I can’t believe that this week is my last week in Dublin. I am so grateful to Dr. Alexander for encouraging me to apply, Professor Wilck and Dean Kepner for the enticing courses, my peers for making this trip memorable, and my parents for supporting me in my adventures and coming to visit me and my family.
I spent the free weekend in the Netherlands visiting my extended family. My journey was a challenge, and I had several opportunities to practice problem solving, positive thinking, and patience. On Friday, I woke up at 5:30am for my 6:30am Air Coach bus to the airport. My internship has us working virtually on Fridays, so I worked asynchronously from the airport seats, accompanied by a large airport cappuccino. Prior to boarding, our flight was delayed by an hour, so I spent my extra time with Internet doing work and getting in my last few Dutch Duolingo lessons. Unfortunately, an overhead announcement alerted my gate that our flight was cancelled. About fifty individuals swarmed the gate agents, because their explanation was that Schiphol Airport had a problem. I called my aunt and emotionally explained that my flight was cancelled. I frantically looked online to book another flight, but everything was full. It turns out that the Microsoft outage caused my, and thousands of others’, flight to be cancelled. I took a taxi back to UCD and spent the day very unhappy that I was missing the family canal tour. To mildly cheer myself up, I went to the Dun Laoghaire beach and got a banoffee sundae from Scrumdiddly’s. On Saturday, I tried to fly to Amsterdam again, this time at 6pm. I took the Air Coach into the airport and was stopped in traffic on Dawson Street for a solid hour due to a protest. I was nervous about getting to my flight on time. With the benefit of hindsight, I did not have anything to worry about, because my flight was delayed for 2 hours! Despite my 34 hour delay, I made a grand entrance to the Netherlands around midnight on Saturday.
Sunday was a wonderful day. I explored Amsterdam with my parents and brother in the morning. We indulged in a Pannenkoekenboot tour, drank cappuccinos, saw the Heineken Museum and Vondelpark, and ate a Stroopwafel! In the afternoon, we had a gathering with my grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins + partners. I absolutely loved getting to practice my Dutch and eat my uncle’s delicious grilling (the shrimp was my favorite). In the evening, my little brother and I biked to downtown Haarlem to explore the city, listen to live music, and catch up!
I feel so grateful to be part of a loving family and to have been able to visit them, even if it was just for one day. I am already hoping to go back to the Netherlands, because I love the language, culture, boats, and seeing family. Thank you mom and dad for this amazing Bucknell in Dublin / Netherlands trip! I will always remember the memories and friendships I made and I can’t wait to see you this weekend <3 Poker, Manhattan, and pancakes soon!
Veel liefs voor Familie Eikeboom en Familie Kwakman!
Hier zit ik op de Pannenkoekenboot met mijn broer Johannes. Mijn favorit pannenkoek was speck met kaas.
Hier is the tuin in Haarlem. Ik find it erig vijn buiten te zitten mit den fuur.
Dat is een Stroopwafel. Het heeft warme stroop tussen twee waffeln en toffee stucktjes buiten.
We are so happy that you had an amazing time and we were so happy to see you!!! You overcame a difficult travel day with flying colors. Your grandma and relatives are so impressed with you. Your bright smile made everyone happy. Thank you for making the trip. I loved your write up. Daddy loves it too!