When I'm writing this, I'm back in my home country of Belgium. I'm not in Canada anymore, I'm not in London anymore. I was back in Belgium on January 24th, in the morning. I was in the plane the whole night because of time zones, so I didn't really sleep that night. It has only been a bit more than a week that I'm back, but it is still difficult for me to have my routine back here in Belgium. I already miss London so much.

I had my last exam on January 16, so I had one more week to enjoy my stay in Canada. And that's what I did. After my exam that day I ate at Outback Shack with my good friend Rachel. Then I walked around the school one more time because it was the last time I would be at Fanshawe (or that's what I thought that day). During my last week in London, I went to one more Knights and Lightning game, I went for a few walks to see London one more time, I went to the malls, I went downtown with Rachel and also saw her house.

On my last full day in London I went back to school to see my friends and classmates one more time. So I also saw Fanshawe one more time. I saw the CFRL studio again and the broadcast centre. I went to the oasis with Rachel to eat my beloved quesadilla there. Then they had class with one of my favourite professors who was ok with me staying for the class. So I stayed to have one more class there. Then I had to say goodbye to my friends, but it was not a goodbye. It was more a see you later, a see you soon. I will go back and see them again. I don't know when, but I will go back one day. I hope it's soon.

On Tuesday, January 23th, it was D-Day. I had to go back to Belgium. I really didn't want to go, and I was not the only one. My Canadian friends and family didn't want me to go either. But I had to go to finish my year. My Canadian mom Vertha came in my room to say goodbye, she had tears in her eyes. I also had tears in my eyes and even cried a little bit when she left. My roommate Aurimar also came in my room to say goodbye before she had to go to school. I stayed with the dog in the couch in the living room until Rachel came back from school. We watched a movie and chilled together before I had to leave. The last image I had of my Canadian home and the image I can't forget is an image I saw when I was in the cab. It was the front of my Canadian home with at the door Rachel with Luna in her hands and Milo by her side. This image has been in my head every day and will be in my head forever.

It was a long day that day I left. The bus to the airport left around 1pm and my flight was at 6pm. This means it was midnight in Belgium. I arrived in Belgium around 7am Belgian time. This means I was flying the whole night, but I was not able to sleep. I was very happy to see my parents and my brother, and they were also very happy to see me again. I was worried about my cat because she hasn't seen me for 5 months. When I was home she saw me but didn't really recognized me. She was not sure if I'm really here or not. It has been a bit more than a week that I'm back home, and she is stil not really sure that it is me. She needs her time. My other cat doesn't really care.

My first days back I hadn't done a lot. I rested because I was very jetlagged and tired. On Monday, in the evening, I went to Ghent again for the first time to see the liveshow that the journalism students made. I saw some of my classmates from Belgium. On Tuesday and Wednesday I also had to be at school. On Tuesday it was for ODG, a project about going outside of Belgium to do something that has something to do with journalism. My group will go to Ireland in June for ODG. That day I had to do 5 presentations: 2 in English, 2 in French and one in both languages. They went well. On Wednesday it was for our Bachelorproef that we had to be there. To make our groups and have a theme. On Thursday I also went to school to talk about my stay in Canada.

I had a great time in London. These 5 months were the best 5 months of my life. It also changed me. I will never be the same. I made some great friends and made a second family. London is my second home now. I miss London, but I will definitely go back. It was not a goodbye, but a see you later. I'm not really going to post anything anymore on this blog for the moment, but soon I will be traveling again and then I will post here again. Now I'm going to take a break of Dreamelyne. But I'm not leaving forever. I'm coming back. So, stay tuned for more soon.

On January 3 school started again. I had class that day and then I went home to practice for my practical test I had the next day. The practical test went great. It was also my dad's birthday on that day, on January 4. It was not with him to celebrate it, but we can celebrate it when I'm back in Belgium. Since then I worked for school because it was exam week. I have 5 exams in total and 1 online, and I already did almost all of them. I only have one more exam and one practical test on Tuesday. This will be the last day I will be at school. I will miss it.

One of the best times I had last week was on Thursday night. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in London and was giving a conference at Western University. So I went, even if I had an exam the next day. It was very interesting and worth my time. Here below are pictures and videos from that night.

My time here in Canada is almost over. On January 23, I have to go back to Belgium. I'm not really looking forward to this. I'm not ready to go. I will miss it here. I will miss my Canadian home and family, my Canadian friends, my professors and even the school. But I will definitely stay in contact with them (thank you, social media!). And I will come back soon, that's the plan.

13 january 2018