27 days

I am in awe. 

I have been back for 27 days. 

In that time I have met a guy and fallen hard, makes it very easy to be back… very easy to be happy. 

However, I have also reached that time where I look at all of my pictures and think about my trip. 

Oh how I miss Europe. 

All of it. 

The ease of travel.

The friendly people. 

The daily adventure, always creating a new memory. 

I want to be back, but I want to stay here. 

I am ready for my next adventure, so bring it on. 

Can’t wait to see what new thing comes my way tomorrow. 

Until then. …

Yes, we studied abroad.

Yes, we studied abroad.

I’d like to critique this. 

1) We ate french fries once a week. Consisted a diet of tacos, noodles, “good noodles” aka ramen noodles, and croquettes. ❤ Delicious. and yes, we are on a strict budget, we are college students. Always poor, being abroad does not change that. 

2) No matter where you traveled, yes everyone speaks English and they are more than willing to help you. 

3) … we went to Mannekin-pis. Why? Because at the time it seemed like a good idea, we were wrong. Tiny statue, far to many people. The giant chocolate figures of it were way more cool to look at. Same goes for the Mona Lisa. 

4) God, exchange rates. Shoot me know. But hey, 49 hours until I am back in the States, I’m going to have so many USD I’ll be RICH!

5) We only took Aer LIngus, gives us a little bit nicer of a journey, for a bit more money 

6) There are SO MANY BETTER PLACES THAN THE STATES. (I really don’t wanna go back)

7) Never had doner kabab, but we ate lots of drunk burgers

8) You can meet so many people, and people from your home as well

9) ha, we have had a lot of bad experiences with trains, but we have also mastered reading the schedules and that is a day for celebration. 

10) We now understand why international students always wear the same clothes, you can only bring so much with you in a suitcase. 

11) It is very nice that English is spoken worldwide, but sad that we don’t have our own secret language to communicate in, in public

12) Eating at 430 (1630) is so normal at home… eating late here sucks. 

13) Spontaneity is how we earned most of our wonderful trips 

14) Traveling, you learn how to deal with cranky people, hungry people, tired people, and happy people.

15) Oh no, we did a lot more studying than 4 minutes. The tests were awful. Cannot wait for my American tests though. 

16) Took a taxi twice, first driver screwed us over, make sure they keep the meter on!!!!

17) hahah traveling solo reveals how much you love strangers!

18) I ❤ the Guinness storehouse! ❤ SO GOOD!

19) I will never regret studying abroad!

 

“How lucky am I…

“How lucky am I to know someone who was so hard to say goodbye to.”

<3. How true is this. I have had this amazing experience studying abroad in the Netherlands. An amazing experience meeting new people, falling in love with new places and experiences. I met someone who, even though it was for a week, has changed my perspective on life and happiness. Making me realize there are better things out there than what has happened to me. It is not going to be easy saying goodbye to people, but as I was recently told, “it is better late than never.” So how lucky am I? 🙂 I’m leaving my new world on a high and happy note. 

The Week of Lasts

The Week of Lasts. Both something exciting, and yet overly terrifying. After 5 months, I have learned how to live life in the Netherlands. I have picked up on the culture and lifestyle and it has changed me. I notice that in myself, and I notice that in my roommate (whom is also an American).
*Life is going to be hard when we go back, but probably not as hard as trying to study for these finals while thinking about going home, argh.*
The thought of going home makes me queasy. Weak stomach, some butterflies here and there, my emotions are running haywire.
I am thrilled to be going home to see some of my friends, the ones who truly cared, as I found out from being here… and my family. And who doesn’t miss their pets when they are away? Right, no one. Duh.
Yesterday was our last Saturday in Zwolle. Our last European market, our last walk down the main shopping street. We did however celebrate with stroopwafels, krokets, and french fries from snackcorner… (can we get one of these in Wisco??)
Today is our last Sunday in the Netherlands as a whole, this time next week I will be sitting in my house getting ready to storm Platteville. Woah.
But going home is scary. I am worried that too much has changed with some friends, we have a five month gap, but no one will want to fill the gap just talking about their experiences, it can be awkward, but I will push through.
I am also scared to death for the weather. Thank god that polar vortex is gone through, we have had a solid 40F temp since late September, I’m going to freeze what little butt I have off. Thank god for coffee.
Really, the transition, I feel will be harder than the one coming to Europe. Because I am going home to people that I already know, people who want to see you and ask questions, want to try and cure your jet lag instantly when all you want to do is sleep. Adjusting on your own time will be virtually impossible, whereas coming to the Netherlands, I did not know people so I had that opportunity to explore and adjust myself.
I am ready to reexplore my hometown, the place where I go to school and the state that I have grown up in.
But more important, I cannot wait to drive, hug those important to me, and snuggle with my cats.
Bring it on week of lasts and prepare to be finished, final exams.
❤ Until next time. 

Shock

Just realized I have 33 days left. It is 3 days until December 18 and that means I have one month left. How fast will this month go? Well this is one week of “classes” I have them Monday & Tuesday with a project due on Friday. Then it is break. WHAT?! Yes.. break. I have about 8 days until I go to DUBLIN! Wooo!!! Go to Dublin and yes, 5 days with mi mama! sweet! Come home and it is 18 days until I leave which means a lot of studying, packing, and crying all while filled with excitement. It is going to be crazy, but so fun and so worth it. Bring it on time! 

Taking note

We are now 39 days 2 hours 19 minutes and a slowly ticking second timer away from landing at ORD airport in Chicago, Illinois, USA. As soon as we land our experience will officially be over. No more “study abroad” label, no more excuses for being rash, crabby, always partying, or just pretending each day you are from a different culture. 

However, our experiences will never leave us. We have grown here. We have learned how to operate cross culturally, we have made friends from around the world, seen things you don’t even know how to describe to others, and had the widest range of emotions possible in one single day. As I look back on the weeks that I have been here, I have realized that I have experienced quite a variety of feelings. Everything from anxious, to excited, nervous, happier than ever before, a longing for home, and a bit of heartbreak. I am looking forward to going home, to be with my friends and family who are anxiously awaiting my return and tell them stories and get back into my life and routine… but at the same time, the more I think about going home, my heart breaks a little more because I know all of these awesome friends I have made here, I may never see again. It is only a hope that I keep in contact with them throughout the years, and if I am truly lucky, I may be able to see them again. 

But one thing will help. I signed up to be an Education Abroad Ambassador for the study abroad department at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville where I attend school (graduating May 2014). There I will be able to (hopefully) talk to prospective study abroad students about coming here to Windesheim University in Zwolle for a semester or year long program, or to students interested in the short term study abroad trip to six cities in China (Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xian, and Beijing) in the Spring of 2012. 

Therefore, upon returning, I will be able to keep my memories and experiences fresh. I can tell them to students who wish to study abroad and help them realize that it is possible to do, and it will be an experience they will never regret. 

While going back into day-to-day American society will be a challenge, I am sure some of my new Dutch sayings will come out now and again, and I may occasionally go in for a two kiss on the cheek greeting… it will be good to be home again, but I will never forget the friends and people I have met here. 

Limited Classes

Finals Weeks

Finals week(s) kicked my little American ass. It is very different having finals where you need two forms of ID on your desk the entire time. Where you have to sign in and have those IDs scrutinized. Where you use pen on a scantron… what? what happened to my number 2 pencil. Oh, and your professors… they aren’t there. It is a fend for yourself if you have a question because your proctors… they only speak Dutch. Again, what?

Silly as it seems, this is the testing system in the Netherlands which is quite a bit different from that in the United States. I am also not used to tests being the only thing (or the main thing) to determine my grade. It sucks when you aren’t a good test taker or when you suck at multiple choice that is written in poor English, almost harder for fluent English speakers because we get caught up on the grammar errors, or misspellings…whereas other internationals can read it easier. However, I would much rather be given a piece of paper with some questions and told to write, at least you can some what B.S that if necessary. 

Anyway, I am not overly proud of my exam grades, but there are always retakes and it shouldn’t delay my graduation more than a few months. (August instead of May). Either way, just picked up 19 credits for the Spring semester back in Platteville and will need 1-2 classes over the summer. Not to bad for all the anxiety I was having about it a few weeks ago. 

 

Period 2

I am also still not used to this Period 1 and Period 2 things. However, it is kind of nice to have classes for only 7 weeks instead of 16. And, we only meet once a week instead of 2-3 times a week. But, I get bored here, not always sure what to do with my time off so I take a lot of walks and take even more pictures…oh well, good solid memories. At home, I have multiple jobs to keep me busy, friends, chinese take out and steves pizza. I can’t wait to come home and see everyone and just feel “at home”. It is 58 days from today.. Crazy. And my mom comes to Dublin in only a few weeks, I am beyond excited to see Ireland and her (in person). Skype doesn’t always do it for a person 😉 But going home I get to see my babies (Ethel & Elphie – the terrible 2 cats and Ginger – my adorable dog). It will be good to be back in good old Wisconsin. However, for the remainder of my time here I am enjoying getting to know some of the international students a little bit more, and they managed to drag me out to a party, who would have thought that could have happened. I didn’t, but congrats…they mastered it. 

 

OHH! and I got news that I should have a VISA by the end of this week, finally. 🙂 

 

Well, I think that is all for now. Hopefully I am back soon, folks! Have to eat my homemade Chicken and Veggie soup. NOMS.

 

 

Until then. 🙂

Wanderlust?

Is that a good excuse? 

I am pretty awful at this “blogging” thing. I used to be pretty good at it, but something about sitting in Europe just makes it not at the top of my priority list. 

So after Paris, we stuck around the Netherlands for awhile and went to the market in the city centre on quite a few Saturdays… and then spent some time going out to the Flying Horse student pub, let me tell you… those turn into long nights. I ache for the sweet peaceful bliss of an early bar-time. Here, they go out at 1am and stay out until 430am and if you’re really lucky, then they drag you to a club. WHAT?! yeah. Insane. However, being an American girl… you don’t usually buy any of your own drinks. 

A few weeks back I headed to Brussels with my roommate, also an American, and a friend from our home university studying elsewhere in the Netherlands. It was fun to hang out with all Americans and we had a blast in our 48 hours there. Even sat and had some beer at an outdoor pub. Palm beer is real tasty.. so in Ciney. 

Well we also ventured to mini-holland, the delft, and den haag. All of these places are freaking awesome, and I cannot wait to go back and visit them again with our 14 Euro train passes on weekends… lets just hope we can avoid all of the protests in Den Haag. 

But lets get real. This post is because I had a BLAST when I was in Kobenhavn, or Copenhagen in the western world, this weekend. I went to visit some friends who lived there and Denmark is beautiful! I should have studied abroad there, it was gorgeous and a very easy place for me to just slide right into the culture. Although, Zwolle is pretty awesome too. 

The bus ride to Copenhagen was scheduled to be 11 hours. So leave Zwolle on the train to Groningen (57 minutes) then wait for the bus for an hour on the side of the road. So at 6pm I loaded the bus and we left to be on our happy way. Actually had my passport checked on the German border, that was new… and then our bus left some of the passengers at the stop, so we were put 40 minutes behind schedule to go back and pick them up. Sweet, not to bad, better than arriving at 515am. HA! Good joke, we got to Hamburg and then the bus stopped for nearly TWO HOURS. what the crap?! yeah. Needless to say, my sleep was not kept very long. We then got on a ferry at 4am for 45 minutes to cross the North Sea.. I made it to Copenhagen at 730 in the morning. Not to shabby. Got on the S-train and headed toward Skovlunde where I got to stay with Rolf Hansen and Maja Petersen for a few days before heading back to Zwolle. All of my experiences in Denmark were absolutely wonderful! I had the opportunity so see so many new things, try some new food, and get to take part in a fall that is nearly nonexistent in the Netherlands. Tivoli Gardens is by far one of the best things ever! 

 

Can’t wait for all of the new experiences to come! Oh and to see my mom in Dublin for Christmas/the New Year! Woooo!!

Paris, I love you.

ohhh my goodness! I got to see Paris this weekend! wahhh!! I am still totally mindblown. 

We left Thursday night after class and took a train to Amsterdam from Zwolle where we then waited 5 hours for our Eurolines bus to leave. The bus left at 10pm and it was about an 8 hour drive to Paris… of course, the bus dropped us off at 615am about 5 miles from the center of Paris. We walked down there and waited for awhile, exploring parks, gardens, the pantheon, and numerous other places. We saw the bridge of locks and the Notre Dame, it was beautiful. Unbelievably gorgeous and romantic.

 

In Paris we stayed at the AIJ – Paris. Very affordable and very comfortable. They provided clean rooms and a free breakfast. Although they have a lockout from 11-3 you arrive back to find the place sparkling clean. 

The second day we made our way all the way down to the Eiffel Tower as well as the Arc de Triumph. We also headed to another palace area with a great view of the Eiffel Tower and also a peaceful protest in the area from Syria. After we headed away I caved to the Ice Cream cart and then we laid in the grass until it started to get dark and we could see the tower lit up, as we walked away we also got to see the tower sparkle and shine. It was beautiful and gorgeous. 

Day 3 we walked to the Louve and saw the beautiful art pieces that make a history major smile. The Mona Lisa, the Grand Sphinx, the Code of Hammurabi, beautiful. 

Glad I got to see Paris, it was a wonderful trip and one that I will remember for a lifetime. Not only are the sights gorgeous, but they are also matched with city sounds that make everything 10x better. 

A long time coming.

OKAY! So I haven’t posted on here in awhile and I feel like I have a lot to say. Sorry to anybody who actually takes the time to read this.. but it will be long. 

 

So Thursday (8.29) 
We arrived in Dublin around 5am their time, a whopping 11pm our time. HOLY TIRED! It was a rough start and by that point we had gone through about 3 different “winds” of energy. Not only was it a bad time difference for us, but it was also a four hour layover with numerous flights leaving from our gate before us. Needless to say all three of us were out before the plane took off. It was a nice 90 minutes nap. 
When our flight landed in Amsterdam it was a race to the customs line, somehow we started in the shortest line, but were the last ones in the room.. turns out if you are not from Europe the line takes about 3x as long to get through. So once we got through we had to make our way through masses of Dutch speakers (who wouldn’t help us) to get a ticket to the train and then we guessed (correctly) which platform would take us to Zwolle. Oh and congrats to Sarah for figuring out how to read the schedule in 20 minutes.. big help from now on. But it did help our confidence. Oh and trains = small, my luggage = big. Funny sight for sure!!! 
Once we arrived we met our SUN advisors from campus and headed there for a brief meeting before heading to out apartment at Leliestraat. A cute little, very white, room. It is strange having a roommate again. 

Friday (8.30)
Rough day. 
We tried to use our credit card places… ahahah.. yeah no they only accept this thing called “Chipkip” here. I have one on my Bank of America card however it only works in a few different stores, and DOES NOT work at the grocery store where I need it. I may have to give it a shot at the school printers, but who knows. Otherwise it is all ATM and cash EUROS for me!  
We also got initiated into the “Flying Horse” which is the student pub in the city centre. It is very nice and I had a very good time with new friends, it is amazing how quickly everyone becomes close with one another. One of our favorites is Mariliza from Greece, a little gem if you ask me.  

Saturday (8.30)
We did a bunch of crap. Shopping in the city centre, sleeping until noon, ya know, jet lag college stuff. ;). WE also tried a croquette (kroket) which is a bunch of (random) meat with gravy that is deep fried… a popular fast food item that is eaten appx 25 times by each Dutch citizen a year.. we had been here 3 days and ate one. We are off to a good start I suppose. oh…we got BIKES! bikes are a vital mean of transportation in this country, basically they rule the streets.. better than cars and pedestrians. It’s crazy.

Sunday (9.1)
Oh yeah, we slept all day. Correction, we made our way to the school to see where it was for Monday…other than that we laid in bed and tried to cope with getting on the right schedule.. it kinda worked. 

Monday (9.2)
Met some of the students who live in Harm at our first orientation date. We also met with our business person to talk to. Oh and we planned a trip to Paris for this weekend :))))) 

Tuesday (9.3) 
Ah yes, today we went to school 40 minutes early to try and work the printers… and it took us all 40 minutes. We printed off our bus tickets and got our hostel, or so I thought. The card went through for Sarah’s room, but it did not work for mine, so after some trouble, I contacted my mom and she called the bank so I rebooked… hopefully it worked, and I will get a good email from them tomorrow during business hours. We are basically over jet lag now, a little tired here and there but nothing a little caffeine cannot fix. 😉 and the coffee was free today at class!! woo! Can’t wait for class tomorrow and Thursday so we can head out to Paris on Thursday evening.. with some small stops in Amsterdam before and after. Ready to start our traveling.