By: Ethan Norton

It kind of feels surreal being back home after studying in and travelling Europe for the last five-ish months. It definitely creeped up on faster than I expected it would. Although it is nice being home, seeing my friends and family and sleeping in my own bed. I’ll miss the friends I made in the Netherlands and hope to see them again sometime in the future.

Friends. Both the highlight and the biggest challenge I faced on my exchange at the university of Maastricht in the Netherlands. I’ll never forget the countless nights we spent watching football and our trips through Paris, Britain, and many more amazing places. They made my exchange what it was, and I can’t imagine it without them. I’m very much an introverted person who likes to keep to themselves so making deep connections took some time. Meeting people; other people on exchanges was easy as the university organised events for us, so it was easy to find people to grab a drink with or just hang out with. However, I found it difficult to form deep connections quickly. It took me a couple months to get a solid friend group of people I could regularly go on trips with, party with, and waste away my nights with. So although these first couple months were amazing and filled with solo travel, the later months were where I really had the best time.

To me there are three clear highlights of my exchange that are pretty distinct from each other. The first being a six nations match in Cardiff between Wales and Scotland. The atmosphere was easily the best I’ve ever seen. It was unreal. The second is Plitvice national park in Croatia. The lakes and waterfall here were mesmerising. I can’t really describe it. If I had to give one recommendation on what to see for people going on an exchange anywhere in Europe, it would be this. The third is Paris. There is just so much to see. Exploring Paris late into the evening and very early into the Morning with my mates was so cool. Every turn there was something to see. 

My courses at Maastricht university were very split. Some of them I found significantly harder than my ones here at Waikato and others significantly easier. The way they teach was quite strange to me. It’s a bit difficult to describe here. But I think it was very beneficial to my public speaking and confidence in large group settings. One of my reasons for going on exchange was that I wanted a slightly different challenge in university and Maastricht definitely offered me that even if it was a little odd at first. 

Beyond being something I can put on my CV. I think navigating and getting to know so many people and their cultures is a valuable lesson. Not just the big difference between cultures that are apparent but the small things. Like if they like handshakes, or if they like small talk such as just asking how they’re day is going. This is very valuable to me as a person and for future work environments.

Just to wrap up, going on an exchange is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The people I met, and the things I saw and experienced, I will never forget. I was so nervous even applying, let alone leaving New Zealand but I am so happy I did. I do not regret it one bit, it was amazing.