Northampton

I`m moving towards my last month in Northampton and I have to admit that I`m happy when I`m out of here. I know that sounds very negative and it`s not all black and white but the fact is that Northampton is not the most cheerful place. Though the lectures and my placement have been a great experience there are too many features which make me feel homesick. The price of my apartment has been 590 pounds a month, which comes down to a 700 euro`s. Next to these fixed charges are the daily expenses and these are very expensive as well. Because everybody leaves the campus during the weekends I try to escape this ghost city as much as I can. I find my joy in London. Since January I`ve spend 6 weekends in the overwhelming city. My favourite areas in London are Shorditch and Hackney. These incredible neighbourhoods are breeding grounds for the young and creative and I spend my time wondering the streets in search of street art and strange galleries. My English is from my perspective improving. It has become less rational and I`ve received good feedback about my fluency. On the other hand my accent is still a stumbling block and I do not have a clue if there has been any progress in that area.

My placement has been a revelation. It has given me the feeling to be an actual part of the British society. I work as a teacher assistant at a special need school called Isebrook. The children are extremely challenging so most classes consist of 4 students. At the same time I`m designing an activity which should support children during transitions in their lives. This is part of my module: Transitions of Children.

Also I`ve chosen an extra subject (to pass the time) called european dimensions of education. This is not resulting in more credits but had one advantage: there was a trip to Brussels included. Together with 12 other students we visited all the façades of the European parliament. That was pretty interesting and it also gave me the opportunity of communicating in English throughout a whole week.

So overall it has been all very inspiring and academically challenging but I miss cheap Holland