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..