Antonia Batljan and Melanie Musanovic
Being able to do your internship abroad within the Erasmus programme is the opportunity of a lifetime, that’s why we didn’t hesitate to take it.
Our two week-long journey started on the 6th of august, the day we arrived in the Netherlands, Tilburg. Tilburg is a rather small city with a population of approximately 220 000. The city is known for being driven by innovation, knowledge and creativity when it comes to economic side of things and is also internationally known as a student city. The first two days we got to explore the beautiful city and its many shops and attractions. Of course, we also used our free time to rent out bikes and cycle around the city, something you have to do when you’re in the Netherlands. On the 9th of august we started our internship at the Kaapstad festival. During Kaapstad, art is in charge of Tilburg. Many artists turn the city upside down with creativity and imagination.
The festival goes on for three days, this year it was from the 13th to the 15th of august. On the first few days we got to help with promotional activities, preparations and setting up for the festival. During the festival we were to assist visitors and artists as well as keep an eye on the exhibits. After the festival was over, we helped with storing all festival items, inventarisation and breaking down the festival.
Time went by faster than we expected and on the last few days we got the opportunity to explore the city and country even more. We decided to use one of the free days to travel to Amsterdam, which was only 1 and a half hours away by train. Amsterdam was an unforgettable experience for both of us. We decided to mostly walk around the city and look at all the fascinating attractions and stores. The architecture was amazing and we were in awe of the whole city. We also booked a boat tour for half an hour, where we learned all about Amsterdams history through small headphones that were included.
Throughout our internship we got to meet lots of new and interesting people, whether they were artists or Dutch students our age that were just helping out at the festival as well. All of them were very nice and welcoming, something that we were very grateful for. We also made some great friends, one of them was called Jade and she was nice enough to invite us to dinner at her house, where we got to experience a Dutch household and family for the first time. They accepted us right away and treated us with excessive kindness. The dinner is certainly one of the many things we will never forget about our Erasmus trip.
Throughout our internship we got to meet lots of new and interesting people, whether they were artists or Dutch students our age that were just helping out at the festival as well. All of them were very nice and welcoming, something that we were very grateful for. We also made some great friends, one of them was called Jade and she was nice enough to invite us to dinner at her house, where we got to experience a Dutch household and family for the first time. They accepted us right away and treated us with excessive kindness. The dinner is certainly one of the many things we will never forget about our Erasmus trip.
On the 20th of august it was time to go home again, which was not very easy for us since we learned to love the city and people there. The goodbye was heavy-hearted because we knew we would miss everything, but we were also very grateful to have been able to do it. If there was the possibility, we would love to do it again.
