Expectations

Expectations, as opposed to motivations, require us not so much to imagine outcomes, as to visualise the future, to represent in our mind’s eye our daily life in the new context. According to Murphy-Lejeune, “travel is constructed in the potential wanderer's imagination before its actualisation. Desire is fed through indirect or direct contacts with destinations which are fantasised, so that the traveller already holds a certain representation of the object as content (country, culture, people, studies or work) and a process (adapting to a different life, going, leaving)” (2002, p.77). A significant contribution to this representation is given by stories told by friends, former Erasmus students, who almost without exception tell of wonderful – possibly idealised – experiences.

All those I have met who have been to Copenhagen were very enthusiastic. They’ve said that the teachers are really good, all

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young, easygoing, they even go out together in the evening… it’s an idyllic situation. (Ilaria) 24

Some participants had the opportunity to communicate with those who were spending their Erasmus sojourn at the time in their chosen destination, and who reported back on the country, university, courses, weather, friends.

… and the girl who decided to stay in Norway, who sends me a mail every day, even though I’ve never met her …and so it’s a bit like… not like being there, but really… and every day she sends me a tearful mail because there’s too much snow, because she’d met a Norwegian guy and of course it’s all over, because one day she writes “I’ll stay here for the rest of my life”, and the next day “no, I’m coming back home”… (Daniela) 25

These stories undoubtedly contribute to how the participants imagine their stay abroad. Daniela could already see herself having a Norwegian boyfriend, Silvia

imagined returning to Italy with a “full command of French” 26, while Ilaria pictured

herself going to lessons and meeting people from all over the world (rather than locals):

When I imagine myself there, I imagine myself going to lessons every day, I then imagine meeting people from all over the world, not only Danes… actually, not many Danes, rather people

24 _{…tutti quelli che ho incontrato che sono andati a Copenhagen erano molto entusiasti. Hanno detto} che i professori sono bravissimi, tutti giovani, alla mano, si esce anche la sera magari... è una situazione idilliaca.

25 _{… e questa ragazza che è rimasta in Norvegia che, nonostante non l'abbia conosciuta, mi manda} una mail al giorno dandomi...e quindi è un po' come.. non come esserci,ma sicuramente... e ogni giorno mi manda la mail piangente perché c'è troppa neve, perché aveva conosciuto un ragazzo norvegese e naturalmente è finita, perché un giorno mi scrive "io rimarrò qua per tutta la vita", un altro giorno mi dice "no, io torno a casa"...

26 _{Beh! Sicuramente ho scelto di fare l'Erasmus sopratutto per avere ancora più padronanza della} lingua, perché comunque è l'unica lingua, perché l'inglese non lo so bene, è l'unica lingua che riesco a gestire, e quindi mi piacerebbe avere proprio piena padronanza. E quindi mi sono detta, andare proprio là 9 mesi mi aiuterà a ritornare qui con la capacità di parlare tranquillamente senza problemi e quindi poterla usare nel mondo del lavoro, usarla come una cosa in più che ho rispetto magari a qualcun'altro.

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from Asia, from America, because I’ve read there are many overseas students… I imagine spending the day together with those people… I like the idea of sharing my studies with others, talking about them, exchanging views… yes, that’s the idea I have. 27

What will the effect be of such a detailed anticipation? Will it help Ilaria to start thinking about the problems she might encounter, and to start activating her adjustment strategies? Or will it have the opposite effect, of making her feel disappointed and inadequate if she is unable to fulfil those expectations? In fact, a number of participants mentioned their anxiety about holding unrealistic expectations and idealising their destination:

I have many expectations, perhaps too many. I’m leaving full of enthusiasm, and I’m really worried I’m idealising the whole thing. (Claudia) 28

You can’t stop yourself from idealising the place … at the beginning there is always the enthusiasm for new things. (Valentina) 29

Expectations are also partly linked to the specific destination, and to the reasons why the particular host institution or country was chosen. For example, Claudia chose Berlin because, coming from a small town, she was fascinated by the opportunities that she believed a large cosmopolitan city could offer her, in terms of entertainment, culture, but even of urban diversity. Marina, Daniela and Pina were attracted to

27

Io quando mi immagino lì, mi immagino ogni giorno a lezione, poi immagino di conoscere persone da tuto il mondo, non solo danesi, anzi, pochi danesi, ma anche persone dall'Asia, dall'America, perché ho letto che ci sono tanti studenti overseas... immagino di passare la giornata insieme alle persone... mi piace l'idea di condividere lo studio con gli altri, parlarne, confrontarmi con gli altri... sì, ho ques'idea...

28 _{Io ne ho, di aspettative, e forse anche troppe. Parto veramente molto entusiasta, e ho paura} veramente di idealizzare troppo la cosa.

29 _{Scappa sempre il meccanismo di idealizzare il posto… all'inizio c'è sempre l'entusiasmo per la cosa} nuova.

114 Scandinavian countries for their contrast with Italy: countries that they primarily perceived as being more efficient, with a more relaxed lifestyle and less chaotic environments. Marina and Ilaria, two Masters students, had great expectations regarding the quality of the courses, the teaching and learning environment offered by their host institutions, as this was a priority when choosing to do an Erasmus exchange in the first place. In addition, those going to countries in which the study methods in higher education are based on seminars and tutorials as well as written assignments expected to find some difficulty in getting used to the change, as in Italy methods are primarily based on lectures and final – mostly oral – exams, and attendance is not compulsory. Their concerns regarded in particular their linguistic skills, i.e. their ability to understand the tutors and take an active part in the discussions, and secondly their ability to take exams in the foreign language. However, all of them felt positive about trying what they perceived to be a better and more engaging system. As previously mentioned, these expectations too stemmed from feedback given by former Erasmus students, with whom the tutors responsible for the particular programme had put their candidates in touch.

Finally, the participants also described their expectations with regard to personal growth. Those who embarked on the Erasmus Programme in order to experience life away from their family expected to feel homesick and miss family and friends, and Pina, Juls, Lorenzo, Ilaria and Federico were all leaving partners behind. However, they all held significant expectations concerning their social life in their new environment. All of them hoped to make many friends from all over the world (in some cases, local friends were seen as less important, confirming Montgomery’s (2010) findings), as this is, in the collective imagination, perhaps the distinguishing characteristic of the Erasmus experience. This is clear in the following extracts:

A friend of mine went on Erasmus and knows people from all over the world. Wonderful. Wonderful. (Federico) 30

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In any case, the idea of making friends from all over Europe, even from all over the world, is another aspect I like. (Claudia) 31

For me, perhaps one of the most important things is getting to know lots of people from all over the world, because that’s how you get a richer experience, through dialogue, and you under stand how things work in other places, how you study in other places, so it’s wonderful to get to know different types of people. Perhaps it’s the most important thing about Erasmus. (Valentina)

32

My cousins made friends both with local students and with other Erasmus students. In fact, all three of them are still in touch with the people they met there, and either they come to Italy, or my cousins go abroad… they’re always travelling. (Paola) 33

I would like to create a group of friends, with whom I can share my plans for the future. I'd like to find people with my problems and aspirations for future. (Gioacchino)

The image that emerges from these words is not so much of immersion into the local culture, of negotiating entrance into a local community, as one of developing a sense of cosmopolitanism, of international networks that will enable the sojourner to feel at home anywhere and everywhere. The result both of globalisation (with cheaper air travel, social networks defying geographical borders, the spread of English as a lingua franca) and of the increased and more organised structure of HE student mobility, these expectations may represent a crucial conceptual change in

31 _{Ma comunque l'idea di riuscire a crearmi alla fine degli amici un po' da tutte le parti d'Europa, se} non del mondo, è un altro aspetto che mi piace.

32 _{Per quanto mi riguarda, forse una delle cose più importanti per me è fare tante conoscenze di gente} da tutto il mondo, perché questo è il modo in cui ci si arricchisce, i confronti, e capisci come funziona da altre parti, come si studia da altre parti, e quindi è bellissimo poter conoscere ogni tipo di

persona. Forse è la cosa più importante dell'Erasmus.

33 _{Le mie cugine hanno fatto amicizia sia con studenti del luogo che con altri Erasmus. Infatti tutte e} tre si sentono ancora con le persone che hanno conosciuto là, e o vengono in Italia, o loro vanno all'estero... sono sempre in viaggio

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5.4 Summary

In this chapter, I have attempted to answer the first of my research sub-questions: what were the students’ overt motivations for taking part in the Erasmus Programme, and what were their expectations before departure? The answers largely confirm those reported in the literature (Teichler, 1996, 2004; Murphy-Lejeune, 2002), and cluster around the broad themes of language and cultural learning, academic and career opportunities, and personal development. I have also examined some of the expectations held by the students before their departure. These can be positive, such as discovering new things, meeting friends from all over the world, learning to look after oneself and becoming more autonomous. At the same time, most of them also expected to find difficulties in adapting to their new environment. Most of the anticipated problems were based on the participants’ past experiences of life changes, or on feedback from former Erasmus students. However, they lacked concreteness mostly because the informants did not have the necessary knowledge of the host environment, and of the concrete demands it would make on them. Once they arrived in their destination, the process of attempting to decipher the new environment, of understanding the requirements made upon them, of identifying the obstacles that emerged along the way, of reframing expectations accordingly, would put to the test their strategies, but also their goals. These aspects will be analysed and discussed in the following chapters, in order to understand how the theoretical representations of the adaptation process translate into concrete experiences.

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