Byeeeeeeeee

I never though it would be hard to go back home. I love the life I’m living in the Netherlands and honestly, my life in Plymouth could hardly beat that. However, I realised that I had become closer to the people and the city here then the memories and love I cherish from my homecountry. Perhaps that’s just temporarily, but I’m leaving a place I genuinely grew fond of and that just sucks. All I can do is to look back on a truly life-changing experience and all the amazing people that’ve been part of that. And ofcourse I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t write a long-winded, emotional blog about it.

To be honest, the past months haven’t been perfect. Not Eat-Pray-Love perfect, that is. (I mean, that movie has a 5,7 IMDB rating for a reason.) But it definitely has been as grand in all aspects that come with being young and alive. It’s crazy how you can experience all of that in such a short a mount of time. I was naive, thinking finding a home abroad would be easy. Nobody – not even me – posts pictures or updates on the days that you feel lonely, confused, insecure or discouraged. For the first time in my life I even felt a little homesick. I’ve cried my eyes out, I fought, I argued, I regretted. But the fond memories are way stronger and more plentiful. All the amazingly interesting people I got to meet, the good laughs I had, the morning runs along Plymouth Sound (for the uninitiated: that’s basically the sea) and much, much more. As I can’t cram al the good stuff into one sentence, I applied my newly gained academic writing skills (hahaha #not) and added some structure to this soon-to-be nostalgia.

Things I will miss:

o   Foreigner’s Friday. No explanation needed.

o   Life without a bicycle. Dutchies will be suprised, but it’s actually quite doable.

o   The cleaning lady. She wasn’t just nice, she also did the cleaning. Like, wow, thank you.

o   British humor. I still miss a substantial part of the jokes, but when I do get them it’s good haha :P

o   Ugh, the guys. Sorry, can’t help it. That’s just a really well developed aspect of this side of The Channel.

o   The British diet. The worst and the best. Donuts and cheesy chips and grilled halloumi and discounted Ben & Jerry’s and deep-fried Mars bars (I know right, WTF) and a lot of cod (also deep-fried ofcourse). Lovelovelove

o   A Lush, Superdry, Waterstone’s and Paperchase around the corner. Woah <3

o   Tea in the morning. Tea in the afternoon. Tea before going to bed. Tea when life sucks. Tea to cheer up. Tea everywhereee.

o   The seaside. Waking up by the sound of seagulls and the sun reflecting from Plymouth Sound.. mmm

o   People’s willingness to help. Must be because I appear slightly more stupid being foreign, but still.. Really sweet

o   The people who introduced me to the church. It’s been a really interesting experience to learn about faith and religion, something I never expected to be curious for.

o   ESN and the committee. I joined a fun and hard working committee, got to see a lot from the UK and met people from all over the world. I. love. ESN!!!

o   Living across the street from campus and basically everything.

o   The roadtrips and perfect playlists on Wednesday-fencing-day.

o   The main reason why I came to Plymouth: education on the amazing and ever exciting field of Ocean Science. Eventhough it was quite overwhelming in the beginning (I considered switching modules because I didn’t think I could do it), it’s been totally worth it in the end. I loved it.

And ofcourse, there are also some things that I’ll hardly miss:

o   Holding the door thing. I just don’t get it. I can open the door myself when I’m 3 meters away, thanks.

o   English quasi-interest in how you’re doing. Should I ignore you or tell you my life story? There’s no in between with me you know.

o   Pre-packed everything. It’s a challenge to find fruit or sandwiches without a ‘nice’ touch of plastic wrapping.

o   My cooking skills that turned out to be even worse in the UK than they are in the NL.

o   How common it is to go out for dinner, for a drink, for lunch, for everything that includes the basic needs of life. This solved my aforementioned issue, though.

o   Drunk british girls. They tend to wear more make-up than clothes. No offense, tried it myself once as an effort of integration. Didn’t work out well.

o   How people think I must live in Amsterdam, when I say I’m dutch. There’s more than that you know.

o   A flat without a livingroom or even a table!!! My god.

I still feel like I forgot a million things. I probably did. Anyway, I still have an awesome leaving party to look forward to and I’ll be away in Ireland the next two weeks. Better get some sleep now, as it will be the last time in lovely Plymtown (assuming I won’t get any sleep tomorrow, except for on the bus to the airport).

Thank you all so much for making my Erasmus experience unforgettable. I’m leaving with a heavy heart and memories I’m infinitely grateful for.

Love,

Thyrza