Move Nr. 7

After my summer plans fell through, I had a lot of time to plan my move. In mid-June, I received an offer from Erasmus University Rotterdam for a Master's in Urban Governance! Mom then immediately suggested renaming the blog in Jo in Ro. But unfortunately I already bought my URL for JoinLo.

You might think that by now I've had a lot of practice in saying goodbye and moving. That it somehow gets easier when you leave your familiar surroundings, friends and family behind. But somehow the opposite is the case. It's getting harder and harder to say goodbye, to meet people and to know that you're hugging them for the last time for a longer period of time.

Nevertheless, I am very excited about moving to Rotterdam. I'm currently on the train on my way to Amsterdam, from where it's only 40 minutes to my new home. Since I still have a 6 hour train ride ahead of me, I'm using the time to do some blog updates!

After my summer went differently than planned, I tried to focus on the positive things. Time with my family, a visit to Lüneburg, all my Berlin people and a spontaneous holiday to Italy with Henrike. Now that I'm moving to Rotterdam earlier, I can also be there for the opening week and the orientation days. So from that point of view it also has an advantage. The last few days I was just whirling, seeing some more people, clearing the house of my mess and trying to squeeze all the clothes and shoes into my suitcase.

Yesterday I lay on my suitcase for, what felt like, half an hour because it wouldn't close. But packing for a whole year is not that easy! In between, the familiar panic that I had before London came up again. Why am I doing all this? Why always leave, not see my friends and family for a long time? Move to a foreign country where I don't speak the language, a foreign city, to complete a Master's degree in 12 months?

I know, I know, in the end it will all be worth it. I'm so happy to finally get out again, to have a structure, to learn something and to be able to create my own everyday life again. When I got my lesson plan a few days ago, I was more excited and enthusiastic than I have been in a long time. And what would be the alternative? Being stuck in Germany and doing a Master's degree that I don't find all that interesting?

The hardest part is always the departure. When you shoulder your backpack in the morning, drag your suitcase out the door and close the garden gate behind you. The morning sun shining on your face at the S-Bahn station. The little stab in the heart when the train leaves Spandau.

I think people are always afraid of the unknown. You always want to have everything at once. A new life, but at the same time be part of the old one. And that's okay too. I have the best friends, the best family you can imagine. The first ones have already announced they're coming to Rotterdam. I'm already excited to show everyone the campus, to introduce people to the people I'm going to meet there. But sometimes it's also exhausting to keep telling yourself that everything will work out and that you just have to be patient.

But now I'm going to be really busy again. I'm so keen to study, I'm so excited about the content and I'm just happy to have a student life, which the pandemic denied me. There are an incredible number of sports facilities at the EUR, you can cycle everywhere and the sea is only 45 minutes away. I think it will be good. Even if the pain of parting is predominant at the moment.