Groetjes uit Holland!
I am
sending you warm, or better said rainy & windy (yes it does rain a lot and it is windy ALL THE TIME) greetings from The Hague. Having said that the next thing to note about the Dutch is their resistance to this weather – 5 degrees, rain and wind? About time to head to the beach or explore close by cities (all of course by bike!). One of the best things in the Netherlands is that everything is close: a trip to Rotterdam takes you 20 min, to Amsterdam 30 or to Utrecht only 40 minutes!
Second best thing? Definitely the food and all the cafes, restaurants…! The Dutch deep fry everything so when there you definitely have to try their bitterballen. But also, for people equipped with a sweet tooth the Netherlands have a lot to offer: my favo
urite is stroopwaffels. The smell of these freshly baked syrup waffles, sold in the streets, will draw your attention from miles away! Bonus about the Netherlands for our fellow Fins: the Dutch are equally crazy about liquorice. (I will leave this uncommented)
Now that we know about free time and food, time to talk about serious business: the studies. I study international business at the Hague University of Applied Sciences. In comparison to Finland, I’d say that studies here are more demanding and are quite time-consum
ing. Despite this, I honestly enjoy studying here, especially as it has been a while since I have been on campus plus teachers are super nice! When talking about my school it is important to note how much they do for their students and exchange students: they provide us with goodie bags, organize many trips to museums, host movie evenings, take us ice skating or plan city trails and most of this for free!
The Dutch in general are very open and welcoming people. I, similar to many other exchange students, have joined a hockey club and can only recommend you to the same as this is an easy way to make new friends abroad (the notorious hockey parties are a plus of course xd)!
Tot kijk!
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