The end of Erasmus
Door: Samantha
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Samantha
10 Februari 2016 | Tsjechische Republiek, Praag
So… That was it. My Erasmus time is entirely over and I’ve been spending my almost month(!) integrating back into the “real” world. It’s crazy, it was so weird to be back! I remember walking down my apartment 2 days after I got back and the maintenance guy was working on the door and smiled. I told him “dobry den” out of habit and he looked a bit puzzled but then decided to tell me in Dutch that it had been freezing and I should be careful on the road. That’s when it clicked; I’m back. I replied him and thanked him while thinking to myself “Psh, if you only knew… In Prague I conquered snow storms and my lill Corsa Beruška even made it all the way to Slovakia, to the mountains of the high Tatra. THAT was slippery (and cold)”. But on the inside I felt a bit queasy, yeah… I am back.
And then my house! In Prague I “shared” a room, most of the time. Now I have a whole house again, and it’s quite annoying to have to walk up and down the stairs to grab something to eat instead of reaching over to the shelf on the end of my bed. It doesn’t feel quite like my own place and it’s a bit lonely, too. There’s no walking down the hall to have a chat or work on our computers in someone’s room, no random movie nights or thrown together dinner with whatever we could find in our iny tiny refrigerators, no hanging out of the window watching people on the campus perimeters or going to Lidl together. Gosh, now it’s weird to run around a Dutch Lidl where someone at the cash desk speaks Dutch! I got so used to trying to make myself understandable in Czech, which sometimes elicited a smile and sometimes a puzzled face because my Czech is not that advanced. Now I can actually understand what people are saying around me and I don’t have to ask to repeat it slowly.
Guess it is all part of coming back… Coming back is the best and worst of both sides, we already knew from the beginning that Erasmus is a short-lived adventure and that goodbyes are inevitable. The thing with these kind of experiences is that you’re no longer “home”, wherever you are. Our home country doesn’t feel the same and back in Prague we will not have the same people around us anymore either. Shortly, we will always miss something or someone because we’ll never manage to have everyone together at the same point in time. Bittersweet. I was already kind of prepared for the aftermath. After all, it wasn’t that much easier to return from sunny and beautiful Aruba, but this is different. Much different. I was once told that Erasmus is not a period in your life, but a whole life in a period of time. Back then, I didn’t quite understand the stretch of the statement, but I do now… It’s fun to share stories and pictures with friends that stayed at home. But I know how I was before, I didn’t understand the stretch of what it means to have had a whole other life, and I know that no one who didn't live it will understand. And it has changed me as a person, in more than one way. I’m not sure if it’s all for the better, and I might have gotten a bit crazy, but I also experienced a great deal of freedom in another way. It’s not really something I can explain, but whoever lived this experience knows exactly what I mean. I do miss my random evening walks over Karlův most and through Zižkov, just because I could. I realized that the distance between Muzeum and Staroměstka is exactly the same as the distance between the station in my hometown and my apartment. I used to walk that route quite often and without dislike, whereas back here the same distance feels like a marathon… I do still have the feeling that I’m in Prague, probably because I went by car it feels like that, so the after blues is just starting I suppose. Other than that, I never lived a “normal” student life before, so I didn’t know what it would be like to live in dorms and all that. Now I have, for 5 months. Shared a room –hated it- but also lived with most of my friends in one building –and loved it.
That’s enough about coming back! I have enough other things to share as well! First thing of all; I’m very grateful to have done this exchange, this was definitely one of the best decisions I made. One of the last nights we were playing a card game that got us quite.. ehh.. tipsy. Then, the suggestion was made to share everything we’re grateful for to have experienced this Erasmus. It’s safe to say that we didn’t keep it dry. For me, the best things of this exchange period; existing friendships, new friendships and all the trips we did together. Period. We got to know each other while living the same life in the same environment. We are all so different, but at that point we were the same. Now, in the Erasmus afterlife, we share one memory, the memory of our lives in Prague and I’m curious to see how that will develop. It is quite different to keep in touch over a telephone, whatsapp and facebook chat instead of hopping over to have a dinner, beer or play beerpong or a card game. We truly lived a whole life in that short period of time, we celebrated the new year together, as well as Mikuláš, Christmas, several birthdays and numerous parties. And not to forget! Secret Santa! There were great times, but also less great times, we had fun, but sometimes got disappointed by great expectations. But what never disappointed, were the many trips we did! I have seen so many things in and around Prague and Czech Republic. We went to Česky ráj, Dresden, Budapešt, Kutna Hora, Česky Krumlov, Kšely, and lastly Poprad (Slovakia). I have to say, it was all awesome.
Česky ráj was the first ‘real’ trip we did, with 2 cars and people we didn’t really know that well, we went to see the wonders of the Czech nature. It was b-e-a-utiful. Armed with cameras we took a ton of pictures and because I am me, I climbed everything I could find. Then, in the end of November, we went to Dresden to see the Christmas markets. We were kept at the border and asked to hand in our ID’s; guessing we look very suspicious… It was the start of a lot of km’s together in my little Corsa, actually, that was also the trip I uttered a sentence I didn’t say for a long time; “Stop hitting each other in the back!” Other than breaking op the mild violence in the back of my car, I had very pleasant passengers. Verena definitely made the most km’s with me, and cordially deserved the title (and medal) of being my co-pilot. Up until the point that she was shifting the gear for me ^^ and Paris learned the rule of riding shot-gun; no sleeping next to the driver.
To Budapešt I went with Rád’a and Martin, by night-train. Which I managed to almost miss… Budapešt was also amazing! The city itself is not beating Prague, by far, but the trip was priceless. We enjoyed the Christmas markets, eating outside in freezing weather without being cold and I enjoyed writing a report for Suchdol… Those trips are always too short I have to say, but there were more. We were saying that we want to see more from Czech Republic than ‘just’ Prague, so Kutna Hora and Česky Krumlov it was!! Whomever I told we combined it, told me that that is crazy. Okay, it were many km’s (462 km to be exact) but it was well worth it! So many km’s also create new memories and many laughs. So I had my palm read and my life expectancy estimated. The conclusion was drawn that we “might want to do a reunion within 5 years, or I won’t be there” – I’m still looking for a second opinion on palm reading.
The next trip was my own little trip, I went to Kšely to Lída, who invited me to spend a very nice evening with her and her family and then go horseriding in the morning! This was really amazing! I didn’t see much more in Czech than the larger/ touristic cities, so it was really awesome to also see how a small village differs from Prague. And of course, horseriding on Quantanamera through the snowey fields and hills was truly magnificent!
Lastly, we made a girls trip with Verena, Denise and Iveta to Poprad, Slovakia. We were leaving Prague in heavy snow at 5 in the morning. It was so cold that even the windshield wipers got frozen to the window, not to mention the windshield spray… Great weather conditions to practice your driving skills. Efin! We got safely to the high Tatry mountains, where we arrived on a Monday. We were supposed to leave Wednesday, but when we walked up to the hotel on Tuesday we looked at each other and wondered if it would be possible to stay one day longer. 4 minutes later we had booked the room for another night. From sledge racing down the mountain to partying in the hotel room, discovering the stunning nature in Slovansky ráj and relaxing in a large spa. Every moment was great. Well… Except for the moment I discovered someone had lost their fake nail. In my drink. No worries though, I found it, it was in my mouth. The trip as a whole was truly extraordinary, and it was special to see where Iveta came from, as she took us around her hometown on the way back.
When we came back home to Prague from Slovakia on Thursday, I drove almost straight back to the Netherlands, since it was my mom’s 50th birthday and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Since there were some things I had to wrap up in Prague, I returned to Prague on Sunday. That was around 3000km in 7 days, I was quite proud of my little Beruška for doing so well! Back in Prague I had one more exam, filing all the papers and then there were all the “last times” and lastly… All the goodbyes. To friends, to the city and to the Prague life. I wanted to organize a small goodbye drink on the Sunday before I left, when I was heading to dinner with the girls I received a message from Denise with the question if I “wasn’t missing something”. So I checked and didn’t think so, until she sent me a picture of my debit card that I –apparently without noticing- lost at the bus stop. It must have been there for a good half hour before she picked it up! Sometimes I have no clue how I get that lucky, but I sure ain’t questioning it!
All in all I can say that I definitely made the time in Prague count. I have enjoyed the moment, lived the life I never lived, met the people I would never have met and did some things I never would have done. Yes, it happened, and it was definitely not just a period in my life, it was a whole life in a period and I’m thankful for everyone who had a part in it!
And then my house! In Prague I “shared” a room, most of the time. Now I have a whole house again, and it’s quite annoying to have to walk up and down the stairs to grab something to eat instead of reaching over to the shelf on the end of my bed. It doesn’t feel quite like my own place and it’s a bit lonely, too. There’s no walking down the hall to have a chat or work on our computers in someone’s room, no random movie nights or thrown together dinner with whatever we could find in our iny tiny refrigerators, no hanging out of the window watching people on the campus perimeters or going to Lidl together. Gosh, now it’s weird to run around a Dutch Lidl where someone at the cash desk speaks Dutch! I got so used to trying to make myself understandable in Czech, which sometimes elicited a smile and sometimes a puzzled face because my Czech is not that advanced. Now I can actually understand what people are saying around me and I don’t have to ask to repeat it slowly.
Guess it is all part of coming back… Coming back is the best and worst of both sides, we already knew from the beginning that Erasmus is a short-lived adventure and that goodbyes are inevitable. The thing with these kind of experiences is that you’re no longer “home”, wherever you are. Our home country doesn’t feel the same and back in Prague we will not have the same people around us anymore either. Shortly, we will always miss something or someone because we’ll never manage to have everyone together at the same point in time. Bittersweet. I was already kind of prepared for the aftermath. After all, it wasn’t that much easier to return from sunny and beautiful Aruba, but this is different. Much different. I was once told that Erasmus is not a period in your life, but a whole life in a period of time. Back then, I didn’t quite understand the stretch of the statement, but I do now… It’s fun to share stories and pictures with friends that stayed at home. But I know how I was before, I didn’t understand the stretch of what it means to have had a whole other life, and I know that no one who didn't live it will understand. And it has changed me as a person, in more than one way. I’m not sure if it’s all for the better, and I might have gotten a bit crazy, but I also experienced a great deal of freedom in another way. It’s not really something I can explain, but whoever lived this experience knows exactly what I mean. I do miss my random evening walks over Karlův most and through Zižkov, just because I could. I realized that the distance between Muzeum and Staroměstka is exactly the same as the distance between the station in my hometown and my apartment. I used to walk that route quite often and without dislike, whereas back here the same distance feels like a marathon… I do still have the feeling that I’m in Prague, probably because I went by car it feels like that, so the after blues is just starting I suppose. Other than that, I never lived a “normal” student life before, so I didn’t know what it would be like to live in dorms and all that. Now I have, for 5 months. Shared a room –hated it- but also lived with most of my friends in one building –and loved it.
That’s enough about coming back! I have enough other things to share as well! First thing of all; I’m very grateful to have done this exchange, this was definitely one of the best decisions I made. One of the last nights we were playing a card game that got us quite.. ehh.. tipsy. Then, the suggestion was made to share everything we’re grateful for to have experienced this Erasmus. It’s safe to say that we didn’t keep it dry. For me, the best things of this exchange period; existing friendships, new friendships and all the trips we did together. Period. We got to know each other while living the same life in the same environment. We are all so different, but at that point we were the same. Now, in the Erasmus afterlife, we share one memory, the memory of our lives in Prague and I’m curious to see how that will develop. It is quite different to keep in touch over a telephone, whatsapp and facebook chat instead of hopping over to have a dinner, beer or play beerpong or a card game. We truly lived a whole life in that short period of time, we celebrated the new year together, as well as Mikuláš, Christmas, several birthdays and numerous parties. And not to forget! Secret Santa! There were great times, but also less great times, we had fun, but sometimes got disappointed by great expectations. But what never disappointed, were the many trips we did! I have seen so many things in and around Prague and Czech Republic. We went to Česky ráj, Dresden, Budapešt, Kutna Hora, Česky Krumlov, Kšely, and lastly Poprad (Slovakia). I have to say, it was all awesome.
Česky ráj was the first ‘real’ trip we did, with 2 cars and people we didn’t really know that well, we went to see the wonders of the Czech nature. It was b-e-a-utiful. Armed with cameras we took a ton of pictures and because I am me, I climbed everything I could find. Then, in the end of November, we went to Dresden to see the Christmas markets. We were kept at the border and asked to hand in our ID’s; guessing we look very suspicious… It was the start of a lot of km’s together in my little Corsa, actually, that was also the trip I uttered a sentence I didn’t say for a long time; “Stop hitting each other in the back!” Other than breaking op the mild violence in the back of my car, I had very pleasant passengers. Verena definitely made the most km’s with me, and cordially deserved the title (and medal) of being my co-pilot. Up until the point that she was shifting the gear for me ^^ and Paris learned the rule of riding shot-gun; no sleeping next to the driver.
To Budapešt I went with Rád’a and Martin, by night-train. Which I managed to almost miss… Budapešt was also amazing! The city itself is not beating Prague, by far, but the trip was priceless. We enjoyed the Christmas markets, eating outside in freezing weather without being cold and I enjoyed writing a report for Suchdol… Those trips are always too short I have to say, but there were more. We were saying that we want to see more from Czech Republic than ‘just’ Prague, so Kutna Hora and Česky Krumlov it was!! Whomever I told we combined it, told me that that is crazy. Okay, it were many km’s (462 km to be exact) but it was well worth it! So many km’s also create new memories and many laughs. So I had my palm read and my life expectancy estimated. The conclusion was drawn that we “might want to do a reunion within 5 years, or I won’t be there” – I’m still looking for a second opinion on palm reading.
The next trip was my own little trip, I went to Kšely to Lída, who invited me to spend a very nice evening with her and her family and then go horseriding in the morning! This was really amazing! I didn’t see much more in Czech than the larger/ touristic cities, so it was really awesome to also see how a small village differs from Prague. And of course, horseriding on Quantanamera through the snowey fields and hills was truly magnificent!
Lastly, we made a girls trip with Verena, Denise and Iveta to Poprad, Slovakia. We were leaving Prague in heavy snow at 5 in the morning. It was so cold that even the windshield wipers got frozen to the window, not to mention the windshield spray… Great weather conditions to practice your driving skills. Efin! We got safely to the high Tatry mountains, where we arrived on a Monday. We were supposed to leave Wednesday, but when we walked up to the hotel on Tuesday we looked at each other and wondered if it would be possible to stay one day longer. 4 minutes later we had booked the room for another night. From sledge racing down the mountain to partying in the hotel room, discovering the stunning nature in Slovansky ráj and relaxing in a large spa. Every moment was great. Well… Except for the moment I discovered someone had lost their fake nail. In my drink. No worries though, I found it, it was in my mouth. The trip as a whole was truly extraordinary, and it was special to see where Iveta came from, as she took us around her hometown on the way back.
When we came back home to Prague from Slovakia on Thursday, I drove almost straight back to the Netherlands, since it was my mom’s 50th birthday and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Since there were some things I had to wrap up in Prague, I returned to Prague on Sunday. That was around 3000km in 7 days, I was quite proud of my little Beruška for doing so well! Back in Prague I had one more exam, filing all the papers and then there were all the “last times” and lastly… All the goodbyes. To friends, to the city and to the Prague life. I wanted to organize a small goodbye drink on the Sunday before I left, when I was heading to dinner with the girls I received a message from Denise with the question if I “wasn’t missing something”. So I checked and didn’t think so, until she sent me a picture of my debit card that I –apparently without noticing- lost at the bus stop. It must have been there for a good half hour before she picked it up! Sometimes I have no clue how I get that lucky, but I sure ain’t questioning it!
All in all I can say that I definitely made the time in Prague count. I have enjoyed the moment, lived the life I never lived, met the people I would never have met and did some things I never would have done. Yes, it happened, and it was definitely not just a period in my life, it was a whole life in a period and I’m thankful for everyone who had a part in it!
Reageer op dit reisverslag
Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
