Week Twenty-one

Personal

It's hard to believe as I sit here in my living room watching television in English and drinking a good cup of tea that I am home and have been for a week. I left Nijmegen very early in the morning last Friday and didn't process the transition as much as I should have, the last week felt like a blur with a lot of tears shed and a lot of goodbyes said. It's hard to believe that the Erasmus experience is actually over, the five months have flown in with a mix of different feelings and experiences, I think it will take awhile to process properly everything I experienced and learned from my time in the Netherlands.

The last week was a mix of bitter sweet memories, we had a lot of good times together, spending every moment we could together , there were a lot of nights we had parties and nights that we sat around talking or listening to music. We said goodbye to a lot of things, our bikes, the canal, our rooms, the centre of Nijmegen and the hardest part, saying goodbye to our friends. I met a lot of wonderful people on Erasmus and made a lot of wonderful memories to look back upon whether it be sitting in class laughing about the night before , laying out beside the canal basking in the sunshine, having a snowball fight and hot chocolate after, climbing up onto the roof and looking at the stars or sharing a plate of frites and mayo in the centre. It was very hard to say goodbye to everyone and there were a lot of tears shed, "Somehow I know we'll meet again. Not sure quite where and I don't know just when. You're in my heart, so until then it's time for saying goodbye." Jim Henderson’s Muppet's.

I am glad that I had the opportunity to have this experience, to meet all the people I have met and to see education in a different country, i am so happy that i got to travel to Berlin and Bruges and Amsterdam, I learnt a lot about the dutch culture and also the different cultures of the people we spent these five months with. I also learnt a bit more about myself and how much I am able to do and handle, it certainly has inspired me to do things and to learn more. I am lucky to have the friends that I have made as I know how much support and care they can give, I would recommend Erasmus to anyone and encourage them to travel and see slightly more of the world, I know now that I would have regretted not going, it’s a experience and one that i will remember for the rest of my life.'The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.' St. Augustine