The other side of exchange

For the past few weeks, I have lived in one of the biggest and most exciting cities in the world; Hong Kong. For months I planned everything for these six months of studying abroad. I talked about it every day to my friends and did everything I could to be accepted in the university.

Two weeks before I got here, I got a weird feeling in my stomach saying something was wrong. I shrugged it off and told myself it was the nervousness and I couldn’t be more excited to be spending another half a year traveling.

Now I’ve been here for five weeks and everyday I make more sense of the feeling I got before I arrived: it was my body telling me a too familiar issue was returning: my old enemy depression. I hage suffered from depression twice already, so I know what getting a relapse feels like. I haven’t been able to enjoy everything as much as I want to and I’d rather not be socially involved with the other exchange students.

I feel empty. I feel sad. I miss my familiar surroundings and my friends and family to help me back on track. Studying abroad isn’t all sunshines and laughter, it can be damn hard to handle as well as you can see. I don’t want to give up on my once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I feel like I have to in order to get myself together.

No, this is not homesickness. But still, I am willing to fight for the thing I have prepared myself a year for; and I am going home with those 30 credits and the experience I gained here. I started this, now I want to finish it.

Experiencing culture shock

I have been in Hong Kong for three weeks right now and so far it has been amazing and horrible at the same time. Amazing because I have met so many new people already from all over the world. We have a big group of exchange students from all around the world and it is amazing to see so many people from different cultural backgrounds together. Another reason for my exchange being amazing so far, is because I get to explore many places in Hong Kong; Central, Mong Kok, Tsim Sha Tsui, Stanley, Tai Po… you name them. Seeing the beautiful skyline, nature and Buddhist temples I have never seen before is enriching for me.

Now you may ask yourself, you describe the people and the things you do as amazing, what is making this experience horrible? Well, even though I’m doing all this cool stuff, I have never felt this homesick in my entire life. I’m experiencing culture shock which I did not prepare myself for. I always thought I am the kind of person who adapts very easily to new environments and cultures, but I now notice I overestimated my own skills. I thought Hong Kong is a place with many expats and a very Western culture. I notice the Western culture in Central, yes, but the place where I live is so different than I expected it to be. And of course I know that Hong Kong is not European and I should try to adapt myself, but it is not easy for me. Everyday I try to be open to experience the cultural differences and see the beauty of it, and I am still learning how to succesfully do this.

While noticing all the differences between Asian and European culture, I think a lot about home. My parents, friends and family. During my experience in Aruba, I did not feel homesick once nor did I miss anyone. I loved my life there and I consider it my second home after living there for 2,5/3 months. I found myself and I came back as a totally different person. More confident, happier and my bonds with everyone became stronger than ever. When I think of home, I think of everything I am missing out on. Seeing my best friend everyday, hanging out with my new group of friends, laughing with my parents and cuddling with my dog. Yes, I have a big FOMO. But at the same time I think about how my life back home will still be the same when I am back. My loved ones don’t get to experience the things I get to do in this half a year.

I am trying to get myself together and enjoy every single minute of my exchange, even though it is a bit hard for me right now. I am learning how to deal with my feelings everyday and I am sure that I will get out of the negative spiral and soon see the beauty of the things I am doing at this very moment.

Next adventure is around the corner

After a long time of silence, I thought I’d update my WordPress again with some exciting news: I’m moving to Hong Kong. For one semester I will be studying at a university and once I finish the semester, backpack through Asia for 1,5 month. After my Aruba adventure turned out to be the greatest experience I’ve ever had, I am more than ready to be spending a few months abroad again.

In Aruba I truly found myself and I am already planning my next trip to Aruba in the Spring. I met so many amazing people who each taught me a lesson, some more positive than others, but all equally important.

During my time in Hong Kong, I will spend my time studying about Inclusive Education. Ever since I started my teacher training I have been so interested in Inclusive Education, autism and ADHD; so I couldn’t be more excited to expand my knowledge on this.

During my time in Hong Kong, I will try and find the time to update about my travel adventures, probably some culture shock and share my knowledge as a teacher in training.

Talk to you all soon!

First week in Aruba

Today I have been in Aruba for one week and so far it has been amazing. Earlier I wrote a blog about how nervous I was, but now I’m chuckling thinking back about that. I have met great people, I have nice colleagues and done some cool stuff, such as celebrating Aruban carnival.

The accommodation may not be that great, but it also feels good going ’back to basic’. Believe me, I’ve seen worse things, but this is definitely not like the pictures, but yeah, it’s an adventure you know?

The carnival was something I’ve never seen before. From Jouvert morning to the Lightning Parade in Oranjestad; one word: wow. The feathers, glitters and the music, it’s magical and fun.

I have only been here for one week and still have 2,5 months left, but I already know this will be too short of a time. Why can’t university wait?

So excited about the many adventures to come and to meet new people, these 2,5 months will definitely make me grow towards the person I would like to be.

Nervousness

As my abroad adventure is coming closer and closer, I start to get more nervous every time I think about it. February 20 I will be leaving for my internship to Aruba for 2,5 months. I know, you probably are thinking ‘but Isa, 2,5 months is literally nothing, what are you so nervous about?’ Well, I have never been gone from home this long or this far, so I get a little sweaty at the thought of it.

Of course, I am very excited to be spending my time at a Caribbean island that is famous for its palm trees and flamingos. Actually, I can’t wait to go. But just every time I look at my countdown I start to think about that nerve-wracking 10,5 hours long flight. Yes, I am very afraid of aeroplanes. Every time I think I conquered my fear, someone tells me something absolutely horrifying that gets me right back at the start.

But after all, I think I will learn a lot from this experience, especially since I will be going abroad more often than this for my teaching practices. Since I am always very homebound, I think it will be a rough but beautiful experience. After all, once you are alone you really get to know yourself.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love travelling and are beyond excited to be spending my first teaching practice abroad in Aruba. I will see amazing things, meet new people and will develop my independence.

Aruba, I am so ready for you.

“Paris is always a good idea.”

This week, I went to ‘the city of love’ with my boyfriend. When you say Paris, I immediately think about the Eiffel Tower, Ladurée, Champs-Élysées and the Louvre museum. But Paris is so much more than that. I have been to Paris multiple times already, as in high school trips. Running from museum to museum, not being able to enjoy the atmosphere and everything else this beautiful city has to offer. That is why, this time, we took it slow and went to all of the highlights at our own pace.

Day 1

Thursday, we left at noon with the car towards Paris. We left from Eindhoven, towards Antwerp, Lille and our destination, Paris. Because it was very busy on the road, we arrived at 18:30. We checked into our hotel in the 19th arrondissement and dropped our stuff. The hotel we were staying at is called ‘Hotel de Flore’, the perfect hotel for a trip to Paris.

After grabbing dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, we took the metro to see the Ice Kube bar. I had never seen a bar before that is completely made out of ice, so this was very cool (pun intended) to see. After having a drink we went back to our hotel, to catch the must needed rest we needed for the next day.

Day 2

Today we woke up early to get breakfast at a bakery down the street. I still go crazy for the smell of fresh baked croissants and baguettes. After buying and enjoying a very good breakfast, we climbed to the Sacre Coeur. Since our hotel was in Montmartre, the Sacre Coeur was only a 15-minute walk (and some almost impossible staircases) away. The Sacre Coeur has always been one of my favourite spots in Paris. The beautiful architecture, the view over Paris and not to forget Place du Tertre make this a very enjoyable place to go.

After we visited the Sacre Coeur, we took the metro again to the Eiffel Tower, probably the most touristic spot in the city, but still the one I get most excited about. It is just something about the tower that makes it feel so romantic. Is it the movies, the light show at night or just how big it is? I will never know.

From the Eiffel Tower, we took the metro (yes, again) to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Élysées. When we got there, I just lost all control over myself; I just had to go into every store I saw. Yes, I am very addicted to shopping. The stores I always must go to are Sephora, Paul (to get some ridiculously good macarons) and of course Zara.

We did not have dinner this day since we snacked our way through it. From the Champs Élysées, we walked towards the Louvre museum, not to go inside yet, though. We took some pictures and took the metro to go to Cartier Latin. This is definitely one of my favourite Parisian neighbourhoods to stroll down and have a drink or some food. Once we got there, we could of course not skip the beautiful Notre Dame, unfortunately, it was already closed by the time we got there.

Day 3

This was our last full day in the city. We did the same morning routine as the previous day and afterwards took the metro to go to the Louvre museum. After waiting in the line for the security check for half an hour, we finally got into the museum. I have been to the Louvre before and I absolutely love it, it is so majestic and classy.

After the Louvre, we walked towards the Chanel apartment at Rue Cambon, something that I wanted to visit badly. It is common knowledge that you need to get a special invitation from Chanel to actually have a look in the apartment, but the employers were nice enough to let me take pictures with the famous staircase. Getting in the apartment is one for my bucket list.

After my haute couture heart had been satisfied, we went to the Opera Garnier. This was something I had never visited before, but I’m so glad I did. Not only the outside of the building is beautiful, but the inside is even better. The big staircases, the gold details and statues are very nice to look at. Unfortunately, the auditorium was not open this day, because there were rehearsals going on.

Since Lafayette is only one hundred meters away, we decided to check this out as well. Time after time the windows of the warehouse keep amazing me.

This night, we went out for dinner close to our hotel. We had some nice food, drank some fine wine and didn’t make it too late, because we had a long car ride ahead of us again the next morning.

Je t’aime, Paris.

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