Week 14, final countdown...

Personal & Cultural

This was the last week we were together as a complete Erasmus 2010 in Nijmegen as a few members of the group leave this weekend to go back to the reality of their home countries. Many of us placed this thought at the back of our minds as I feel our group have grown extremely close in a short time which I never expected when I was setting out on the experience in January. I always knew I would make friends but not to the standard I have therefore the thought of some of them going home was hard.

This week we had our last class together, Drama so we ended on a high note as we divided into groups to create final presentations which would be shown at the certificate ceremony on Thursday. There were 7 in our group and we had so many ideas to bring forward for the presentation but in the end we decided we would make a ‘movie trailer’ entitled ‘The Dangerous 7’ that described our time here in Nijmegen. A lot of work went into this final piece and we took create pride in making it as it was enjoyable and brought back many memories for the entire group to have a laugh at. The trailer consisted of ‘spoof’ movie parts acted by ourselves, movies from our experience and pictures. We also included music such as final countdown, parachute and the time of my life and the lyrics were perfect for the group and our time together as we have had the time of our lives here together. I feel that this was one of the easiest groups I have worked with as there was no bickering and decisions were made easily which normally does not happen with so many in one group.

We decided it would be a nice idea to go out for one last meal together in our favourite restaurant, Pinocchio’s. It was great looking down the table at so many people from different cultures and backgrounds that only 3 months ago had no clue that we existed. We had English, Northern Irish, Swedish, Portuguese and Austrian, an experience we probably will never have together again in such a setting.

Thursday saw the end of the International Course at PABO, which brought a few tears to some faces. We each received a paper plate that was stuck to our back and as we moved throughout the room we would write a compliment on everyone’s plate so every person would leave with a ‘plate full of compliments’. This was a nice idea and people wrote from the heart and the things that were said I will never forget. Every country had to prepare something for the international lunch and being Northern Irish we had to include potatoes! Between ourselves and the St Mary’s girls we made a pot of Champ which went down a treat as many had not tasted this before. Everyone put in great effort for this and we ate like Kings that day. The Spanish Tortilla was delicious and my flatmate has decided to teach me how to cook it! I was pleasantly surprised by a type of Norwegian cheese that tasted of caramel, this was a good opportunity to taste different foods from the cultures of our friends as many people made things they have with their families. That afternoon we had our presentation movies from all groups. This was great entertainment and we laughed at so many incidents we had here. To end the day we had the certificate presentations with a different style. Each folder was laid out on the floor, one for everyone and each person would select one and present it to the person whilst saying something about the person to them. I believe this was a great way to end the program and many people said personal things about each other.

The long anticipated Queens Day has arrived and on Friday, dressed in a form of orange and Dutch flags on our cheeks we set off to Amsterdam to celebrate with the country in style. This was a fantastic experience, one which many of us said we would like to repeat next year as a reunion. The streets of Amsterdam were crowded with over 3million people all dressed in orange, the national colour of the Netherlands. A great day was had by all, especially sitting in Dam Square near the Big Wheel and other Amusements in the sun. I even feel this tradition should be adapted by the UK to celebrate our heritage and Queen.

Personally I found it difficult to say goodbye to those that were leaving on Saturday, especially the English girls we have grown close to and shared many experiences with here. For us it was not so much a goodbye but a see you later as visits to each others homes have been planned. For those that go further a field to Poland or Spain it was difficult as you do not know for sure if we will ever have an experience together again but how knows what the future will be.

Professional Development

As class has now finished it is difficult to think of professional development but this week assignments were given back to the group, graded with feedback. I am 100% pleased with how I have performed whilst being on Erasmus and feel my assignments reflect this. I was extremely pleased with feedback from my Teaching Report as I tried to be reflective with this as I can often find this a difficult task. The lecturer said it was a great read and the comments left were inspiring. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience here in school and I wanted this to be evident from my report. I will now be able to use their feedback to produce my final research paper for the course.

As a teacher, I will cross paths with many people, hopefully from all walks of life. It is very easy to get attached but as a professional I need to get on with it and I feel this experience will help me develop this ability.

Being here has helped me in deciding how I want to direct my professional and personal life. It was always my plan to travel but being here I now want to travel and teach English in the likes of China as everyone including the children here enjoy being able to communicate internationally via English. I feel that if I did not come on this experience I would not have decided to do this therefore I have Erasmus to thank for my newly planned future.