The End

I am currently in Barcelona where I decided to spend my last ten days and it’s really nice. The weather is great, the beach is close by, shopping is ridiculously cheap, and I’m living in the best hostel I could have ever chosen (Sant Jordi Sagrada Familia). I would say it’s similar to “L’auberge espagnole” although people come and go. It’s a hostel composed of apartments enclosing a single, double and quadruple room with a shared kitchen, living room and bathroom as well as a common area for everyone. So everyday I come home and meet up with this French guy who is living here for two weeks as well as different people everyday or so.

The first afternoon I got here, I had 3 Australian roommates and had the best time with them as we went to watch the world cup at Placa Espanya on a giant screen , then went out to a club where we had a couple of shots and ended up sleeping on the beach waiting for the metro to reopen. Today I have Italian roommates. We spent some time talking and listening to Italian and Canadian music, they are so funny. And other than wondering who I will have as roommates the next coming days, what’s good about this hostel is that there are parties organized every night.

I also had the chance to spend a few days with my roommate from Amsterdam who’s been living here as well as one of my best friends from Canada who was here for the weekend. We spent an evening together at the luxurious W hotel where she was staying and it was magical. I hadn’t seen her in six months and it felt unreal to be reunited in Barcelona, in the sky bar from the hotel.

Even though my time here has been amazing so far, I can’t help but feel a little sad. In just a few days, I’ll be back home… and everyday feels like I’m closer to something I want but don’t want at the same time. I am obviously looking forward to seeing my family and friends and just be home…but I have the feeling of leaving something behind and it’s difficult. At times, I cannot help but wonder how my return will go. Will I miss Europe so much that I won’t be able to enjoy it? Will I get used to my old life? Will it be relatively the same as when I left? And if not, will I like it?

The weird thing about coming home is that some things will have changed. For example, like many others, I left having someone in my life and will return single. I also recently learned that one of my good friends is moving to Toronto which is about 6 hours away by car. It’s not the end of the world… but it’s still something I’m going to have to get used to. I know that other students have had even more difficult situations to deal with though, from having to leave the girlfriend/boyfriend they made during the semester, to coming back home with a relative “missing”.

It is obvious that our lives will never be the same, although, if we don’t like our “new” lives, we’ll just have to make the necessary modifications. At least now we know that our lives can be anything we want them to be. Like my European “BFF” repeatedly told me before I left, we need not to be sad it’s over but happy it happened. After all, this is not the end but rather the beginning…

Do I regret?

Before coming to Europe, I had a lot of money put aside for future expanses. When I will leave this beloved continent, I will probably not have a single penny left! This has led some people to ask me if I regretted doing this and even questioned the worthiness of this trip. For instance, when my parents came to visit me and I announced to them that I was thinking about extending my trip to work in Europe for the summer, my dad told me: “You are living in a bubble and it’s time you get out of it.” And I think the conversation ended with something like “This is not your life, you don’t belong here.” …

At that time I was incapable of rebutting. Indeed, I could not transmit to him how much this experience has made me grow, how much I learned about life, culture and myself. Living in a foreign country for six months is challenging. The only thing you arrive with is yourself, yet nobody knows you. You need to rebuild everything that you have built for…as long as you lived! It is also even more difficult for those who do not speak English very well, or the country’s language, as they can have a hard time communicating with others and simply being themselves.

Living in Amsterdam for six months did not only teach me about Dutch culture. I learned about many different cultures through travelling but mainly through hanging out with the international students. What is better than the opportunity to live with people you have common interests with that come from all over the world? Indeed, while studying abroad, you get to know people who are your age and study in the same field as you. The only thing that truly differentiates you from them is your cultural background. When do we ever get this chance? This is an incredibly enriching experience as you learn about their way of thinking and get to have an idea of how their lives are back home!

The only regret I have is to have missed out on many opportunities to get to know everyone better. For instance I let pass many “get-togethers” for unimportant reasons such as "I am too tired", and at the end of the semester, when I had no more schoolwork to do, I realized I did not know most of the students… Realizing that made me reflect on my short stay here. I was kind of disappointed with myself for not talking to all of them more often and getting to know them better. I was lucky enough to have "one last chance" to get to know them by staying an extra month after school was over. Nevertheless, if there is one thing I would change about my stay here is to never miss an occasion to hang out with the exchange students.

This was my first time in Europe and before that, I have to admit I knew little about culture. Other than going to the United States a few times, I had never really travelled. This flight ticket was even the first one I purchased! After this experience, I will definitely be more opened towards other cultures and tourists, because I was one myself for a long period of time. I will also do everything I can to travel a lot more in the future.

Lastly, although none of us feel we have learned much in school, I think we can all agree on the fact that we have learned more than books can teach us. And even though I am close to being financially insolvent, I am going back to my motherland richer than ever. I am richer because I have wonderful lifetime memories and knowledge. This whole experience was worth every penny and for anyone who is hesitant about doing an exchange, I can honestly tell you it is one of the greatest opportunities ever, so pursue it!

Saying goodbye…

One might think the hardest part is leaving your friends and family behind to go on this exciting adventure… but saying goodbye to the people you met during this experience is much more difficult because those you do not get to say goodbye to temporarily…

My friend who came to Amsterdam with me just moved out of our apartment today. She left Amsterdam “for ever” and took off to Barcelona where she will spend the summer with her boyfriend. This event validates the end of our journey and that’s why it’s so difficult. The feeling I got when I closed the door behind her was close to abandonment even though it’s really not! I can’t say we depended on each other, but we came here together and just knowing we were there for one another in case of need was a reassuring feeling. The positive thing is I will see her when I return to Montreal where we will finish our education together.

Now there are close to a hundred more goodbyes to say. First of all, goodbye to all the international students. Those people you lived in the same building as, went to school with, partied with, and just shared the experience with. Those who were your friends, your friends for a period of six months... Some you will miss, and some you will deeply miss. Some you might visit, some you might write to on a regular basis, others you will somewhat stay in touch with, but there is a good chance most of them you might not see nor speak to very much anymore. What’s also difficult is that they all leave on different days, so it’s like taking off a band-aid slowly instead of all at once. Coming here we all knew we would have to say goodbye in the end as it’s part of the process, but thinking about it and experiencing it are two different things.

Then you have to say goodbye to the local friends you made, those who were so helpful throughout the semester as they were able to give you advice on about everything. For my part, I will miss one girl in particular, one very special girl with a golden heart. One who would be a very close friend of mine if an ocean did not separated us. As I mentioned to her, coming to Europe I knew I would make friends, but I could have never imagined meeting a friend I would care about this much. It’s truly heartbreaking to know you might never see that person again, but I guess you need to be thankful that your lives crossed.

One last painful goodbye to say is goodbye to freedom. Indeed, living abroad is like putting your life on hold. You can almost compare it to living someone else’s life. You move to a foreign country, you don’t know anyone (other than the friends you came with), you don’t speak the language, you don’t work (although you could) and you go to school but your grades don’t count (depends on your school). It’s comparable to a long vacation where you have the opportunity to learn and reflect on your life.

This wonderful chapter of my life is sadly coming to its end, but I will make sure I enjoy every single moment that is left. I am looking forward to having a memorable last month despite all the heartbreaking goodbyes I will need to face.

Arrival in Amsterdam

This is the view from my room (the picture was taken in May)


Last January, after a stressful train ride from Paris to Amsterdam (my friend and I flew to Paris to stay for a week before starting school), we took a cab to get to our residence because we realized it was not an easy task to walk around with the amount of luggage we had brought! I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was a cold and cloudy winter day. We first went to the student housing corporation's office to get our keys and were told they had sent some people to one of the two residences building and they were the ones who had our keys. So we dragged our luggage in the snow and took another taxi. 20 more Euros later, we finally found the building. Meeting the staff was a relief as it was the first real contact we got and they were there to guide us. After signing the contract, getting some documents, useful information and receiving the keys to our apartment, we left and walked towards our building located a minute away.

We then arrived to number 22 and unlocked the door to find an apartment filled with cockroaches! You cannot imagine how shocked and disappointed we were, especially now that it was too late to do anything about it since we arrived just before 4 o’clock, which was the time the staff was there until. The only thing I could do was open my computer and get in contact with my friends and family through Skype to get a little encouragement…

Here is a video of when we first got inside the apartment. It is in french but as you can sense in my tone of voice, I was pretty upset...



It was getting late and my friend and I had not eaten much that day, so we walked to the grocery store located a block away, and that’s when we first experienced culture shock. The products were so unfamiliar and all the ingredients were written in Dutch. When we asked one of the employees where we could find the pita bread because we assumed they had some, we were surprised to find out the employee barely spoke English and had no idea what we were talking about. By the way we found the pita bread, but it’s nothing like the big and thin one we are used to. Anyways, after spending about half an hour in there, we returned to our new home to have dinner in my room because it was the only place where the cockroaches were not present (although there were some dead ones on the wall)! Later on we went to bed and tried to get some sleep even though it was quite difficult.

The next morning, we woke up early and were happy to first of all get out of our apartment, but more importantly to go to school to attend the introduction day. Luckily, we got to speak to the women who gave us our keys the day before, and she agreed to give us the keys to another apartment for us to stay in while they would take care of the problem. With this being solved, we were glad to move on with our day and meet the other international students. That evening, the international students were invited to do a pub-crawl organized by Babylonix, a student’s association. That night was memorable. It was the beginning of our “new life”.

Arriving to a different country can be scary, but faith is very important. Although I’m the first one to be very cautious about what’s around me when I travel, I learned that sometimes you just need to let people who you feel look trustworthy help you. After all, every single one of us will need help at some point in our lives, and that’s one of the reasons we exist, to help each other out.