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.