Hello from Utrecht, Netherlands

My exchange in Utrecht has been going great. My roommates are the loveliest people and have become the best family I could have ever hoped for. I live in a student apartment with 5 roommates right on the other side of the street next to my school. I am usually a few minutes late to classes since I don’t stress about leaving and only leave about 2min before the start of the lecture. There is another student building on the other side of the sheep pasture that is right under my window (yes you read that correctly). I have met so many amazing people from both of these buildings and I feel like I have a huge loving network of people behind every door, all around me.

I am studying music marketing and management and it has been super cool working with all these industry professionals as my teachers! I have a great team at school, and we are doing a real project for a real artist. It is amazing to be studying marketing related to the music industry since that is the field I strive for and Finland doesn’t really have a minor like this. I didn’t really come to the Netherlands because of the country and to be honest I came in very blind and without any expectations, which was probably a good thing

In my spare time I walk and cycle all around the surrounding areas. I walk for hours on end and many days I’m able to see multiple new different villages by walking around for 20-25km. I really like this aspect of the Netherlands that everything is right next to each other since coming from Finland I’m used to just walking for hours across a lot of nothingness just to reach the next town. I can go even crazier and go further with my bike, but I like to avoid the town centers with a bike since the traffic and the other cyclists are crazy and just swerve around everyone. It also doesn’t help that my bike is very cheap and only has a pedal brake.

There are many things about the Netherlands that do not fit with me, but this is where I found my people and my family. Sad that it is only temporary.