The very first milestone I reached was going ‘op kot’ as they call it here. This of course means you gain a lot of freedom, but also responsibilities. And I’m not just talking about cooking and doing dishes, but also about what you’re supposed to do when you unexpectedly find out you have a roommate, who communicates in a language you don’t speak, keeps on touching and eating your stuff, makes a lot of noise at night, and has four legs and a long tail. Still, even a mouse couldn’t ruin the atmosphere over here.

Another adventure was, and still is, the new city. Finding out the quickest route to get to campus, where the supermarket is, the bicycle shop that was supposed to be right there (but wasn’t. Thanks Google maps…), which language to use, how all the little shopping streets fit together. It’s a lot of fun to figure all of that out, although the weather has been against me for most of the time. It’s not as much fun to get lost when it’s pouring, freezing or even snowing. But with five months ahead of me there’s plenty of time left to explore the rest of Antwerp.

My current challenge is the reason why I went abroad; my master thesis project. The part I’m working on is part of a bigger, four-year project with a lot of researchers and institutions involved. I am writing this while sitting in the train to Gent to meet another researcher from the project and there are plenty more meetings to come and who knows were those will send me.

All in all, it’s already been a big adventure and it is not coming to an end soon. If you’re in doubt about whether you should go abroad; I definitely recommend doing it if you’re up for something new and adventurous.

Picture: Sharon is standing in front of the ciy hall. "The statue represents how the city got its name: hand-throwing (werpen in Dutch)."