Going to Europe has always been my dream. Visiting Paris sounds so good to me. Yet, I frequently asked whether or not I have visited that city when I teach French and it makes me sick. It is as if I am not qualified to teach French if I have never been there.
Europe fascinates me always. In so little continent, it has so many countries. Indonesia is way too big for me. You can ride your car for hours and hours and end up at a place using the same local dialect as yours, same culture, same daily habits. In Europe, hop on a train for two hours would put you in another land, another language, another culture. I have the thing with language and culture. I just cannot imagine a small country like Belgium using several languages to communicate on daily basis; two of them, Dutch and French, are even the official languages in the government. Isn’t it amazing or what?
Hence going to Europe is one of my missions in life. The bad news is always the money, of course. I cannot imagine how many years (or centuries) I have to work and save the money before I can afford to go to Europe by myself. I started to search any way that can bring me to Europe. Hunting for a scholarship sounds the sanest thing that I could do. Therefore, I have learned European languages; English, French, Dutch and German. I passed the TOEFL International Test, got a bachelor degree in French literature, yet still struggling with the Dutch and German. Somehow, one day I found myself in an exam room for a summer course in the Netherland. The test was in Dutch of course; listening, reading, writing and speaking. Such a mess! I felt like I have to give it a shot. If it worked, it would do me good, then. If it didn’t, it’s time to learn harder.
And I passed! Thank goodness! I’ve got the scholarship and I am coming to Netherland. I’ll mess around in Europe for a month. Sounds nice to me. And leaving in July would be a perfect birthday present for me.
Note : Many thx Pito, for the nice proof-reading :-*
28 June 2010
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