Home sweet home

After six months of great crack in Newcastle, the time has come to return to the Netherlands. In January the ferry brought me to Newcastle where lots of snow and low temperatures welcomed me. Six months later, at my departure, I was wearing a short and t-shirt. Times and temperatures are changed, but all the good memories from the last six months will be in my mind forever.

Since my last blog the busy period continued. Most important was to finish my research project on time. Happy moments were there when the last participant left the lab, which meant that all data was collected. All participants did a very good job, because the data give some good implications for further research. Thanks again to everyone who took part in the mirror training study, I know the training was very boring but I am glad that everyone went through the three week training protocol successfully.

After all the hard work in the lab, they asked me straight away if I could present the outcomes in front of the whole department. It don’t have to be long is what they told me, around 20 – 30 minutes is more than enough. The last Thursday before my return the moment was there. I was waiting in one of the lecture rooms, the presentation ready on a big screen but no audience, and then the message came: “T-man, where are you?”. Yes, even after six months I still had some trouble with the room and floor numbers. So, with a little delay I started my presentation. After 1 hour and 15 minutes, a bit longer than were they asked for, the presentation was finished and it was time for some delightful beers with thereafter a good dinner with the whole research team.

The day before my presentation I did my last 100m race in the UK. It felt like the quickest race I’ve ever run, but the time was disappointing, 12.3 seconds. But the feeling was good and technically the race was much better than last time, so although the time was very slow I was a happy man. Afterwards it was time for a final dinner with my training group, with the encouraging words of the coach that I was the foreign athlete that stayed longest in this group. After dinner we went for a few drinks and we finished the evening with some clubbing, the ideal preparation for my presentation the next day.

In my final month there was some time left to explore the local area a bit more. I went with my only flat mate to Edinburgh, my first steps ever on Scottish ground. Edinburgh was very nice, but the parks located on the map were more like hills. We walked an incredible amount of miles, around 20 I guess, with a lot of climbing too. We finished the day with a Scotch Whiskey, but after a whole day of walking this whiskey felt like the man with the hammer. We have made it to the train station though. The next weekend we went to Durham, a small but impressive city close to Newcastle. Maybe a good place for my second house later in life. The week after, we visited Jesmond Dene. Unbelievable that such a beautiful park is located at walking distance from the Newcastle city centre. The final day before my return I went on a Northumberland road trip with both my supervisors. Stunning weather, stunning places, and delicious ice creams. No matter what, this was a great final day in Newcastle. After this trip I finished the day with some beers and a BBQ together with the PhD office squad. Blessed them that they managed to watch this Dutchman’s face for six months. A day of packing and cleaning was ahead, so another night out in town with the “bad boys” was not an option.

After six month Newcastle, my adventure has come to an end. I had an incredible good time here, and a big thanks to everyone who has contributed to this life reaching experience. My flat mates, office mates, research team, and my training group, in particular.

I hope to see everyone soon again.

Lots of love from the Netherlands,

Tjerk