“Do you have any expectations?” We gave one another a conspiratorial grin. We stored our barely liftable cases and full backpacks somewhere at the end of the train compartment and sat down on the highly uncomfortable recliners on the sleeper train from Munich to Arnhem. We had decided to spend a semester abroad at the Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen in the Netherlands. Our criteria for this choice were: a different language, a bigger town than Graz and an interesting course. The rest would fall into place, we thought. And we were not disappointed.
And so began a period during which we, our six flatmates and all of the Erasmus students grew to form a large international family. Endless excursions, apartment and dinner parties, campfires by the river, visits to the gym and picnics on the roof made these five months among the best of our lives. Even the fact that a table did not survive our attempt to transform our female flatmates into perfect Austrian housewives, capable of vigorously kneading strudel dough, did not dampen our enthusiasm!
Our minor subject had the impressive title of ‘Health Professionals in an International Perspective’. It was divided into two parts of 10 weeks each. The first part involved three days of teaching per week with the lessons primarily being based on a discussion of issues such as ‘Intercultural Communication’, ‘Behavioural Change’, ‘Motivational and Empathetic Interviewing’, ‘Self-management’ and many other interesting topics. During the course of our studies, we developed health interventions in working groups with international students from the fields of Dietetics and Nutrition, Physiotherapy, Physical Education and Logopedics. We also participated in a one-week workshop, working with a clinical psychologist to analyse our own working method and important aspects of treating patients from a psychological and interdisciplinary viewpoint.
We did not have to actively participate in the second part of our minor subject. Since we were writing our Bachelor’s thesis during this time, we had already achieved the objective of the minor subject, i.e. writing a research paper. We used our free time to enjoy the last few weeks of our semester abroad.
Although we did not deal with any dietetics-related topics during these five months, the course was nevertheless very useful for our future. We experienced significant personal and professional development. Various ideas and plans became lodged in our minds during this time and persist there still today. We learned things for life.
We look back on our semester in Nijmegen with mixed feelings. Thanks to WhatsApp, we are able to continue sharing moments with the friends we made there. And when we left our Dutch home, we said ‘See you again!’ In fact, we have already paid a visit to our best friend from Brazil at his girlfriend’s holiday home in Slovenia. Erasmus Reunion – we hope that this will not be the last reunion and we can blast out ‘Cheerleader’ and ‘Take me to church’ again! We would like to finish with Ronny’s words: “They can send us home, but they can’t take away our memories”.
