Goodbye Zwolle !

This is the end.. my friends...
Well this is indeed unfortunately the end.. This experience was without any doubt the most beautiful experience I've never had before!
When i arrived in Brussels last Sunday, I felt like sad.. On the last day at school, Ir receivedso many presents from my pupils and the teachers of the school.
They were also unhappy that I had to leave. It makes me think about Nelly Furtado's song "why do all good things come to an end?".

I learnt a lot of things. First,things about myself; I discovered that I can really manage on my own when i'm abroad.
Lots of people are scared to travel alone but it I not at allmy case ;)
In other words, Ihavetaken much confidence in myself.

I also discovered another way to teach.. For example, in my school, only the senior students (les rhétoriciens) have to sit for exams in june! so during their 6years, for the French course e.g., they are prepared to this big exam (DELF) by several exercises in the 4 competences.

I have learnt too how to live on a strucutred way. Dutch people are very structured: 6pm: time to eat / 7pm watching the news - from midday to 12.30;lunchtime. It is maybe hard to realise when I say it like that but I think my colleguas who were also in Holland can see well what I mean.
This experience has been so really enriching on a lot of differents level.
If I had a chance to remake it one more time, I would directly do it! I hope that the people who stayed in Belgium haven't had a bad time or don't regret not to have travelledabroad.. In fact with this kindof experience, you definitly become abetter person I would say.. You feel more mature than before.

If I had to change one thing,then I would maybe change the length of the Commnius. 3 months are not that long actually. especially when you feel the improvement in yourself, about the language, about you capacity to adapt yourself in another country, to live with/in another culture, with a different mentality/religion,...

To end now this last message on the blog, I would say that what I'm going to keep always in my memory is the "beauty"of my experience. It means: the city where I stayed; lots of trees, animals, everything is well-maintained, even outside than inside the buildings, for example in the school I was I had never seen before a so clean school! any chewing gums under the chairs, any papers on the floor, also the toilets were very clean. lol and of course the "beauty" of the pupils and the teachers: everybody was so sympathic and nice with me, I quickly felt like truellywelcomed. To give you an example, during the breaks, lots of teachers (maths, sciences, Dutch,..) came to me to speak with me, they asked me questions and things like that, I was a kind of attraction.

I want to add that I've never had so kind stage-masters. I had the impression that they had a stagiaire because they wanted to have a frenchspeaker stagiaire,not because they were like obliged by their director. It is really important to underline that, that's why I felt so welcomed and appreciated by them. We got along extremely well and that can be another reason why this training period so good was.
And I can't forget about the pupils. How come that they wereso respectful?! As I already said, it was very good conditions to give lessons! Belgian students should all act land behave like that!

So,as you've understood by reading these lines, I'm sad that it is finished and this experience, these people, this city, all that, it will stay for all my life somewhere in my hart!

Arnaud leclercq