My move to the Netherlands!

I have received a bunch of questions about my move to the Netherlands and how everything is going here for me! Well to begin...back last year I applied to a bunch of schools with an interest in Hydrology. In the end I chose Utrecht University as it had a good location and the program seemed to fit the best with what I was interested in. I will be studying within the Geosciences Department in hopes of getting a MSc Earth Sciences degree (focusing on Hydrology).

But to rewind to where this university is...Utrecht:

(Source: Wikipedia)

Utrecht is a city located in central Holland and used to be way back in the day the capital (before Amsterdam became a big center). It is still important as a big hub for trains to Germany, but also culturally and academically. Utrecht has a number of canals that have two tiers - lots of restaurants have seating at the lower tiers so you can eat right along the canal as boats and canoes go by!

About 10-15 minutes from the city center is the Utrecht University Uilthof, which is where I have all of my classes (though there are also university buildings in the city center). This is an example of one the university campus buildings I have classes in:

(Source: Utrecht University Website)

I live in a small suburb outside of Utrecht called Zeist, which is a nice 15 minute bike ride from the campus through trees and fields of sheep and cows. The town is nice and quiet with a variety of people of ages and professions. There is a small center with your basics shops with plenty of smaller shopping centers scattered throughout. I live in a Student Housing Complex called Warande, which houses both international and Dutch students.


In my particular apartment, there are 9 other students besides myself from the following countries: America, Columbia, Ethiopia, Australia, China, Cambodia, Italy and Germany (and conveniently 5 girls and 5 guys). We each have our own room connected by a long hallway with a common kitchen space and 2 bathrooms and 2 showers.

I really am happy with my living situation and everyone is nice and helpful! Here is my room so far, though there will be further decorations:


Before I left I also bought a Scratch Map of the world in hopes that that will motivate me to see new places in Europe! Here is what it looks like so far:

My first step to going Dutch as been to buy a bike! I bought a nice used one by the main train station. Unfortunately it was a bit more expensive than I would have liked, but it has gears and front brakes and working lights plus a comfortable bike seat! Eventually I would like to buy a basket to put in the front so that it is easier to go grocery shopping. One can also get bags to put on the back - looks like saddle bags that you find on horses or motorbikes. I bought a bright orange lock as well since bike theft here is very common, especially if your bike looks nice (thank goodness mine has some rust and typical wear and tear). Orange is a very good color for 2 reasons: easy to spot among the dozens of bikes you could have locked it with and it is basically the national color of Holland for the House of Orange! My bike itself is a nice dark green color, of which I was very happy with since there were not too many options I could choose from:

Of course my first casualty from my move to the Netherlands was my suitcase, it came out of the airport like this...I guess it is time to buy a new one and perhaps one that has the hard case like so many Europeans have. I also had the most terrible times of jet lag...I could not stay awake during the day for the life of me and kept falling asleep during the orientation. Hopefully now I am better!

So as I learn more about Utrecht and the Netherlands, travel to new places and visit friends, I will hope to continually update the blog a few times a month!