Final Goodbye...

I have been back in the Netherlands since a few weeks now and I miss Glasgow and all my friends so much!! My flight back was on the 21th of January, only two days after my last exam. Consequently I had no time to say a proper goodbye to Glasgow, but I don’t need it because I’m certain I will go back to Glasgow within a year! Some of my friends still study in Glasgow for the next few years and they have offered me a place to sleep anytime I’d like to come to Glasgow.

Glasgow is an amazing city for a student. It’s really modern, good public transport, fantastic shopping facilities, breathtaking environment, friendly people and Strathclyde University is really good. I found the perfect balance of social life and study in Glasgow. When I look back at my period I have to admit that it was more social life than study, since I had only 5 hours of lectures every week. However, the assignments were pretty demanding, one assignment can be compared to the bachelor thesis and this is the reason that most of the courses have 10 ECTS.

I miss eating icecream with my flatmates Carol, Christina, Livia and Julia.

I miss coming back from a late night out and find Livia still studying in her room.

I miss knocking on Christina’s door and talk for hours about boys instead of studying.

I miss Carol who asks me for a word in English even though she’s American .

I miss Tina and Clara, my two favorite twins, always giggling.

I miss Julia and her 30 pence cookies. I miss drinking ‘chocomel’ with Patrick.

I miss Tuesday pizza night.

I miss Wednesday pub and Common night.

I miss Kushion on Fridays.

But above all I miss living in Glasgow on campus with an amazing group of international friends.



Julia, Chelsea, me, Clara

Christina, Tina, Carol

It feels weird to be back in the Netherlands. Going to lectures on the University feels familiar but also a bit boring. I’m still getting used to the fact that cars drive on the right side of the road when I’m crossing a street. I always think ‘look to the left first’, but in the back of my mind I hear ‘you should also look to the right, just in case a car might come’. It will take some time to realize that there won’t come a car from the right. It’s also weird that I don’t have to talk in English all the time. Sometimes I start to answer a question in English or I say ‘bless you’ instead of ‘gezondheid’ when someone sneezes or I start thinking about how to say that in English, but I don’t longer need to think that. Last week I had the Orientation Day with a case study of Akzo Nobel. We had to present our solution and without being nervous I presented it. Before my exchange I would have never done this! I would be really insecure about my presentation skills and my English but now I was glad to speak in English again!

This exchange has been such a great experience. I have learned to be more independent, outgoing, spontaneous, open-minded, a better cook, improve my English, enjoy student life, live on campus and I have met some fantastic friends and a wonderful guy! Now I can visit all my friends in Glasgow, Rome, Copenhagen, Stuttgart, Dortmund, Cologne, Paris, Phoenix, Mexico, St. Louis, China…… Starting with Mexico in April!!!  And of course they are always welcome in the Netherlands! In fact, my first guided tour through the Netherlands starts on Tuesday the 14^th when Daniel comes to visit me for 10 days!! I’m so looking forward to that! This exchange was only the beginning ;)

Hopefully you have enjoyed my stories and I might continue writing about my next adventures only then on a blog of my own.

Cheers!