Erasmus-core

Vol 28, Issue 19, 20th of March 2026

I couldn’t be part of the Insider without writing an article about this concept of Erasmus-core. What is Erasmus-core? It’s everything that distinguishes a regular student from an exchange student. These are the little specificities that define Erasmus students. It’s what creates our identity as exchange students. This phenomenon applies to everyone having an experience like this, but of course, some aspects are specific to my experience in Finland.

First of all, it’s illustrated by our urgency to live and our thirst for discovery. Indeed, travel becomes our central focus. We want to discover everything in the little time we have. We might leave at 4 a.m. in the middle of the week to get to a train station. If a flight is €20, we don’t hesitate, we take it. Cheap tickets = we go, no matter the destination. And all of this is driven by FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Indeed, the fear of missing something is stronger than fatigue and encourages us to do lots of different things in a short amount of time.

Furthermore, Erasmus is also a different way of life. An instant family, a giant summer camp. During this experience, we are all far from our families, our friends, our social circles, and we, the exchange students, have only ourselves. Bonds form very quickly and strengthen over time. This is largely thanks to everything that is organized: pre-drinks, movie nights, meetings to plan trips, game nights… There’s a constant flow of people in each apartment, we all kind of live in each other’s homes. It’s common to find things at home that don’t belong to us. We live a bit like in “L’Auberge Espagnole” (the Spanish Apartment).

Language is also an integral part of the experience. So, of course, the common language for everyone is english, but living in a community with all the other cultures means you quickly learn the vocabulary and linguistic quirks of each language. This creates a unique mix of franglais, spanish, italian, and a few finnish words. It’s the language of inclusion. Furthermore, related to this, there’s this funny phenomenon where, when you meet someone from your home country, it creates an instant connection.

Finally, my Erasmus experience is largely focused on Finnish traditions and our local adaptation. Here, we’ve replaced football matches with ice hockey games, learning the rules on the fly. We also have our little rituals: Tuesday evenings are sauna night! And of course, how can we not mention dealing with the finnish cold? It’s become an integral part of being to put on lots of layers before going out. Special mention goes to the express version when the northern lights make an appearance.

All these elements make this experience a fleeting yet intense bubble, allowing us to create memories. But will we be able to return to “normal” life after living through this experience, or will we simply have a new way of seeing the world?