Anita spent a term in the Netherlands studying at the University of Rotterdam.
I had to visit Amsterdam while living in the Netherlands. One of my first days of being in the Netherlands I travelled to Amsterdam. This is me in front of a canal, very typical in Dutch cities. Amsterdam has so many, and cities like Utrecht and Leiden look quite similar as well.
This was a qualification match for the Euro Cup, between the Netherlands and Gibraltar! It was played in Feyenoord's stadium (Feyenoord is the biggest team from Rotterdam). It was awesome that I didn’t have to travel far for the game!
This image is from Keukenhof, the most popular and biggest tulip garden. Every year from about April to Mid-May there is the tulip festival. You can walk around and see all the beautiful tulips that are grown in the Netherlands, and you can even buy some for yourself. Every year, on one day in April there is a tulip parade in the garden. I didn’t make it to the parade, but touring the garden was still a beautiful experience.
Between terms there is a break, that also includes Easter. I luckily had my exams at the beginning of the exam period, so I had 12 days off between terms. During this time, I travelled to three countries: Austria, Germany, and Italy! Here is a picture from my time in Berlin!
This picture is from another day trip my roommates and I went on. We visited both Ghent and Bruges in Belgium for the day. This image is from the centre of Ghent. It’s super easy to travel around Belgium and the Netherlands as there are many busses and trains that run intercity. There are also many busses and trains that run between the Netherlands and Belgium!
The biggest trip I did was a five-day surf trip to Agadir, Morocco! The group that organized it is a student organization affiliated with the university called ESN. The trip was unforgettable. We had four days of surfing lessons, that were all in the morning. In the evening we had free time to explore Agadir and the small town we were in. One night we even went quad biking! On our fifth day we did a day trip to Marrakech! This was the biggest trip ESN Rotterdam has ever hosted and the first one that left the continent of Europe. Every year they do a big city trip, and every year it’s a different location. I was lucky enough to be here when they organized the trip to Morocco!
Anita, Recreation and Sport Business, 4B
I chose Erasmus University of Rotterdam (EUR) because I knew I wanted to do an exchange in Europe, and it was one of the universities that offered their programs in English. Many universities in Europe require you to know the host countries language (ex. In Spain and Germany), so I wasn’t able to apply to universities there. I also liked the course offerings that EUR had, they were different from the ones I took at Waterloo. Since they didn’t have a sports business/management department I decided to take courses in their faculty of communication and media studies. I got to branch out into different fields and learn new things. In the Netherlands, English is still known by most people and the university programs are in English which was perfect. Finally, the Netherlands is quite a small country and close to many others. I knew I wanted to do as much traveling as possible when in Europe, and the Netherlands was close to many other countries which made it a great spot to travel from.
What was really interesting about my program was that the semester was split into two terms. So unlike at Waterloo where we had one semester, with an average of five courses per semester running 12 weeks long, we had at EUR two terms with three courses max each term and they ran for 8 weeks. So, my semester was actually 16 weeks long instead of 12, and 6 courses instead of 5, but it was split between two terms. The other interesting thing was that the classes were usually once a week, and some did not have seminars. So, for half of the week, I would not have any classes. This is why my days constantly changed, because of the amount of free time I had. On average though my day looked like this:
9:00 a.m. - wake up
11:00 a.m. - class (2-3 hours long)
3:00 p.m.- gym
5:00 p.m. - dinner
6:00 p.m. - study, or hang out with friends, or go grocery shopping for the upcoming days
8:00 p.m. - watch a show/movie or get ready to go out with friends
Of course, sometimes my day would consist of something else like travelling to another city or country or running more errands like laundry.
There were so many amazing parts of my trip. I think the best thing though was that the university had this organization called Erasmus Student Network (ESN). This organization was affiliated with the university and would host a wide range of activities from on campus movie nights to city trips within the Netherlands or to other countries! It was such a great organization that helped you meet new people and get involved. Because of ESN I got to meet new people and I got to travel to amazing places for a reasonable price, including Belgium, Germany, and even Morocco! I got to experience new cultures and create memories that will last my whole life!
Living in the Netherlands was not that big of a challenge when it came to not knowing Dutch because in my experience everyone spoke English as well, so there was never a communication barrier when speaking with individuals in the Netherlands. The only challenge came when dealing with government documents, like registering at the municipality, because all of the information you receive is in Dutch. Also, in grocery stores everything is in Dutch, so this makes it a little bit tricky to buy groceries. I simply used the google translate app on my phone whenever I needed to translate something quickly.
The biggest challenge for me and I think all of my other exchange friends would agree, was adjusting to the weather. Although it is much warmer in the Netherlands than in Canada, and there was almost no snow, there was unfortunately a lot of rain. Especially in the months that I was there, approximately February to mid-May. It can get quite sad, because the sky is grey, and there is no sunlight. It was something I found hard to get used to. It was also not fun to bike in the rain and wind. I made sure to cope with this by not thinking about the weather and still trying to have a good time with my friends. I also did a lot of travelling and the places that I visited were luckily sunny on the days that I travelled to them!
I only really had one assumption about the Netherlands before arriving there and that was that everyone bikes. Now obviously not everyone bikes, but there are a lot of bikers. Also, if you want to commute comfortably around the city, a bike is highly recommended. It is much more cost effective than public transportation, and sometimes quicker. I told myself I was not going to get one, but after 2 days without one, I got one.
Exchange has helped me so much personally. Being away from home and away from friends and family really helped me figure out who I am. It helped me figure out my strengths and weaknesses and helped me figure out what I don’t and do like. I also got to meet so many new people from all over the world. Now I don’t just feel at home in Canada, but also wherever my friends are. Academically I was also able to branch out into different fields and learn about things that I am interested in as well that aren’t sports business related. I got to take courses in film studies and grow my passion for film and cinema.
I think the one thing I wish I had done was try and make friends with local people. All of the friends that I made were either exchange students or international students. I did not make any Dutch friends or local Rotterdam friends. That is my only regret about the trip.
My biggest advice to students who are considering doing an exchange is save up as much as you can! Although travelling around Europe is relatively cheaper than in North America, it can still add up if you’re doing a lot of trips. Plan well in advance and have a budget for what you want to do. My other piece of advice is go into the exchange with an open mind. Don’t expect anything just try and get involved as much as you can. Your exchange will be what you put into it and what you make it.
I would love to share some specific tips for the Netherlands:
- In the Netherlands in order to see a doctor you need to be registered with a General Practitioner (GP). Applying for a GP can be really hard since registration for them is limited. For EUR, they have a university GP that you are able to register with during a specific period every month. However, you need to have the insurance that the university (EUR) offers. So, when going to the Netherlands, make sure you know what your options are for a GP and how to register, if this is something you need.
- In the Netherlands there is a public transportation card called the OV-Chipkaart. This public transport card is applicable to every piece of public transportation across the entire country. So, whether you want to take the tram in Rotterdam, or a metro in Amsterdam, the card will work. Alternatively, now you can use your credit card on most transportation systems.
- Some places in the Netherlands will only accept a Dutch bank card. If you don’t want to open a Dutch bank account, then be aware of what places take credit cards and what don’t. The stores can also vary from location, for example one Lidl (grocery store) may take Visa but another one in another location may not.
- I recommend using SSH to find housing. Not every university in the Netherlands uses SSH, but some like EUR do. The housing can be a lot cheaper than the private market, and you will get roommates that are also studying at the university. However, make sure you know when the application for housing opens, since only a select get approved during registration and it’s first come first served.