Summer is over. Almost. The new academic year started and I have to get used to wearing jackets again. While I used the previous summers to explore different countries, this summer break went by without a big holiday abroad. And I do not want to sound like all the people who complain about not being able to go overseas. Most of them still did though. I gladly stayed home during these uncertain times. However, the memory box for this year is slightly emptier than the previous years.
One thing I did get to experience was the much-discussed corona test. Opening the car door. Looking up. One stick in the throat. Short coughing fit. Looking up again. Stick in the nose. This turned out to be less uncomfortable than it looks from the outside. And that’s it. Turns out to be just that; a sore throat. And I got an information sheet to put in my memory box.
Otherwise, I started selling some furniture. Thinking that it would probably take a while to empty the apartment. To my own surprise, it did not take long. I received a lot of messages. And in no time, I was living in between moving boxes with still some weeks left.
Alright. I have to admit I did go on a short trip to a small town in Germany. Not my home town but somewhere else. A great amount of German, Dutch and Belgium people had the same idea. I never thought I would be grateful for mandatory face masks. However, the memory box was filled with some restaurant and beer receipts.
Now that I am back on campus, I notice how much quieter it is. Less first year students desperately trying to find the right building. Less parties on campus. But at the same time, it is way easier to find a place to study and no more queues at the Subway during lunch break.
Another positive thing about the end of the summer is the release of new films and series. For a bit more action than on campus the Dutch/Belgium series Undercover started. From the comments on social media, I understand that the accents were even hard to understand for Dutch people. But subtitles, in every language possible, make things a whole lot easier. But this is nothing to put in my memory box of course. While the summer is ending, the new academic year started smoothly without crowds and without smokers on campus. It almost seems like normality by now.
