When the Homesickness Hits | Dutch Diaries Week Six
The Weekend | Het Weekend
If you’ve been following along over the past six weeks, then you know I kind of have a thing for European cities. It seems like I fall instantly in love with every single one I visit and tend to throw the “I could see myself living here” praise around a little too liberally. I could wander through the charming cobblestone streets of Brugge or Amsterdam or Luxembourg (and the list goes on…) for days on end and still find myself absolutely amazed by my surroundings, but none of these cities have the experiences I’ve been looking forward to most over the past week or so. I haven’t found anything that’s given me the feeling of waking up to Tahoe’s almost vanilla smell of pine bark on a warm day, getting a little too excited during those Hickman family debates over Mexican food on Sunday nights, curling up and watching stupid videos after work, or spilling tea over half written essays at the exec table.
And while I know that I won’t find any of my absolute favorite things for a little over three months, my weekend spent with a family remarkably similar to my own in a neighborhood just outside of Zurich gave me at least a taste of the nature and home cooked meals I’d been missing. The lake wasn’t Tahoe, and the conversations at the dinner table weren’t quite the same, but it helped ease the homesickness just a little bit.
The mix of new and familiar that Switzerland gave me was exactly what I needed. After the hikes (who knew walking through the forest would be so refreshing after weeks of walking through cities?), the cows with actual cowbells, the multiple home-cooked meals, a few hours on the lake, and the time spent with my friend’s “Swiss second family,” I both missed home more than ever and was more okay than ever with the prospect of being away for the remaining time few months of my program.
The quiet weekend of family time (and pine trees— those definitely helped too), albeit not with my own family, was exactly what I needed to give me a renewed appreciation for this amazing experience before heading back to my home away from home in Maastricht for what I knew would be a tough week of school.
Tuesday | Dinsdag
I left my dorm at 8:30 and didn’t get back until 6:00 on Tuesday, a day that set the tone for the week (okay, more like two days) of academic grinding that faced me once I got back from my mellow few days in Switzerland. Similar to most schooldays, this one was filled with cappuccinos (three of them), class, and homework, but this Tuesday was a little more remarkable than the rest. Not only had I completed my first big assignment at my new school, proving that I really do study here, but I also received my official Dutch residency permit.
This means I’m kind of a local… right?
Wednesday | Woensdag
So the next day, in working toward justifying my new “local” status, one of my friends and I continued our great search of the best cafe study spot in town, something that true locals would definitely know where to find.
This time around, we found ourselves at Teazone, and while the Berkeley in me was expecting Boba, I was pleasantly surprised by an insanely large selection of loose leaf teas and more than one comfy couch that looked as though it belonged in a scene of Friends. It was the perfect setting for getting through a few forensic psychology articles on that rainy Wednesday.
However, there was a solid minute where I was convinced my teacup wouldn’t actually hold any liquid (I’m not crazy, it actually looked like there were holes in it).
Thursday | Donderdag
Thursday was another rainy day in Maastricht, and with no classes, I spent it sipping on yet more tea with a bag of popcorn and the original Full House playing on Netflix while I packed up my things for my next big weekend adventure…
What awaits is the weekend that everybody told me I had to experience if I am to truly be able to say that I studied abroad in Europe during the fall semester: Oktoberfest in Munich.
