“Isn’t there a Scottish girl arriving too?”
I guess I better explain the title first before I go any further.. a few nights ago I was standing chatting (in Dutch) to a few other students in halls, talking about our courses and some Erasmus students that are arriving soon. I mentioned there would be a Dutch girl arriving as well as students from Spain and Portugal and that’s when it happened. “Isn’t there a Scottish girl arriving too?” .. yeah, that would be me.
You see, I’m fluent in Dutch. I lived there for 7 years between the ages of 9-16 and it’s not something I talk about a lot - this I’ve come to realise over the past month when I have told people about Belgium and that I can speak the language, which has come to almost everyone’s surprise. It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it or that I avoid the subject, it’s just not something that comes up in conversation very often and I’m not the type to gloat either. I have been told before, by Dutch people, that I don’t ‘sound’ Scottish when I’m speaking Dutch and I guess that’s in large part down to the age I moved there. Being so young, I picked up Dutch within about 6 months and my accent is the same as that of a native speaker. I’ve even had people refuse to believe that I’m Scottish, because of how well I speak Dutch.
This has become apparent in Belgium as well, in my first week I’ve went from introducing myself as a student to introducing myself as an exchange student - so that people don’t automatically assume I’m Dutch/Belgian. This is in part down to the fact I haven’t properly spoken Dutch for the best part of 10 years and also because I’m not familiar with the Belgian accent and am trying to avoid people talking at me at 100mph and me not being able to understand a word of it. Funny that, since it's usually me that's talking at 100mph with people struggling to understand me .. 🤷
My plans for this weekend are to get caught up with uni work - I still have two modules from back home that I have to follow whilst I'm in Belgium, as well as some mandatory training that I need to complete. I've decided that I'll focus on my numeracy and drugs calculation tests today, even though I've almost chucked my laptop out the window out of frustration (not literally, but y'know). From the picture you'll be able to see that I've started adding little homely touches to my room as well, something I'd definitely recommend to anyone going abroad as I do find it helps it to feel more like my own space.
I need to do a few loads of washing too, I haven't really had enough of a bundle to put one on during the week so decided that waiting until the weekend was the best, and most efficient, option. It's also a lot quieter in my halls at the weekend as a lot of students go home, this weekend is even quieter as a lot of students have just finished exams and have next week off - so I probably won't see the majority of them until next Sunday. So I basically have (almost) free reign of the washing machine and drier which works out well!
I am working on another blog post about my first week experiences, but it's a work in progress at the moment. I've managed to pick up the bug that's doing the rounds throughout the full hospital - there was a full hospital staff night out last weekend and there are at least 3/4 people in my ward alone that are off sick, so I'm still recovering from that (the bug) as well. I am already a lot better than I was yesterday, although I did have to take my first sick day (😭) but it was needed as I could barely speak, eat and even drink at one point as my ears and throat were so sore. I'll talk about that more, as well as the amazing help I got from my charge nurse, in my first week post.
For now I better go and check on my washing, but I will be posting again soon!
My plans for this weekend are to get caught up with uni work - I still have two modules from back home that I have to follow whilst I'm in Belgium, as well as some mandatory training that I need to complete. I've decided that I'll focus on my numeracy and drugs calculation tests today, even though I've almost chucked my laptop out the window out of frustration (not literally, but y'know). From the picture you'll be able to see that I've started adding little homely touches to my room as well, something I'd definitely recommend to anyone going abroad as I do find it helps it to feel more like my own space.
I need to do a few loads of washing too, I haven't really had enough of a bundle to put one on during the week so decided that waiting until the weekend was the best, and most efficient, option. It's also a lot quieter in my halls at the weekend as a lot of students go home, this weekend is even quieter as a lot of students have just finished exams and have next week off - so I probably won't see the majority of them until next Sunday. So I basically have (almost) free reign of the washing machine and drier which works out well!
I am working on another blog post about my first week experiences, but it's a work in progress at the moment. I've managed to pick up the bug that's doing the rounds throughout the full hospital - there was a full hospital staff night out last weekend and there are at least 3/4 people in my ward alone that are off sick, so I'm still recovering from that (the bug) as well. I am already a lot better than I was yesterday, although I did have to take my first sick day (😭) but it was needed as I could barely speak, eat and even drink at one point as my ears and throat were so sore. I'll talk about that more, as well as the amazing help I got from my charge nurse, in my first week post.
For now I better go and check on my washing, but I will be posting again soon!
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