{"id":18406,"date":"2016-12-01T11:31:48","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T11:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/?p=18406"},"modified":"2017-01-24T14:43:57","modified_gmt":"2017-01-24T14:43:57","slug":"erasmus-diary-opening-my-eyes-to-new-worlds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/erasmus-diary-opening-my-eyes-to-new-worlds\/","title":{"rendered":"Erasmus Diary: Opening my eyes to new worlds"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Eilis Walsh<\/h5>\n

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I have been living in Gent, Belgium for just over two and a half weeks now. But it feels like I have lived here forever.<\/p>\n

Funny as I barely have two sentences of Dutch to my name. I haven\u2019t yet tired of exploring the seemingly never ending nooks and crannies of Gent.<\/p>\n

Each day we come across a new church to explore, another street with intricately designated windows.<\/p>\n

There is a castle called Gravensteen from the 10th<\/sup> century a thirty- minute walk away. I have never lived in a city before and life is fast paced and exciting. No day is the same.<\/p>\n

No day is the same.<\/p>\n

Every weekend, my friends and I hop on a train to a new city in Belgium and I see new sights that I could have never conjured up with my own mind.<\/p>\n

My classes in Ghent University started on the 29th<\/sup> of September and I have resumed life as a student having had a break from lectures for nine whole months.<\/p>\n

My love of learning has increased but let\u2019s just say my ability to stay focused for the duration of three-hour lectures has not.<\/p>\n

I find myself amazed by Belgian students\u2019 eagerness and dedication to learning the English language.<\/p>\n

A Belgian girl I met here only reads books in English and has done so for more than two years.<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t realized how immersed Belgians are in English language books, film\u00a0and culture. Their determination to master a language used all over the world is admirable and inspires me to be open up to other languages.<\/p>\n

Here, Belgians pride themselves on speaking more than one language and speak three at the very least. Dutch, Flemish, French, and English are commonly spoken in Gent.<\/p>\n

As an Erasmus student, it makes me very determined to immerse myself in all things Belgian, to open my mind to a culture that is now all around me.<\/p>\n

Through speaking to locals I discovered the role that Belgium played in World War II, something I had not previously known.<\/p>\n

I now know why so many cafes in this fair city have nooses in their logos, an ode to their colourful past.<\/p>\n

I have long lost count how many bikes I have seen streaking past me, multiple ones a minute.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the fear of being hit by cars in this busy city\u00a0or the trams that I have. I have a genuine fear of being mowed down by a Belgian furiously pedaling through the streets. I don\u2019t even want to know what their leg muscles look like.<\/p>\n

These people will look at the steepest hill and fly up it, not batting an eyelid, whereas even the sight of a hill makes me sweat.<\/p>\n

I shiver at the thought of my friends\u2019 and I\u2019s first day in Belgium, dragging suitcases on and off trains, up hills, trying to avoid the bicycles.<\/p>\n

Doing all of that while being awake for over 36 hours without sleep. It was a nightmare. It\u2019s safe to say however that I am adapting to this new life of mine.<\/p>\n

The architecture is ancient, enormous and I have taken more than three hundred photos in two weeks. I want to document it all, to show the people at home what they are missing out on.<\/p>\n

While writing this I was lying in my room on the fourth floor of House Uppsala, student accommodation.<\/p>\n

I thought to myself, here you are! You are actually living in Belgium.<\/p>\n

I remember I could hear voices of young Belgian men chattering, laughing and calling out to each other in a language that I do not understand.<\/p>\n

I found myself smiling because it is a great thing to experience something so different to what you are used to and also it\u2019s a gift to see young people doing what they do best, having fun.<\/p>\n

When I moved to America for my J1 I was surprised at how patriotic I became.<\/p>\n

Even more patriotic than I already had been. There is an Irish pub called Porters just five minutes from where I live.<\/p>\n

Even though I am hours away from my small country, its big flags hang out the pub\u2019s windows, its a little piece of home during this Erasmus experience.<\/p>\n

During past two and a half weeks in Belgium, Erasmus has been a whirlwind of parties, new subjects, new people and multiple nationalities.<\/p>\n

While I am so excited to embrace life as an Erasmus student, every time I pass those tricolour flags I get a little twinge of pride. Irish born, and always will be!<\/p>\n

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By Eilis Walsh I have been living in Gent, Belgium for just over two and a half weeks now. But it feels like I have lived here forever. Funny as I barely have two sentences of Dutch to my name. I haven\u2019t yet tired of exploring the seemingly never ending nooks and crannies of Gent. […]<\/p>\n

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