Huis Sweet Home | Dutch Diaries Week One
Last Wednesday, I hopped on a plane and moved to the Netherlands (land of wooden clogs, tulips, windmills, and Amsterdam). For just over four months, I get to call the storybook city of Maastricht, capital of the Limburg province, home, and if these next four months are anything like the past few days, then I’ve learned not to try to predict what lies ahead.
Granted, I didn’t come into the Center for European Studies program for psychology and neuroscience with many expectations. I barely researched Maastricht University before deciding that the central location in Europe allowing for weekend travel and the classes that fulfilled my graduation requirements were all I needed. I had no idea what a great (albeit uninformed) choice that would turn out to be.
I’ve spent less than a week in the city, and Maastricht is already one of my favorite places on Earth.
Because I hopped on the plane a bit unprepared and under-researched, I’m coming to understand the true meaning of “foreign exchange,” as I am confronted with what it is to really feel foreign for the first time.
On the day of my arrival (a day before the official program start date), I was alone, left to navigate a new language, new currency, new social norms, and even new power outlets completely by myself. Since I had yet to pick up and configure my new SIM card, I couldn’t even turn to my millenial/gen-z security blanket (Google) for help. Adulting is hard enough when you’re in familiar surroundings; this was next level.
Thankfully, I made it from the airport to my new home at the Maastricht University Guesthouse with only a few moments of embarrassment, and on the second day, I was no longer alone. The program even coordinated a shopping tour to teach us where and how to buy the essentials, though honestly, all ninety of my peers and I are still mostly clueless when it comes to reading Dutch labels. We look like lost puppies wandering the streets and taking it all in, but on streets like these, I think anybody would want to slow down a bit.
… But it turns out the adorable streets aren’t all Maastricht has to offer. Following a brief (and surprisingly boujee) boat tour down the River Maas that cuts the city in half, we hopped off the boat for a tour of the underground labyrinth of an old limestone mine, used as shelter for the people of Maastricht during World War II. The “caves” stretch all the way into Belgium with walls adorned with intricate paintings, carvings, sculptures, and old graffiti.
The cave tour marked the fourth tour in two days, and my feet were aching by the end of it. Still, I was excited to take full advantage of the next day (our only day so far with no scheduled activity) and the remaining time before our first study trip to continue to explore the city with my new friends and settle into my new life.
And since my new life is in the country with more bikes than people, buying a bike was the most important thing on my to do list.
Mission accomplished.
Having walked a marathon distance through the city and knowing that my classes will be held on the side of the river opposite the Guesthouse, I couldn’t have been more excited for my new ride. Even writing this now, while on a study trip with the CES program in Berlin, I’m getting excited to return to Maastricht and finally explore it on bike in true Dutch fashion.
