Two Months into My Study Abroad in the Netherlands
I am currently writing to you from a train somewhere in the Netherlands, where I am studying abroad at Utrecht College University (UCU). To be honest, I have no idea where I am. Someone could tell me I am actually in Austria and I wouldn’t doubt it. But that is what I love about being abroad. The past two months have been a series of adventures, escapades, and learning how to be lost. This weekend, I am going to Germany to celebrate Oktoberfest and enjoy the city of Dortmund for the weekend. The train ride is gorgeous, there are forests and wildlife everywhere and I am passing by a bunch of cute small towns.
Living abroad for the past two months has been a challenging, yet incredibly rewarding experienced. I have never lived in a different country before, so there was definitely a transition when I first got to the Netherlands. The biggest transition was adapting to living somewhere with a language that I do not know. It is very helpful that most people here speak English too and automatically switch to English when they realize I don’t know Dutch. However, all the signs and directions are in Dutch. Even two months in I still use google translate every time I go to the grocery store.
I have been asked why I chose the Netherlands and this specific university a lot. Deciding where to go for study abroad can be really difficult, especially for someone like me who wants to travel and see as much of the world as I can. When I was deciding I had to look for universities where I could take classes that would count towards my majors. This also meant that having a university with a fair number of English classes was important because I do not speak another language. I am double-majoring and have a minor, so it was important that the university I chose had the same areas of study in English.
Another important factor I considered was the ability and affordability to travel to other places during my study abroad. I chose Continental Europe because it was easy and affordable to travel and I already some people who I could stay with when I traveled. When looking at universities in continental Europe I also wanted to go somewhere very different from UC Berkeley: university that is pretty small and has liberal arts focus.
I ended up choosing UCU because it fit my criteria and on-campus housing was guaranteed, so I would not have to deal with the housing crisis in the Netherlands. I am really enjoying my time here and I believe that studying in another country has helped me become a better student. It has also made me realize just how much I love Berkeley and how excited I will be to go back and see all my friends again.