French women fell in love with Lithuanian dill so much that we even had to bring a package for her. From Lithuania with love.
Keep on learning. Not only in the office but from all the little things around you. Life is the best university you may take.

5 MUSTN’T THINGS when you are going for Erasmus Internship or the mistakes that give you lessons:
Never buy the cat in the sack. Or never trust the person on the other side of the wire. Make a careful research before taking some actions and you will avoid the problems that may come with this laziness. We didn’t check all the things carefully. So we paid for it.
Check the timetables! The transportation abroad is tricky but your memory too. We missed one bust that supposed to bring us home. Can you imagine how much stress it brought?
Don’t look for logic where it doesn’t belong. Or better be more open minded. We are used to follow the rules we know and once they collapse we feel lost. It is not always someone’s fault, it is just a different perception of life.
You mustn’t worry too much. Opportunities are frightful so better do not scare them and just grab as much as you can. If you are scared to go outside because you don’t know the local language, you will never know what is waiting for you. It is said that it is better regret for the thing you have done than for the one you even didn’t try.
Stop whining! Even if there is something you do not like, we are sure you will miss it somehow. Just don’t forget that the worst experiences sometimes create the best memories.

If you believe that there are universal rules for being happy abroad, you are wrong. There is the only one rule you should follow: go and try by yourself.