 |
| The Last of many 41a Partys |
 |
| Exploring Ireland with new friends |
For those of you who just
started following this blog but don’t know me I am Tom. This semester I am
doing my exchange semester as the second part of my international year from
Waterford Institute of Technology. So therefore, I am attending Fontys
International Business School, Venlo the Netherlands. This is my last blog from
this series which brings to an end the international year of adventure. Since
my last blog I have continued to have many adventures well mixed with a bit of
college work. This is also the last blog in this series but who knows when the
next ones might begin.
 |
| Little Trip to Rome |
Starting with the college
side of it I have just completed my exams. Yes, in W.I.T. we would be half way
through the summer holidays by now. One of the key differences between W.I.T.
and Fontys is the college work load. I painted a Van Gogh style picture of life
in Venlo and it was amazing however, don’t be fooled by the workload. I have
spent many years in college but these exams were the biggest challenge yet. The
results for the exams come within ten days of sitting each exam. So basically,
you would get one result and a couple of days later you would get another. I
thought this was a good idea at the start but that quickly faded as you had no
relief getting your results and were constantly on edge. The good news is I
passed all my exams so I did finally get relief. I got my 30 credits which was
the requirement to continue on into the fourth year in Waterford. Overall my
experience in Fontys was challenging and exciting. I would highly recommend
Fontys to future students, however, before choosing ask yourself are you
looking for practical or theory-based learning.
 |
| Lunch with Canadians, British and Irish in Germany |
The year abroad from W.I.T.
was one of the best years of my life. It all started in Canada and the last
trip before I returned home was to Cologne in Germany were, I met up with four
people I had worked with in Banff. One from England, two from Canada and then
Derek from my class. The experience and social aspect of the year is unmatched.
My advice to the people who have just started there year out is to push every
boundary and do the things you never imagine yourself doing. Since the last
blog I again travelled quite a lot I went to Rome, Belgium, Ireland and
Germany. I volunteered at a Caribbean music festival in Germany with the other
Irish students where we worked at a Caribbean food stall for the weekend,
camped and made plans to head to Trinidad and Tobago in the near future. I brought two of my friends from Mexico to
Ireland and brought them on a trip through Irelands Ancient East showing of
some of our culture.
This past year has been a
year of discovery, experience and learning. It is one of the biggest assets to
the BA in Culinary Arts course in W.I.T. What other course offers you the
chance to work and study abroad in two different locations. I would defiantly
advise doing the work semester first to give you the extra cash to have the
best possible study semester however, being thrifty you can discover that there
are many ways to do different activities without paying for them and also there
is loads of free things to experience.
Thanks for following
along with my blogging journey and for your sake thank god there over….
 |
| Sunsets in Venlo |
No comments:
Post a Comment