Dear friends from all over the world,

First of all: Happy Late Birthday to me! 20, I hate itJ I wanted to be 18 forever… But thanks to all of you for the birthday wishes!

I’ve been home 5 days now and reflect on those months in beautiful Ireland. This message will sound very cliché. But sometimes things that sound ‘cliché’ have become ‘cliché’ just because they have a strong truth within them… if you get what I’m trying to say? Anyway:

It’s so strange to come back to a totally different but scarily well-known environment. After a day it already felt like I had been gone for only a week…

This week was crazy, falling from one emotion into the other, seeing friends (even ErasmusfriendsJ) and family again and at the same time being sad for all the friends I’ve lost. I don’t want to go melodramatic but… it must be said, I kinda miss Coleraine, the Internationals and Irish charmJ I’ve been very happy out there and am thankful for all the good times. People ask me what the best moment was but I simply can’t answer that question. An endless line of precious memories cross my mind: wild parties, chill nights in the kitchen, interesting encounters, cultural kicks, exciting trips… It has just been entirely fantasticJ You always tend to romanticize experiences afterwards but it’s the honest truth (ignoring only a few momentsJ); Erasmus was one big ‘crack’ to use an Irish termJ I would do it all over again tomorrow if I had the change!

It made me realize there’s a big planet beneath my feet (I invented this expression; my English is still not very accurate but you know what I’m trying to sayJ) to discover and I’m eager to go on another long journey in the near future. I’ve seen so many things from another point of view and learned a lot about the world and about myself. There are things I would like to change here in my monotonous Flemish life but more importantly and quite contradictory I started to appreciate a lot of things from home; I had to go away to even notice how blessed I am; actually, that’s a disgraceJ.

Like my ever supporting father (and his wife), my loving sisters, grandparents and brother and my lifelong girlfriends I can always count on. But also small things like the comfort of a nice home and having the means to travel. I’m more confident about who I am and know better what I want. At the same time I don’t take myself that serious anymore; everything is relative and you should just have funJ (“chill!”) Happiness can’t be your aim, it should be your lifestyle. Something very important I learned from my International friends. And of course, my social and self-surviving skills have developed tooJ (my cooking for example;-) though I gained weight crazy… we’ll work on thatJ)

Basic line I must thank the K.U.Leuven for this once-in-a-lifetime experienceJ I will try to force everyone who is offered the same opportunity to take it with arms wide openJ

Sometimes I wonder or I dreamt it all…

I want to thank all these people who have made my stay in Northern Ireland unforgettable:

Gretchen (USA), Kirsten (Germany), Arsene + his family (Cameroon), Caleb (USA), Esteban (Mexico), Brendan (Australia), Paul (Ireland), Pamela (Northern Ireland), Carol (Germany), Thomas (Belgium), Kris (Belgium), Jef (Belgium), Annabel (Germany), Johannes (Germany), Philip1 (Germany), Philip2 (Germany), Mauritz (Germany), Benjamin (Belgium), Régis (Belgium), Irena (Germany), Katharina (Germany), Ronan (Northern Ireland), Alex (USA), Kevin (Ireland), Alexis (France), Loribeth (USA), Jack (USA), Claire (France), Rodrigo (Spain), Rowhut (India), Katherine (Northern Ireland), Michelle (Northern Ireland), Alice (Germany), Karen (Northern Ireland), Patrice (Northern Ireland), Marty (Northern Ireland), Maxime (France), Louis (France), Colin (Northern Ireland), Annelien (South Africa), Jen (USA), Ben (Ireland), Katy (Gretchen’s sister), Lindsay (Caleb’s girlfriend), Father Raymond, Vicar John, Doctor Austin, Mrs. Hagan, Mr. Hunter, Manneken Pis for being our national symbol, the nice lady from Coleraine Tourist Information, the people from the International Office, the audiovisual section of Coleraine Library, The International Students Society, Katrien Van Malderen for the advice, Rihanna, Greenday and Gloria Estefan for their amazing tunes and my younger sister for visiting Dublin with me!

Hope you all had a warm Christmas celebration and I wish everyone the best for 2008; stick to those resolutions for a changeJ!

With love,

Sarah*