Blog 18.12 - Gathering thougths

Blog 18.12.19 - Gathering thoughts

Appelflappen are great. I'm going to miss those.

In this post, I will attempt to gather some final thoughts about the exchange. What I've thought of it in general, interesting things that happened but didn't get covered in the blog, and other stuff like that. So let us get to it then, shall we?

Work, work, work, work, work, work

Care package. 

The guys even managed to spell my name right.

The last week of the exchange was spent on work placement at Hema. The tasks and daily routine stayed roughly the same as the days before. What left an impression however, was the workplace culture and wonderful coworkers. Everyone was extremely helpful and friendly. Our boss Dimitri (not actually named Sergei) and the others even gave me a nice bunch of gifts as thanks. Absolutely lovely, I ended up having quite the wonderful time working there. This wasn't something I expected after the first two days. 

I'm gonna miss the place.

Cycling is fun

It has probably come up before on the blog, but being able to cycle everywhere has been a delight. Hoorn is roughly 6 km away from Berkhout, and I've cycled that distance twice almost every single day. Not only does it work as a wonderful way to wake oneself up, it's probably done wonders for my physical health. The road between the two towns is lovely as well. 
The bikes provided for us through Horizon haven't been the best, but they've got the job done just fine. Good stuff all around, even if driving in and near the city is still terrifying. 

I'm going to miss this.

Do you believe in stormy weather?

Holland is a good example of the proverb:
"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."
Or in this case, electricity out of wind.

Netherlands is a temperate place. This has been an odd December, considering the temperature has never gone below 5°C. (I don't think?) This means you can cycle all year around!

There are some downsides though. Netherlands is primarily flatlands. Like, actually really flat. With nothing to obstruct it in the countryside, wind is the archenemy of the would-be cyclist. Wind can reach absurd speeds, up to 80 km/h if my weather app is to be believed. Trying to cycle upwind is a poor choice in these extreme cases. Not gonna happen. Couple stupid fast wind with rain, and you've got a wonderful way to spend the evening, if you fancy picking a fight with Mother Nature herself.

A fun thing to do while cycling in the direction of the wind is to take your feet off the pedals and let it carry you. You'd be surprised how far you can get without touching those pedals.

Not sure if I'll miss this.

Food is cheap. Everything else is not.

This is something I've noticed during the weeks spent in Holland. Food is very affordable, both at the restaurants I've visited and at the supermarket. This might have something to do with taxes or something, I don't really know. 

What makes this interesting is that some general day-to-day items like shampoo and whatnot end up being almost twice as expensive as they would be in Finland. Either way, I've spent perhaps a bit more money than I would've liked. Haha. Ha. Oh dear.

I'll miss the cheap pizza at Domino's.

Next time, it'll be a holiday.

I would definetly like to visit Netherlands again. It's been a lovely trip, but I'm left feeling a bit guilty about perhaps not making the most of it. I've still yet to visit Enkhuizen and it feels like I haven't even scratched the sufrace of Amsterdam. Getting accustomed to a daily routine is an easy trap for me to fall into, and I regret it a bit. Not enough that it would ruin the trip for me, just enough to motivate me to come back again, perhaps.

Travelling abroad like this has really opened up my horizons quite a bit. Now that I've already done it once, planning a visit to another country doesn't seem like the impossible task like it once did. I'll make sure that this doesn't end up being my last trip abroad. It has been a lot of fun, even if I started feeling a bit homesick by the third week.

I'm going to miss all of this, but I will make sure this time will not be the last.

Yours truly, photogenic as ever.

- Sentimental crybaby, Tuomo