Slip inside the eye of your mind, don't you know you might find, a better place to play?

Almost a whole year into my time living in Amsterdam and the sun has finally popped out his lovely, yellow head and the beaches and terraces of Holland are buzzing with excitement. The nights are longer; the music is louder; and the skin is on show. Summer has definitely arrived. But one thing that never seems to change, despite the shift in season (well particularly for me as I'm yet to escape the educational system) is that feeling of an era coming to an end the minute the weather hots up. In primary school, saying farewell to your friends for a six week period which may as well have been an eternity felt like the absolute end of the world, despite knowing fine well that you'd all be back in September and nothing would even dare to change.
But this time, it really does feel like the be all and end all. Not only is this my final year in further education (permission granted to slap me so hard in the face if I ever even consider a PhD) but studying abroad means these farewells really are the end of an era. Although I strive to fulfil all my promises of seeing some of the faces that have made this year completely unforgettable again in the near future. I know that first we're going to have to deal with pixelated Skype conversations yelling 'Sorryy? Whaat?!' as our voices travel half way around the world to reach each other.
I've written before about study abroad friends and two years later, I still believe the same. They inevitably end up in this special place in your heart and it's always their faces you see when you reflect back upon your experiences. Yes, Amsterdam is the absolute man of my dreams but he would be a mere shadow of himself if I hadn't have got to share him with such marvellous companions. And what makes this an even more bittersweet farewell is the fact that it's not a farewell for me. In fact, I'm staying here. Indefinitely. And although that crazy bunch I call my Coco's family will ensure I'm not alone, I still can't help but feel this is a new start. The beginning of a fresh chapter, a new era. I've never not been a student before and although this is all a little premature considering my thesis is still only around the 60% completion mark, I'm kinda scared.
Nevertheless, on that note, I think it's time to reflect upon the lessons I have learnt this year at the VU. The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Probably one of the worser educational systems I've found myself being a part of (and I went to Man Met) but nonetheless an institution that has taught me many lessons about the Dutch system, the Dutch culture and of course the Dutch themselves:

• Dutch lecturers have a slight problem with my written English. Apparently my grammar and sentence structure are actually kind of appalling. I try to fit way too many ideas and analyses into one 25,000 word essay when I clearly won't have enough words to explain them within my limit. Oh, and my supervisor wants me to hire a native English speaker to edit my work before she even attempts to read it again. My bad, what do I know, it's only my first language...
• Dutch students, on the other hand, think I'm an English language whizz and have no qualms in approaching me in the library after overhearing my native tongue to hit me up with a list of 6 versions of the same phrase to ask which one is correct. And to be frank, keeping in line with my first point, 9 times out of 10, I haven't got the foggiest. Turns out speaking the language naturally means we only know half the rules and regulations of English that those who study it live religiously by
• Dutch lecturers love making you give presentations. English students don't adore the old presentations so much. As a result, classes assessed solely upon presentations = classes in which I don't end up with the highest grade
• If you don't have a debit card, you can't eat at the VU. Every vending machine and most food stops require payment by Chipknip - an oddly useful yet frustrating Dutch payment concept
• Dutch students like to mix and match the following staple foods in order to create lunch: a piece of bread; a boiled egg; meat; a croquette; cheese; drinkable yoghurt; hagelslag
• If you want to get in an elevator at the VU, forget any boundaries you have about personal space
• Photocopying costs money, scanning books and sending them to your laptop is free.
• Many electives on my International Masters are unavailable to me because of the simple reason that I'm International and not Dutch
• The architecture lecturers at the VU think it is an inspiring and beautiful campus. The VU is the ugliest collection of buildings I've seen to date
• One of my lecturers was obsessed with Assassin's Creed to the point that every class had at least 30 minutes dedicated to the cause and when the new game was released she came in the next day all red-eyed and puffy after an all-nighter of almost finishing it. Oh, and one time she taught us wearing an Assassin's Creed hoody which had an Assassin's hood which when she put up came right down over her face, the staple fashion piece for every assassin
• The VU doesn't really rate film, advertising, or culture. Shame when you're in a Media programme
• The VU doesn't really encourage active learning. Unless it's a class discussion which is then filmed by 360 degrees rotating cameras so the lecturer can watch back the footage to check we never wandered off topic
• Michel Foucault can Fouc-off, and take Ad-yawn-no with him
• The VU does however, have a beach volleyball court right in the centre of it's courtyard for all your beach volleyball and sandcastle building needs
• And of course, the VU charges at least a tenth of the price of any UK University for any Masters programme, ensuring my degree is fully paid off before I have even finished it
  

So who cares if it's been lacking a bit here and there, it's hardly a waste of money and I'm walking away completely debt free, which I'm sure not many Brits can say after completing a Masters. And what's more, if it wasn't for the VU I probably wouldn't have moved to Amsterdam at all and I definitely wouldn't have met some of the most inspiring and life-changing people I can now call my friends.
So yes, it really is the end of an era but as Oasis oh-so-famously sung, don't look back in anger. VU, you may be a little rough around the edges but on the inside you've fed me more Balisto bars than a gal could ever dream of and who'da thunk it, you've actually taught me a bit about Art and Media as well.