With school almost finished, the time had finally come to pack up my life in Belgium. However, before I could do that, I had to finish my exams and find some time to see northern Europe with my sister (who was on European trip of her own). My time in Brussels went by extremely fast and it’s hard to believe it’s over. I am so grateful for everything I’ve learned and all the friends I’ve made. There were definitely no easy ways to say goodbye. I am going to miss everything about this place (especially the freshly-made waffles).
The last couple days in Brussels were a bit of a challenge. My sister arrived on June 3 and my last exam was scheduled for June 10. I wanted to see a little more of Belgium so we did a few day trips to a nearby cities. One of the places we saw was in the Ardennes.We went there to the caves that exist within Belgium. The tour was entirely in French and it was amazing. The caves are called the Caves of Han and are created from the river Lesse into the limestone massif. We also went to the beach in Ostende, Belgium. We ended up going on a very rainy day but it was still nice to see the water. I also managed to slip and fall and ended up getting drenched.
After this, the stress really started to pile on. My final exam was in the evening and the next day we had a flight at 9:00 a.m. to Sweden, where our three-week journey would begin. I also wanted to say goodbye to all my friends, so we had a farewell gathering after my exam, trying our best to squeeze every last minute out of the day. Saying goodbye to everyone was hard but the plan is to see them again in the near future. If they come to visit me in Ottawa, there will always be a bed waiting for them.
After my sister and I visited Sweden, Denmark and Germany, it was time to go back to Brussels and pack the last 10 months up in one suitcase. This was definitely another challenge and I only had one night to do it. I never realized how much stuff you can slowly start to collect over such a short period of time. I did know that stuffing all of the souvenirs in my suitcase was going to be an interesting experience because it was already pretty full when I got to Belgium, so space was definitely going to be an issue. In the end (with some force) I managed to fit everything inside. The next challenge was to lug our heavy suitcases on the public transportation system and then to the train. We had to take them via train all the way to Switzerland, where we would be visiting our cousin. We also met up with a friend I made from first semester in Switzerland.
After a few days there, we set off to visit our relatives in Austria, travelling via an overnight train. I managed to pick up quite the cold through our travels so sleeping on a moving train was not easy for me. Our bags were huge and took up most of the space, leaving no room in the cabin for much else. I also kept sneezing and blowing my nose, hoping I wasn’t bothering the sleeping people in the cabin too much. After this, it was off to Croatia for a week with a sailboat before settling down again. This was definitely the highlight for me. The water was so blue and beautiful, the food was amazing, and the people were so nice.
My time in Belgium and travelling around Europe went by so fast, but it's not over quite yet. Now I am settling down in Erlangen, Germany, where I've found an internship position.I actually got the job through my father, who knew someone that needed a student to do some work in human resources. I had to apply to the job using German and my German-speaking dad must have been sick of my constant requests to make sure I was filling it out properly. I definitely appreciate everything that my dad did for me because I was pretty stressed out about moving to Germany, and I’m sure that created some stress for him as well. Other than the train ride with our gigantic suitcases, the move to Germany was quite easy. I already had an apartment waiting for me, and aside from struggling with Internet access in the apartment, everything has gone smoothly. Now the only thing I have to worry about is doing well at my internship (and it’s going great so far). Check back soon for an update about what it’s like interning in Europe!