What I've learnt so far.

After two months in Leiden I can finally say that I really DO enjoy my year abroad. The start was rough, I must admit (and you could probably tell anyway), but, well, it's good. And I'm happy here. It's been a fruitful time in term of learning, not only in an academic sphere, but also life-wise. Everywhere we I go I learn something. And here are some thing that I've learnt thus far in Leiden.

- when in Rome, do as the Romans do -

Even when you're not in Rome, but in rather grim and wet Leiden. This includes riding your bike like crazy, not paying attention to people around you, being overly direct, not expecting to get exact change in a supermarket, and all sorts of things. It saves a lot of frustration, because you somewhat blend with the crowd, but I don't really think I want to blend in so much. Saying 'pardon' gives me away anyway.

- some things don't make any sense -

Especially questions in exams and assignments. Dunglish is not great and often incomprehensible even to me (and I can make sense of almost anything, trust me). So you get the idea how bad it it. Dropping in English sentences in the middle of a Dutch conversation does not make sense either. Or insisting upon replying to my emails in Dutch when I clearly don't speak Dutch.

- people may be unhelpful - 

Or actually, they will most certainly be unhelpful, because being helpful is not in the nature of people here. Don't get me wrong, I've met some utterly lovely people, just not that many. Although cheese people are always great. I'm not surprised, they're surrounded by so much delicious cheese!

- but there are some angels down here -

See cheese people above!

- not getting bitter is difficult -

Because there is so many things that I cannot stand and its just too easy to complain. And there always seem to be someone around ready to complain with me! So staying positive is definitely an issue, though this is not the first time I encounter this problem: I did complain a lot about Oxford in the past, but now I can't wait to be back (even with the prospect of finals) and can see how great it was.

- however, little things make life beautiful -

I mean for example a relaxed evening walk. Or a croissant with fig jam. In all fairness, I don't need that much to be happy. A few days ago I was waling down the main street and felt completely delighted at the crispiness of the air. It was almost like winter time, the sun was shining and I felt so comfy in my scarf. It was simple and beautiful. I love those moments.

- my life wasn't complete -

without this hat:

Now I can legitimately pretend I'm Mary Poppins! As you do, right?