{"id":171753,"date":"2024-09-24T13:32:27","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T11:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=171753"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:29","slug":"sorry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/09\/24\/sorry\/","title":{"rendered":"Sorry"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m on exchange in Sydney, Australia. After spending a week off on the west coast, I land in Sydney at six in the morning. I rush to my accommodation to shower. If I can smell myself, I know it’s bad.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPauline Wiersema<\/a>, \t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

After quickly washing and packing my bag, I run to catch the train. My haste is interrupted when I spot five grazing kangaroos in the distance. One of them has a young in its pouch. Staring with my mouth half-open, I decide I\u2019ll just take the next train.<\/p>\n

The political philosophy class has been going on for ten minutes when I arrive. During this class, it is always the same student who has at least five questions or comments. In my notebook, I count how many times she uses the word \u2018like\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike, it\u2019s just like, you know how like, sometimes like\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve counted 31 so far. On the next page, I count how often the teacher apologises. I get to seven when he says sorry for the small, for some hard-to-read letters on the slides. I take a sip of filtered Australian drinking water. The mildly disgusting taste makes my head shake.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid I say something wrong, Onno?\u201d, the teacher asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo you didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh okay, I misread your body language then, my apologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he continues his explanation, I Google what interesting things I can do or see in Sydney this weekend. TripAdvisor highly recommends the Opera House. The four hours of sleep kicks in as I doze off and startle awake again several times in a row.<\/p>\n

The next slide says that it\u2019s time for a break. The teacher confirms this and gently slaps the projection screen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI shouldn\u2019t have done that, sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I go to get some more gross water, the teacher asks if I\u2019m okay.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes I am, I flew here from Perth last night so I\u2019ve had very little sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPerth, how nice! Did you check out the quokkas on Rottnest Island?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I didn\u2019t have time for that unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yeah, no, you\u2019re right, way too touristy, sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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