Back to normal life

I am already on my way home so I am going to write about my feelings.

In May I did not really know the exact day of my return. If I chose only intensive classes I could even be in the Czech Republic on May 1st. In fact, I chose four extensive classes so my exam period finished May 17th. This system enabled me to have “enough” time for my state exams in the Czech Republic (supposing I started to study on time). My state exams are going to be 14th of June and it is the last thing with my defence of the thesis in order to graduate and be unconditionally accepted on the University of Amsterdam. To be accepted I had to take two particular classes – Portfolio investment theory and Corporate finance. I already passed the first one at Charles University in Prague last semester. I was lucky that I could choose Corporate finance in Lille. Otherwise, I would have to study it long-distance from the Czech Republic. My last day in Lille I found out I had already passed this class! I was really happy because it was the most boring class and my motivation to study was proportionally small…

The system of classes in Lille was totally convenient for me. I chose a few intensive classes and a few extensive classes. I really liked the idea that my schedule was all the time different. Some classes even started in the middle of the semester such as Derivatives and some of them finished in the middle of the semester – Corporate finance(fortunately). In January and February I had mostly only extensive classes because I wanted to have time for preparation for IELTS test and for my thesis. In the end I did not manage to study for IELTS as much as I wanted. That´s why I did not have such a good result, I guess. It was enough to be accepted to the Amsterdam University though, which was the only thing that mattered. In February I already started working on my thesis. As I did not have intensive classes, I had free mornings to write, which helped me a lot. Fortunately, I managed to finish my thesis on time (May 13th). Therefore, I accomplished going for a whole week trip to Portugal before the deadline.

My exam period finished on May 17th and it seemed to me that I still had quite a lot of time before my state exams, so I decided to travel (Barcelona, Paris and south of France). Before coming to the Czech Republic I decided to go to Amsterdam. Firstly, I promised David to see him as the whole semester in France was quite busy and secondly we bought the tickets for special price. Actually, it was an unbelievable price. Sometimes FlixBus decides to sell its tickets for half of the price. That's why we paid just 9 euros for the bus from Amsterdam to Prague. Haha, I guess that if I counted normal average prices of the tickets for places I went during the whole semester and then I counted how much I actually paid for them, I saved a lot of money. It seems to me that with every trip I got a good deal for the tickets. On the other hand, sometimes not everything went well and I had to pay more than I expected (like with the accommodation in Portugal).

So I would be in Amsterdam for 6 days and then I would finally come home. It was convenient because David had to work, so I had enough time for studying. Unfortunately, it did not go according to the plan. It took me some time to realize that I really needed to study. After, Lilian came to visit and the rest of the days went so fast that suddenly I am sitting in the bus to Prague and I haven't really studied much. At least I already started. First days were not easy at all. With every small detail I missed people and Lille so much. Therefore, I created this list to make it easier and to be focused on other things.

My list

Eat normally. I could not believe it but it was really good felling to eat normally after almost whole month of travelling and eating mostly in fast foods. It made me happy when we cooked a lot of delicious meals and when we had finally vegetables and fruit. I know that when you visit different places you have to try new food specialties but sometimes we just ate to much – all you can eat restaurants, French tasting, chocolate and cheese fondue, raclette dinners, empanadas, pancake evenings, chips, Pakistan, Maroccan, Mexican dinner, Welsh, cheese pie… and I could continue and continue. I think that I am gonna appreciate normal healthy food at home, at least for a while. And I already started in Amsterdam.

Studying. Yeah, that's what I really need to do. It is my last big exam at my university and I need to pass it. The thing is that it is super boring and not interesting because our state exam is from Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and European Economics Integration. When I started, seriously, I saw most of the things for the first time. I am so desperate about it. I will have to probably spend the next 12 days studying if I don’t want to fuck it up. It would be a shame as I already spent a lot of time with my thesis on my Erasmus.

Blog competition. I decided to devote some time to write my blog. I am not sure if I am enough motivated to write until the end of the competition (the end of September) but I think it is a really good thing. I can read all these stories in the future to amuse myself and have nice memories. When I am writing about my life, I also realize a lot of things because I think about them a lot. In addition, I think it improves my English because I am fed up with writing the same expressions all over again. That´s why I am trying to find synonyms. Moreover, the prizes for winners are a big motivation for me.

Running. Actually, running is the only thing I accomplished to do a lot in Amsterdam. I went running six daysout of seven. I have not idea how it happened but despite the fact I hated running at high school, I love it now. Of course, I am not keen on running every day. Sometimes I feel super lazy and I would prefer staying at home. On the contrary, it already made my mood better many times. I love that when I run, I am alone and I have enough time to consider all my decisions and think about my life. It is definitely a good thing to think what to do and realize all the mistakes or good decisions I made. When I say enough time I mean it seriously. As I started to run longer distances (around 6 kilometres), I have always enough time for all my thoughts. I would like to participate in some competition and run 10 kilometres there as well. It is a perfect form of relaxing and doing sport at the same time. When I am not in a good mood I just can´t wait being outside and run...

Friends and Family. I can't wait to see my family and all of my friends. Actually, Erasmus happened so fast that I did not have time to say goodbye to all of my friends in the Czech Republic before coming to France and when I went home in the middle of the semester I did not even have time to see my grandparents and my father. Hopefully, after the state exams I will have a lot of time and I would like to see them all and enjoy their company. Moreover, I can finally enjoy some time with my sister and mum who I miss the most.

Job. I really need to find one! I feel so angry about what happened. I had a perfect job as a waitress in La Casa Blu and I really loved it. When I finished working there we agreed that after Erasmus I can go back. It did not happen. And it still annoys me. I don’t really know why but the boss said it was not possible! I liked people there, I liked the job and I earned a good money there. At the moment everything is bad. I have to find another job but just for two months because of my studies in Amsterdam, which is almost impossible. I have already planned two interviews today and tomorrow. Hopefully, I will find something really interesting and flexible with a good salary.

Plans. I have a lot of adventures ahead! That's why I need to explore all of my possibilities. I am really amazed with voluntary jobs from AIESEC, then I would love to find an internship in Amsterdam, I heard about the possibility to be a teaching assistant at the university and I would love to dance again and learn French again and so on and so on. There are many things to do!

Final story and video. I would love to make my own video about my Erasmus. Firstly, we were supposed to do it with Juan and Lucia. Although my last month I did not spend much time with them. That's why I think it is better to do it on my own. The problem is that I have no idea how to do it and I probably do not have all the pictures and videos. Nevertheless, I can't wait to have it done. Therefore, right after my state exams I am gonna start and it will be epic.

I think I mentioned a lot of things that I can be focused on. It does not mean that I do not feel sad. I just have to move on and keep my memories from Lille…

Look at the perfect nachos we had in Amsterdam in Cafe Harlem:

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