It’s been quiet on my blog for a while, because I have been busy finishing up college. And lets be honest, during the intelligent lockdown I did not have a lot of inspiration to write. I’ve spent my time between the four walls of my parents house and because of the move back to Zeewolde, I felt like taking a step backwards. Luckily I am now able to say that I have graduated college and finally took the step to go to France.
Moving back in with my parents
After doubting for a while I decided to quit the rent of my place in Zwolle halfway through April. For more than a year I have lived at this nice spot in Zwolle (during my minor I sublet it) and it felt weird to leave. I do think it was the right choice because I hadn’t been in Zwolle a lot during the corona lockdown. I liked it better to be at my parents and enjoyed the extra space. That doesn’t mean that I feel sad ending my student time like this. I would have liked to spent some nights in the local bars, drink wine at the terraces or enjoy the student discount at various restaurants around the city. Unfortunately all of that didn’t happen, but I am happy that I didn’t have any delay during my final semester in college.
Moving to Zeewolde felt like taking a step back. Since I was young I have been saying that I wanted to move out of the village where I was born. Since moving out in 2015 I was sure not to return and definitely didn’t expect to move back just five years later.
I did enjoy the past few months and appreciated the fact that I could enjoy watching tv with my mom, eat homecooked mealts by my dad (even though I also tried a few new recipe’s) and cuddle with the dogs on a daily base. But it is time to stand on my own legs and I was really looking forward to spread my wings and leave my parents house (for the 3rd time).
Graduated journalist
After three and a half years at the school of journalism I was allowed to start the graduation semester in February. The last phase of the major is to create a journalism production and do some research. For the research project I worked together with Julia and we research the way young bloggers feel about news in the Netherlands. For my production I made a longread about exchange students in the US and the screening of hostfamilies. I chose this topic because of my own experience as an exchange student in the US.
Luckily I was able to finish my research in April and the last weeks I worked fulltime on my graduation project. Interviewing hostfamilies, exchange students and organisations and doing a lot of research. During the beginning of June I handed in my production and last Tuesday I had to present it all. Even though I was quite nervous, I felt like I did okay on my presentation. Not as good as I wanted it to go, but not super badly either. The worst part was the 30 minutes of answering critical questions from two teachers and a professional journalist. At that moment I thought I had failed. The minutes of waiting in the hallway so the teachers could discuss, seemed to last for hours. By returning to the classroom I had to wait a few long seconds before finally getting the positive news: ‘you’ve graduated!’
Moving to France
It happens more often that I am making a tight planning. And let’s be honest, my big move was quite quick after graduation college. Exactly 24 hours after hearing that I’ve graduated, I entered the train to Paris. Without the corona crisis I wouldn’t have left so soon, but since I hadn’t seen my boyfriend for almost four months, I didn’t wanna wait any longer.
Because of my parents move in July, I didn’t just have to pack my bags, but also everything that belongs to me. Two suitcases to bring to Paris and the rest had to be packed in boxes. It felt so weird to leave an empty room and that is exactly why I decided to come back to the Netherlands for a few days when my parents are moving. It isn’t just me, but also my parents and brother who are leaving the village where I was born and I want to be part of that. (And to move some extra things to Paris). Officially I am still living in the Netherlands and the upcoming weeks I am going to find out what I have to do to officially move to France. The plan is to find a job here and start a French life. I am going to try my best and hope it all works out. For now I am just very excited to start this new chapter of my life.
