Amy
Renes (second from left) poses with her host family - sister, Jet,
and parents, Wim and Irma - in the town, s'Heerenberg.
January – 2005
Generally, 12:01 of January 1st means much more than switching calendars. New Year’s is a universal event, and the ways of celebrating are various. One thing almost everyone does is take time to reflect on the past year and think about the coming year.
Now that it is 2005, I have my time to think. Somehow, I have been in the Netherlands for 4 months. Without exaggeration, time has flown at like a billion miles per hour. Now, sitting comfortably on the top of January, it is great to look down at the four months and say a couple words. I survived. That is so nice to say because the beginning of the year was pretty rough.
Amy
Renes (second from left) poses with her host family - sister, Jet,
and parents, Wim and Irma - in the town, s'Heerenberg.
The beginning of the year was an eye-opener for me. The reality was that I would be living in a new country where I knew very few people and a handful of words from the language.
Before leaving, I talked to some people who were anxious about the idea of a different family, on top of school in a foreign language. I am glad to say that I was completely clueless at that point. I also had the idea in the back of my head that things would be extremely different, but I did not dwell on those things.
So when I first came, it took a while to get used to the idea. Before, I had spent more than half a year thinking about the “the big switch,” but I had barely had a grasp of the idea.
Mostly, I missed my family. My family here in the Netherlands has done everything and more to help me feel at home, but there is no denying how hard it was to face being away from my real family. There were times when I even questioned why I had decided to do this. It was a trying time.
However, no one needs to send me an emergency plane ticket for a quick return home. Now, I feel I have a much better perspective on the year. I am staying till the end because there is still a lot more for me to get out of my time here. The funny part is that I am no longer completely sure about what that might include. I am excited to find out.
I am also staying because I know that there are a lot of people here who genuinely care about me. I have found a far-reaching support system. It really amazes me how many people I have to help me, listen to me, and talk to me.
In conclusion, my New Year has been a good one. I feel relaxed about the coming months; I am really glad that I am able to spend another semester in the Netherlands. Though I wonder sometimes what it would have been like to have gone to Italy instead, I am positive that I did not make a mistake in coming here. I am so incredibly lucky to be able to do this. Not only that, but I can also write about everything I am doing and feeling.
Like a lot of people tell me, I’m just a lucky girl.