My Dutch course is finally finished and tomorrow I’m going home! Technically my last class would be tomorrow, but having been given the choice to go home or stay for my last class, I choose home. I’m sure you aren’t surprised.

The last class was a bit anticlimactic because it ended for everyone else as if we were all coming back again on Friday. I said goodbye to my teacher and my new friend Jelena but that was it. All I could think about was the crazy amount of laundry, house cleaning, and packing I have to do in the next 24 hours.

My teacher gave me a list of things I should know before starting level 2. Note that the list was in Dutch. I panicked a bit when I read the list because I couldn’t even understand some of the sentences. I’m thinking “I’m supposed to understand this after completing level 1?” So I’m planning to take my Dutch course book home to practice.

I have this feeling that I won’t get much done at my parent’s house because I will want to spend all of my time playing with Olivia. However, I know my mom is dying for me to get together with her Dutch friends and impress them with my language skills (I hope I don’t disappoint her). So I will be bringing my books home just in case.

It will be interesting to see how much I’ve retained when we return in January. This is the first time I’ve learned a language and been able to use it on a day to day basis. That Spanish I learned in high school wasn’t ever much use to me. Thankfully I have a whole month to get back into it before level 2 starts in February.

Needless to say, I’m grateful for a break in the intensity and will probably enjoy getting back into it after I’ve had some time off. By the way, I did pass the class with a grade of 93%.

Now off to packing!