Week 20 3rd-9th June (Personal)

After a fantastic twenty weeks it is officially time to say farewell to the Netherlands. Yet, I know that that Netherlands will always be a second home to me. Unquestionably, I will be returning some day for a visit and to relive all the wonderful memories I have made here. Luckily, there are already talks of having an Erasmus reunion in 5 years time.

This week as expected was an emotional one, full of final goodbyes, a lot of speeches, scrap book making, leaving dinners, tears, hugs and even one of our Spanish flatmates wrote a song especially for everyone in our flat. I have to say that is the first time anyone has ever written a song for me and it was moving.

For our leaving present, our Belgium flatmates made Daniel, Rachel and I a photo scrap book, where they recorded amusing memories and added numerous photos. I got the whole of our Erasmus group to write in the book. It was touching reading the comments and wishes that everyone had written. I enjoyed reading all the funny memories and appreciating the friendships that have blossomed over the past twenty weeks. I think the scrap book is a lovely way to capture all those memories. I am excited to read it in years to come.

The Erasmus Family of the Netherlands 2012

I have met many inspiring people over my time in the Netherlands, from my Dutch lecturers and buddies to all my Erasmus friends, even the children and teachers in my placement school. I have made many life-long friends here. It is amazing that after only a few short months I have a range of friends all over the world that I can go and visit.  One of our American friends and a couple of our Belgium flatmates’ have already booked flights to visit Northern Ireland in the summer. I can’t wait to show them my magnificent hometown of Belfast.

I have met a lot of different people on Erasmus with a range of personalities, but somehow we all got on like one big happy family. Interesting living in an environment like this has manufactured relationships that would never have happened if it wasn’t for Erasmus. It is awesome how much I have learnt over the space of Erasmus, not only in education but also in how I view different cultures.  Being on Erasmus has heightened my understanding of accepting different cultures, but it has also changed the way I view my own culture.

I have grown an interest in learning about different countries now that I have new friends that live across the globe. It has also heightened my passion for travelling and seeing new places. I love going to new places and visiting all the tourist attractions. Yet, there is nothing better than allowing yourself to get lost and finding the hidden gems which allow you to see what a country is actually like. In one of the module ‘Social responsibility in education’ we looked at the opportunities of taking internships in developing countries and this module has inspired me to look deeper into this area.

I am sad that my time here has come to an end, however I have had an unbelievable time in the Netherlands and I am thankful for that. The Erasmus experience has played a valuable part in my personal and cultural development has given me many skills as an independent young women. Deciding to go on Erasmus was one of the best decisions I have ever made and I know I will be talking about it in years to come!

 Twenty Weeks later and the three Amigos arrive back in Belfast.

Week 19 27th May-3rd June (Professional/Personal)

As my time is coming to an end in the Netherlands, it has become clear how my experience in the Netherlands over the previous months has helped my professional development as a teacher. Initially, I was intrigued by the fact that the Netherlands and many other countries don’t wear school uniforms. Before I started placement I didn’t understand how this could have advantages in a school context. However, I was surprised how well it did work in practice, a perfect example of this could be seen in my placement school (Ulenhof college), where the academic level and the behavior of the children were both at an extremely high level. I think ‘no school uniform’ works because the style of teaching is more relaxed in the Netherlands in comparison to home. This is due to a closer relationship between teacher and pupil. I liked the closeness I felt with my pupils in my class and my teacher tutor encouraged me to work on my relationship with my classes. I think that this made my time at Ulenhof more enjoyable. I think this is something that I would like to take home with me to Northern Ireland as previously I have always been worried not to be too friendly with the class as they would not see me as being the teacher. Previously, I have always been cautious to keep a distance with the class. I think having a placement in the Netherlands has taught me to relax more as a teacher.

My whole educational experience in the Netherlands has made me more open minded about teaching. I am more open to new ideas and ways to teach. I think I will be more critical of the education in Northern Ireland when I return home instead of just accepting what I am taught. Now, I have gathered a lot of ideas about education from my placement at Ulenhof College but from also talking to other Erasmus students. I have learnt to not be solely dependent on technology, although it is important to utilise ICT within lessons, there are lots of other key strategies that can be used. It is not the be all and end all of a lesson.

Gliding

Rachel and Daniel went gliding this week. I decided against the idea as I I’m not the biggest fan of airplanes- especially small ones with no engines. However, I decided to go along to the airfield to provide some well needed moral support and of course to be the chief photographer of the occasion (which has pretty much become my role of the Erasmus trip). I’m the one who is always making sure that we have enough quality photographs so that we can look back on them to remember the great times we’ve had in the Netherlands.

Erasmus Hawaii Party

This week we planned a Hawaii party to be held in our flat. All the flat members decided to buy some decorations for the themed party. I was slightly worried when our Belgium flat-mates came back with a paddling pool and a six foot inflatable palm-tree. However, it all added to the theme of the party and our flat looked the part. Everyone had a great night, though sadly this was probably one of our final parties at Vossenveld and what a party it was to end on.

In our paddling pool courtesy of the Belgium girls

This week, the Northern Ireland football team was playing the Netherlands in the Ajax Arena in Amsterdam. We decided that it was essential that we supported Northern Ireland and so we bought tickets for the match. We went together with a group of our Erasmus friends. However, they sat with the Dutch fans while we sat with the Northern Ireland supporters. It was nice to hear a few Northern Irish voices and join in with the craic on the Northern Irish supporter’s side. Unfortunately, we lost the match 6:0, however there were no hard feelings on our side as we were having a great time soaking in the atmosphere with the Northern Irish fans. It was nice to get a little taste of home.

Supporting Northern Ireland as they lose 6:0 to the Netherlands, in the Ajax area, Amsterdam.

Week 18 20th-28th May (Personal/Cultural)

The weather this week was heavenly. I was beginning to feel like I wasn’t in the Netherlands. It was a minimum of 30 degrees everyday and to put the cherry on the cake, all our lectures were cancelled on Thursday and Friday. We enjoyed a week packed full of sunbathing, swimming in the canal, playing volleyball and having water fights. Who needs a summer holiday, when the sun is here in the Netherlands?

 Going for a swim in the canal

Time for a water-fight

This week we organised a dessert night in our flat, whereby every representative country had to make one of their speciality desserts. We decided to make apple crumble with a cinnamon touch, served with vanilla ice-cream. It was delicious. It was good to taste everyone’s desserts. Rachel and I took all the recipes so that we can make our own Erasmus cook book.

Watching the sunset on the roof of the 8th floor

As we had Friday off Rachel, Daniel and I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to have one last adventure. We decided to jump on the train to Luxembourg. After a long seven hour train journey that took us through the Netherlands and across Belgium until we finally arrived in Luxembourg. The view of the countryside from the train was beautiful. We stayed the night in Luxembourg on Friday, and did a spot of sightseeing on Saturday. Once more, we could not have asked for better weather. Unfortunately, Daniel and Rachel looked more like lobsters by the end of the trip.

The only reason I knew about Luxembourg before visiting, was that its capital city is also named Luxembourg. It is the only answer I usually get correct in any pub quiz. Luxembourg is bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. Luxembourg is a trilingual country; German, French and Luxembourgish are the official languages. The country has a highly developed economy, which could clearly be seen when strolling through the city. The city is packed with designer shops such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci. The sort of shops you don’t find in Belfast. The range of cars passing through the city included a range of the newest BMWs, Autos and the occasional Ferrari. The city was very clean and safe, but it was also quite expensive. Luckily, it wasn’t quite as expensive as our previous trip to Geneva. The typical food of Luxembourg is similar to German food. Unfortunately we did not get to try much food from Luxembourg on our stay, as we opted for an Italian restaurant. But it was a good choice as the food was delicious. My favourite part of the trip was walking through all the beautiful parks in Luxembourg and visiting Notre Dame Cathedral and the Place of the Grand Dukes. 

 Enjoying the beautiful parks in Luxembourg

Sightseeing in Luxembourg

Week 17 13th-20th May Personal

It is astonishing that in less than three weeks it will be time to go home. It doesn’t seem so long ago since I sat down at my laptop in my new room in Nijmegen to begin writing my first blog. I can remember not knowing how to begin to write a blog and now it’s like second nature. I can’t wait to make the remaining time here unforgettable. Over the next few weeks there is lots of fun activates planned to celebrate the remaining days of Erasmus 2012.

The weather this week has been very peculiar to say the least. At times, I’ve felt like I’m living in a tropical rainforest. One minute the sun is shinning and the next it’s raining with the sky roaring with thunder and lightening. However, I cannot complain as when the sun comes out, it is delightful, with temperatures hitting 24 degrees. On Monday due to the fantastic weather a group of our friends decided to have a barbeque down by the canal and it was great fun.  I have officially had my first barbeque of the summer. We ate lots of food, played games and toasted marshmallows until it got dark. I could get used to this life-bliss.

 Enjoying a barbecue by the canal

Thursday was a public holiday in the Netherlands. It is commonly known as Ascension Thursday, Holy Thursday, or Ascension Day. This day commemorates the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. It is a universally celebrated across Christian churches. It is traditionally celebrated on a Thursday, the fortieth day of Easter. To celebrate classes being cancelled, we decided to plan a picnic on a local beach. Rachel baked up some delicious pasta salads for our trip. Rachel is now commonly known as the ‘mummy’ of our flat as she is always cooking, cleaning and looking out for everyone in the flat.

 At the Ascension day celebrations in Nijmegen town centre

On the evening of Ascension Day a celebration was held in the centre of Nijmegen. Not knowing what to expect we went along and I’m glad we did as we had a great night. There was a large stage and bars set up along the main shopping street of Nijmegen and people where all dancing, drinking and soaking up the atmosphere. It was a whole family event with everyone relaxing as they enjoyed the remaining hours of sunshine before dusk. I have noticed the Netherlands regularly organise free events within their towns, which I think is wonderful.  Free events like this are not as regular at home.

 Taking the boys on a cycling tour of Nijmegen

Rachel’s boyfriend and mine travelled out to see us this weekend. We had a lovely weekend and I was happy that they got a last opportunity to see Nijmegen. We spent one day in Nijmegen and a day in Amsterdam. It was nice showing them around Nijmegen and showing them our University campus and town centre to give them a taster of what our day to day life is like in the Netherlands. We even managed to borrow bikes for them so that they could tour Nijmegen the traditional ‘Dutch’ way. Surprisingly, they both loved the cycling, both suggesting that they want to buy a bike when they get home. In Amsterdam we made a visit to Madame Tussauds and the Amsterdam dungeon.

In addition, it was a good opportunity to send some stuff home with the boys as I have noticed the extent of clothes that I have gathered up over the last few months, dear knows how I’ll mange to get it all squeezed into one suitcase home.

Dinner with the boys

Week 16 6th-13th May (Professional)

I am enjoying my school placement more and more as the weeks move along as I have now settled into life in Ulenhof College. Both of the science lessons I took this week went really well and I got excellent feedback from my school tutor. I think I am starting to understand the Dutch style of teaching and surprisingly I like it. This week I also got to observe a bilingual math lesson. I found the style of teaching math was similar to home. Amazingly, I have even got used to the long two hour journey of getting to Ulenhof College. I actually find it quite peaceful having some ‘me time’ on the train journey. Living in students’ accommodation 24/7 means you are constantly with people and so I actually quite enjoy gazing out the window at the striking Dutch countryside and having the time to appreciate and reflect on the opportunities I have been given over the past months.

Pretty Dutch countryside

My school tutor being a ‘typical’ Dutch man will tells me exactly what he thinks for example, if the lesson was good or bad he will be sure to let me know. I have found that this is a very different style from home. At home we generally withhold exactly what we think to avoid hurting feelings. Even within some of my previous placements at home I have found that I have had to really question teachers to find out what they thought of my lesson. Well, I most certainly do not have this problem here in the Netherlands. My placement tutor is fantastic at giving feedback and will sit for at least an hour after every lesson to explain and help me to think about what went well and what didn’t. He is also very good at giving recommendations and explaining what he would do in certain scenarios. However, he encourages me to do what I want to do as ultimately every teacher is different and therefore it is important to develop my own style of teaching.When my tutor gave feedback this week he observed that I have been able to control the class really well and in some cases he has said he has never seen them behave so well. Perhaps, it is because they are concentrating so hard to make out my accent. I think both classes are beginning to really see me as their teacher. 

One thing I have noticed about most secondary schools in the Netherlands is that they don’t have sport facilities attached to their schools as they would do at home. Ulenhof College does not have any hockey or football pitches. Apparently it is normal in the Netherlands for young people to attend sports clubs outside of school instead of in school. I found this strange as it is opposite at home. Sports were a central part of my secondary school. I used to have hockey practice twice a week and match every Saturday morning whereas the boys would play rugby or football. I guess this is just the way they do things here.

In the module of ‘Social Responsibility’ we had a school visit this week whereby we helped out with a school project. The project was a three day long project and we were assigned to help out with one day of the project. The project goal was to help improve our world by delivering an introduction for pupils about 21^st century challenges and invite the students to search for solutions. The project was taking place in Canisius College which is located in Nijmegen about a thirty minute cycle away. I found it interesting taking part in this project as it gave me the opportunity to see what another secondary school is like in the Netherlands. It also gave me the opportunity to compare whether my own placement school is a ‘typical’ secondary school in the Netherlands.

Flat Photograph

This week we held a Tapas and wine night in our flat. I had a great night bonding with the rest of my flatmates. We tasted loots of delicious new tapas and wines that we haven’t tried before. Rachel and I have decided that we will make a recipe book to record all the delicious recipes we have tasted from all the different cultures since being on Erasmus. When I go home, I can’t wait to cook a meal for my family and show off my new culinary skills with all the marvellous recipes I have collected.

 Tapas and wine night

Week 15 30th April -6th May (Personal)

This week was May break and what a brilliant week it was. This was the last public holiday in the Netherlands before we leave, so we thought we had better make the most of it. In the Netherlands Monday the 30^th of April is Queen’s day and every town in the Netherlands is packed with people partying on the streets, dressed in crazy orange themed costumes. At first, we were undecided of where we should celebrate queens day, but after talking to some of our Erasmus buddies we were advised that if you are only ever going to do Queens day once in your life, you should do in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam on Queens day

Queens’s day came and went and what a day it was. The atmosphere was indescribable. The whole city was packed with people. Queen’s day typically attracts 700 thousand visitors each year. There were numerous outdoor concerts organised at various locations, live DJs, bands, amusements parks and thousands of burger vans and merchandise stalls which lined the streets of Amsterdam. It could be described as one huge street party. The streets where so packed at times it was hard to even walk and the canals where lined with hundreds of boats that were packed with people dancing. The atmosphere was bustling as everyone celebrated with their friends and families across the city.

Lieze (Belgium flatmate) and I relaxing in Vondelpark on Queens day

Celebrating Queens day with a few of our Erasmus friends

From Amsterdam we caught a train to Brussels where we got our flight to Geneva. Unfortunately this trip involved an overnights stay in the airport-not comfy to say the least. However, it was all worth it when we reached Geneva. Geneva was beautiful, however extremely expensive.  I couldn’t believe it when we visited McDonalds and a Big Mac was 13 euro-crazy prices. It is no surprise that in 2011, Geneva was ranked as the fifth most expensive city in the world. Geneva is the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Geneva is a global city, a financial centre and it is the most important UN international co-operation centre along with New York.  In Geneva the hotels were also expensive so we opted for a hostel. Our hostel was basic but we couldn’t have wished for a better location. It was less than a 5 minute walk to the lake of Geneva. The view of Lake of Geneva with the Jet d'Eau (water fountain) and the lake side promenade was postcard perfect. The winding alleys of the Old Town were quaint and I especially enjoyed the boat across the lake. After two days in Geneva I was excited to begin our next part of our Journey to Barcelona- at least we’d be able to afford more things there.

The postcard perfect lake of Geneva

Luckily, we had beautiful weather in Barcelona and it was over 20 degrees with beaming sun every day. Rachel and I were not used to the heat and we both got slightly burnt the first day. We stayed in beautiful 4 star apartments with a swimming pool, this was luxury in comparison to our hostel in Geneva. Two of the Spanish boys that we live in Nijmegen are from Barcelona so they had already told us all the things that we must see on our visit.

Rachel and I visiting the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

We decided to opt for the sightseeing tour as it would take us around all the key attractions. The highlights of the trip was the tour of Nou camp football stadium and visiting the Sagrada Familia. We took a boat tour around the harbour, visited the markets of la Ramblas and ate in beautiful restaurants.My favouraite was when we enjoyed cocktails in the ‘W hotel’ which is 26 floors high and overlooks the whole of Barcelona. The view over Barcelona at night was breath taking.

In Nou camp Stadium

Week 14 22nd-29th April (Personal/Cultural)

This week was the last week for a few of our Erasmus friends who had opted for the three month Erasmus term. To celebrate the occasion we went for dinner in a local Italian restaurant. I found it surreal that their time in the Netherlands was over and it brought to light how little time I have left until I finish. I can’t believe it’s week 14 and I have only 6 more weeks to go- it’ scary. I know I will miss Nijmegen and all the friends I have made here. I appreciate the fantastic time I have had and the experiences and memories I will carry with me forever. This experience has shaped the way I see things and see other people and other cultures. It has defiantly broadened my horizons and made me aware that there is far more in the world other than Northern Ireland. It has been a great experience living in another country. Yet I know down in my heart that Northern Ireland will always be my home. I think I have surprised myself with how easily I have adapted to living in another place. I thought that I would be homesick, but I was surprised that I haven’t felt homesick at all. I think this has been down to the support of having Rachel and Daniel here with me and making lots of great friends out here. I am determined to make the most of my remaining time in Nijmegen.

Outside at the train station of Gouda

On Saturday we decided to visit a few towns in the Netherlands along with a few other Erasmus friends. We visited the town of Gouda and Rotterdam. Gouda is a city in the western Netherlands, it a quaint, typically Dutch village. Gouda is world famous for its Gouda cheese and its 15th Century Town Hall. Gouda has a regular cheese market which is held in the centre of the city. We stopped off in Gouda to have a spot of lunch and visit the famous Gouda market.

Harbour area of Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and has the largest port in Europe. Rotterdam is very different to the other cities in the Netherlands as it is bursting with high-rise buildings and is often described as a concrete jungle.  Rotterdam is a major international commercial centre and has always been one of the main centres of the shipping industry in the Netherlands.  Its strategic location allows for a vast distribution system extending throughout Europe and this is the reason that Rotterdam is often called the "Gateway to Europe". Rotterdam is perhaps the best place to shop in the Netherlands. Therefore, we took full advantage of this and spent the afternoon shopping. Later we went for dinner in a lovely Chinese restaurant before we got on the two hour long train back home to Nijmegen.