Goeiedag en welkom in mijn Nederlandse ervaring!
On the 31st of January Darren,
Sarah and I left the comfort of our homes to begin the experience of a lifetime…ERASMUS. In the lobby of the airport final goodbyes
were said and some tears were shed but as we walked through the airport my
anxiety changed to excitement. My mind
raced with questions like what if the people I live with can’t speak English and
of course do the Dutch people like to party? The answer to all these questions
was just a flight and a train journey away in our new home of Nijmegen.
After one hour we arrived in Schipol
Airport in Amsterdam and this is where the real fun began. After Sarah having a small “incident” with an
escalator and two suitcases we realised that we had arrived safely. Two Dutch students picked us up from the
housing agency and left us at the student accommodation called Vossenveld. Like three lost lambs we stood outside wandering
where to go until curiosity got the better of us and we rushed to the entrance
of our new flat. From lambs to lions we
burst through the doors to discover that we were the first people there. Soon
after unpacking I was startled by an unhappy moan coming from Darren’s room
where he had quickly discovered that Vossenveld has no WiFi.
After about an hour we had the pleasure of meeting our new flat mates, two amazing people from Belgium. I can honestly
say that even after just one week I know that I have made friends for life as
we have been inseparable. On Friday we
met the rest of the Erasmus students which included two girls from Longford. The weekend was filled with a treasure hunt
around Nijmegen and the arrival of four new flatmates from Portugal.
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| Flatmates |
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| "The Green Machine" |
On Monday we had our first class
about the Dutch education system. This allowed
us to have an insight into the different types of education available in the Netherlands. We learnt about what “typically Dutch” schools
are and that Dutch children take part in a National test for three days that
determines what secondary school they go to.
This was very interesting for us as we could compare this to tests like
the 11+. Tuesday began the search for
bicycles. You would think that in a
country that has more bicycles than inhabitants that finding a bike would be
easy but no this was quite a challenge due to both Sarah and I being “vertically
challenged”. As the Dutch have the
tallest people in the world finding a bike for two small Irish girls was quite
difficult but after a few hours I was the proud owner of "The Green Machine."
The past week has been amazing
and I know it is the start of something truly special. From nights out with the Erasmus group to
sitting in classes sharing professional views on teaching this experience is
going to help me grow more and more each day. GoodReads (2013) refers to Tim Cahill's statement that “A journey is best measured in friends, rather
than miles” and from the past week I can safely say that my journey will be a
never ending one.
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| Some of our new friends |
GoodReads (2013) Tim Cahill Quotes available at http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/189690-a-journey-is-best-measured-in-friends-not-in-miles
(accessed 05/02/13)
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