Ashleigh's Exchange to Utrecht University of Applied Sciences | The Netherlands
Hi my name is Ashleigh and in semester 2 2018 I went on exchange to Utrecht University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. At Murdoch I am studying a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.
The key factors for me in choosing Utrecht (H) were ...
Being of close proximity to other
places in Europe, somewhere I have not explored thoroughly before, a place with
positive culture, and nice landscape.
A little about HU, the classes and the teaching system ...
HU was a nice university with
great facilities. I studied their “Law in Europe” program, which comprised of
six courses. Three courses were taught in each Term A and Term B within the
semester. The units I completed were: EU Competition Law, English Communication,
Law and Economy of the EU, Law of the EU, Human Rights Law and EU Social Law.
I instantly found the teaching
system to be different. There were about 20 people in the course and nothing
was recorded, which meant that attendance was essential and the group bonded
quite strongly over the terms. I found this very different to the Australian
system as you can easily ‘slack off’ and miss classes over a few days, and then
catch up online in one go. I don’t know the vast majority of people in my classes
at Murdoch. I also felt much more comfortable talking to my teachers at HU than
lecturers I’ve had for years at Murdoch, simply because of the level of
interaction we had. HU has an emphasis on ‘practical’ law teaching so there
were many group and oral assignments, which was an interesting experience
outside of what I have done at Murdoch. My contact hours were about 15 per week
if I remember correctly.
There were more regular
assessments during my studies at HU which further encouraged me to stay up to
date with material. I found the level of difficulty to be on par with my
studies at Murdoch (which was interesting considering my Spanish housemates
really struggled with the workload while at HU). An issue I had with HU was
that some of the teachers had very thick accents and their English was not the
best, which made it very hard to concentrate/understand lectures. Further, I
found the second term to be substantially harder than the first term, which I
was not prepared for. Overall though, I would absolutely go again!
A little about the city I lived in, Utrecht ...
Utrecht was beautiful! It is very small and
largely populated by students, which really impacts on the vibe there. The city
felt catered to me: beautiful canals and streets, trendy cafes and restaurants,
all the best shops, and many cultural events. However, I found the city to be
pretty quiet in terms of night-life which was a little disappointing at times.
But the amount of house parties happening around all the unis made up for it!
As it goes, transport was easy and
affordable since everyone there uses a bike! I stayed central to uni and the
city so nothing was more than a 10-minute bike ride. The only issues with
transport are: when its freezing/raining we were deterred from riding, which
was especially inconvenient given the buses stop at midnight and there are
hardly any ubers around!
My friends and I made an effort to try a
different café each time we went out, so I couldn’t name a favourite! But it’s
really great for coffee (real coffee) shops!
Dutch people are lovely. Properly lovely.
They are so polite and helpful, I noticed this instantly! They have a quirky
way about them and silly senses of humour. I’m a big fan.
The best parts about my exchange experience were ...
The best part of my exchange was that it provided
me a whole new world away from my life where I could explore without any
expectations of me! Prior to the exchange I was feeling overwhelmed and
tied-down by my life; all the responsibilities and people that expected certain
things of me.
I lived with 11 other people of all
different cultural backgrounds, none of whom knew anything about me and were
just as fresh as I was to take on the new experience. Aside from how wonderful
it was to experience a new city and new people, I feel that I was reminded of
who I am independently of my life. It’s hard to put into words what the
exchange did for me as I’m still realising things now. Aside from my personal
experience, I made some lifelong friends from such antithetical cultural
backgrounds to mine which I find astounding. I feel more connected to myself
and to the world now.
My struggles while on exchange and how I dealt with them ...
I did not struggle with homesickness much
on exchange as I was lucky enough to form some very good friendships early on
that made me feel safe. Plus my mum visited at Christmas and we spoke regularly
throughout the exchange so I had a sounding board for all the new challenges I
faced.
Culture shock made things difficult at
times… I was the only native-English speaker in my uni course and one of few
native speakers in my apartment building. I found that the non-native speakers
bonded over their experience of bettering their English and challenges with
English, where I couldn’t really relate. Most of the time I was a ‘teacher’
which was fun! But I did find that being from Australia felt like another
planet, whereas all my European housemates were not far from home nor far from
cultural relatability (ie Spanish bonded with Italian, Finnish bonded with
Lithuanian). Over all though I loved being from Australia and found that
everyone instantly liked me (because I’m Aussie) and assumed I was so chill and
easy-going! And they loved learning Aussie slang!
The Dutch speak English very well, so it
was not a problem in getting around, ordering or things like that. I did not
learn much Dutch which I regret as it is strange not being able to understand
those around you, and I was always quite embarrassed to say ‘sorry, English?’.
All my Dutch friends would change their conversation to English when I was
around which was nice, but I could tell it stifled things a bit.
A personal issue was that I had
unattainable expectations of the exchange going in. I knew of exchange as being
a wonderful experience for everyone who goes, and I quickly had to work through
my expectations of perfection and let the exchange be what it was going to be
for me.
A little about my accommodation in Utrecht ...
I stayed at De Sterren in a large single
room. Each apartment at de Sterren hosts 12 people, and it has two shared
toilets, two shared showers and one shared kitchen. Considering the amount of
people, it did not feel stuffed. However, the place was very basic and not cosy
at all – it felt like a hostel or camp rather than a home. The location was
perfect (right between uni and the city center) but I would have preferred
staying somewhere with a cosier kitchen/dining/lounge area. My main friends on
exchange were my housemates and I know most others’ experience is the same, so
I’m not sure if the sacrifice of a nicer home would have been worth losing
those friends. That being said, there was certainly a ‘clique’ thing going on
at De Sterren as we didn’t mix much with students from other buildings, so
perhaps it would have been better to stay at other accommodations with smaller
apartments that encouraged getting out there a bit more.
My advice to someone who is considering/is about to embark on exchange ...
Save, save, save!
I funded the exchange with the $6,500 OS Help loan, a $2000 Scholarship from Murdoch, personal savings and a loan from my parents.
The exchange
cost more than I expected, but that is mainly because I started with only
Summer clothes following backpacking, and I needed to buy lots of things to
make my room feel homely enough! Perhaps instead I should say: pack wisely!
Bring everything you’ll need for the season and I’d recommend bringing a nice
bedspread as I could not find cosy bedding anywhere (something that is very
important for me!). You’ll never run out of trips you want to do or things you
want to buy, so every dollar counts!
Also, in terms of mental
preparation: go in with no expectations. Be open and try to remind yourself
that you’re safe, and that “your people” can be found anywhere you are in the
world. You just have to put yourself forward and get to know them!
- Ashleigh studied abroad at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Murdoch University Study Abroad & Exchange - Outbound
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTACT US!
EMAIL: studyabroad@murdoch.edu.au
PHONE: +61 8 93607836
VISIT: Murdoch University, Student Centre, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA, 6150
FIND US!
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/murdochoutbound
INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/murdochoutbound
