What is the real reason people go on exchange? To find new friends, experience a culture different from the one surrounding you or simply to escape their old lives? For me, it is about getting the chance to create your own new reality. In Edinburgh especially, there are countless ways to engage in your interests and participate in various events. But at the same time it is hard to avoid the Erasmus prejudices (a mildly educational holiday abroad interspersed with bouts of alcohol-induced activities) and problems (such as setting up a bank account).

I arrived here on a grey and rainy day, worried I wouldn’t find an apartment or interesting friends. Having moved to several different countries before, I was all too aware of the difficulties posed by a new beginning, but this experience ought to be different.

“Erasmus exchange is an endless fiesta!” my friends cheerfully told me.

But is it really?

There are certainly negative aspects. The general opinion amongst three-month Erasmus students is that the toughest problem facing them is finding suitable accommodation. There seems to be great reluctance to offer rooms for such a short stay, and to a degree, that is understandable; from the perspective of a potential landlord, a succession of tenants entering and vacating the property four times a year must seem like a less appealing option than those seeking a year-long lease.

However for exchange students, this can be hugely debilitating, with some forced into a semester of hostel-living. The prospect of having a safe, warm room waiting for you on arrival in a foreign country would be comforting, but unfortunately Edinburgh University only guarantees accommodation for long stay students. Considering they also happen to have the greatest chances of securing themselves a home on the private market, short-stay Erasmus students seem to lose out from every angle.

Nevertheless, after days of trekking through the city, mounting anxiety and what seemed like hours of hopeful conversations with strangers, I found a home above Medina - probably the most liberal club in town when it comes to opening hours.

But the feeling of actually having managed the whole situation alone, moving to a foreign country, finding a new home and finally opening a bank account after a series of lengthy formal procedures including your pet’s name, is completely worth the effort. It’s incredibly exciting.

Of course I made mistakes in the beginning. I looked right instead of left when crossing the road, kept confusing Scotland for England – I’m not sure which mistake had more disastrous consequences - and had no idea what the bus driver was saying to me, ending up paying two pounds instead of one and certainly not getting it back.

Then inspiration came. I got to see Edinburgh’s soul. There is an unbelievable energy to this city, so much life and countless opportunities. Through Erasmus,  one can participate in a whole itinerary of arranged trips and pub crawls but if you are longing for something outside this well structured and slightly superficial catalogue of tourist ventures, in Edinburgh you have ample opportunity to pursue it .

I often feel overwhelmed by all the fascinating things there are to do. The bookshops seem gigantic, offering literature on almost any topic and the music scene, although often judged to stand in the shade of “big sister” Glasgow, is extremely lively and diverse. The fact that so many venues exist, and consistently attract bestselling artists whilst simultaneously providing a platform for local talent - bridges the divide between fans and musicians in a way that a bigger metropolis could not.

That such a small city can encompass so much maybe depends on the university and student life being an influential part of its core.  I’ve spoken to so many people studying different subjects, topics I would have liked to know more about like anthropology, English literature, and costume design. One person was even doing a  MA in DJ-ing! Sadly, Erasmus students are limited to focussing on one discipline during their time abroad.

In all honesty I came here not only because the university is excellent and the city beautiful but because I felt in Edinburgh, I could come closer to my dreams and develop my interests. Back home I am one of the few among my friends interested in indie music. A perfect example of how significantly the musical culture at home differs from that in Britain is a question I was once asked before leaving for a gig: ‘So what kind of party is that “Bloc Party thing” you are going to?’

In Edinburgh, peoples’ musical inclinations are at a very different part of the spectrum; indie music and indie culture in general already seem to be the norm and are becoming increasingly mainstream. Another thing that bothered me at home, was that I couldn’t write for the student newspaper, because it was run by a strict sixty year old professor who had developed his own recipe of how a student paper should be prepared; namely to extract all issues students might be interested in, like culture or music, and add a large amount of dry news about professors winning prizes. 

Since I came here, I’ve pursued my interests at the same time as meeting lovely people. That is what student life in Edinburgh is all about. Before arriving, I couldn’t imagine that I would get to know as many great people as I already knew from Copenhagen. And yet, it has happened again.

No matter if you’re at a café in Copenhagen  drinking warm elderflower juice to  Dylan, or hanging at the Wee Red Bar watching students in worn out purple Converse, it is important to remember interesting places are everywhere, and that each place offers the potential for meeting interesting people. You only have to keep your eyes open and, just in case, your return ticket close at hand.