When Can I Go Back?

So I’ve been home for about a month and a half now, and I can definitely say that I miss Amsterdam a whole lot. It honestly wasn’t as hard as everyone claimed to adjust back to being home, but it probably helped that as soon as I returned back, I immediately started work. I mean, don’t get me wrong, that was also kind of awful and exhausting, but it did mean that I jumped right back into having a schedule and a routine which is something that’s really helpful for me. It also feels good to be back where everything is familiar and my best friends are close by and I can understand what (almost) everyone is saying. After a month and a half back in the States, I’ve also gotten pretty good at answering the typical “How was Amsterdam??” questions which are still coming with surprising frequency. My go to answer has become that it made me wish I’d done a semester abroad there and that couldn’t be closer to the truth.

I feel like I’m the type of person who takes a while to adjust to new places and people. While I fell in love with the city the moment I got there, I felt like I was just starting to feel completely comfortable there when it was time to go. I was just beginning to settle on my favorite places to study or get a bite to eat. I was just beginning to feel like a pro on my bike. And as someone who is AWFUL with directions, I was just beginning to find my way around without maps. But alas, of course as soon as these thing were happening, my six weeks was up. While I know I couldn’t have done a semester long study abroad and still have done everything I wanted to do at school, being in Amsterdam for six weeks definitely made me want more time there.

Since I began my first blog post with a list of things I was excited to do in Amsterdam, I think I’ll finish out my last blog post with just a few of the many things I’ll miss about Amsterdam:

• Biking everywhere
• Indonesian food
• The Van Gogh Museum
• The Windmill Brewery
• Being able to cheaply fly/ride a train to another European country/city
• Dappermarkt (and their falafels!)
• Canals around every corner
• Eating poffertjes
• Lounging about Vondelpark
• Cheese
• Hanging out on terraces
• Coffee that comes with a stroopwaffle
• Joe’s Garage

Okay, so about half of those were food. But to be fair, some of my favorite things about Amsterdam can’t even be put into words and if they can be (like biking around the canals), just writing out that I’m going to miss them cannot even come close to encapsulating how wonderful the experiences were. I’m certainly going to miss this amazing city. I guess my only question is now: When can I go back??