An Introduction to ‘Going Dutch’

Hi!

My name is Sarah and I have been living and studying in the town of Maastricht, Netherlands at University College Maastricht for a little over a month now. “Why are you going THERE?” was the question I was asked over and over again by friends and family. How did I end up in this small country that is only an afterthought to most people? Truthfully, that was the first question we all seemed to want to know about each other when I initially met the other UC students on this program. For many of them? Certainly the idea of the “legality” of certain drugs. For myself? Not so much. The simplest answer is that I wanted to study in a country where I could enroll in an immersion program in a local university, but have everything be taught in English. You might be surprised, but those requirements seriously limit one’s options. I had always heard amazing things about the Netherlands, but nothing too specific, maybe because I have also heard that Dutch culture is hard to pinpoint. Armed with only this knowledge before coming here, you can imagine that I was a little nervous and had absolutely no idea what to expect. My goal by the time I return home in December? Be able to better explain what being Dutch is all about. (more…)