The signs left behind

There are some events in our life that we all know that they will happen but we live as if they will never come such as being graduated from university, the end of a holiday or the end of our lives. Although I knew that my exchange adventure will finish soon, until the very last week I did not realize what this really meant. After that I started looking around more carefully, trying to picture every detail of the streets, the houses and my room and carve them to my memory so that when I miss Tilburg I can close my eyes and imagine being there again. Sometimes cycling, sometimes chatting with my friends or listening to the rain falling on the roof of the attic… Then I thought how lucky I was to have the chance to write and share my memories from here through this visual diary which will remain forever. However, when I saw the sad faces of my lovely landlady Hanneke and Ruud, (I will always be glad to him for introducing us) while they were waving after my train to Amsterdam, I found out that the real signs left behind were all the wonderful memories which will always stay in our hearts…

Goodbye Amsterdam

When I arrived to Schiphol Airport , my musician friends with whom I met in Turkey last year while they were traveling with their caravan until India, were the ones to welcome me. They made a very nice surprise by giving a welcome package with all the things I will need in the Netherlands such as an orange umbrella, cheese slicer, stroopwaffle and a Heineken... When I arrived, I was feeling very excited and a bit uncomfortable because I did not know even how to buy a train ticket to Tilburg. I wanted to do my final with them too, so I arrived to Amsterdam one day before and we spend my last night together. Then I had a wonderful breakfast with my friend and take the tram to the station. However this time instead of being excited I was a bit nervous because of knowing that I have to turn back to my hectic life in Turkey. So I made one last walk around the streets and catch this beautiful scene to say goodbye to the Netherlands…

The return flight

After entering to the airport I had to leave all my feelings behind and concentrate to the ticket and contol processes not to make any crucial mistakes. The luggage limit of my ticket was 20 kg so I had to take my laptop, camera, back sack and one more bag with me to the plane as hand baggage. It was not that easy to control them all. For example I forget my laptop on the chairs at the waiting room at the gates; however I was lucky to realize in 5 minutes and to find it at the same place when I turned back. However, I had to carry them all one more time during my transfer of flight from Istanbul to Ankara which was like a nightmare because on the halfway one of the airport employees told me to run by telling that I missed my flight although I still had enough time. Here is the last lesson I learned: If you have to make a transfer do not take too many things with you as hand luggage, it can even cause you to miss your flight…

Starting again

Although I was very unhappy for leaving all my freedom that I had in the Netherlands and turning back to my old life in Ankara where I live with my family, have to travel by bus and start looking for a job since I will get graduated this June there were also very good points of being back. As you can imagine we tried to catch all the times we missed with my boyfriend and my other friends by telling all the stories that we collected during this 6 months. Although I am still very sad about leaving Tilburg and the life that I created for myself there, I understood that it certainly worth turning back if you have people who have been waiting for you in every breath she/he takes who could be your lover, close friends or your family… Now I feel like I am stuck between two worlds, like knowing both the ideal and the shadow’s world of Plato at the same time and have to turn back to the world of shadows. However, I have no other choice then starting to build a new life for this new Buket from the beginning with the light of all the experiences I have had ... Finally, thanks to everyone whom I met during this wonderful trip… I will miss you a lot and I hope that I could leave some signs in your hearts so that you can remember with a smile..

Throwing away the chains

My last final was on Thursday; one of the latest ones I guess!!! It was so late that this week the classes started again. During the last two weeks I was postponing everything after the 22nd of January. Finally, after all the exams finished I was feeling like an unchained prisoner. It took me a while to realize that I did not have to sit on the same chair anymore. All the days were the same, study for hours and hours and then go to bed late, wake up early, just give a break for eating something and then continue again and again… After a while, I started to geting used to the idea that from now on I could do whatever I want without feeling guilty for not studying. When I get home, the first thing I did was to throw all the stuff related to the lessons into the paper trash. I guess one of the Erasmus students who left the Stapps for about one month ago was feeling the same freedom when he throw away his/her chains too. Only expressed it in a different way…

Experimental Economics

At the beginning of the semester one of the assistants told that we could earn some money by attending to some experiments. I registered to the website not only to earn some money but also I was very curious about how can they make experiments in economics. Finally I could attend to one of the experiments at CenterLab before I turn back. It was a decision making practice for the prices of a certain commodity thinking that you are one of the only two firms in the market. In the real life you earn some money depending on the profit you make at the end of 40 rounds. Everyone is given a list of profits that will be made (a) if we are the only one to choose it and if it is the lowest price (b) if both firms chose the same price (c) if you are not the one to choose the lowest price (means zero profit). It is a different type of prisoner’s dilemma, meaning that you have to consider the possible decision of the other party in order not to lose a lot. The important point was to offer the lowest price with the highest profit if both of the firms chose it; so that you can be sure that the other firm will also chose it since it benefits the most too. Then there is an equilibrium attained until one of the firms makes the first change. However, it is possible that people do not make the best decision and give a lower price although it is less profitable for them in order to leave you with zero profit. It was very enjoyable for me to live the theories that I was thought until now, just in one hour. Maybe you do not earn a lot but I recommend you to try it once at least…

The last trip

When my friend said that she found a very cheap flight to Stockholm by Ryanair (thank God for that airline, I wish they exist in Turkey too) I hesitated to buy the ticket at first. I thought that most probably it was so freezing that nobody wanted to buy the tickets. Anyway I bought it and leave the decision about whether to go or not to later. While studying for the finals I understood that I definitely needed to travel again to get rid of all these stressful and sleepless nights. Perfect decision!!! I found Stockholm more charming than all the other cities I traveled (including Paris) and the weather was so warm. However this time there was no Free City Tour, which meant that we had to explore the city ourselves. The city is full of surprises such as the modern dance performance that we came across at one of the museums, a reggae bar which is owned by a Turkish man or the best/closest and cheapest (for such wonderful facilities) hostel I stayed until now called City Backpackers etc. However on the way back home I started feeling sad when I understood that it was most probably the last trip of mine to a new country for the next time period…

Drinking from ice glasses

One thing that I loved about Stockholm is that if you say (!) that you are under 18 then you can enter to all of the museums for free. That means you can save up to 30 euro approximately thinking that you will go to four museums at least. (By the way, I recommend Vasa Museum to see an old Viking ship however the Contemporary Art Museum was not so satisfying compared to Pompideu in Paris) At the end of the day we decided that we deserved spending this money that we saved on a once- in- a-lifetime experience. Here we go: 45 minutes in an Ice Bar!!! The bar was smaller than I expected but still it was very enjoyable to try guessing how come they could preserve the temperature for them not to melt while drinking our cocktails from the ice glasses. I don’t know when and how can I make it true but my next dream is seeing the polar lights with my boyfriend… Once you start traveling, there is no end!!!

My Eiffel is purple

10 9 8 … Counting back for the New Year under the Eiffel Tower!! Sounds like a fantastic way of starting a year, isn’t it? Every year they showed a lot of scenes from crazy New Year celebrations around the world such as Paris, Sydney and Berlin on TV. So I wanted to take the advantage of being in Europe and traveling easily without any need for visa. Together with a friend of mine, we planned to spend the New Year's Eve in Paris. However, we were very disappointed because there were not so many fireworks as we expected. Eiffel even did not change the color. It was blue as usual, no one could realize if we entered to 2009 or not by looking at it. Later on, when we wanted to go to somewhere else, we get crushed by the huge crowd in the metro station. The lesson that I learned is that, the best celebration is the one when you have your beloved one nearby no matter where you are!! Here is my Eiffel that I changed into purple at least to remember it in a better way…

Vital information for the dreamers who still want to spend the New Years Eve in Paris: Metro is free and most of the lines are open all the night. Good luck to all..