By Rachel Craill

Aside from the obvious of getting to experience life in Europe, I’ve had a lot of fun during my exchange.

Some of my top highlights have been doing day trips to other cities, and even countries!

Living in the Netherlands has given me the chance to explore not only Dutch culture but also the surrounding countries, often in just a single day. Thanks to the Netherlands’ central location and great public transport, it’s surprisingly easy to hop on a train and be across the border within an hour—what a bargain!

I went to Antwerp in Belgium during December. The Christmas market there was absolutely gorgeous, with twinkling lights, festive stalls, and that cosy winter-market atmosphere you imagine when you think of European holidays.

But even if you don’t celebrate Christmas or go earlier in the year, there is still plenty to see and do. I personally loved the architecture – it’s got the same rustic feel as the Netherlands but with some added golden emblems displayed on the roofs, particularly on the churches, which were really cool.

However, the crown of Antwerp for me was getting to see and experience the wooden escalator in the town – it’s the one of the few made of wood to still exist in the world. It’s located underground at the St. Anna tunnel, and takes you underneath the river, if you have time I would recommend checking it out.

I also did plenty of day trips through the Netherlands as well and my top 3 cities would have to be, Delft, Leiden and Gouda.

Leiden is one of the smaller towns so it’s a bit quieter but there are plenty of picturesque places to sit and have a coffee by the canals.

Gouda is bigger but I felt it had a similar vibe to Leiden which I enjoyed. I also went on a tour through a Siroop Waffle factory – these are very similar to Stroop waffles but have more of a syrupy/liquid filling, which shows you the the journey the waffles go on starting from base ingredients and ending as the tasty treat we know.

However, if I pick one city to stay in forever, it would have to be Delft. The city truly captured my heart and I love every part of it. It’s the perfect blend of modern and historic all in one and is the home of the famous blue Dutch pottery (there’s even a factory tour you can do!). I loved just roaming up and down the side streets and getting to see how they were all so different.

One must see experience of Delft, is going up the working flour mill. It’s a windmill that is still used to grind flour from grain into a common household staple. You get to go up 7 different levels which all show different parts of the windmill and the processes. It’s honestly such a cool experience that I would do again!

A challenge I faced was motivating myself to study for classes. This is because most Dutch universities are very student-driven, meaning that you will have one 2-hour lecture per week with a professor and that’s it, many subjects don’t have a fixed timetable or offer tutorials. This means that it’s up to to keep up with readings and self study, which on average is 10 hours per class.

A tip I would leave for future students is just do a little bit per day so you’re not scrambling to try and cram everything into your head the night before exams.

What this experience has taught me is that though something may be hard in the moment – for example, leaving home and going overseas by myself for the first time – that won’t last forever, and I will thank myself for pushing through.

I’ve had to push myself out of my comfort zone a couple of times over the course of this exchange, but I have never regretted doing so.

In addition to this, I think that this experience will make me more likely to say yes to things I may have otherwise hesitated about doing in the future.