Week Three - Personal Development

Welkom terug. 

This week it was evident that this Erasmus program is not as easy as we wished for. We saw a large increase in our timetable and our work load. Starting at 8.30 am most mornings and attending classes seven days a week, however it was enjoyable and we still made time to enjoy ourselves with the rest of the Erasmus students.

We began our Dutch and technology lessons this week which for me personally is very interesting as I think it is necessary to learn at least a little of the native language, especially as I am here for the duration of four months. In our introductory technology and design lesson, known as “technics” in Belgium, it was very intriguing to learn about their curriculum in schools compared to our curriculum in Ireland. Our topics at home within the curriculum of technology and design are: electronics, pneumatics, product design, manufacture and materials. Whereas here they are giving a broader range of topics such as: transport, sewing, ICT, recycling and biochemistry. A limiting factor of their course which stood out to me was that after the completion of their course they are only able to teach children within the ages of 11-14 years old. Personally I feel this greatly restricts their job opportunities greatly compared to us whom can teach primary education, secondary education (ages 10 -18) and special educational needs education.

Another personally appealing subject we began this week was “Innovative methods of teaching” this was a three hour workshop on creating QR codes and quizzes using tablets. Henry, B.(1999) states, “A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.” To ensure personally I become a good teacher I will motivate and ignite the imagination of my pupils at all times, I feel using the teaching methods I have learned this week would do just this. 

Creating QR Codes and Online Quizzes

On Wednesday we visited the caves of Kannes which was excellent to get a personal insight to these as it is of interest to me. The caves are around 70 million years old which consist of marlstone. Within the caves are fascinating designs and drawings and after viewing the caves everyone gets a glass of Belgium’s finest beer which of course made a huge brightener to the end of the tour.

One of the magnificent drawings within the Caves of Kannes 

Group photo of our class in the caves

During the tour we were able to carve our names in the marlstone

After our trip we all enjoyed a lovely meal as a group to end a well organised, enjoyable day which was quickly changed for the worst when I noticed my purse had been stolen at some stage during the trip. Personally this is a big wake up call that bad things do happen and to in future be more careful of personal belongings of myself and my friends while being away from home, especially when we are visiting many other countries and cities.

Hebben een goede week.

Genieten!

Ashlinn Donnelly

Week Two - Cultural

Hallo iedereen. 

After being away from home for two weeks the excitement has started to fade when it comes to cooking and cleaning. Eventually for us it has sunk in that we are fending for ourselves solely for the next four months. Luckily this week has been ‘Crocus’ week which is when the Belgium’s celebrate carnival which results in us having no classes. As this was the case we made took this opportunity to develop our culture by joining in the celebration in Holland.

At the beginning of the week we went to visit the city of Maastricht where we had a guided tour for a full day.  This was pleasant city filled with history, art and culture which was very interesting to visit. As you will quickly discover from my photos that Maastricht has a lot of old buildings and sculptures as it is one of the oldest cities in Holland.

In this cultural city we attended the carnival which is celebrated widely by many European countries. We all dressed up and joined in the celebration of street parties with both the young and old people. This was an enjoyable experience which I would like to be a part of again. During this day we made it our duty to sample as many different dishes which are traditionally from Holland. There were many items we tried which were made locally such as cheese, pies, meet and breads. 

On Wednesday night all the Erasmus students organised a dinner party together where everyone would make a traditional dish from their country. A lot of effort was portrayed into the dishes and decorating the dining room. It was nice everyone together preparing and cooking in the kitchen together – even if it did take us three hours.  There was a range of different foods and of course drinks which were consumed and resulted in a good mutli-cultural dinner for everyone. Of course we made an Irish stew for the dinner party which we were given requests to make a bigger pot the next time.

On Thursday my mum and sister came to visit me for a few days. I went to meet them off the train in Hasselt station and we went to a luxurious hotel, which like heaven compared to my student accommodation. We then planned where we would like to visit for the next four days, after much research and discussions we decided to visit Brussels and Antwerp.

 I showed my mum and sister around the city of Hasselt, where I am staying, first then we made use of the great Belgium transport by train to Antwerp. It was interesting to notice the different Cultures and languages spoken in each city even though they are extremely close to one another. In Antwerp we toured around the city on a horse and carriage which meant we got to see most of the city in a shorter amount of time. While we were eating dinner we met an Irish family who introduced themselves to us after they recognised the language and accents. They developed the conversation by saying they moved over to live in Antwerp, from County Armagh, to secure a job ten years ago. We had discussions on the differences in the cultures and even the people themselves to Ireland, all positive issues were raised. Although they love living in Antwerp they were curious about Ireland and hadn’t been home visiting in the past five years. It is important to get to know multicultural denominations, which is why I choose Erasmus, as you get an insight to other cultures and can understand them more as an individual and as a regional country. It is vital for us all to be interested in different cultures and approve of them which is what Amis. M (1995) meant when he stated, “The deal with multiculturalism is that the only culture you're allowed to disapprove of is your own.”  

The following day we travelled from Antwerp to Brussels to spend the next two days here. This was a very interesting city to visit. From what I have heard about it over the years I was expecting it to be a largely built up, rich city but my views changed drastically before I even got on the train in Brussels. From the view of the train we could notice very rundown buildings, a street of buildings which somewhat looked like a red light district and beggars. Although we did not investigate this changed my opinion of the European cultures all over the world and made sad to realise there really is poverty everywhere and everyone has a different view on how to live their life. In Brussels we visited many tourist attractions, chocolate factories, toured on an open top bus and of course “sampled” the foods. The European Parliament is in Brussels which was the main reason why my mum wanted to visit here so we attended it and then moved on to an attraction my sister and I wished to visit – the chocolate factory.

Hasselt, Belgium

Week 1       

Groeten uit België. Finally, after and anticipating few months, the 30^th January has arrived where our amazing Erasmus journey begins. Myself, Adam Bratton and Stewart Irwin met at Dublin airport to start the trip to our new home in Hasselt, Belgium. In the airport it eventually hit us that we are leaving our family and friends for a full four months. Luckily we were able to get the little ‘Dutch Courage’ we needed at the airport bar before our flight.

After the short flight we had arrived in Brussels airport, here any sad thoughts we had about home quickly disappeared to laughter when Adam got stuck in a closing door, in front of our new Belgium ‘buddies’ whom were waiting on us at arrivals. This brightened up the mood where we then set off in the car to our town of Hasselt.

Me with my Belgium 'Buddy' Sielke.

During our first day we went exploring our new ‘home town’ which was going very good – as we found an Irish Pub close to where we live! We then set off on a mission of finding a supermarket which resulted in a 5 hour trek for groceries and three hungry bellies, let’s just say we will not be doing that again. As we purchased all this food we thought it was a good idea to make dinner – this thought did not last long! We ventured into the kitchen meeting a lot of our new house mates. To their amusement a few ‘incidents’ took place here. Adam somehow stabbed his own leg with a knife and set a saucepan in flames, what a way to make a first impression.

On Saturday 2^nd February our Belgium ‘buddies’ took us on a tour of Hasselt showing us the necessities which we might need, including our university campus, grocery stores, banks and of course where to get the nicest Belgium waffles. 

Adam, myself and Stewart with our Belgium waffles.

In the evening we went out socializing with all our new E.O.S classmates – of course we directed them to the Irish pub!

Our Erasmus Group at KHLim University.

On Monday we started at university which included a flag ceremony, meeting our lecturers and having a welcoming dinner. After class we went to a small village, called Diepenbeek, where we received our new wheels for the next four months.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we began our lessons in university which involved Dutch language lessons, drama lessons and technology lessons. They were good introductory lessons and helped us settle in more by getting to know our classmates better. On Thursday we attended a trip to the Alden Biesen Castle, which is in a small village called Rijkhoven, outside Hasselt. This was an interesting trip to find out the history of this large castle which got more exciting as it started snowing heavily.

Alden Biesen Castle.

As Bacon (1909) recounted, “Travel, in the younger sort, is part of education; in the elder, a part of experience.” This week has been both a daunting and exciting experience for me throughout, however I am very grateful to be given this opportunity of Erasmus. I wish to further my adventures in the four months within Belgium itself and the countries close by.