A Pizza-tale in Stroopwafel Land

“There is always a reason”

With these five words I want to start my first post for the Univers-website.

Dear readers, may I first introduce myself. I am Luisa Marotta and I am a 23 years old exchange student from Rome, Italy, majoring in management. Since I really love writing, I decided to be part of Univers’ editorial committee. Here I have been given the great possibility to talk about my experiences as an international student in Tilburg, and in the Netherlands. Hoping not to bore you as hell, I will do my best to make the most of it.

To start off with, I would like to tell you an anecdote: I lost my Italian Identity Card (no, I’m not a clandestine yet…). So last Tuesday, I went to the center, back and forth, from politie to city hall to denounce my loss. I was biking around, on a warm and sunny day, the air was crisp and the atmosphere was sparkling, when suddenly I realized how lucky I am, and was truly appreciating what a nice city Tilburg is. It may sound cliché, and very zen, but too often we forget to look at the bright side of things because we are too lazy to find and savor the beauty around us!

Last year I worked and studied hard to win a spot for the Erasmus program, and now that I’m here the burdens and distractions of ordinary life sometimes overwhelm me and I simply forget why I decided to move into another country: I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. I needed to “change air”, abandoning the old me so I could experience, discover and feel differently, and make my soul thrill and feel electric. I will use the awesome space I’ve been given here to share with you my enthusiasm about all the stimuli of my current international life.

If you are thinking about going on exchange, DO IT! But make sure you are not applying just to add it on your CV! Instead, use it to take a semester off, to take time focusing on yourself, to do unusual things, and to change your habits and routines! Try not to live permanently in either campus or in library/prison, but explore! If you have a day off, go downtown alone; enjoy your own company! “It’s all right you can afford to lose a day or two” like Billy Joel used to say…

Choose your favorite places, bar, cafés, where you can go to feel safe when you are homesick, and order a glass (or two) of Golden Oktober! It’s absolutely worth it!

Luisa Marotta

_Advertentie.