Life After Prague

by Elizabeth Ahronson, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

It is hard to believe that nearly a year has passed since I came back from studying abroad in Prague, which has been the best experience of my life to date. Returning home in late June when Prague was thriving with sun and tourists was bittersweet. Whilst I was excited to be close to my family again (and of course cuddle my cats), eat all the foods I missed, and eventually move back to my student house in Manchester, leaving the content, exciting life I had built whilst on my year abroad was very difficult. There may have been tears in my Uber to Prague airport…

However, despite feeling very emotional about leaving Prague, it is touching to acknowledge how large a mark it has left on me and my life. A year on, the experience of living in Prague and travelling central Europe throughout the year has left me with an everlasting sense of nostalgia and gratefulness. Luckily, in my final year at Manchester I am living with two girls I was in Prague with. We do lots of reminiscing. Although being a student in Manchester is incredibly fun, there is nothing quite like being able to spend a everyday exploring such a beautiful and vibrant city like Prague with friends I had met that I now have for life.

It is difficult to compare life back in Manchester as a final year Law student with life as a study abroad student. Academically, on my exchange there was significantly less of a workload, especially compared to the demand of the university work this year. Amidst adjusting to life back home, adjusting to the academic demands of my work since coming back has been challenging. During life in Prague, we were travelling to a different European city every couple of weeks and since we didn’t have the demand of lots of work, this was possible to do. Now we’re back in Manchester, although there is a lot less travelling, I am reunited with all my university friends who have been with me since first year and we are able to enjoy our final year together until we graduate.

Another difficulty I have found is being separated from some really good friends I had made whilst I was away. Although I am lucky to live with two of my friends that I was in Prague with, it took some getting used to not seeing my close friends from Portugal and Iceland every day. Despite this, my housemate and I have been able to have our Icelandic friends to stay at our house in Manchester.

My housemate and I also visited our Portuguese friend at the University of Lisbon at her student flat. It has been so enjoyable knowing how easy it is to keep in touch with people if you truly want to. Not only were we able to see our friend in Lisbon after over a year apart, I got to discover that Lisbon is now one of my new favourite cities! (Always second to Prague, obviously).