Skip to main content

Time flies when you're having fun



It has been a while since I was on here blurting out what I was thinking. It turns out there are not many negative points about studying abroad twice. That was maybe obvious right? When I first got the news I would be in the Netherlands for six months to finish my degree I thought well it won't get any better than FN. Apparently I had nothing to worry about as both experiences are incomparable. So if your wondering what has been on my mind these last two months, it's mainly bikes, cold weather and asking myself why the Netherlands don't accept Mastercard.

They say dutch people are very direct and get to the point. I have yet to see this from anyone I have met here. The food is questionable if your a bit of a health freak as the bitterballen that appears on every menu has been fried to its core. Also, turns out they have meat in them. Oops. The stroopwafels however are a delightful treat that I overindulged on my first two weeks here. Again, not healthy! But we bike. We bike everywhere, so that makes up for it right? It has taken six weeks but some of us have finally mastered biking with no hands. Kind of. There have been a few falls there and there. As bikers, we become a tiny bit inconsiderate with any other means of transport as having our own lanes and traffic lights gives us a powerful feeling or something. It becomes believable then that there are more bikes than people in this country. You get used to the sudden herby scent that hits you when walking slash biking through town and that cold wind that cuts through you. The lovely dutch peeps are the tallest in the world and a good 85% of them speak english, so learning words from the locals is a little tricky. 

I have met a bunch of cool people from all over the place. My english accent is getting effected by all the Americans, who have a worrying addiction to coffee by the way. My phone dependency has decreased along with my communication skills. I find myself with 20 something daily unread messages from back home. My cooking abilities change from day to day, some days I'm a master chef making vegetable curry that my room mates nibble on, others I'm a hot water and packet soup kind of gal. 

Making all these new friends is putting a dent in my imaginary bank account reserved for trips. We have managed to hop on a few trains here and there and discovered a few places in this flat as a pancake country, which has me more and more hooked as the weeks passed, Nijmegen especially. The whole idea of studying somewhere for a few months is great until you remember it's for a few months. I was looking for some pics to go with this post. Turns out I don't document my time here as much as I thought. I'll try to do better.





Btw, there was ice on this beach.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Something about FN

There is something about travelling alone that gives me a good feeling.  Going at your own pace through security, getting a coffee and a croissant and sit down enjoying a good book while waiting for your gate to show up. Walking to the gate (because I gave myself plenty of time arriving early) and waiting it out. Sitting down next some complete strangers who you end up sharing a few words with, in whatever language you both understand (or the language of pointing to things and nodding your head). If you are lucky enough to sit by the window, enjoy the view. See how little things are when you are 10.000 metres above the ground flying at 750 km per hour looking at the melted snow on the top of the Alps, realising it was just over a month ago when they were white coated rocks. There is just something about it. Also about arriving, running, rushing to your bus or train or boat because to get around in Central Europe you may need all three.  There is just something about it. 
1 comment
Read more

Who's the strange one?

I'm a very curious person, the sort of person who, if interested in something, will research every last details of this. Next week is the deadline for 'erasmus' applications to study a term (or more) abroad and I have found myself surrounded by people asking me all about it. I seem to be the only person with a basic knowledge on the subject in my circle of friends. As me and some friends have been preparing a presentation for one of my university subjects, we have been talking about 'known' bloggers here in Spain, I am supposed to give examples in my presentation and my friends have given me loads of names of people with 'funny' blogs or 'funny you-tubers', when I told them I had no idea who any of these people are they were shocked. They may know everything about insignificant matters such as funny videos but at the end of the day none of them have a clue about what they are actually interested in, for example, studying abroad. Some say I take
1 comment
Read more

Are university degrees worth it?

It's exam time and I have decided to write a little piece on a university degree from a current student's point of view. A survey taken place in the UK in 2015 says half of all students agree their university degree was not worth the thirty something thousand pound debt it left them with. However, records show that over ten thousand more students applied to university last year.  A similar study was done in Spain, in 2015 there was a record of 1.361.340 students inscribed in university, public and private. Again, the number of college applications has increased while over half or the recent graduates regret their decisions on course or university.  Sixty percent of graduates in Peru said they regret getting their university degree. Many of the surveyed pupils say they regret their past decisions due to either they didn't get enough orientation or the course wasn't structured properly. Students today are demanding more than what they expected when un
1 comment
Read more