Leaving Holland
"Ja mam, ik doe voorzichtig.. Doei mam en pap. Ik hou van jullie!"
That was the last thing I said to my family before going through security on Schiphol Airport. It means 'yes mum, I'll be careful. Bye mum and dad. I love y'all'.
I have never been fond of the Dutch language, that's why I always wanted to go abroad. I am really into the English language, and that's the reason why I chose to study in London.
I've only been there once before, which was years ago, I can't really remember any of it, only Madamme Tussauds and the London Dungeon.
Now, it was finally my time to go to London again and to actually live and study there.
*
"Here are your keys, miss Haye. If you ever need anything, just call this number." the woman, who owns the apartment block, handed you a paper with a number written on it.
I thanked the woman, and made my way upstairs to my own apartment. It was all a bit weird, I've dreamed about this for years and now it actually happened...
When I was inside my apartment, I made sure all of my stuff got inside as well. I didn't unpack immediately, I just wanted to take a look around first. Besides that, it was now 2pm, so I still had enough time to unpack everything.
After a little tour in my new apartment, I unpacked my clothes and the stuff I'd be needing today or tomorrow. Stuff I wouldn't be needing soon, I left inside my suitcase.
When most of the unpacking was done, I decided to head out to my new University to register myself. After all, it was Friday so there would be no problem in going, since the workers would be there right now.
I made my way through the streets and finally found my way to the Uni. When I got inside the massive building, I noticed some kind of waiting-space for students to wait in before registering, since it was pretty busy at the front.
I took a seat and started reading some articles on my phone, when someone took a seat next to me.
"Hi, are you waiting for your registration as well?" the girl asked. I nodded, "I'm Raven," she said, "Raven Darkholme." She reached out her hand and I took it immediately with a smile. "I'm Laura Haye."
Raven and I talked a bit more, since the waiting-time was pretty long. Raven asked me what I would be studying, "I'll study Journalism and Poetry." I replied. And Raven told me she'd be studying Politics.
"If you don't mind me asking," Raven suddenly said, "where are you from? I can't really place the accent.." I chuckled, "that's possible, I'm Dutch."
Raven let out an 'oh'. I could already feel that Raven would be a good friend. Something I could really use in an environment I'm not familiar with.
Finally, after a very long time, it was our turn to register. The registration went well and soon enough Raven and I were on the streets again.
"Do you have any plans for tonight?" Raven asked, I shook my head. "Haven't really thought about that, yet. I was too busy with my flight this morning and then getting into my apartment and unpacking this afternoon."
"Well, I'm quite familiar here, so if you want, you could join me tonight? I'm just going out for dinner with some friends and it'd be nice if you'd come too!"
I thought about it for a bit, but finally agreed to go out with her and her friends. Raven got out her phone, as did I, and we exchanged phone numbers.
When we were all set with the numbers, we went our separate ways. As soon as I reached my apartment I received a text from Raven.
"Meet me in front of Uni at 6:30pm. I'll be there, my friends will wait in the restaurant for us."
I replied;
"Sounds good. See you then!"
This meant I still had enough time to get ready. It was now 3:50pm and it was only a 5 minute walk to Uni. I want to be a bit early, so I'll leave my apartment at 6:15, so I'll be at Uni at about 6:20pm.
I've got two hours and 25 minutes left to get ready and do some more unpacking.
Unpacking took me about 40 minutes. After I was done I took a shower and got ready. When the time was finally there, I got my purse with my phone inside, grabbed my keys and closed the door of my apartment behind me.
As a matter of fact, I did arrive at 6:20pm sharp. Now I only had to wait ten more minutes for Raven to arrive. To kill time I reached for my phone and scrolled through my newsfeed on Instagram.
Noticing a lot of photo's and videos posted my friends from Holland, I realized that I missed it a bit, for the first time today. I zoomed out of the world, thinking about how their universities will look like and how they will make new friends and all sorts of things like that.
The sounds of a horn snapped me back to reality. It was Raven, she opened her window a bit and called me to get in. I did as I was supposed to do and got into the passenger seat.
"Hey again, so I'll tell you a bit about my friends. First of all, Hank. Hank is my boyfriend. He attends uni as well, but he'll start his second year monday and studies Science. Then there's Moira and Charles. Charles is my brother, Moira's his girlfriend. Alex will also be there. He's a bit of a weirdo, but he's lovely, they all are."
I nodded and chuckled when Raven called Alex a 'weirdo'. "I'm looking forward to meeting them." I said and smiled at her, which she returned happily.