VIA ABROAD LUXEMBOURG As the COVID-19 pandemic grew, all of us had to reshuffle their plans, and most of us had to reorganize their travels, including academic exchanges abroad. In my case, I had to abruptly leave my home in Eindhoven for the sake of being locked down with my family, in the little Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. So this is what my corona “studying abroad” over the past two months has looked like… When we arrived, a little like everywhere, the tension was everywhere, you could almost touch it. Everyone was realizing that something completely unknown, yet very big was happening: no one on the streets, the blinds of all stores closed, occasional pedestrians walking not 1.5 but 5m apart from each other – the sight was gloomy, to say the least. Nevertheless, me and my family members did our best to stay calm, and established a rhythm for the foreseeable long weeks to come. We talked through our lunch and dinner times, we all claimed a working spot in the house, we planned shifts for cooking and for weekly grocery shopping. Obviously, with all the usual distractions gone, I spent a lot more time studying. In the meantime, that made me realize how important it is to have physical activities, and some form of social contact. That motivated me to go running at least once every two days in the neighboring forest, as well as trying to call my friends as often as possible. Also, CHEOPS and other student associations have made their best to organize many online meet-ups, so there certainly was no way for me to feel lonely.
Since Luxembourg is such a small country, no matter the first deconfinement measures, the fact that neighbouring countries closed their borders could really be felt. Some cities just behind the border in Belgium, or France, or Germany are only 30 to 50km away, and most people, including my family, take the option to go there for granted. Obviously, this was not the case any longer. There are a lot of people living in one country and coming to work in Luxembourg – and that process became very difficult for them. Similarly, we as a family, could not go to our second residence in Belgium for the same reasons, and I had no way to come back to my home in the Netherlands because of it. Not knowing when I was going to be able to come home brought quite some worries on top of the rest. Luckily enough, after 2 months, the measures became less strict (both officially, and non-officially), which allowed me to take the train back to Eindhoven (through Belgium), where my amazing roommates and most of my friends were. The relief of coming back made me understand where my life and my home are: here, in Eindhoven. Emilia Bonnoit
As all of us were expecting the peak of new Corona cases, some things got rough: public parks were closed, and the stores were quite empty. On the other hand, solidarity grew along with Covid: with the first sunny days, people started to lift the vibe up by playing music loudly so that it could be heard from the street, and people would dance and sing along to it. Also, a national scale “thank you” to the medical staff was organized: everyone cheered at 17:00 on a Friday evening from their balconies. And then, slowly but surely, the first deconfinement measures were announced, and that had a drastic effect on the vibe in the city! All of a sudden, people were all outside, laughing, and enjoying life from 1.5m distance, sharing the positive prospect of summer.
Year 25, Year 28, number number58 61- - May November 2019 2020
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