Juan's Blog - Week 8: Dancing stars at the sea

Do you know the saying “home is where the heart is”?

At least for myself I know this is true. My thoughts may be with my family and the coming reunion on the weekend for my birthday, but my heart found its place in Ghent. The friendly people, the amazing architecture, the river crossing the city and the lights by night. I’ll always have the German inside of me, but I can definitely imagine to live here in the near future. I’m adapting more and more to the country and it’s way of living, although there are still some challenges I’m faced with. One of these challenges is to spend a holiday in another country. Looking back to Easter, it was nice and homelike, how I was used to in Germany. That made me feel quite good and comfortable, unlike when I spent Christmas in Italy. The vibe there was completely different than in Germany and I missed a lot of Christmas tradition like food and drinks. But Belgium is quite similar to Germany and I was reminded of old times. Do you also remember the moment when you set out as a kid on the Easter Egg Hunt? That was a great time!

After a few long weeks of planning, it finally worked out and I visited together with the rest of the GraduAid & Student.be team the "Pure Daphne". Thankfully I hadn’t promised them too much as they were really impressed by it. We ordered a nice variation of croquettes and were therefore able to taste all the different ones they offered. The "Krokettenbar" had changed the offer, so I got to try some new ones as well. I’m really looking forward to my next visit here and to see for myself the new surprises. Afterwards we went to bar nearby, which was incredibly cozy: the “Jan van Gent”. One of the many things I like about Ghent is the huge amount of alternative and small establishments it offers. Here I also tried a new beer called “La Chouffe”, it had a nice taste in the beginning but a quite bitter aftertaste, so it wasn’t really my taste.

On the weekend I was lucky to visit Oostende again, this time to see ballet instead of visiting the beach. The performance was called “Dancing Times” and included dancing of all ages and sizes, girl and boy, men and women. The event was really emotional if you saw the little kids dancing and the older they got, the more complex and refined the dance became. Especially touching was the dance of a little midget girl, who got her own show: “Let it go” from Frozen. There were some tears in my eyes while watching it and I was one of the few people who was shouting while applauding and at the same time the girl got a standing ovation. Her smile in that moment was something unpayable.

I really hope the girl will continue to shine like this and with this thought I would like to conclude this week’s chapter. I’m looking forward to see you next week, where I’ll tell you about my trip back to Germany.

Lees ook: Would you like to study abroad? Get a scholarship!

 

Juan