Bye bye Amsterdam

First of many photos I took in A'dam

So, this is my last blog from Amsterdam and I will dedicate it only to this one and only city, who felt like home to me from the first day I arrived.

Amsterdam wasn’t my first choice for exchange program, it was Porto. Mostly because I prefer warm and sunny weather. I was supposed to go there with my friend, but when I got accepted to Amsterdam, I came all by myself. And I am happy it turned out this way. I met so many people that I’ve never met before in such a short time. Some of them will stay in my life and my memories for ever, some of them won’t. I am grateful for everyone I met and everything I had chance to experience and learn since I’m here. Living here really broadened my horizons and this is just what I needed personally and professionally. The whole exchange experience will help me so much with my work in the future, because I had a chance to get to know better so many cultures, ethnics and religions, that I got rid of most of my prejudices. And this is exactly what all social workers should do. Give a chance to every service user to tell his life story, listen to him carefully, respect him and make him feel special because everyone deserves a chance to be treated the same as every other person and everyone has a right to know that he or she is an expert in his/hers life and he/she has all the power over life, we just have to help them realize that and empower them in every possible way.

Slovenia is very different than Netherlands, as far as I had a chance to know this country. People here are much more open for ‘different’ as Slovenians are. I will try to bring some of that spirit back home, and I will try to start a change, because everyone deserves a chance, our whole system has to start moving somewhere and we definitely need some more diversity in our small endearing country.

It is a human heart that matters, not skin color, religion, ethnics, gender etc. Underneath, we are all the same. That is a thing to remember, and I think after this 5 months in Amsterdam, I will follow that rule, wherever I go.

                            A short clip of a bike tour through Amsterdam

One more thing about Amsterdam I would like to say is, I fell in love with this city the first day, and until the end, I admired the beauty of this city every single day. I can’t get used to these amazing views on canals, cute tall houses, boats, water, and nature everywhere. I have tons of pictures of canals, but I still stop and photograph more, because each and every one of them is special and I want to look at them forever. Cheesy, but true J