Ok im gonna go on a tangent too even tho noone asked.
I went to study in the netherlands when i was 16. It was supposed to be a year long thing but it ended up lasting 10 weeks for various reasons.
A lot of ppl here praise northern europe and the NL for the great city planning. Personally i hated it, im sorry to say it. I was in a somewhat bourgie suburb town in limburg. Im from an old sea town in southern europe. It felt lifeless, without a history, and incredibly dull. I suppose i could go fast with a bike to school but it really couldnt bother me at this point.
Going around in a bike isnt at all pleasurable. I used to take a school bus back at home, but here i had to take a bike to go around. Everyone assumed i had a driving licence for bikes (which i think is only a thing there since in most places in the world tyere are barely any bike lanes) and were kinda shocked when they found out i dibt know how to drive safely etc. Plus, in october it was already getting unreasobably cold, and i needed gloves to no get hand cramps, but i never figured out how to use an umbrella on a bike.
Food was trash. I was hosted by a family and they sometimes did some rice and it was the only good thing they did. I cant cook, idk if thats weird for a 16 yo, so i couldnt show anything from my country. We litterally had one day a week where they only did fries. I didnt have lunch with them, only dinner. Breakfast and lunch had to be made by me and consumed at school, so i had brown bread sandwiches for two months straight twice a day. I think i lost around 10-15 pounds.
The family was very liberal but in the bad sense of the word. I barely fekt any connection with them. Being around them alwats felt like a chore i had to put up with. My abroad study system didnt give us therapists or psycologists to talk to, which is a thing they grant you in other programs. So most of the stuff that happened to me had to stay within me. When they forcibly ended the program for me i got to talk to them about the stuff that i had enduring (some bullying here and there, people wanting me to stay away from them) they actually got angruer at me. They really wanted me to speak dutch, but i always felt too embarassed to try.
The organizers and coordinators for this were such bitches, im sorry to say it. Other students agreed, they were really annoying and non-understanding. Everytime mine came to visit was only ever for bad behavior complains. Which mostly meant not being as sociable and more reclusive than theyd like.
Now for some good stuff. Teachers were great, mostly young, mostly fun to talk to, mostly understanding of my situation.i say mostly cos there was this one litterature teacher who didnt have compassion for my non understanding of dutch and wanted her homework in dutch only, even tho she spoke english.
I had two friends, one who was a texan also studying abroad, another one was a dutchie with vietnamese origins, they were the only reliably cool ones. All the white dutch people were always somewhat opposed to me, especially girls (Guys, whats wrong with your women).
Lotsa muslim people which i all found interesting to talk to and compassionate, more so than the other ones. In my country there really arent culturally different people, they are all the same brand of european.
Ok im gonna go on a tangent too even tho noone asked.
I went to study in the netherlands when i was 16. It was supposed to be a year long thing but it ended up lasting 10 weeks for various reasons.
A lot of ppl here praise northern europe and the NL for the great city planning. Personally i hated it, im sorry to say it. I was in a somewhat bourgie suburb town in limburg. Im from an old sea town in southern europe. It felt lifeless, without a history, and incredibly dull. I suppose i could go fast with a bike to school but it really couldnt bother me at this point.
Going around in a bike isnt at all pleasurable. I used to take a school bus back at home, but here i had to take a bike to go around. Everyone assumed i had a driving licence for bikes (which i think is only a thing there since in most places in the world tyere are barely any bike lanes) and were kinda shocked when they found out i dibt know how to drive safely etc. Plus, in october it was already getting unreasobably cold, and i needed gloves to no get hand cramps, but i never figured out how to use an umbrella on a bike.
Food was trash. I was hosted by a family and they sometimes did some rice and it was the only good thing they did. I cant cook, idk if thats weird for a 16 yo, so i couldnt show anything from my country. We litterally had one day a week where they only did fries. I didnt have lunch with them, only dinner. Breakfast and lunch had to be made by me and consumed at school, so i had brown bread sandwiches for two months straight twice a day. I think i lost around 10-15 pounds.
The family was very liberal but in the bad sense of the word. I barely fekt any connection with them. Being around them alwats felt like a chore i had to put up with. My abroad study system didnt give us therapists or psycologists to talk to, which is a thing they grant you in other programs. So most of the stuff that happened to me had to stay within me. When they forcibly ended the program for me i got to talk to them about the stuff that i had enduring (some bullying here and there, people wanting me to stay away from them) they actually got angruer at me. They really wanted me to speak dutch, but i always felt too embarassed to try.
The organizers and coordinators for this were such bitches, im sorry to say it. Other students agreed, they were really annoying and non-understanding. Everytime mine came to visit was only ever for bad behavior complains. Which mostly meant not being as sociable and more reclusive than theyd like.
Now for some good stuff. Teachers were great, mostly young, mostly fun to talk to, mostly understanding of my situation.i say mostly cos there was this one litterature teacher who didnt have compassion for my non understanding of dutch and wanted her homework in dutch only, even tho she spoke english.
I had two friends, one who was a texan also studying abroad, another one was a dutchie with vietnamese origins, they were the only reliably cool ones. All the white dutch people were always somewhat opposed to me, especially girls (Guys, whats wrong with your women).
Lotsa muslim people which i all found interesting to talk to and compassionate, more so than the other ones. In my country there really arent culturally different people, they are all the same brand of european.
Almost everyone spoke English. That was cool.
deleted by creator
I do mind, sorry