by Yolanda Mortimer

Hi there! My name is Yolanda and at the beginning of my university career, I decided that I wanted to go on an exchange. It was always the plan even from when I was young but this was the first time it seemed like a feasible reality. I began researching The University of Waikato sister universities, and I narrowed it down. There were so many opportunities all over the globe and I could imagine myself having the time of my life in any of these countries. However, I decided on the University of Cardiff, in Wales. There were many reasons for this choice, however, I would be lying if I said the main reason for Wales wasn’t the castles. Other than that, Cardiff was also a good match for me as it was closer to my family than any other university in England. They also had a great English and History program which are my two main interests. 

Some main highlights from my time in Cardiff have to include playing for Cardiff University 1st’s Netball team. Because Cardiff Uni has such a larger population than Waikato Uni, the sheer amount of netball teams threw me through a loop. Not only were there 4 trials, 2 of which included cutting people out of the trials because there were that many people, and the other 2 where we trialled with the girls who were already in the club. Whilst I do believe the netball in New Zealand is of higher quality, the experience of training with a club that had 12+ main teams and then other netball teams that were only for the specific majors was an unbelievable rush. Training 5 times a week was something I had the privilege of experiencing. I also loved being in a city that had so much history, in the town centre there is a castle that is nearly 2,000 years old. You can just walk through as casually as one would if they were walking through Centre Place as a shortcut through town. 

My biggest struggle whilst overseas was lack of funds, rent in Europe is astronomically more expensive than it is in New Zealand, it has prices I would expect to see in Wellington or Auckland. Despite my prior savings, it was still simply not enough. I was shocked when I found myself skint within a few weeks. Even though groceries can be cheap if you do it right, everything else is very expensive. My biggest, biggest recommendation is to take more money than you think you need. It is so much less stressful to have more money than you need than to find yourself in a position where you are unable to experience the location you are in because you have no money. 

I have also traveled a lot in my life so going and doing this was not that far out of my comfort zone. That is not to say there were many new experiences but they were experiences that I knew I was going to be able to handle. I decided that I was going to go traveling the month before I started University in September. I had planned a few things but left most of it up to the whim of the cosmos and which Youth Hostels had cheap rooms available that night. This is not something I would recommend to everyone, especially people who know they like to be organised and definitely not to people who are first time travelers. However, this was perfect for me and was amazing for me to discover how I handle stressful situations and know that I can make my way out the other side unscathed. The way I traveled, moving from one place to the other without really knowing where I was going next and when, gave me the ability to be able to stay in places as long or as little as I wanted. If I loved a place and wanted to stay there longer, I could because I hadn’t booked my hostel for the next place. For example, I planned on staying in Amsterdam for only one night, convinced I would be able to get it all done in one day, but when I got there I realised this was such an amazing city and decided to stay for the rest of my trip. 

Now that my University career has come to an end, it has finally come to a time where I have started to think about my future. I know people often do this before Graduation however, I knew that once I had finished Uni I would not be able to settle down straight away. I decided that the right move for me was to stay in Europe. As of right now I have plans to go and work in Camp Canada for the summer, this has been something I have been thinking about for years but only just decided that that was what I wanted to do last month. After that maybe teaching English in Asia. Right now I am not sure and that is exactly how I like it.

Deciding to stay has been a harder decision than I originally thought it would be. Before I moved overseas I was certain I would not miss New Zealand. Because I wanted to live in England in the future, because I was born in England, I thought that the second I touched down I would feel right at home. While I do love it here, I have never gained an appreciation for home more than I have since September. I have missed it more than I ever thought I could. I watched videos of people traveling New Zealand and felt an immense jealousy of these people being in my home country. Which, up until then, I wasn’t 100% sure I even considered my 100% home country. I now feel such a deep connection with New Zealand that I was never aware I felt before. I know New Zealand is my home and it is where I imagine myself when I am older, not England. So that is why staying away and living my life is so much more difficult than I imagined. Despite the want to go home, hug the people I love, kiss my cat on her head and see some silver ferns, I know that right now, that is not what I need to do. I need to experience the things I need to before I can go back. 

My Overseas Experience has been muddled with ups and downs. Tears and happiness, love and anger, it has created a new person within myself and also broken down the parts of me I thought I knew. And I would not change that for anything. Experiencing the cultures of the world not only broadens your mind but also creates a deep appreciation for the culture you already have.