Returning to NZ, living in NZ and then returning to NL

So long story short (the quick version of the long story is what this post is about) , I'm in the Netherlands again. And since I am, a number of people have started asking me if I'll start my blog again. And after a while (now) I have.
So here is a quick summary of what I've done over the last 10 months of my life. It has been 10 months and a lot has happened but bear with me, I've condensed 10 months in to 1 page!


After I got back from my exchange, it was summer in NZ! I got off the plane in Auckland (and Wellington) completely not prepared for the heat which hit me. But as soon as I got in to proper clothing for February (shorts, t-shirt, sunglasses) the heat wasn't a problem anymore. But I had to learn to be in NZ again after all that time away from it.

The hardest feeling I had to get use to when I was back in New Zealand was trying to understand where the last half a year of my life had gone. I struggled to comprehend and accept that I was in New Zealand again after half a year, having had the time of my life overseas in a place which had come to mean so much to me. In a way I never left the Netherlands. But I'll get to that soon.

So as I had been away for 6 months and naturally I had a number of people I had to see! And being New Zealand, that usually means you need to drive somewhere. I was able to drive again quite quickly. The time I had spent in NL on the WRONG side of the road ;) couldn't make me forget the 17 years of drive/being on the left side of the road. So along with Mum I drove up to Hawkes Bay to visit some family members. I had forgotten how nice it is is to go swimming and kayaking in the sea! The difference in scenery couldn't be more profound at times either. It was amazing to have a few weeks of summer holidays after having almost a year of Winter/Autumn. Here are some photos of Hawkes Bay region and Wellington

I also caught up with friends in Wellington from high school but really I didn't have much time in Wellington. 3 weeks in total but even those 3 weeks were enough. I needed to move on. I didn't like being in Wellington because it felt like nothing had changed while I had changed a lot and so I felt like the last 6 months hadn't meant much. I didn't feel quite at home. Luckily I had the next step already planned out!

Before I left on my exchange I planned to study Engineering (I was never sure what type though) at The University of Canterbury in Christchurch when I got back. However while on my exchange, I had learnt a lot about myself,  what I wanted to do and that I had fallen in love with The Netherlands, the people, culture and the life there.So I guess it won't be surprising to you that I wanted to stay/go back.
So well before I left to return to New Zealand, I applied to study Aerospace Engineering at The Technical University of Delft (TU Delft) in the Netherlands starting in September 2016. So in this way I never let go fully as I planned to go back.

However the problem was that getting in to Engineering in NL is a lot harder than getting in to Engineering in NZ. TU Delft only accepts 480 new first year Aerospace Engineers each academic year (starting in September 2016) so to get a place I had to do some entrance exams in March and I would  find out the results in mid April. Knowing this I still decided to go to University in NZ in case I didn't get in to TU Delft.

So my next part of my life would be going and living in Christchurch and attending the University of Canterbury, and this is what I did! It was great to be in a different city and living a new life. I really enjoyed my time in Christchurch and I made some really good friends there! Being in Christchurch really helped me settle back in to life in NZ and it helped me miss NL less.

After I had done my entrance tests and waited the most suspenseful 2 weeks waiting for the results, I was accepted in to Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft. This was probably the most amazing news ever. I couldn't believe it and I was so elated. I didn't think things could get any better...but they did


My girlfriend came to visit me


Now that probably doesn't sound that special but we had been doing a long distance relationship for about 3 months at this point as she lives in The Netherlands.
We met on my exchange and after a while we just got together. In hindsight we were crazy to do a long distant relationship given the situation we were in (be honest, it isn't the smartest idea dating someone who literally lives/will live on the other side of the world) but we made it work and we've been together for about a year now.

Her visit was the most amazing surprise and biggest 'I love you' anyone could ever hope for. I will  never forget the moment I saw her walk through the door of my house. And she never lets me forget the look on my face :)

The 10 days she spent with me in NZ were amazing. I showed her places from my past, my university and we also went to Tekapo for a few days. On a side note, star gazing in Tekapo is mind blowing. You can see meteoroids, satellites and even our satellite galaxies from there. If you ever visit New Zealand, it is worth a visit to see the Milkyway as you probably haven't before (especially if you are from the Northern Hemisphere. )You can see scenery like this:

The next few months passed quickly. I had exams, preparations for living in The Netherlands to make and just not enough time to do it all. But thanks to a lot of people, I got my insurance, flights, housing, student loan, enrollment, passports all sorted for the Netherlands whilst getting a overall GPA of 7.5 for my first semester at Uni in NZ!

After finishing at University in NZ and doing a volunteering 10 trip on The Spirit of New Zealand as a Leading Hand, I had about 5 weeks in New Zealand before I was going to leave for the Netherlands. So I worked for 4 of those weeks and said my 'see you soon' to many people who mean so much to me and I left New Zealand on the 13th of August for the Netherlands.

 So almost 1 year after I left on my exchange I was going back. It was hard to leave Wellington then. My parents saw me off at the airport and I do look forward when they can welcome me back (whenever that is). It was around this time I realized how much I had come to appreciate and love New Zealand in a way which I never did before I left on my exchange and indeed while I was on my exchange. So like I never fully left The Netherlands, a part of  my will never fully leave New Zealand.

So fast forward almost 3 months and I am living in Delft, currently studying for exams. I've already had 1 (exam) and I have another 2 next week. And after that I  get straight back in to lectures. TU Delft doesn't give its students many holidays (sadly).

I'll talk more about Delft in a future post (I'll try to post often ish about my study, life in Delft/NL and what I'm up to as an international student at TU Delft). But until then here are some pictures of Delft!

Have a good one

Andrew

Thank you

Hey everyone

I'm writing this (last) blog post while I am sitting in the transit area of HK international airport. So I guess the name of this blog isn't really appropriate anymore but anyway, here I go for one last time!

The big thing I want to say in this post is thank you. A lot of people have help made these last 6 months of my life what it has been and for that I can't say thank you enough. The people in NZ (family, school, exchange organization), The Nederlands (amazing host family, amazing friends, exchange organization) and all those people in between (airplanes/airports personal etc), you have all really shaped my life to how it is now and I wouldn't want it any other way.
My time in The Netherlands has really been profound for me. I have learned a lot, personally and in relation to others and the wider world. What I have gained is something I really don't believe I would have gained by staying in NZ as the experiences I have had, have challenged me in ways New Zealand couldn't have because of the languages, different culture and just a different a different way of life. These experiences will stay with me for my whole life and I do believe that my future will be significantly changed because of what I have done over these last 6 months.

I really need to give a special thanks to my parents in NZ for supporting me on this Adventure of a Lifetime. My host family has also been amazing. They helped me so so much with everything from how public transport systems in The Netherlands work to life lessons. If you are (or will be) an exchange student reading this, I hope you know/realize how important your host family is to your exchange, it really wouldn't be the same with out them.

To my Dutch Friends, you guys are all amazing and I will/do really miss you all. You together made my exchange very unique as it is in a big part to our friendships which I will remember for the rest of my life. What you all did for me was so special and I am very lucky to have friends like you. I will see you all soon <3

If you are a future exchange student, I'd like to offer some wisdom which I'd got from this experience:

Your exchange will challenge you in ways you can't and wont realize. But embrace these challenges and you will get a lot of experience/knowledge out of them

Make the most of EVERYTHING. Your time in your host country WILL slip away from you and before you realize it, you'll be back in the country you left from. So do things with friends, your family and if someone offers you to do something with them, go for it. Who knows going to that party with the guy from your English class, it could completely change your life.

Don't regret anything you do, only regret what you didn't do. An exchange year or half year is a really short time in reality. So do things which make you happy and don't regret doing them because if they made you happy, they were good. Of course you need to be sensible with what you do but this is a time for you to try and discover who 'you' are a bit more and to work on the things you want to work on.

Leaving will be hard if you loved your life and there is nothing anyone can do to help. No one will probably say it to you, but leaving your host country will be the hardest thing you ever do on your exchange for the simple reason that it harder to leave the life you spent 6/10/12 months making, for an unknown amount of time than to leave the life you spent your life making for 6/10/12 months. Just try to look on the positive side of it all and don't think you are going 'back' to your country but rather going 'to' your country. The life you left 6/10/12 months ago won't be the life you arrive to after that time. Friends could have moved on, you may not understand some people anymore. This is life. Things always change and nothing stays still. Take it in your stride.


That's all. I hope this blog has given some people insight to how my exchange was and how this sort of experience can really change your life if you let it. Take care everyone and thanks for sticking by me. Love you all <3

p.s. I wrote this after not sleeping for about 20 hours so I apologize for possibly not making sense and all the spelling/punctuation mistakes

Still no snow + upadte on life

Hi everyone :)

I write this post as I am listening to Coldplay's new album (A Head Full Of Dreams) and as I am thinking of all the amazing memories I have made in the time I have been over here. There has been a lot which has happened to me over these last (almost) 5 months, some good, some bad. But all the experiences I have had, I've enjoyed. Not only because I got to experience them in a place which I have fallen in love with but also because I know these experience will change me forever and I think only in a good way. I think most exchange students realize that what happens to them while they are on their exchange will really change their outlook on; life, people they know, how they perceive the 'normals' in the country they first called home and potentially everything about them.
For me the way in which I now see friends and family, the world, New Zealand, The Netherlands, right and wrong and all those critical aspects of my life, I think has become more mature, developed and in general more aware in regards to others and life in general. If anyone reading this is planning on going on an exchange, your exchange will challenge you in a way which your home could never do and you will become a different person with experiences some of your friends won't understand and you won't be able to go back to the same life you had before hand, You'll be a lot more independent, aware of yourself, culturally knowledgeable and maybe even bilingual (like me now). Make the most of it, it's the time of your life :)

But all that deep and meaningful stuff aside, these last 2 weeks have been great! Had Kerst (Christmas) and it was great! I was with my host family and other members of their (and now my) family and we had great fun on Christmas, Boxing day and all the days leading up to New Years! Sadly however we had no snow but maybe in the next few weeks! It has been getting a BIT colder so maybe soon!

Last week I also went to Afsluitdijk and Friesland in the north of the country. To say the least it was amazing trip. Afsluitdijk is a very impressive piece of engineering, it basically is a dam across the sea to create a lake (Ijsomer) and help prevent flooding of the country. It was built in the 1930s and is really cool. Friesland isthe part of the country to the right of Ijsomer and it is a really stunning place. I didn't really know what to expect from it. Photos can explain it better than I can

 above: my host family when we were in Friesland

I have also had my first week of the new term! It hasn't been a particularly hard week. I've got a few marks back from some of the tests I had last test week. In general, they aren't bad I and my teachers don't think so I'm pretty happy!

I don't have much time left for my exchange now. Time flies when you are having fun. And I am glad of this, because if it hadn't, I know I wouldn't have had the time of my life over here. But I will be over here again soon because I feel so at home here and I the people here are really amazing and genuine. Unquestionably, these people will always mean a lot to me <3 Some photos of them below (by no means is this everyone! Sorry if I missed you, it means I don't have a good enough photo of you)

Anyway that's all for now. Till next time! :)