Netherlands is a peaceful place top learn Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Education in Europe is very much different than that of the States. In the States, work load is definitely lessened and grades are more dependant upon exams. In Europe however, there are tests, quizzes, papers, and exams, and usually all are due within the same week. I could attribute this to the tight 90-day window of the program, but our professors definitely forced upon us a lot more work than we were accustomed to. On another note, I loved some of the professors that I had. I learned a lot from the courses I had, but take note, these classes aren't easy.

On-site administration of your program

From what I've learned about the differences between American education vs. American education is the attention to detail. American education is 'very much upon yourself' to learn what you want to learn where as European education requires a lot of coursework in order to gain a deep understanding of the subject. The Office of Student Affairs (OSA) was very friendly.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Our housing was a castle. That's as cool as it gets. While it was a very old establishment (lots of stairs), we had a surprisingly great hot water system. Heating doesn't really exist, and neither does peace and quiet. The town bell rings off every hour on the hour, and the walls are extremely thin.

While they had fresh local produce, there wasn't a lot of healthy food options. An average meal consisited of mystery meat, vegetables from a frozen packet, and fries. I'm not a vegetarian, but I do eat really healthy and that's really hard to do here. Everyone often stocks up at the local supermarket for food in case the meals aren't good (which was very often). The perk about living abroad though, is food is great everywhere else that you travel.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Our school trips were to Amsterdam in the winter, and Prague in the spring. These trips were definitely all about school. They tied in with the courses we were taking, like Art History, Photography, History. It's non-stop travel from museum to museum. No sleep, sac lunches, and no time to really explore. They take you on a walking tour on each trip, so that is your first glance at the city, but then there's no real time to look for yourself.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Our town was very safe, and the dorms had key entries only. Health issues are addressed by the local health clinic, which has bizarre hours so you better hope you can get it treated before the travel weekend. I myself had both fleas and bed bugs and there's no real way to cure it except to wash everything you own. That's a common thing to obtain here because hostels are large carriers of them.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

They taught us common Dutch phrases and words in the beginning of the program. Most of the time, we just used "hello" and "thank you" around town because Dutch is a very complicated language to learn, let alone teach. I was surprised at how many people spoke English in the small town we were in, especially the elders. People do speak English in Amsterdam, but people tend to not broadcast that.

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• Dorm

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• Americans