Just over one week to go!

I fly out to Belgium in 8 days, eek! My first blog post feels like an absolute lifetime ago, and now it’s almost time for me to leave. Flights are booked, accommodation confirmed and about 90% of the paperwork complete - now all I need to do is start putting my things into suitcases 😬 (yes, I’m taking two suitcases because I struggle taking one suitcase on a week-long holiday, never mind 3 months abroad needing regular + placement clothes).

I’ve been super lucky in that I’ve been awarded the Sir Alex Ferguson Travel Bursary through my university. This will really help towards my living costs and travel, so

I am feeling very grateful. I should point out that as part of Erasmus you do receive a grant, the amount depends on which country you are visiting (they are graded in three different levels) and whether you are studying abroad or undertaking a ‘traineeship’ aka placement, like myself. The amount for a traineeship is higher, I am not 100% certain but I’d imagine this has something to do with the 40+ hours being worked each week and it otherwise potentially coming across as ‘free labour’ for other countries - I could be wrong though. 

I’m set to meet my contacts from Odisee University on the Thursday after I arrive and will then move into my room in student halls. At the moment I live at home, so living on my own and in halls itself will be a real eye opener for me. I then have the weekend to familiarise myself with the city and I plan on buying some homely things for my room to *hopefully* keep any potential homesickness at bay. Sint-Niklaas only has a population of 77,000 (compared to Glasgow’s 630,000ish), yet was named a city by Napoleon in 1803. So while it may have the population of a town, it is officially a city, which threw me off when I was doing my initial research. 

I start placement on the Monday, my uni friends will begin this placement with a full day in university. However, as I am abroad, both modules in this trimester will be online for me. This has its advantages and disadvantages. Advantages in that I have more flexibility around placement shifts OR to do a bit of exploring but the disadvantages are missing, sometimes essential, face-to-face contact with peers and lecturers as well as needing to remind myself to set aside time for my studies. The latter can be hard enough whilst at home, never mind having a whole new culture to embrace and friends to make, so wish me luck!