My Diary van België / My Diary of Belgium (30/1/13 – 31/5/13): Week 12

Fighting to keep on top of these blogs is a struggle when there is so much going on around you – assignments due, the sun is shining and the local outdoor swimming pool has opened!

This week brought a visitor from Stranmillis to us, Dr George Beale. Dr Beale met us for lunch after a history lesson he was lecturing which was nice to hear a familiar accent. As Adam, Stewart and I are all post-primary students we have never got the chance to met Dr. Beale in Stranmillis before so this was a special time where we enjoyed ourselves and had a lovely lunch in the KHLim Dipenbeek University Campus.

We also got the chance to meet up with our placement school and tutor this week to discuss our subjects and lessons which we will do during our short placement. This was a very enlightening experience, as we were giving such a broad range of ideas to choose from and teach the pupils. It was eye opening to learn of all the different cultures and nationalities in which the pupils are that we will be teaching.

This week only consists of three days in lessons so I therefore jumped at the opportunity to go travelling again, this time to Amsterdam with Holly and Rebecca. It’s close to Queen’s weekend in the Netherlands which we disappointedly found out when we arrived in Amsterdam as it meant everything is so much dearer but it will be a great cultural experience which we will remember for the rest of our lives. Accommodation, food etc. prices are sky high but nevertheless we are going to enjoy ourselves for the four days we have here. The only hostel we could find which had room available for us was a grubby place which was far out from the city centre, but we had no choice. Reluctantly we paid the 150 euro each for the three nights, 50 euro a night is a ridiculous amount for accommodation like this but as it was busy I think they make up their own prices. I have never been to Amsterdam before but have heard so many wonderful stories about it. I didn’t mind what tourist attractions we visited except I wanted to see the Ann Frank House and go on a canal cruise. Disappointedly we didn’t get to Ann Franks House for many reasons but we did everything else in Amsterdam.

The streets where packed of people in orange celebrating for the coming of Queens Weekend which was a fun cultural celebration that is something I have never seen before! Although it was a dear weekend it was a great experience and was definitely worth the money.