Arrival

I’m starting off with an introductory post; I suppose this will serve as a sort of marker, a reference point for my year abroad. I expect, and I hope that this year I am going to develop and change as a person. I am going to learn new things, experience new things and by the end I’ll have a whole extra bonus year of university experience that a lot of people don’t get the chance to have. Therefore, this post will just serve as a reminder of who I was at the beginning of this year abroad, I’ll be able to track my progress, and by the end, see who I have become.

Right now, I’ve just moved to the Netherlands, first things to note: very flat, lots of bikes (lots), and so far, everyone speaks English. When it comes down to me, I am a very poor severely-lacking-in-confidence bike rider, I’m feeling relatively homesick but I’m putting on a brave face as I’ve lived abroad before and I know how this goes. Yesterday I bought my first bike; I like to think of this as a sort of coming of age experience for all international students studying in the Netherlands. I’m very proud of it, but also very scared of riding it, needless to say the ride home from the bike shop was anxiety-ridden and stressful, but as I’m sure is clear due to the fact that I am writing this post, I made it back in one piece.

There will be more posts to follow, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I was expecting this year to be like and what the reality is proving to be – next post to be on that topic I expect. See below for a picture of me, my new friends, and my new baby (my bike).

(Post originally written: Sunday 4^th September 2016)