I came to the Hague to widen my perspective in the area of Social Services. My core subjects in “De Haagse Hogeschool” have been focusing on poverty, exclusion, intercultural sensitivity, migration and building a dialogue. Compared to my studies in Tampere studying in the Netherlands has been more academic and we have been focusing on a global perspective rather than local. In TAMK I’m used to having classes held in a dialogue kind of way whereas in THUAS more weight were put on the lecturing. However, the quality of teaching would be hard to compare. I think both schools have high standards on the knowledge of their lecturers.
The studying culture in the Netherlands was quite similar to Finland. The only difference I could come up with could be the difference in the level of passion that students have towards the field of their study. The Dutch students don’t seem to have as much motivation towards the Social Work field compared to what I sense around my co-students in Finland.
During my spare time in the Hague I remain active. Every week I would join yoga, boxing and zumba classes. Couple months I did capoeira as well. Besides doing sports and studying I would meet up with my friends. Maybe go for a cafe or walk. We would also have house parties every now and then. I have also been exploring the Netherlands quite a bit during the weekends. Besides the Hague I have been able to visit Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Leiden, Delft and Giethoorn. I also did some travelling in Belgium in Brussels, Ghent, Antwerpen and Brugge. It’s amazing how easy and cheap it has been to travel during this exchange. The location of the Netherlands is travelling wise quite optimal if travelling the Europe is something that you find interesting.
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