Week 12 fun...

Cultural & Personal Development

The week started with a trip to Den Bosch on Sunday that was organised by one of our teachers, Paul as he used to live in the city. One of his friends volunteered to give us a tour of the city. We walked around the city, both the centre and the outskirts along the walls of the city. In a way it reminded me of home and how both cities used city walls to protect themselves during a war. We went into a small museum where original brick walls that had been buried were being preserved. We had all had lunch together in the city which was a good way to sit and discuss what we had seen and also chat with Paul, getting to know him better. When the tour was over we went and had the most amazing ice cream and it made the trip perfect.

On Monday we had another trip with Ben for Dutch Culture to the Open Air Museum. This was really interesting as some of it was outside and recreations/original buildings of factories and machinery that was used in the past. The building was owned by a woman who had no family and when she died it was left to the state. She was friends with Leonardo Davinci and he had given her paintings before he was famous therefore there were some original paintings in the museum.

On the Thursday of this week the University had organised the School Fest for the Dutch students and us. So it was party time again in Vossenveld and some of us gathered to have dinner before we went to the party. This was like the Back to School Bop at Stranmillis but not as good of course! It was nice being with Dutch students for a change as we did not have many opportunities to socialise with them as we are not integrated in class or Vossenveld. A good night was had by all listening to old and new hits, dancing around the hall. It was like a small goodbye before the course ends at the end of the month.

Weeks ago we found out that Rihanna was having a gig in Arnhem so we bought tickets to go. Three of us travelled to Arnhem for the concert and others were going to meet us there after. The concert was fantastic and worth every penny. This reminded me on times last year when I went to the Odyssey with friends to a few different concerts and it made me appreciate the times I have had at home with everyone but also I realised how much I enjoy spending time with the new people I have met here. After the concert we went into Arnhem centre to meet the rest of the group and try some new nightlife.

Other than these few activities this week has been quite quiet as our assignments were due for Friday therefore a lot of time was spent at our laptops working on essays and presentations. It was nice to get them finished for Saturday but we also have 2 more due next week.

Professional Development

Classes are now coming to an end as the course draws to a close for those that leave soon. Other than working on assignments, thinking back to the things we had discussed in class, we had our final international class meeting. These assignments were quite interesting to write as many of them were topics I have not studied before like Human Rights or Philosophy therefore it was interesting to write about something different other than Business Studies or ICT. Thinking back to the course, I am not sure if I have fully enjoyed the TET Course we took at the PABO but I can definitely say I enjoyed the school placement we had here and also I have definitely enjoyed the Erasmus experience here in Nijmegen.