The Netherlands so far....wk1

Sunday

Getting up on Sunday morning was really nerve-racking. I didn't feel 100% and could have quite easily said I was not going to go anymore. Driving to the airport was scary but the nerves started to settle which gave me more confidence. We flew out of belfast international airport at 3.20pm. The flight was good with plenty of banter between everyone which made the outlook on the next four months look good! It was really cold when we arrived in Amsterdam and we then had to walk through one of the largest airports to find the train station to get a train to Nijmegen central. We were met at the station by 2 members of the CIS and they brought us to Vossenveld, our accommodation. This was not what i expected at all, i didnt know how to feel about it when i first arrived!

Monday

It is tour to the west day and the nerves had returned as i was about to spend the next 3 days with 14 complete strangers from several different parts of Europe. we left vossenveld at 9.00am to get the train to Den Haag to check into the hostel. 12 other students decided to embark on the tour also, students from belguim, sweden, finland, spain, poland and of course me from NI! I am extremely glad that i decided i would go on the tour even though i was going alone as this was the perfect opportunity to meet new people on my course or those living on other levels of vossenveld. This gave the push to be more outgoing and not rely on other people to meet new students. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and believe i have gained more confidence in meeting new people from this tour.

We travelled into Dilf as we had some sights to see. While in Dilf we went to the grave of William Orange, an historic figure for protestants in NI and the reason we celebrate the 12th of July. During lunch the group went for lunch together in an italian restaurant which was good as i expected people to break into little groups so this gave us another opportunity to get to know eachother. IN the afternoon we went to the Vermeer Art Museum which i found extremely boring, i am not into art that much, especially when it isnt interactive for the viewers at all. I did learn about Vermeer however, such as his painting about ''girl with the pearl earring'' and how he used light in such a unique way that made his paintings famous.

That night the group went to a beech, yes a beach in the Netherlands in January in sub-zero tempertures!!! It was extremely cold and the sand was frozen but it was a laugh! We walked down to the waters edge and along the peer which was enclosed, thankfully. The leaders then treated everyone to a warm hot chocolate with whipped cream and cookies! This made everyone forget about the cold for a short period at least!

Tuesday

After a group breakfast we had the Cit Hunt activity in groups. This was a good way to talk to individual members of the group that you may not have spent much time with on monday. IN groups we had to go to certain 'hotspots' in Den Haag and answer questions about the city. With a black & white map we set off into the freezing cold, worse than Monday at the beach to study the questions and sites around Haag. We had the opportunity to learn about the city and each other. I think we were lucky we had a group member that could speak dutch! We were able to see one of the last remaining panorama paintings in the Netherlands, which was really interesting and different from anything i had seen before in an art museum.

After lunch we went to another museum, Esher but this time i enjoyed the experience unlike yesturday. The museum had an interactive level and unusual drawings. At the end we had a group picture taken in an illusion which was a good memory of the tour!

After the activity we had time to explore the city a little more and have free time for ourselves. That evening we went to the hostel bar for a few beverages and a bit of banter! It was a relaxing evening for everyone in the heat beside the bar!

Wednesday

It was time to head back to Nijmegen but not before one last stop at a modern art museum in Arnhem. This was not a good experience for many members of the group. It was very boring and i had no connection to any of the displays. We arrived back at vossenveld around 3pm in time to head to Lidl for shopping. It was time to be lazy after a few busy days of touring! We had a flat night in!

Thursday

After a well deserved lie in, it was time to sort out transport for the duration of our stay so a few of us went into the city of Nijmegen to buy bikes! We walked for nearly 2hours to find it and it took us about 30minutes to get home on the bike, what a good investment!

Friday

Our first day in the HAN University. We arrived at 1030 to have tea and waffles, a very popular dutch treat. This was the first time everyone that had arrived was brought together so we had a few new faces in the group, but not everyone was here yet. We had presentations from a few main people in the university that we will pass over the next few months. Lunch was again provided by the university, the dutch people were ensuring that everyone was feeling at home and being very generuous to the group throughout the entire first week. We had a tour of the HAN main building but this is not were the TET course will be taught to us. The university was very modern and up-to-date in design compared to stranmillis!

It wouldnt be a teaching course without some form of group presentation so we divided into groups and had to create a poster of the groups similarities and differences. We teamed up with the girls from Brighton uni to show the group the similarities ad differences between the UK and NI. This again was good opportunity to get to know these students as they were not on the tour. There was alot of banter during the task and we all gelled really well, giving team UK and headstart on erasmus!

At 4pm the university allowed us to go to the bar in the uni building and have free drinks for an hour along with dutch foods. This was the best part of the day as everyone was relaxing and mingling which was good for only being together a few days or even one day for some of the group. After the CIS took the group to Pabo student bar where the fun continued. It was alot of fun being with the group, everyone was getting on extremely well and asking questions about eachother and playing table football, dancing or playing other games. It was alot of fun and a good way to spend our first friday evening together!

Saturday

It was an early start for everyone, with a group breakfast in the city centre. We had to travel by bus this time as we were going to a football match later. After breakfast we had a city tour challenge in groups but we had to read through a story of the history of nijmegen and go to certain areas in the city and take a picture of the area with a member of the group in the picture as evidence of being there.

That evening a few members of the group decided to go to an NEC Nijmegen football match. Although i am not a football follower i thought that i would join as erasmus is about tying new things and learning new aspects of yourself. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience of a footy match in a stadium rather than on TV. The atmosphere of the fans, especially when NEC scored on the 93rd minute of the game was fantastic!

It has been a fantastic week, much better than i thought it could have been for being week1. This is an experience so far that i am glad i have made the choice to embark on as i feel it will benefit me both personally and professionally!